DAY 1
Marangu Gate (1800 m) to Mandara Hut (2750 m)

* Hike time: 4 hrs
* Elevation change: +950m
* Final elevation: 2750m

The climb (via the Coca-Cola route) starts at the Marangu gate which is at an elevation of about 1800m. A good 4-hr walk through thick rain forests will bring you to the lower camp - Mandara, which is situated at 2727m.
We've got our lunch boxes and after signing in we left the park gate at 2:05PM, arriving to Mandara Huts between 5:30 and 7PM. I did at 6:08PM. At the beginning I was told to breathe through my nose while hikeing, to keep me walk slower, but I am a slow walker anyway, besides I stop from time to time to take a photo which always kept me towards the back of our group. I was breathing rather through my mouth and this was not good, my throat was dry and I could hardly speak. Most of the way I hiked with one of our guides, Freddie. He comes from the southern region of Tanzania and works as a Kili guide for several years already. He was quite talkative and smiling all the time. Also repeating POLE-POLE, which means slowly, and it was the most frequently heard word during the whole Kili expedition. We passed quite a few people coming down, they all would say hi, hello or jambo (hi in Swahili) and I would ask them if they made it to the top. Some did, some didn't, it was about 50/50. We stopped for a break at the picnic tables and there were several mongoose ready to share our meal.

The weather was quite nice, some sunshine, some clouds, some water vapour drops falling down from the trees, along the trail. We were hiking in the montane forest zone with tall trees and thick bushes. I could see several black and white Colobus monkeys and one blue monkey in the woods!.

When I arrived at the huts, I was very happy it's the end of my walk, this first day was a tough beginning as the trail was steep, sometimes rocky and with lots of dry red/brown dust. All my clothes, shoes and even face were covered with thick dust. I was glad that I took it slow and paced myself.

The huts at Mandara are little A-frame cottages scattered across a clearing. The porters brought us warm water to clean ourselves, then we had dinner. It was very good - soup, potatos, boiled leeks, peas and carrots, bread, rice, and tea of course. Some tasty fresh fruit as dessert then. We started taking Diamox tonight, which is used to treat altitude sickness.

The first night was not too cold, we put ourselves into very warm sleeping bags, but I did not sleep well, having some strange dreams and waking up to go to pee. It's quite a challenge to go to the toilets then - it was a door to a hole in the ground. They do flush, but it's just a hole in the ground with a porcelain foot tread on both sides.