Swenson’s first day in the rain forest results in five hour climb

Editor’s Note: Sabrina Swenson, a 1986 graduate of Postville High School and a world traveler, shares her trek to Mt. Kilimanjaro with our readers. This is the second of a three part series.

Day one in the rain forest wasn’t a particularly difficult trek, but constantly going up and up, I did need stops periodically. After around five plus hours we finally reached camp for night one. Upon arrival at each camp, we had to visit the ranger station. The ranger would produce a large book which needed to be filled out including name, age, time of arrival, company used and guide name. This is done in case someone goes missing, although, since a guide is mandatory, I’m not sure how that would happen. Once finished with the climb for the day, which averaged anywhere from three and a half to twelve hours, I was then free for the rest of the day. My routine was to first collapse in my tent for a snooze. My tent was in two sections; half for sleeping and half for eating. My porter would bring in a small, square, plastic table and chair for me for meals.Upon reaching camp for the day, usually my porters, used to the altitude, had far surpassed me on the trail and already had the tent set up. On my arrival, I’d wiggle out of my big hiking boots and dive into my sleeping bag for a rest for an hour or two. I felt slightly bad the first day for disappearing on my guide, until I saw him later and asked what he did when we got back. He said, “take a nap!” And so would be my routine after each days trek.

Read more in the May 6 publication of the Postville Herald.