Adventure with a purpose: The Cause: #trek4hunger2015 The Challenge: Mt Kilimanjaro Day 2 - The charity: Meals on Wheels South Africa

4 October 2015: Day 2: The Rongai Gate
1st Caves Camp Altitude: 1 950m to 2 600m

Breakfast and transfer to the start of route. We would Register at the Park Gate and transfer (approximately two and half hours) to the Rongai trail-head. We would begin our hike from the village of Nale Moru. The small winding path crosses maize fields before entering pine forest, then climbs gently through a forest sheltering a variety of Wildlife, including the Kilimanjaro Colobus monkey. Our campsite would be on the edge of the moorland zone with expansive views of the Kenyan plains.

We woke up early enjoyed a great breakfast and packed the vehicle. The gardens at Mountain Inn are lovely and very colourful. It is amazing how hot it is at this level and crazy to think thank in less than 48 hours temperatures would plummet and all our warm clothing would be coming out in a hurry.

and we are on our way and we get a chance to check out the stunning Tanzanian country side.

Zone 1 Lower Slopes - Cultivation regions

There are 5 distinctive zones found on Kilimanjaro: 1: Lower slopes which is the areas of cultivation. this Zones ends at around 1800 m. 2: Forest from a round 2000 m to 2700 m. 3: Heath and Moorland from around 3000 m to 4000 m. 4: Highland Desert - High desert zone from around 4000 m to 5000 m. 5: Summit from around 5000m to 6000m

Within each of these 5 zones is an association between altitude, rainfall, temperatures, plants and animals. With different special geological sites.

getting closer to the gate - it is becoming real!! so exciting.

at the park gate - documentation and registration

making our way through the lower lopes

Zone 1: Lower Slopes: around most of the lower slopes we found a lot of livestock grazing, cows and goats and a few horses as well as evidence of cultivation. The arrival of humans heralded the change in the natural vegetation patterns and what used to be scrub, bush and lowland forest is now grassland or cropland. On the northern and eastern slides which are too dry for cultivation we can still what is left of the some of the former lowland vegetation. The lower slopes of Kilimanjaro receives water which falls as rain inside the forest zone then is this percolated through underground channels. This water together with the fertile volcanic soil that supports the densely populated settlements.

Rain clouds brewing!

having our packed lunch at the gate!

Hayden and myself

Cheryl and Jana filling up water bottles

The team at the start of our epic journey. Day 1 on the mountain. It started off as a hot day drinking a lot of our water as we made our way through the maize fields.Along the way we passed several wild flowers and vines. We found lots of the blue morning glory attached to shrubs and small trees. In this cultivated zone we did not see any large wild animals however the smaller ones like Genet, Tree Hyrax and Greater galago can sometimes be heard and if you are quiet enough you may even get to see them. Our guides told us that the Tree Hyrax make really weird cries at night. They sound like a bunch of clicks and creaks followed by several high screeches. These little guys are soft-furred and sadly are often trapped in their holes and killed. Their fur is used to make blankets or robes. The Tanzanian authorities ask that we help to protect them by not buying or using any hyrax blanket.

Colobus Monkey, Kiambethu, Limuru

Along with its relative, the red colubus, the black-and-white colobus monkey is found in Africa. Infants of the black-and-white genus are born with white fur and pink faces. When they are around a month old they begin to change to their adult coloring — black bodies with white shoulders, beards and backs.

The colobus monkey’s abdomen is adapted in size and shape to digest its meals, and it can digest toxic or mature leaves that other monkeys can’t, aided by a process called bacterial fermentation.

Interestingly the colobus monkey does not have thumbs like other monkeys do. It leaps more than 19.7 feet (6 meters) in the air from tree to tree — even a mother with her young hanging from her chest can leap this far. I was so excited to see these guys in action and was rather impressed with their agility. They are gorgeous and to see them in the wild, in their natural habitat was such a treat.

These awesome monkeys are found in troops of three to fifteen members. We spotted about 7 of them we did not notice any babies but that are known to be very protective of their young. Humans hunt young colubuses monkeys for their meat and white fur. Sadly because the other members of the troop will defend their young, entire troops can be killed.

Things have somewhat changed and today their biggest threat is that of habitat loss

some other interesting facts:

Old World Monkey

Alternative names: Colubus guereza, Black and white colobus
Found in Africa
Habitat: Coastal, inland and montane forests
Diet: Leaves, fruits, flowers and twigs
Size: 19 to 24 inches long
Weight: 17 to 44 pounds
Average lifespan: 20 to 30 years
Conservation status: Least Concern

Red colobus monkeys are similar to the black and white colobus except for the auburn color on the back of their heads and body. They are very vulnerable to habitat destruction and are known to be hunted by common chimpanzees for food.

The diet of a colobus monkey consists mostly of leaves, which it can digest easily with its special, four-chambered stomach, as well as fruits, preferably those that are unripe, flowers, twigs, bark and soil. Strangely, the mantled guereza, one of the species of colobus monkeys, occasionally likes to eat concrete!

our first stop in the forest to take a breather in the welcome coolness of the shaded area.

In the Forest Zone taking a breather

Brent catching us on a break

The 5 zones mentioned earlier occupy belts of a approximately 1000 m of altitude each. you will find that the temperature falls about 1 degree for every 200, we increase in altitude and as we make our way up. The rainfall also decreases steadily with altitude from the forest zone upwards. The plant life is abundant in the areas of higher temperatures and rainfall. As we climb higher though you will see that plant life decreases, not because of the height but because conditions are colder and much drier. Remembering that animal life is depend on plants we will find fewer animals in the higher altitudes.

Other porters pass us along the way - everyone is very friendly and you pick up some of the Tanzanian phrases very quickly.

The forest is damp and because of this and together with the altitude there is a frequent wide band of cloud around this zone especially between 2500 - 3000 m. Protected from the sun by the clouds this moisture is not easily evaporated leading to high humidity, dampness and fog drip. The nights can be surprisingly cold when its clear and daytime temperatures range around 15-20 degrees C

and of course a Kili trip would not be a Kili trip without a visit to the famous Kili toilet!!

Zone 2: Forest. This is the richest zone on the mountain and we find a wide band of extremely beautiful montane forest which encircles the whole of Kilimanjaro. 96% of the water on Kilimanjaro originates within this forest zone. Much of the rain that falls on the forest is absorbed by the thick carpet of leaves and then percolates through the soil and the porous lava rock to end up as springs much lower down on the mountain.

We were now entering Zone 3 the Heath and Moorland. This low alpine zone can be divided into two communities heath and moorland. The climate here is usually cool and clear except for some mist and fog at the forest boundary. Above 3000 m frost becomes regular and sunshine can be intense, so lots of sunscreen needed here!!

The many flowers on the upland grassland are rather striking. the most common are my favorite as the photo below shows, these are the everlasting flowers that grow in clumps and look rather prickly and stiff. The flowers are white, pink and yellow and gold. a common one is the Helichrysum meyeri-johannis, which has a single daisy-like flower that are red on the outside and pink in the centre. Another is the H. argyranthum displaying its greenish-white flowers and the H. kilimanjari has rather unexpected lemon-scented leaves and yellow-brown flowers heads.

Many beautiful looking grasses grow in this zone which also protect the soil and conserve the moisture the soil needs. Some of the grasses even have very pretty delicate colourful flower-heads.

the spectacular and haunting Mount Mawenzi

Camp 1 - Simba Camp - Each camp has a sign board that even has the relevant information on.

The Heath part of the zone is characterized by beautiful heather and heath-like shrubs. Giant heather (Erica arborea) abounds - it is an interesting tree with a gnarled trunk that grows up to 10 m in the upper forest but will only reach around 3 m higher up on the moorland. It's flowers are small and white, bell-shaped and are usually clustered at the end of its short branches.

Another common plant in this belt is the Philippia excelsa. This is much more bushy than the Erica and has flatter more cup-shaped tiny white flowers. both plants actually have rather tiny leaves. As you look along the health its vast dusty colours become richer as the sun starts to sink above the Kenyan plains. standing out this landscape with its fresh green colour and bright yellow blooms is the Hypericum revolutum. We found several cypress like bushes which our guides told us can reach up to 3 m and have clusters of green-white flowers. Another shrub with its rather tiny scale-like silver leaves and tiny yellow flowers, which are clustered near the end of its twigs add a variety of colour to the greens and greys.

I took a little walk around the camp looking for some close ups with the many stunning flowers and grasses.

Scattered throughout the grassland are many prickly gorse-like bushes many with yellow flowers. The guides showed us various shrubby herb bushes which are used for medicinal purposes, some with lacy white felted leaves. .

Our first sunset on Kilimanjaro - the sky lite up hues of pinks, lilacs and blues.

Our first dinner on the mountain and my favorite Cucumber soup. It is amazing as we go higher up into the clouds every night we are treated to this. Everything is carried by our amazing porters including a loo!! Having a portable loo was a new experience for me on Kilimanjaro!

we settled in for our first night on the mountain, listening to the mountain sounds, the sounds of the camp winding down as the porters washed up and sorted camp out.