Mellow start today – packed up and had breakfast by 8:45 – bags weighed and loaded and we were set for the one hour drive to the Machame Gate entrance to the Kilimanjaro National Park.  Lots of paperwork for the guides and we finally hit the trail at 11:00am.  It was cloudy but a nice temperature as we started very gradually up through the rain forest.  Moss covered the trees and ferns blanketed the landscape.  About ninety minutes in, it started to sprinkle and mist, then turned to a full on rain as we donned our waterproof gear.  It wasn’t too bad except it was still warm and we were going uphill so soon my insides were as wet as the outside.  We stopped in a little clearing and ate lunch on a mossy log.  The rain finally let up as we reached camp at 4:30.  Our tents were set up in a neat row with an additional dining tent, kitchen tent and a little one which the guide said was where the Wi-Fi was.  “Seriously?!” asked Emma – turns out that is our “private” camp toilet.  It became our code word for the next week (“I gotta go check the Wi-Fi”) whenever someone had to use the facilities (or any nearby tree or rock for that matter). 

          I took a little hike up the trail about 50 meters to a nice little clearing with some flowering trees and a beautiful view of the valley below.  It was peaceful and away from the hubbub of our mini city (with the three or four other big groups and a few two-person treks, combined with all the porters, there were well over a hundred people spread across the campsite).  I returned to the spot again for some solitude at sundown.  For dinner, we crammed into the mess tent for a yummy (and filling – “eat, eat… you must eat!”) dinner of soup, fried fish, potatoes, veggies, and banana crepes for dessert.  After dark we retreated to the tents for a well-deserved rest.