A day on Kilimanjaro begins between five and six in the morning, with a pulse oximeter reading and a cup of milky tea brought to your tent door.
After breakfast (eggs, porridge, toast, fresh fruit), the team strikes the high tents while you do final layering. We are usually walking by eight, with the cool of the morning still in the air.
We walk slowly. Pole pole, in Kiswahili — slowly, slowly. The pace is deliberate: a slow, even stride that the body can sustain for hours, with water and a snack at every break. Lunch is hot, somewhere on the trail.
By mid to late afternoon we arrive at camp. Tents are already pitched. There is hot water for washing, sweet tea, popcorn. Pulse oximeter again. Dinner at sunset, then early to bed — the mountain does not care about your evening preferences.