The Mufindi Children's Project : Day 5 - Hiking From Rongai 2 Camp to Kikelewa Camp

Day 5 was a pretty short day where we started at 11,450 ft. elevation and ended the 3-5 hour trek at 11,850 ft. A second night sleeping at relatively low elevations was planned to enable us to acclimatize better for the summit push on Day 8.

We passed from the heath zone and into the moorland zone during the day, and along the way, we explored a cave that our guides called the "Bubble Cave." There are quite a few caves on the flanks of Mt Kilimanjaro which in times past were used as overnight shelters. That practice has been halted in favor of concentrating campers in designated camp spots with nearby water supplies and waste disposal facilities.

Assistant Guide Deo and porter Hussein at the mouth of the "Bubble Cave."

We strapped on our headlamps and went quite far back into the cave. Here is Tom Miller with Deo. In some places, the cave ceiling was low and we had to take care to avoid banging our heads on the rocks.

Some of our porters and guides inside the cave.

David Still on the right sharing the photos he took inside the cave with the others in our group.

At the elevations where the heather and moorland zones are found, roughly 9,000-13,000 ft., there are not many large woody plants. But many of the plants in these areas are quite old, so some older bushes do produce sizeable root wads and stubby trunks, which in this climate get magnificently weathered with the passage of time.

One of the several species of Helichrysum plants that are common in the heath and moorland vegetation zones.

Relative of the carrot.

White-necked ravens start to appear near where trekkers camp in the hope of snitching some morsels of food. Their presence is almost always an indication of a nearby camp or another group of trekkers in the neighborhood.

Even the clouds mimicked the aggressive birds we saw along the way.

There are many types of volcanic rock on the Kilimanjaro strato volcano which collectively consists of Mawenzi, Kibo, and the Shira volcanoes. The earliest eruptions forming this group emanated over one million years ago from the Great Rift valley. The lower slopes, in particular, tend to consist of a lot of low-viscosity lava which traveled far and cooled to form basalt. Many of the more recent eruptions produced different forms of volcanic rock, especially rectangular or rhombic porphyries and phonelites. The crystals in this sample of rock are porphyries.

As we get close to Kikelewa Camp we break out into a large meadow of tussock grass.

The "turtles" easing into camp on a gray, but pleasant afternoon>

Giant senecio plants are commonly found in the moorland zone.

Example of the solar panels carried by the camp porters to light the mess tent and the standing tents.

L-R Jennifer Lindwall, Tom Miller, and David Still sharing a good laugh while waiting for lunch. All wearing rented parkas and happy for it!

Typical of the moorland zone are expanses of tussock grass and giant senecio or groundsel plants.

Another view of the plants and terrain near Kikelewa Camp.

Close-up of giant senecio.

Giant senecio plants.

White-necked ravens waiting for some bits of food to hit the ground or be left unattended.

Another cave right next to the Kikelewa Camp.

We did not take the time to explore this one.

Gray lichen on lava rock.

Porters get a briefing about some persons on the mountain posing as guides or porters who have been stealing things from some of the trekkers or the outfitters. All persons in the national park are supposed to be registered and report in to national park offices that are located at several places on climbing routes.