The Berlin Wall

Africa - Day 6 - Saturday September 28

Wake up call was at 6 AM today.  Even though we only had a short hike, our guide was concerned about traffic since the wall is so narrow. We ate breakfast and we were on the trail by 7 AM.  We hiked downhill for about a tenth of a mile, 200 feet vertical, and we crossed three streams. We quickly arrived at the base of the wall and started our ascent. 

All along we were told of a "trail."  There was no trail. We started scaling this wall using all four limbs and doing our best not to look down. Most of the sketchy areas only had drops of 5-20 feet but a few were a bit further. At one point we came to the "Kissing Rock."  It's called that because as you stretch across the rock with your one foot and one hand, you have to basically kiss the rock and slide across to the other side.  It's recommended not to look down.

Today's climb was truly something we will never forget. At the top, we all just hugged and relished in our accomplishment. It was a big deal.  After catching our breath we took a few pictures and started on our way to camp.  We hiked down along a ridge to what looked like a desert.  We walked through the desert to another ridge.  From there, we could see camp.  Awesome, a lot closer than we thought.  Another few turns and, uh oh.... Camp was on the other side of a 500 foot valley.  Think standing on one side of the Grand Canyon looking at your camp on the other side.

We hiked down 500 feet, crossed a stream and hiked up another 500 to camp.  The walls were pretty steep so it was slow going.  We checked in with the ranger and walked uphill to our campsite. The entire camp ground is on a fairly steep slope.  We arrived around noon and lunch was waiting for us.  The total hike for today was 4 hours 7 minutes, 3.21 miles (mileage didn't count going vertical up the wall) and camp was at about the same altitude as the night before, 13,300.

As we ate lunch we noticed the weather varied from cold to hot.  Not chilly to warm but cold to hot.  As the sun came out the temperature spiked but as soon as the clouds rolled in the temperature plummeted. After lunch we had 3 hours to ourselves. We basically just hung around the mess tent remising about the day.  At 3:30 they brought snacks and at 4 we went another acclimation hike.

Today's hike was 300 feet up from camp to another ridge. We took a few pictures but the clouds had rolled in so we couldn't see much. Back at camp, the clouds cleared just enough for us to see part of Kilimanjaro.  I really wish the weather had been nicer but the small glimpse we saw looked amazing. 

We hung out and walked around camp a bit to kill time.  At 7 it was time for dinner.  Tonight's meal was soup, rice with sauce and then a nice custard desert.  After dinner it was off to bed......