we arrived this afternoon at lava tower. on our way we crossed paths with the most popular route , the machame route and got a sense of how many people climb the mountain. there was a caravan or porters on the ridge. we feel lucky to go via a longer , more serene am scenic route. It also helps immensly with acclimitization and likelihood of a succesful ascent to the top.

Staff of African walking company have been great. We are 7 climbers supported by 33 staff: head guide, three asst guides, a cook and 28 porters, some of whom have specialized tasks. We have a private portable toilet – The toilet porter/tech is female- a rarety among mountain staff.

The food is exceptionally good considering where we are and some dishes we’d happly have at a restaurant. We have 3 warm meals daily. freshly made soups, fresh vegetable salads, fish, chicken, rice, fries etc. we get papaya, pineapple,watermelon or mango as well. We eat quite a lot. did i mention there is also afternoon tea with popcorn or roasted peanuts.

more about our routine in another post.