Teal Diva Climbs Mt Kilimanjaro Day 3

We wake up on day 3 to frost on our tents and ground.  It was chilly too.  We had breakfast and I am starting to see a trend here...hotdogs, scrambled eggs, porage, homemade toast, peanut butter, jam, coffee, hot tea.  We had a great view of Kilimanjaro.  Absolutely gorgeous view.  We are above the clouds.  It is really kind of crazy to look out and see only clouds...nothing else below you. 

The green tent in the photo below on the far left side of the picture was where we ate our meals.  And take a moment to find the tall tent kind of in the back right corner accompanied with the wooden out house.  Yep...the bathrooms.  Our tent was the light green one in front of the bathroom.  Let's have a moment of silence...

The ice caps on top of this mountain are 5 stories high.  Just to put into perspective how far away we still are but also we will be summiting this thing the following night.

So we took the opportunity of this beautiful morning to film a little bit about why we were all here.  Lisa talked about her mom who had passed away of ovarian cancer the previous year and raising awareness of ovarian cancer through The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.  I talked a little about Teal Diva.  We also sang a little of the Kilimanjaro song...OK I will let you in on the words of the song:

JAMBO. JAMBO BWANA. HABARI GANI. MZURI. SANA WAGENI. MWAKARIBISHWA. KIILMANJARO. HAKUNA MATATA.

Once we started hiking, I actually lead the group for a few minutes.  But at one point, they all passed right on by.  And I quickly brought up the rear once again.  It's OK, I know my role.  So as we are hiking we are in the Moreland.  We have been for the better part of day 2 and now day 3.  The clouds come in so thick and hide the mountains like you wouldn't believe.  Flora is now our guide daily.  Today Eddie/Edwin (Edoo-Edoo) is hanging out with us too.  He is one of the main guides.  Flora is probably thankful he gets to talk to someone other than me:)!

Here are a few things on the trail today...

These are called Paper Flowers...I think.

The trails are really dusty. 

This is just our view as we are walking and looking around.

The mountain in the background was so beautiful but people are not allowed to climb because of falling rock.  It was constantly on our left and kept our attention when Kili was behind the clouds.  It looks fairly small here but it was gigantic.

As we continue to climb, breathing is getting more difficult.  Kilimanjaro continues to be on our right and I can't help but think...will I make it up this thing.  It's almost like she is teasing me.  There were times I walked alone and had a lot of time to think.  I kept thinking about Kelly, Lydia, Sharon, Pamela, Patsy, Erica, Ruth, Trap, Becky and all of the other survivors and people who had passed on. Sometimes I don't know what I thought...I just looked around and took it all in.

Our first look at our next camp.  As I said, porters have passed us and already

set everything up so that by the time we arrive, we just rest.

Just before getting to camp, I remember my hands literally feeling like they were on fire.  I had already applied sunscreen twice.  I was putting on 50 SPF but it felt like I had lathered my skin with baby oil.  I looked down and saw how red my arms and hands were.  So when we arrived at camp, I went looking for something to soothe the burn.  Out of all the first aide stuff...nothing for a burn...no aloe...nothing.  I found these things I had been using for cleaning my body and they had aloe in them and so I took one out and just put them on my hands.  I remember laying in the tent and feeling like the sun was coming right through.  After a short nap, we took pictures of this old water buffalo skull we found.  Today, I drank about 3 liters of water...holy smokes. 

Do we look tan?  We're not...that's dirt.

The following two pictures are of the clouds.  Unbelievable.

We also took this time to film a little bit for our documentary.  I got pretty emotional thanking people and thinking of people.  We are all tired.  The food is making everyone gassy and a tent is no place to be if you are gassy.  Camping went from being fun on Day 1 to being obnoxious on Day 3.  The food is starting to blend together a little bit.  For me at least...everything has different names but it all tastes the same.  It's getting colder at nights and so we sleep with more and more clothing on.  The dirt is getting harder to get off and I never thought I would give up on trying to keep my hands clean.  You could use sanitation cleanser, wipes, hot water...whatever...your hands aren't getting clean.  And it's not just your hands...its everything.  On a brighter note, everyone is being silly too.    More to come...