All four of us were fairly relieved leaving "Big Tree" camp. We were somewhat unsettled yesterday evening, and the toilets at this camp were in terrible condition. Bruce also had a bout of "projectiling" during the night, and both Delmence and I had headaches and felt nauseous. The three of us started taking Diamox to help us acclimatise but Raymond decided to be experimental and not take any. Let's see how this is going to pan out!
Into the moorland…
Our hike took us through the rainforest again and after an hour we reached the moorland. It was really odd to see how radically the scenery changes, looking as if a line is drawn between the two areas' fauna. Even the soil changed from "volcanic red dust" to volcanic black dust". This horrible fine dust creeps in everywhere and by the end of the day I looked as if I could be classified as a different race!
For me the moorland was even more beautiful than the rainforest. Quite unbelievable, but the fauna is very similar to the Western Cape, with proteas, heide and fynbos!
We again took today "pole pole" which means "slowly slowly". So even though we were now 3610 m above sea level, our bodies coped very well and we didn't feel as out of breath as yesterday.
And out again – seeing Kili peak for first time!
Leaving the moorland, we came over the last hill and could for the first time see Kili peak! Up to now it was under cloud and out of sight. I even started to wonder whether this mountain actually exists!
We now entered the Shira plateau, and could instantly feel the weather becoming cold. Again it was surreal to see the fauna change dramatically from moorland to... flatness. This is the coldest campsite as it is so exposed and the tents often freeze overnight. This has been a relatively easy and very enjoyable day. Tomorrow should be our last easy day so I am really looking forward to walking from Shira 1 to Shira 2 tomorrow!
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