Sunday, Day 1, night.
We spend our first night at Machame Camp, 3010m (9,875ft). We are all amazed by three things: the vileness of the long drop toilets, the brightness of the stars when we’re up this high and how cold it gets after the sun sets. Compared to the slog up through the rainforest, tonight’s temperature is decidedly low.
So after we share a beer between 22 (we’d been warned off alcohol), we head to bed and the first night of camping many of us has done in a very long time – and for one or two, the first time ever. When I lie down, I become aware of my heart beating a bit faster than normal. Must be the altitude, but at least I know I’m still alive. Me and my fellow tenty are warm and comfortable. People in adjacent tents are sleeping or not, as the case may be. Many of them have started taking Diamox and are having to extricate themselves from their tents to answer a call of the wild. Diamox is a diuretic. I’ve decided not to take it for the moment, because the only other symptom I have is a vague headache.
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