Okey Dokey! I am currently on the KLM flight to to transfer to Kilimanjaro. I’ve got my ipod, cameras, snacks, and my infamous flight compression hose. I am three pounds overweight on the recommended baggage weight for the porters. It has just occurred to me what I am doing. Wow.
I have just checked into the Arusha Mountain Village Lodge. It is nice, mosquito netting on the beds and a regular bathroom. Only one spider J. The power frequently goes out and the generator is turned off for three hours every afternoon. The food is pretty good. The service is standard Africa pace. That is very similar to Jamaica time. I am having a difficult time focusing due to anxiety of the climb…
Today we went to for an acclimatization hike with a game drive. We started at 4500 feet and ended at 6500 feet. We hiked to the Tululusi waterfall. Later we were driven to Momella Lake. This lake is noted for its high alkalinity and pink flamingos. There was a noticeable smell at the lake. Not as bad as penguins, but not roses either. When the flamingos flew, there was a beautiful black streak under their wings for a flash of contrast. To disappear again when they landed.
Other animals we saw during the day include zebra, giraffe, cape buffalo, dik dik, warthogs, baboons, bee eater birds, mashu eagle. We were instructed that if attacked by a cape buffalo, you must drop your pack and lie down. They will stop short of trampling you, and they do not have the capacity to skewer you as their horns are curved.
Peter is our guide. This is his 765th trip to the summit of the mountain. We are calling ourselves Cal-Tex as four members of our group are from California, the other from Texas. We will be taking the Machame Route, also known as the Whiskey Route.
Today is the first day of the climb. We are currently driving down Moshi Road (highway) to the base of to the Machame Gate (6000 ft). We are expected to climb to the Machame Hut (10,000 ft), supposedly 5-6 hours of hiking for about 7 miles. This leg of the climb is through the rainforest. There are four climate zones on the mountain: Rainforest, Moreland (Heath), Alpine Desert, Snow Cap.
Leaving the gate we are provided with a snack. Then we meet the “crew” – over 35 men assigned to help with our trek. They carry ALL the supplies – water, food, tents, chairs, cots, etc. They sang a few songs for us and then provided us with leis for encouragement.
We hiked through the rainforest. It was a slick muddy mess. There were many stairs and steep inclines. It was very difficult to get a good sense of footing. The foliage was beautiful. There are not very many flowering plants to see, but many styles of lush greens. To keep our minds occupied, we played a geography game where the last letter of the name must start as the first letter of the next word. You would not believe how many countries end in the letter “A”.
So we are officially at Machame Hut Camp at 9800 feet. I signed in at my first registration book on route. They check our oxygen saturation and pulse every night after dinner and in the morning after breakfast. I have an O2 of 95%. The hike to the hut was difficult, not because of the altitude but because of the grade or steepness of the climb. The temperature today was about 65 degrees. It is now about 40. I am currently lying in my sleeping bag to get warm. For dinner, we are in a tent at a table with full service. We are given a basin of water to wash with prior to the meal.
Dinner – tomato paste brushetta. leek soup, spinach tilapia, and potatoes with bananas for dessert.
I am more fatigued than tired. I just realized that I have to take out my contacts. It is 8:45pm and we are to be awoken at 6:30 am, 7:15 for breakfast.
Machame Hut (10,000 ft) to Shira Camp (12,620 ft)
Colder today – 45-60 degrees. The zero degree bag is fantastic! Although I was instructed to bring an air mattress, one was provided of me. After 30 minutes of the wake up call and a strong cup of coffee, they brought by hot water and soap to wash. I dressed in a tech shirt and pants. I was totally spoiled today because Kim, the assistant guide, carried my pack. I am a princess. I am still on the fence about the walking poles. It helps with balance, but difficult to use in tight spots. We climbed to about 12,500 feet today. There were a lot of ups and downs and the trail was very dusty. I learned my lesson to wear gaitors. The bottoms of your pants become extremely dirty during the trek, and therefore it is useful to keep the junk off your pants. When we arrived to Shira Camp, it started raining pretty hard and was cold. I put on my Antarctica gear and was nice and toasty. We took a little side excursion to the Shira I weather station and the Shira Caves . I used my extra water tonight to wash my hair. I really do not like that greasy feeling. I am currently waiting for everyone to get to dinner.
Alone the way we have been encountering some fun groups. Three kids from Holland (who's English was better than mine), two groups from Canada , and one from the US .
Other mountain jargon: if you have to use the restroom you say you are going to use the “internet café to send an email”.
For Breakfast we had eggs, millet oatmeal, toast, bacon and sausage.
lunch – chips, rolls, roast beef, tomato soup, pasta and veggies, and mangos.
Although we are hiking up Kilimajaro, I have yet to see the summit. There has been a tremendous amount of fog and clouds obscuring the view.
Tomorrow we go to the Barranco Camp at 13,000 feet. We are climbing to 15,000 feet and sleeping at 13,000 feet. The motto is “climb high, sleep low” to get acclimated. The other major motto is “pole pole” for Swahili for “slowly”. Climb too fast and you will not make it to the top.
Shira Camp (12,620 ft) to Barranco Camp (13,000 ft)
I woke up today at 6am. I only had to get up once to pee – translating to that I am very dehydrated from the Diamox. I’ll drink more today.
Today was a WET day. We went to the lava tower (14,740 ft). We couldn’t see the lava tower because the fog was so dense. I was told it was right next to me. My only proof is a sign. So, that lunchtime stopover was very quick. We wound up descending to camp quickly as well. It is really cold and wet, although not officially raining. We did get a few minutes of hail.
The landscape of the Heath Zone is quite unusual. Aside from the shale and rocks, the vegetation looks like it comes form Mars. Rather, it looks like a movie set for Star Trek. The giant senecio trees are only found in this region.
I am currently snuggled in my sleeping bag waiting for dinner in an hour. What I would do for a portable heater. We ascended to 15,000 ft and then down to 13,000 to sleep.
Of particular interest during the whole climb are the porters. They are a friendly bunch. They will always great you with “Jambo” and occasionally with some slang in Swahili. They are amused when you answer them back. As you are schlepping along, wondering how much more climbing you are going to do that day, you will all of a sudden note some sudden hurried footsteps behind you. Lo and behold it is the porter staff, carrying what seems to be the whole campsite on their heads, cruising right past you with the speed and agility of a rabbit. It is a bit demoralizing at first, but then it becomes flat out entertaining. I would start counting the seconds before they leapt out of view. The fastest – 7 seconds.
We eat most of our meals in a portable dining tent, complete with table, tablecloth and chairs. The man in charge of the camp is named Namu. We hear his name being called all of the time. The food has been very tasty and filling for these long days. Last night we were entertained by Mr. Kim with some card tricks. It didn’t last long as no one has the energy to stay up late!
Barranco Camp (13,000 ft) to Karanga Camp (13,255 ft)
This morning I woke up in a GREAT mood because I slept 9 hours straight. I also finally saw the summit for a whopping 5 minutes before the fog rolled in. My timing is off as I thought tonight was summit night and it actually tomorrow night. Tonight we all get to rest at Karanga Camp. There are a lot of people at this camp and it is very noisy. We are learning more and more about people who were became violently ill due to AMS and had to descend back down the mountain. For us, it’s been so far so good. No headaches, no stomach problems. My associates don’t know me well enough to tell if I have any behavioral changes. They’ll have to take my word on it J
Today we “climbed” the Great Barranco Wall. The path was so steep and thin, you had to stash away your poles and hold onto the wall with both hands on the ascent. The porters took the same path. It is pretty incredible to see the skill and speed of the porters ascending the wall carrying all of the gear. Just another day at work, I guess.
The view from this camp is pretty amazing. We are currently above the clouds. The camp is on a rather steep slope. It looks as if you took one false step you were going to slide down the hill, past the clouds to a place unknown. If I really think about it I can easily scare myself. Considering no one has received any warnings regarding where to walk, I have to believe it is going to be ok.
Karanga Camp (13,255 ft) to Barafu Camp (15,350ft)
The trek from Karanga to Barafu was not terribly exciting. The alpine desert is exactly as it sounds - cold with sand and rocks. In this case - ever present fog with gravel and shale. Not a whole lot of ground cover for ease of use of the internet cafe. You make due. I am sure the porters are familiar with the full moon visual in the middle of the day.
Barafu Camp. What a zoo! There are people coming and going everywhere! More interesting, the camp is situated on the side of a 100ft cliff. Our bathroom tent is located right next to the drop. Sneeze to hard and you and the porta potty may be taking a slide down a very bumpy road!
At Barafu Camp – all the teams that are preparing to summit as well as all of the teams who have summited are contained in one small area. It is very noisy from the excitement. We were treated today with coca-cola and snickers bars. It was heaven!
We are instructed we will be having an early dinner, and then to sleep. More easily said than done in that chaos. We will be awoken at 10pm, to meet at the breakfast tent by 10:30pm. The plan was to start our summit climb at 11:30pm, climb throughout the night, and arrive at the summit at sunrise. Ambitious.
Barafu Camp (15,350 ft) to Summit at Uruhu Point (19,341 ft)
WE DID IT!
Yep – we were all successful in reaching the highest point in Africa, Uruhu Point.
Boy, that was a beast.
In preparation for the climb, I wore many layers to keep warm: long johns, two long sleeved tech shirts, tech pants, addidas pants, 2 pairs socks, waterproof pants, down parka with water and wind resistant shell with hood, fleece hat, neck gaitor, glove liners and mittens. I felt like the little brother in A Christmas Story. Anyhow, I was totally spoiled as Mr. Kim carried my pack for me. My platypus froze. Luckily, he kept my extra water/Secret Drink Mix stash in his coat. He was a fantastic guide and great at moral support, making sure we all kept drinking our fluids and ate our snacks to keep our energy up.
The climb itself was very steep and made up of sharp large boulders and loose shale and gravel called skree. The distance was fine. The grade or incline is what gets you. For every step you take you slide back about halfway due to the loose footing.
The sky itself was crystal clear. You could see ORION in the sky. It was amazing to look backward at the area where you covered. Not because you could see where you went, but because you could see a long path of bouncing little white fairy lights. They were the headlamps of all the other climbing teams.
Just when you thought you couldn’t pick up your feet anymore because they were incredibly sore from trekking all week, you reached Stella Point. After this point, you know you only had a few hundred more yards to go, and those yards were not that steep. “Of course you can make it” I would say to myself. Those yards were VERY WINDY. The temperature was about 17 degrees, probably zero degrees F with wind chill. My fingers, toes and nose were hurting so badly from the cold. I could see how easy it is to get frostbite.
Then it happened – the sun came out. Then we got our first peek of the glaciers. I was lucky enough to have seen glaciers before in Antarctica, but these seemed different. They were not next to water like I had seen before. It looked as if someone piled these massive globs of snow on top of a dirt pile. They also had a faint purple blue color to them. Cruising past the glaciers, I finally saw the sign. The sign that said I had reached the tallest point in Africa , Uruhu Point (19,341 feet). There were a few people collected there taking pictures. I think I cried, but couldn’t tell as it froze on my face. My fingers were so numb I couldn’t take pictures. Once again, Mr. Kim to the rescue! He and his fellow porters were kind enough to photo document the event for me. I was pretty delirious due to lack of sleep, muscle fatigue and lack of oxygen. But heck, it was worth it!
We didn’t stay long at the summit. It was much too cold. The more entertaining part was literally sliding back down the mountain side to Barafu Camp. The gaitors proved to be very useful once again. Two to three hours later we were safely at camp. Lunch was ready as well as a beautiful well deserved nap.
We spent the rest of the daylight hours, descending once again to Mweka Camp (10,140 ft). Most of this path was made up of large boulders - it made it challenging only because we were so tired. It was the first truly sunny day in a while!
Mweka Camp (10140 ft) to Mweka Gate (5384 ft)
The last bits of the trip went very quickly. We enjoyed our last meal at the dining tent, packed up our gear and headed back through the rainforest to the Mweka Gate. It started raining again the closer we came to the finish. Mud was everywhere once again. The forest smelled so richly, it was amazing. I saw the first local woman on the mountain. She was elderly and carried with her some twine and a very large machete. Apparently she was getting some firewood. It reminds you of the things you take for granted at home.
At last, I signed out at the last registration booth and earned my golden certificate authenticating the climb. SUCCESS!
The rest of the day was spent freshening up at the hotel and flying back home to the states.
Where to next?
