Tanzania Part I: Kilimanjaro Climb

“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!

Part II soon to come...Safari!
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Below: 2000 meters starting point

 Above: Steve hiking along the pine forest en route to Simba Camp

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