Thursday, February 18, 2010

Kilimanjaro Climb Day 4, Africa Day 7
Barranco Campsite 13,500 feet


This morning I was looking forward to wirting a journal entry about how good I’ve been feeling and how easy this trip has been so far. Everybody but Nate felt like hell while I was singing, dancing, and doing handstands.


The day started out with handstands

Hiking down from Lava Tower in the Rain



The hike began and things went downhill from there. My head began pounding at about 14,000 feet. We had lunch near the Lava Tower (I didn’t feel too bad at this point) and the rain started coming down. We hiked to Lava Tower- but couldn’t see it until we were up close because the clouds were so dark and rainy. The rain continued to come down as we hiked from Lava Tower (15,200) to our next camp (13,500feet). I was hoping my headache would go away as we descended into camp. We got in (soaking wet) and I tried to lay down. At that moment I thought I was going to die. Tears flowed as I did everything I could to keep my brains from coming out of my eyeballs. Our guide told me to suck it up and take the diamox (altitude meds). I had made a personal goal for myself not to use it on this trip- but the awful pain took precedent. About 15 minutes after the drugs I was finally able to sleep. That stuff is amazing. The big side effect is frequent urination. With my tiny bladder this should be an interesting night.

Jornaling on the Toilet



Speaking of urination we just busted folks from another group (today we merged with the Machame Trail so this campsite is really full) using our private toilet. Out guide was so upset he had some of our porters move the toilet tent. They moved the tent before the toilet so to make a point I went over there and wrote part of this jornal entry sitting on the wide open toilet.

I do have a feeling I will come home heavier than ever. They keep reminding us to eat as much as possible to prevent altitude sickness. Bad combo for Shana- my favorite thing of all time is eating and my phobia is vomiting. So needless to say I’ve been stuffing my face non stop. Food is great though!

Now we are going to eat dinner and get some sleep. After today’s headache I’m getting very nervous about the rest of the climb. But I WILL make it.

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