February 1, 2006: The Rain Forest

Our trek begins. We enter the rain forest which starts as a wide jeep trail before narrowing into a single track path sheltered by the canopy of trees overhead. This alpine rain forest apparently accounts for 96% of the water on Kilikanjaro. As a result of the moisture, thick cloud cover is the norm, as it was today. The winds carry this moisture upward where they contribute to glacier formation. One contributing factor to the rapid disappearance of the Kilimanjaro glacier cap of its summit is the deforestation of the cultivated zones below the forest. Less vegetation...less moisture.

Gear Bags on Kilimanjaro: Backpack vs Duffle

[photo: porters weigh gear at Machame gate and argue in Swahili about who has to carry the yellow man's yellow bag]

One of the questions we had when planning our Kilimanjaro climb was what we should use as our gearbag. I went with the North Face Base Camp Duffle, which I already owned. The rest of the team used large capacity backpacks. In the end, either one did the trick.

Whichever gearbag is used, my only advice is to make sure it is BIG and make sure it is waterproof. In addition to the fact that my duffle was waterproof, I also purchased 3 sizes of ziplock plastic bags (regular size, 1 gallon, and 2 gallon). These were great for organizing all my gear and allowed me to quickly find stuff, and to pack when we were at camp.

It seemed to me that most of the gearbags the porters carried on the trail for clients tended to be backpacks. I assume this is because backpacks are what most people have access to. However, I would definitely recommend using a duffle if one is accessible. Packing up in the mornings was never fun for Ajay, Jeremiah, or Jen when every cubic inch of their backpacks was crammed to capacity. My bag was pretty full as well, but it's just easier to squeeze stuff into a duffle. Believe me, this was no easy task at altitude, when every movement seemed to take an extraordinary amount of energy.

REGARDING WEIGHT:
Although our gearbags that the porters carried weren't suppose to exceed 15 kg, we topped off 1-2 kg over this (I think all of us did). They didn't have a problem with this when the bags were weighed at Machame Gate. Ultimately, the porters carried not only our gear but an additional 5-10 kg of camp equipment. The speed at which they were able to hike with this weight was pretty amazing. All gear bags were carried by the porters on their heads, irregardless of whether it was a duffle or a backpack.

In addition to the gearbags, each of our daypacks weighed approximately 10-12 kg. Most of this weight was water (3 liters or so), spare layers, and food. Ajay's and my daypacks pushed 14 kg on some days due to our camera gear.