Elevation: 13,044 ft – 13,110ft
Distance: 3.5 milesHiking
Time: approximately 4 hrs (not including 1 hr lunch )
Barranco Camp – Karanga camp (Barranco Wall Day)
DAY 5 KILIMANJARO CLIMB VIA LEMOSHO ROUTE
This was my favorite day!! After the partial breakdown the night before, I was feeling great mentally and physically, all ready to go and summit this mountain in two days.
Portable toilet in Barranco Camp
Day 5 Kilimanjaro climb via Lemosho route – Barranco wall
After the breakfast, we started our uphill climb to the wall. Barranco wall is approximately 1000 ft high, relatively short, but a steep climb.
You will be using both legs and hands when climbing sharp rocks. When you will be going up, look at the porters, they maneuver around those rocks so fast and easy, they carry tables and chairs and able to get up the wall in no time. This job is so physically demanding.
Tea Break
We got up the wall to Karanga valley and after a short gradual hike uphill stopped for a tea break. Of course, tea and biscuits were already served for us. We heard thunderstorm, but fortunately it passed by. We continued our climb to the Karangu camp. The entire climb took about 5 hours including tea break. Easy, enjoyable day!
Birthday celebration at 13,000 ft.
It was one of the group members birthday and porters carried huge custom-made cake for him to the camp, 8,000 feet uphill. He had a real birthday cake with candles and happy birthday song at almost 13,000 ft. That is where you will see the difference between local guide and small personable travel operator from overseas.
After the dinner I was wondering around the camp and got into porters’ tent. Porters and guides eat dinner in their tent separate from climbers.
Porters
Being a porter considered to be a good job in Tanzania especially around Arusha/Moshi/Karatu area. Guide is even a better job, but it requires passing an exam. Porters are very hard workers. Those guys are amazing, some of them wear very old jackets that tourists gave them a long ago, others do not have jackets at all; some are very young, others are older. Some have decent hiking shoes, others just wear old converse or regular shoes. Our 14 climbers group had 19 porters, 1 main guide, 3 guide helpers and 1 cook. Every day porters brought us warm water to brush the teeth and wash the face, cooked breakfast, packed our duffel bags in large plastic bags, packed the climbers’ tents, dining tent, chairs and tables and carry all of that to the next camp. And repeat again for 5-6-7 days. They are lucky if they can spend 3-4 days a month with their families. This is my tribute to Porters, Porters rock! How you can help porters? Leave tips, the tips distributed between porters. Your guide will tell you the suggested tips amount. Leave more if you can. It is a really good cause. Your additional 50 $ can feed the entire family for a month. Leave your climbing clothes and gear for porters. If you happened to have a jacket that you don’t need or a pair of used hiking boots in conditions that you don’t need, leave those for porters. Those little things will make their next climb a little more comfortable.
Back to the porter’s tent, they offered me a chair and a cup of tea. Majority of them did not speak English, I knew only about 10 phrases in Swahili, but we had a great conversation.
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I’m cool as a goat – Conversation in porters tent
All 20 porters stayed in the one large tent, they cooked in the that tent too. Some of them were finishing their dinner, it looked like some kind of meat stew. My adventurous soul wanted to try this stew and I asked if I can try it (primarily using my fingers). After a lot of laughs and short negotiation in broken English they gave me a small plate. It was a very good goat stew (“mdizi mchizi”), very spicy and unique, just a bit too salty for my taste. I asked why they didn’t serve meat stew to climbers for dinner and the guide explained in that they only serve meat the first couple days of the trip to climbers (the meat might get bad after more than three days), the rest of the trip they use canned cook meat. The guide also explained that when the meat is available, they preserve the it using salt and spices and cook it on the mountain for themselves for several days. So, if you are not tired after the climb, walk around the camp, talk to the porters\; it will enhance your overall climbing experience. 20-30 phrases in Swahili go long way on the mountain.
