By the time the van turns off the tarmac and onto the red ruts toward Machame Gate, the air has already changed — greener, heavier, tasting faintly of wet earth. On day one you step from forest into an upward path that tightens like a drawn breath; mossy trunks press close, ferns slap your shins, and the trail rises fast from 5,400 ft to 9,400 ft. Over the next six days the mountain will pull you through five distinct habitats — rain forest, moorland, semi‑desert, alpine desert and the final arctic expanse of Kibo — each one taking the pace of your breath and the shape of your steps.