Up at 7, pack, breakfast and then meet the guides (Oforo, Julius, and Godfrey), load into the large bus and off we went to Machame Gate at 1500m (4920ft).  We register at the ranger station, sort out loads for the guides, put on our daypacks and are off.  The sign says 4.5 hours to Machame Camp and I’d guess we did it in about that, but the guides kept trying to slow us down.  Tim and Charlotte were laughing at me trying to keep a slow pace.  This was our fastest pace up the mountain.   We had climbed in the heat through the rain forest and camped in the heather zone.  We signed in at the ranger station.  The tents were all set up when we arrived (as they would be every day).  The porters carry everything but your daypack and they move at a much faster pace.  There was wash water and a snack of roasted nuts, popcorn and tea.  The porters were listening on the radio to the Tanzania football (soccer) game.  Tanzania won 3-0 and we were all cheering along with them.  

 

It was already a cold night, about 35F, and we were only at 3000m (9840ft).  I recommend having a pee bottle (clearly marked) so you don’t have to get up multiple times during the night and go out into the cold.  After all, you will be drinking a lot of water; I drank over 5 liters (including water, soup, tea, and all other drinks) the first day.

 

We had been handed a lunch box, which we would on most days except summit day and if we were having a short day and were arriving in camp early in the day we would get a hot lunch in camp.   The lunch box was huge and probably weighed 4lbs.  Lunch usually contained a juice box, a sandwich, a piece of fish or chicken, a bread muffin, a piece of cake, biscuits, a banana and another piece of fruit and a piece of chocolate.