Today’s climb is only about 4 hours but very rugged over difficult rock terrain. Before we start, I take a telephoto image of the Kibo crater rim. Click for a larger view and see if you can find the path we will use to climb to the top.

Each day we each receive a small allotment of very hot water with which we do our best to stay clean and groomed. By the end of the trip we will both be craving a hot shower and soft bed above all else.

Just before midnight I make a visit to the latrine and am treated to a crystal clear night sky with more stars than you can imagine. Despite the frigid temperatures I go back for my camera and tripod to make several long exposures with Kibo as a backdrop. Unfortuanately, the small camera I am using for this trip does not do well with this type of photography and you will have to trust me when I say that you could see millions of stars on this evening.

We stand at the entrace to the cave which bears the name of our camp site for the evening.

The idea of an acclimatization walk is that you climb with no pack several hundred meters higher than you will sleep that evening and stay there for at least 15 minutes. This helps your body adapt to the higher altitudes by adjsuting the consistency of your blood so that it can carry more oxygen.

Nico is exhausted after today’s climb and collapses in the tent for a brief nap before we begin our afternoon acclimitization walk. At this altitude we are again bathed in a cloud.

Our camp today is filled with bird song mostly attributeable to this little fellow and his many friends. Our guides called them Tennis Ball birds for reasons not entirely clear to me.

Nico saw an opportunity for an interesting photo and asked me to hold still while he captured this image of my zipper pulls. Throughout the journey I was impressed by many of the photos Nicolai took.

Everywhere we turn there are wonderful creatures and plant life. We spend a lot of time looking at the path to make sure we don’t twist an ankle making it easy to spot this little fellow.

The temperature continues to drop as we ascend and the vegetation continues to diminish in stature.

On the trail Nicolai notices unique paw print tracks. According to our guide these are from a Black Leopard which he judges to be about 6 foot in length. They hunt by night lying in wait by the side of the trail to ambush prey which make use of the well worn path. Also in this photo is another unique foot print, the circular mark made by Nico’s crutch tip, one, which I dare say, is even more rare on this mountain than the leopards.

As it turned out, most of today’s 6-hour climb was literally inside the clouds. We ascended 1000m and descended 200m making camp at Second Cave. Nicolai remains strong but it becomes apparent to us that when he runs out of energy, he must be fed before he can start moving again, just like a car that runs out of gas. Fortunately, we have plenty of supplies with us and Nico has been demonstrating an openness to all sorts of new foods.

The sun can be very strong here, just three degrees off the equator, and I insist that Nico wears good protective covering at all times.

Nico and I are up in time to enjoy the surise as it illuminates distant Mawenzi, the 5149m smaller brother to 5895m (19,341 ft) Kibo which is the main Kilimanjaro peak.