Mt. Meru hike day two... the next level!

If you missed day one, you will want to start reading here...

https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2021/01/mt-meru-tanzania-hike-day-one.html

Because of our late start on day one, we had not arrived at Mariakamba Hut until about 6:30pm Monday evening. The first day hike had not been that strenuous and we were feeling pretty good. We had done about 9 kms (5.5 miles) uphill, rising in altitude 915 meters (3,000').

Our ranger Dominic had set a fairly slow pace and we weren't doing much more than 2 km/h. They really stress that you need to go slowly for proper acclimatisation, and a higher chance of success of achieving the summit. 

We got to bed at about 10:45pm that night. The accommodations were better than expected, but the walls were paper thin and one of the Russians in the room next door snored like a freight train. I don't understand how people who snore can sleep themselves!

Unfortunately, due that, we did not sleep well. Not only the snoring though. They stress how important it is to drink lots of water, but that means getting up during the night two or three times to go pee! So you're supposed to drink before going to bed, and drink as soon as you get up. And while hiking, so we each had to carry 3 liters of drinking water while hiking.

Day two was going to be a shorter hike of only 6.0 kms (3.7 miles), but much steeper gaining 1,077 meters (3,500') in altitude. Also, there was an option to do an extra 3.0 kms (1.8 miles) before dinner to further acclimatize, and we fully planned on doing that. 

So starting off tired was not an ideal situation.

We were woken up at 6:30am. The porters bring bowls of hot water to your room to wash with, as well as a hot drink. We had a choice of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or fresh ginger tea which is very popular in Tanzania.

Clear view of Kilimanjaro at sunrise.

And a nice view of the summit of Mt. Meru.

Kilimanjaro at 7:20am.

7:30am we headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

They feed you really well! Our cook always made too much food. Too much is far better than too little!

Breakfast starters with millet porridge (not my favorite, but I ate it!) and fruit.

Breakfast main course of eggs, sausages and cassava flour crepes.

It was a good breakfast and we had full stomachs to start the day! They also give you snacks to carry along the hiking route.

We left the camp at 8:30am, and arrived at Saddle Hut at 1:30pm. So it took us 5 hours to do the 6 km (3.7 mile) hike!

Here are some photos of the route...

Heading uphill!

Can you see the female porter coming up behind us?

Yet another view of Kilimanjaro.

Now she is ahead of us!

Me and Dominic.

View of Little Meru Mountain.

The plan is to rest at camp, and then climb Little Meru that same afternoon!

Zoomed in on Kilimajaro.

Our guide Mudy, with Ruth.

Scenery along the way.

Again, we were doing this part of the hike with our guide Mudy and new friends Spencer and James and their guide, as well as our ranger Dominic.

We didn't see as much wildlife on this part of the hike, but he greenery and vegetation were still beautiful, as well as some of the views.

Another porter heading up faster than us!

Lots of interesting vegetation.

Heading higher.

Porter.

Heading higher, with a view of Mt. Meru summit.

About the half way point at 10:50am.

Me, having a snack.

Mushroom.

Another mushroom.

Change of vegetation.

Taking another break.

When we arrived close to the Saddle Hut, there was a distinct change in vegetation. Besides that, there had been a forest fire through here in 2015 and things are only just starting to green up again.

I made some notes when we arrived, and one of the things I said was that my hips were a little bit sore, and my feet were a little bit tired, but other than that I was feeling really good. 

We relaxed for a bit while lunch was prepared.

It was after 2:30pm when we had lunch.

Lots of these White Necked Ravens around.

So after lunch we did the hike up to Little Meru. It took us an hour going up, and about 40 minutes coming down. Besides the views, this is a good hike to get your system used to a little more altitude.

Saddle Hut.

View towards  Mt. Meru which is in the clouds.

Scenery along the way.

The trail that we came up.

Mt Meru cleared up!

That is where we will be heading in only a few short hours!

Views near the top of Little Meru.

We made it to the top of Little Meru at 5:00pm.

3,820 meters (12,533 feet).

Mudy, Kevin, Ruth, Shabiru.

Mudy and Shabiru will both be accompanying us on our summit attempt.

The trail we will be doing in the early morning in the dark.

Heading back down.

We made it back down and had dinner between 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Then we had a half hour meeting with our guide Mudy, where he prepared us for what was to come. Then it was time to go to bed! We would have a 4 hour sleep and then be awakened at midnight. Then we would have a half hour to have a quick "breakfast" at midnight, and then another half hour to get all dressed up in our layers and winter gear and then set off shortly after 1:00am for a five to seven hour hike to the summit at 4,566 meters (14,980 feet) .

It all sounds very strenuous... and we were about to find out just how strenuous.

Stay tuned... next post, the summit attempt.

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