On the second day of our trekking, we walked from Machame Camp to Shira Camp which is a climb of about 4-5 hours with  altitude ranging from 2980 metres to 3850 metres.

On the first day, we basically trekked through the rain forest. On the second day of our trek, we finally came out of the woods and fog. A beautiful view of Mt Meru and later — Mt Kilimanjaro opened up in from of our eyes.

Mt Meru in the distance

Porters carrying huge loads on their heads, shoulders..

A bit dizzy from altitude but still feeling good…

The team stopped for a water break…

First glimpse of Kilimanjaro…

My groupmates looking at Kilimanjaro…

Posing into the blue…

Kilimanjaro behind..

Another pic of Kilimanjaro…

Walking into the Shira Hut camp…

View from the Shira camp…

So nice to find our tents set up…

Sunset from the Shira camp…

Next day, we walked from the Shira Camp left for Lava Tower (4600 mtrs)  and way down to the Barranco Camp at 3950 mtrs. It was about 5-6  hours trekking. Going up and down is the best way to get acclimatised. Lava Tower is a huge solitary rock.  High up, in the distance we could see the walls of the Western Breach.

I believe this was the most emotional day for me during the whole  Kilimanjaro expedition (probably more emotional than the summit day…). I could not stop my tiers in my eyes when I saw this beautiful view of Kilimanjaro in the distance. It was breathtaking (of course, discounting altitude…) For some reason, I remembered J. saying that he wanted to explore people the same way I wanted to explore mountains… I was thinking that there is some truth in this but I still need people. I could not have done this without my group mates — they were amazing! I know J. would’ve enjoyed being at the mountain as well. The view was incredible…

A giant Lobelia…

Leaving the camp…

New day for me…

Porters, trekkers passing through…

Teammates taking a break…

On the way to the Lava Tower…

View of the Western Breach…

Lava Tower…

By the Lava Tower – a teammate…

My teammate…

Down to the camp…

Going down to the camp…

In front of Kili…

Up to the camp for the night…

Kilimanjaro view from the camp…

Chef de cuisine…

Aaron and John..

In the cook’s chair…

Sunset from the camp…

Camp view…

Another view of Kili…

Different colors over Kili…

Another view from the camp…

Last sunset pic….