Adventure with a purpose: The Cause: #trek4hunger2015 The Challenge: Mt Kilimanjaro Day 3 - The charity: Meals on Wheels South Africa

5 October 2015: Day 3 - 1st Caves camp - Kikelewa Caves Altitude: 2600m to 3450m

Itinerary:

challenging ascent to the "second Cave" where you will relax and have lunch with superb views of Kibo and the ice fields on the crater rim. after lunch proceed towards the jagged peaks of Mawenzi, where we camp in a sheltered valley near Kikelewa Caves

We woke up to a beautiful day with clear deep blue skies and the fresh smells of morning wild flowers dusted by mist during the night filled our sensors. I love Kilimanjaro and all its sounds. The birds chirping as the sounds of the porters making up camp filling the campsite. The smells of food cooking, the clanking of dishes as they are washed and packed away, the aroma, the business of the early morning, sense of urgency to get going, the beautiful singing of the porters, cooks and crews getting ready to leave. The excited chatter of the trekkers filling their water bottles and last minute checks to their backpacks as the day becomes real- we are on Kilimanjaro and away and up we go!

Our first good look at the ice fields on Kilimanjaro. so close yet so far. Loved the starkness of the grey rock and loose soil against the white of the glaciers up against the incredible blue clear skies rising above the greens, greys, yellows and lilacs of the brush bellow.

The team is up and about to rock and roll!!

The vast and beautiful Kenyan plains below us now covered in cloud. We were now above the clouds!!

Mawenzi with its fantastic jagged edges basking in the morning sun. We would be heading that way and make camp with the majestic Mawenzi as our guardian and shelter.

Making our way up through the brush with the incredible scents and fresh mountain air of Africa filling our lungs and sensors

with Mawenzi and Kilimanjaro in the background

taking a break as the very strong and fit porters walk on ahead

Cheryl and I strike a pose - watch Brent in the background stalking!!

and Brent photobombs for an epic Kilimanjaro photos! creating fun memories

Brent Lindeque, Cheryl Howard, Kim Williams, Jana van den Berg

Mom and son team Cheryl and Hayden Howard

Sean and Caryn taking a break

Mawenzi

we arrive at the 2nd Caves for our snack stop

These are small caves with really interesting rocks formations and green moss and yellow flowers growing inside.

the molding damp combined with the strong mineral smells as water drops of the "roof" of the cave onto the grey floor below. Just love the contrasting greys and browns, the grey volcanic "ash" - "dust" and the browns and coppers of the earth.

natures own natural skylight offering some natural light into the cave

chilling in the cool shade of the cave

there are "two" caves next to each other both with spectacular rock formations and copper colours

Marcel one of our fantastic guides

I love caves they always offer some kind of mystery for me - I often wander who lived in here, took shelter in here - if only the walls could speak!!

After our really challenging ascent we were past the caves and made our stop at the Second Caves camp site for our lunch.

other porters getting lunch ready for their teams

Marcel, Hayden, Nestar and Saimon

That Kilimanjaro loo!!

Hayden and Nestar

Sean on the move and we were off again to our over night camp!

Still fairly hot and lots of sunscreen needed!

Jana and Cheryl still smiling!!

we pass several small bodies of water along the way - a lot more water than I have seen before on Kilimanjaro

just love this grass as the wind blows across it it reminds me of long haired caterpillars!

the vegetation becomes a bit more coarse and scattered

Brent on the move!

the going gets a little rough with narrow rocky pathways as we make our way up

Mawenzi in the back ground - this will be our camp for the following night

looking behind us - look how far we have come!!

Jana on the move!

Hayden and Cheryl

Jana

adding our mark - leaving a stone on the Cairn

so what are these piles of rocks? a Cairn - a mound of rough stones that trekkers and hikers build as a memorial, landmark. you will find them typically on a hilltop or skyline.

The cairn is a human-made pile or stack of stones and the word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic carn (plural cairn).

after a really tough day we see our camp site in the foreground. lots of yells of joy as we make our way down towards a night camp!!

you can see the trail of porters carrying luggage and equipment in the lower right bottom of the photos

Our loo, our tents and our green mess tent!

as the sun drops and lighting will not last long I headed off on my own to take a few photos

the stunning "everlasting" flowers found all over.

the animal now becomes somewhat limited as the higher we go. I sat and watched these birds interacting with common brown mouse and my favorite the 4 striped mouse

some interesting mosses and plants hanging down a small ravine while water cascaded off and down the vegetation.

love the way the shadows are created as the sun starts to slip away for the night

everything looks soft and from the distance the grasses look as soft as silk!

just love all the long wild grasses and fine delicate wild flowers

all the golds and greens!!

all the gorgeous textures when you go close up!

pink and reds adding contrast to the golden yellows, browns and greens

as the sun was setting many birds came out and the dawn chatter added to the business of the campsite as dinner was being cooked, the different aromas filling the air with the promise of a hot meal after a long and hard day!

Hot Chocolate after dinner and watching the sun go down!

the temperature at this camp now noticeably drops in the far distance to the right is Mawenzi - where we will be tomorrow night.

eating our peanuts!!

Dusk and time to pack for tomorrow and wash

airing our smelly cloths!!

the four striped mouse!! sat for ages to capture this one - just love the way the sunset lights up its little ears!

really spectacular how the top layer of clouds separate night and day!!

Cheryl adding a silhouette for the photo

incredibly beautiful colour effects coming though the clouds

and then I went finger crazy - the sunset was just so beautiful that I wanted to share it with the whole world. In that moment I wished you all could see what I was witnessing - a sunset on Kilimanjaro is a unique and very special moment. Little did I know a few hours later when I woke up just after 4 am I would witness the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen in my entire life.