We woke up after a good night's sleep in our warm sleeping bags. In the morning, Tafaeli, our chief guide, woke us up by bringing us tea right in bed – this was to happen on all mornings of the hike. Quite the service!!! Kendra, who likes to put sugar everywhere (in soup, in food in general - along with chili sauce), would decline sugar in her tea and would answer very cutely: “Tafaeli, you’re my sugar!”.
Day two consisted of a five-hour hike to Horombo Hut, an ascent of 1000 meters or so. A half-hour after leaving Mandara Hut, the landscape gives way to moorland – alpine vegetation. (thanks Georgie for the pic)
Protea flowers captured the attention of our two South Africans...
(thanks Jenni for the pic)...whereas I was more fascinated by this little guy crawling on my sleeve - a chameleon.
(thanks Jenni for the pic)Soon after we entered the moorland, it started raining. We pulled out our raingear. Lesson of the climb for me – it was confirmed that I should have treated my six-year old, loyal MEC Goretex jacket for waterproofing before I’d left – it’s travelled the world with me but is getting old. Thankfully, I had a poncho from Marangu Hotel, which I got to use on top. With my yellow bag cover, I was the colours of a Christmas elf or a traffic light: (thanks Georgie for the pic)
And then right at Horombo Hut, alpine cacti (cactuses) appear in the moorland:
Team Black leading us, Tafaeli closing the group, and Melissa struggling a little with her upset stomach – with the rain, this second day was slightly more difficult than the first one (which was really a walk in the park). We made it to Horombo Hut early in the afternoon and did our best to dry our clothes. It was significantly colder and the customary soup at dinner (with sugar and chili sauce for Kendra) was more than welcome.
(thanks Kendra for the pic)
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