Drinking on Kilimanjaro

What do you drink on Kilimanjaro?

Porters will collect water from the rivers and streams along the trail. Some of this they will boil for you at the start of the day to carry in your water bottles. On the lower slopes you can collect water yourself from the many streams and purify it using a filter or tablets.Note, however, that as you climb ever higher the water becomes more scarce. On the Machame trail, for example, the last water point is at the Karanga Valley, the lunch-stop before Barafu; on Marangu, it’s just before the Saddle. For this reason it is essential that you carry enough bottles or containers for at least two litres.

In camp, coffee and tea is served and maybe hot chocolate too – all usually made with powdered milk. Remember that caffeine, present in coffee and tea, is dehydrating, which can be bad for acclimatization. Caffeine is a diuretic too (ie you will want to urinate frequently – something you will already be doing a lot as you adapt to the higher conditions).

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