“Mount Kilimanjaro is changing
colors, brother.”
I relaxed with patience. A light drizzle of rain fell consistently on
the fly of my tent and Alpha was serving me a large dinner of cucumber soup,
spaghetti with vegetable sauce, bread, and fresh mango. I stared at the food. Climbing at higher altitudes is difficult on
one’s appetite. It is not that I wasn’t
hungry. I was starving! However, I could only eat small amounts of
food at a time. Alpha had just brought
me a banquet!
“Kilimanjaro is changing like the chameleon,
brother,” Alpha pointed out in his deep, scratchy voice.
Four hours ago, the mountain was
completely visible without a cloud in the sky.
Two hours ago, I could only observe the peak as clouds, fog and mist
covered the base. Now, in early evening
at 3500 meters, Mount Kilimanjaro was “changing colors” and completely covered
with clouds. Mount Kibo in fact! Early on the trek, I learned that Kilimanjaro
consists of three dormant volcanic cones: Mount Mawenzi, a jagged peak that is
never climbed; Mount Shira, a plateau structure; and Mount Kibo, the famous,
rounded peak that is depicted in encyclopedia’s and google search images. For two days, I had been climbing Mount Kibo
aiming to reach Uhuru peak. I slowly ate
my food and drank plenty of water and tea.
Hydration was important. With a
little bit of nausea and a minor headache, I continued to tell myself that
ascending to the top was possible. Pole
Pole (po-lee, po-lee) was the key phrase.
Slowly, slowly in Swahili! I was
going to make it to the summit. Three
weeks before leaving for Tanzania, I had not planned on climbing the
mountain. I wasn’t going to have enough
time! “You are going to be there for 14
days!” a friend of mine exclaimed. “You
have plenty of time. You have no excuse
to not climb the mountain!” Thank you
Alex for that sound advice because summiting to Uhuru Peak at 5,895 meters was
incredible!
I arrived at Kilimanjaro airport on
January 31 and was met with a driver who took me to the local YMCA in Moshi Town,
a small city in northeast Tanzania, close to the border of Kenya. There I met Jackson, a tour operator who had set
up the climb for February 2-7. Immediately,
I was amazed at the land and the people of Tanzania. Beautiful and free! Vast and peaceful! Full of life and happiness!
After one day of adventuring around
Moshi, visiting the local markets, getting hassled by locals to come into their
stores, and plenty of rest, I departed for the Marangu gate of Kilimanjaro
National Park with my guide, Steve.
After getting permits, I packed into a van with 12 other gentlemen, most
of who were porters, guides, and cooks.
Two men from Germany were also present and were as excited as I was to
climb the mountain via the Rongai route.
After a two-hour drive, we arrived at the Rongai starting point…2000
meters above sea level. A quick but full
lunch awaited us and soon we were off.
Day one!
I quickly learned a great deal
about Kilimanjaro as we slowly elevated through four different climate
zones. I was traveling on the only route
from the north, and contrary to the rainforests that other routes journey thru,
I was hiking through a lush pine forest that receives little rain throughout
the year. Making our way out of the
forest structure, we arrived at Simba camp (roughly 2700 meters). I was introduced to a very nice, comfortable
tent. My home for the next six
days! The first night was very exciting
and with plenty of nerves racing through my body, I found time to get a
wonderful sleep.
Every morning, I awoke at
7:00. Breakfast at 7:30 and off to trek
by 8:00. Climbing through the Heather
and Moorland zone, I was fascinated with the stunning views of the Tanzanian
landscape. The land reminded me of
Denali National Park, and as we climbed higher, memories of the Alaskan tundra
in Barrow came into mind. The lookouts
were majestic. At times, we could see
Kenya. The weather was beautiful! The sun was shining and many climbers were
getting to know each other. I met some
wonderful people for Canada and Germany.
And the guides were great. All
were very friendly and interested in where people came from and what they did
for a living. Throughout the climb, I
had some simple conversations with Steve, especially about Bob Marley. As I spoke with the guides and other climbers,
I could feel the altitude change and I told myself, “Stop talking! Conserve energy. Pole pole.”
However, never had I felt so good in my life! As soon as I started to hike on that second
morning, I felt invincible, but I kept it slow and did as Steve said.
We arrived at First Caves camp for
the second night (3500 meters). At this
point, many climbers had lunch and went off to another camp as they were doing
the 7 Day trek to Uhuru. My two German
friends and I were doing the 6 Day trek, so we stayed at a scenic camp just
below the Alpine desert climate zone!
This was the day that “Kilimanjaro was changing colors.” Walking to the camp, the cloud cover was
coming! As soon as I got into the tent,
the rain came…light, but nonetheless, rain!
This happened again on the third day at 3,740 meters. It was almost as if the mountain waited for
us to get to camp and pitch our tents. I
was very grateful as I did not want to deal with wet gear!
During the dinner, I ate what I
could and explained to Steve that my stomach was a bit upset. Immediately he said, “Let’s go for a
walk!” As we strolled about the
landscape, Steve educated me about the different flora we stumbled upon. He also told me how animals journey across
the area to get the grass, drink the good water during the rain season and
continue on into the caves to lick the salt!
We saw plenty of tracks from buffalo, kudo, antelope, and jackals. We even came across leopard scat. I was enjoying myself. During the entire walk, I had large amounts
of gas at which I was embarrassed during the start but Steve said, “This is why
I wanted you to take a walk.” I felt
much better and got some great sleep!
The third day was a short hike to
3,740 meters…Second Cave camp. This was
an important day as it was used for acclimatization. After lunch and a light nap, Steve and I
hiked to an altitude of somewhere between 4000-4200 meters. It didn’t take very long as the land was
becoming Alpine Desert and was gradually getting steeper. During this time, I asked Steve some
questions that had been on my mind.
“How many times have you climbed
the mountain?”
“I don’t have a total.”
“Is it over 25?”
“Man, it is over 150!”
I later found out that Steve had
been called to be a guide on the Machame route on February 10. So, he had a trek with me from the 2 to the
7, few days rest and right back up the rock!
Some of the guides and porters climb the mountain three to four times a
month and they do it with ease! The
guides obviously stay with the clients when climbing, but the porters move
quickly to ensure that tents are set up and that food is cooking by the time
climbers reach camp. Crazy! After resting for a bit at 4200 meters, we walked
back down to 3740 meters. It was a good
day for acclimatization.
The fourth morning was wild! The mountain was in clear view. Ravens were flying overhead, soaring and
barking in the sky. The sun was bright
and a chilling breeze surrounded the camp!
Camp Kibo, base camp for summit day, was waiting for us at an altitude
of 4700 meters! This trek was a little
more difficult then the previous days.
Land was climbing steeper. Air
was getting thinner. Temperature was
growing colder! Beautiful! Pole Pole!
Walk a long distance at a slow rate!
Stop for a few minutes! Drink
water. Talk about Bob Marley. Eat some energy food. Continue on.
Deep breathes. Pole pole. Day
four was an outline of bullet points. A
list. We will do this, then this, then
that! The views were outstanding and
mentality stayed the same…I can do this.
We arrived at Kibo in mid afternoon.
The mountain was not visible at all! Many climbers were there as Kibo is
a junction for the Marangu and Rongai (6 and 7 day) routes. After an early dinner, Steve came to me with
the briefing of summit trek. “I will
wake you at 10:30 tonight with tea and biscuits and we leave at 11:00. Have your warm jacket, hat, gloves, torch,
gators, maybe three socks, and water.
Put your camera in your day pack with your water.” I didn’t sleep much that night. Maybe it was the constant chatter of Swahili
from the cooks and porters. Maybe it was
the consistent pitter-patter of the sleet against my tent. Maybe it was the nerves and excitement! An hour or two but nothing deep! However, I do feel that I was falling asleep
quite heavily when Alpha said, “Excuse me, brother!” I heard the tent zipper. “Hot water and biscuits, brother.” I drank the water and ate the biscuits,
keeping some in a ziplock bag for the trek up.
I stepped outside my tent to a fresh snowfall on the ground. I tied my boots. Then, I looked up. The mountain was right there! My head was now at an almost full tilt back
as I tried to see where the top was, but it was impossible! However, the head tilted back was no worry
because I saw another view. I would be
trekking to the Kilimanjaro summit under starlight, arriving just in time for
sunrise!
We got off to a late
start…11:45pm. Many people were
attempting to summit as I could see the glow from the headlamps. Steve and I passed one large group right at
the beginning and I noticed another group ahead of me moving at a quicker
rate. About half way up to Gillman’s
point (Mount Kibo has three major peaks: Gillman’s point at roughly 300 meters
below Uhuru, Stella’s point at roughly 200 meters below Uhuru, and Uhuru at
5895 meters) I looked up to see where I was going. The top looked farther away and I could still see the lights. No matter how long we walked, it felt like we
were not getting closer. At the same
time, neither was the group ahead of us.
I made the decision to keep my head down and focus on putting one foot
in front of the other. During the summit
trek, I began to breathe quite heavy, searching for oxygen. I didn’t have a headache or any stomach
issues, but my pulse was racing. But
short breaks, sips of water, and deep breaths made a difference and I was able
to continue. I felt great as a matter of
fact but I knew I had to be careful and cautious.
I am not sure what time it was when
I got to Gillman’s point but I did it!
Immediately, Steve said, “Way to go!
Congratulations. Let’s
continue.” We couldn’t rest long. Had to keep moving to keep energized and
warm. 300 meters to go. I was growing tired but I was excited! It was dark and the snow on the mountain was
deep. I don’t think I have ever hiked so
slowly in my life! By the time I reached
Stella’s point, I was so tired and to be honest wasn’t quite in reality. I slightly remember talking to a young lad
who was making his way down from Uhuru.
I remember telling him that I was “exhausted” and he telling me that I
was almost there…50 meters away! How do
you not continue? I told Steve that I
was feeling a little fuzzy but I could see the sign at the peak and the
climbers surrounding it. Let’s do
this! Strutting up from Gillman’s to
Uhuru took two full hours and by the time I made it to Uhuru, it was 5:58
am. Steve gave me a big hug and he and I
posed for a photo. The picture was quick
as many other people were in line for the opportune moment. I remember seeing one guy take off his shirt,
drop his pants and stand bare ass with his crotch toward the sign. I also remember hearing someone say, “That
picture is going on the fridge.” Just
below Uhuru, I stood with Steve, took some videos, and enjoyed the view. “Here it comes!” I heard a man say. The sun rose slowly over the clouds and the
top of the mountain began to light up. I
heard a woman say, “We are on the top of Africa!” and I began to tear up! It was beautiful! I thought about my father. What would he think? I took the mental pictures, gave Steve
another hug, held some snow, and then we began the long trek down. It took nearly five days to get to Uhuru and
we stayed for about 15 minutes but it was a wonderful 15 minutes.
I can’t go into detail about the
trek down because I was so out of it.
All I know is that it was long and arduous. It was 10:00 when we arrived at Camp
Kibo. I crashed down right away for two
hours. At noon, we departed for Camp
Horombo via the Marangu route! During
this trek, I was quite energized! I
could feel the oxygen in the air and began to adjust to the change in
altitude! It felt great.
I continued to look back to see the
mountain. I recalled a moment when I was
in Denali National Park with my mom and we were hiking throughout the
park. Denali was in front of us but was
covered throughout the hike. As we
turned around to go back to our lodge, my mother looked back one last time only
to see Denali’s peak visible above the clouds.
I didn’t think so much about it at that time, but now, hiking down from
Kilimanjaro, I understood why my mother was so happy and excited to see the
mountain one final time! I shared her
same feelings! Kilimanjaro was
beautiful! I had a wonderful experience
and it will be something I will never forget!
More photos on Facebook!
Below: 2000 meters starting point
Left: Alpha serving avocado
Left: Kili, the morning of Day 2 at Simba Camp
Top: A stunning view...Kenya is off to the left
Top: A cave just below First Caves Camp.
Bottom: Kili from First Caves Camp.
Above: Kilimanjaro breakfast
Below: Moving into Alpine desert
MADE IT!!!
Sunrise with Mawenzi in the background!
Above: Looking up while trekking down
Above: Kili from Horombo Camp
Above: The final bridge before arriving at the Marangu gate
Below: Showing the certificate of completion with Steve
