Mount Kilimanjaro (and Laundry)

I hiked on Mount Kilimanjaro! Yesterday Shari and I took a day hike in Mt Kili National Park - we hiked for FIVE HOURS (three were UPHILL!!), went up about 3000 feet in elevation, and finally made it to the Mandara Huts - the first base camp on the Marangu route. I am completely amazed that I was able to do this, as I am not the most athletic person in the world. My body is telling me to rest today, but I am proud of our accomplishment. FYI, to go to the top of Mt Kili is a 5-7 day journey (and a $1500 price tag!).

Have I mentioned yet that laundry is quite a chore here? It's done by hand in buckets. First you have to fill a bucket with water and detergent, then let your clothes soak for about 10 minutes. Since we tend to get really dirty and sometimes muddy, next you use a scrub brush to attempt to remove some of the worst stains. After that there are several cycles of rinsing, wringing, rinsing, wringing before you hang the clothes out on the line to dry. Once everything has dried (hopefully that only takes a day, but if it rains you just have to wait) then each item must be ironed to make sure you kill any Putzi fly eggs that might have been laid in your clothes. The process takes quite some time!

Today I'm not feeling great. Thought it was just aches from our climb, but now I think I also have a low grade fever. Ugggh. I don't want to be the first in our group to catch some lovely tropical bug. Just taking it easy the rest of today and hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow.

Tomorrow will likely be another tough day as we go back to Pasua to visit more of the TAFCOM families.

P.S. Shari is also keeping a blog - the address is http://sharij.blogspot.com if you would like to see what she has to say about our adventures.