Day 8: Marangu (Day 1 of Kilimanjaro part)

Saturday, 28 September

Elevation: 1,860 m, forest terrain (Marangu gate)

Leaving Mto Wan Mbu and hitting the road, dropped off a group at Arusha airport and some us at a hotel in Arusha. The rest heading towards Nairobi.

Had a weird interaction with the driver who when we asked him for a toilet stop dismissed the option flat out. We were taken aback a little but he soon realised that this might not be the right course of action and stopped at a petrol station.

Today was basically a driving day. At the Kilimanjaro hotel in Marangu we had a briefing with two guides that will be with us on the hike. They went through the packing and security information, how to hike on a mountain this high and so on. There is a 9kg limit on the amount the porters are allowed to carry on their backs and this is surprisingly easy to surpass. Just think how you pack for you Ryanair trip where the limit is 15kg. And we are going up a mountain… For days!