There was running water this morning and so I used the opportunity to start the day with a fu**ing cold shower. Cold showers are actually not too bad. When not having showered for three or more days I don’t care anymore if the water is hot or cold. I prefer to have a cold shower rather than no shower. Most of my fellow travellers feel different and don’t shower when there is no hot water. What makes the situation worse is that due to the altitude it’s quite cold outside and it’s hard to convince yourself to have a cold shower when you are freezing anyway. My strategy for cold showers is the following: First, I only take cold showers when I’m warm as I was this morning when coming out of my winter sleeping bag. Secondly, I only step for 2-3 seconds under the shower to get wet. Then I put soap on without touching the cold water. Lastly, I step again for 5-6 seconds under the shower to wash the soap off. I also rub my skin under the cold water which helps to stay warm and to wash the soap off quickly.

After breakfast we took the truck to drive further up in the Bale Mountains. Our lodge is situated at an altitude of 3,150m and from there we drove up to approx. 4,300m which is the highest point of the Bale Mountains Sanetti Plateau. The whole drive took about 3.5 hours. At the peak todays cooking group prepared a pasta salad which was very delicious. Luckily they cooked the pasta already during breakfast which speeded up the whole process.

There was also the opportunity for a hike but only five of us went. The others stayed with the truck because they were either too cold or suffering from the high altitude. I took the opportunity since I like to move and also need as much practise for my planned Kilimanjaro hike as possible. I really enjoyed the hike since it was neither too cold when moving nor exhausting since most of the hike was downhill. I also enjoy high altitude in general since the landscape looks very different, no people living up there and the whole surrounding appears somewhat unfriendly for all kinds of life. When driving back to the lodge we were also lucky to spot an Ethiopian Wolf.

After we returned to the lodge we were chilling out at the fireplace. Two guys from Australia didn’t join the drive / hike today and went fishing instead. Unfortunately they didn’t manage to catch any fish but their guide caught some. So while todays cooking group prepared dinner they also prepared some fish and let people taste it.