Kili – Day 5 – to Barafu Hut (4600m)

 Today the group will take a slow trek over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be their descent route.  They will hike up the ridge through sparse landscape and alpine desert for another hour to the Barafu Hut. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp (even though Barafu is the Swahili word for “ice”), which means that the porters will now be carrying the water. Their tents will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge.  At Barafu, they will need to consume a big lunch (and later dinner) and lots of liquids as they prepare themselves for tonight’s departure for the summit.