The Adventure- Day 2, Mandara Hut to Horombo hut

Mandara Hut the next morning

Today we wake up to sunshine at Mandara Hut. Breakfast is just as nice as dinner, and it is just as cold in the morning as it was last night. After breakfast we get everything sorted out, and we're off. We take a short detour to see the Maundi Crater, which presents lovely views of both Kibo and Mawenzi (the mountain's two peaks). We leave the rainforest and enter the moorland, which is filled with tall grasses and flowers.

Mawenzi (the closer one) and Kibo

We hike up, up, up, and at one point we hike straight up for over an hour. At the top it is the halfway point, where we eat our lunches. The clouds catch up with us, though, and we're hiking under the clouds. At a place named "Masheu Point," we get great views of a small volcano that the chagga used to climb and pray at the top. We head on, and the vegetation gets shorter as we go up. When we round a corner, we see Horombo Hut (12204 ft.). It takes ten minutes to get there, but we get there.

Horombo Hut with Kibo

 We sleep in one of the small brown huts, and eat dinner in the large dining hall. Horombo hut is higher than I have ever been in my life, excluding airplanes. It feels even colder than it was at Mandara when the sun goes down, and once again we have to use our headlights to guide us back to our room. We then try and get some rest. Tomorrow we go to Kibo Hut.

The "Chagga Volcano" in the moorland