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Published: April 11th 2010
I couldn't stop laughing! I was sitting in the back of a taxi at night and Colin, Michael and Joel were pushing the taxi up a hill, through the main street of Moshe in Tanzania, to a petrol station. We had just negotiated a price to take us out to a garden restaurant for dinner and had no sooner got into the taxi than it ran out of petrol! The taxi driver had been quite content to let the Mazungu (white people) push until I suggested in no uncertain terms that he should be out there pushing too! I stayed in the taxi to watch our belongings !When we finally got the taxi to the petrol station we were asked for part of the fare so that the taxi driver could pay for some petrol!! Welcome to Africa!
What were we doing in Tanzania? On a previous trip to East Africa about 15 years ago we had driven past Mt Kilimanjaro and Colin had said he would love to come back one day and climb it. So a dream had been born and after years of planning and months of physical preparation we found ourselves at the foot of Mt
Kilimanjaro with our sons, Michael and Joel, and Colin's brother, Keith and his wife Penny.
At 5896m Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, and one of the highest free-standing mountains in the world. It is considered an extinct volcano although it still releases steam and sulphur from vents in the crater centre. It is not a hard technical climb and is achieved without the use of ropes, in fact in parts it has been described as a 'stroll' up the mountain. Scrambling up the scree slopes at 2am to reach the crater, however, could hardly be described as 'a stroll in the park!' The most difficult aspect of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro is adjusting to the high altitude and so everyone is advised to go 'pole, pole' (slowly, slowly in Swahili!) We decided to take seven days, ascending on the Rongai Route and descending on the well-worn Marangu Route. We added one extra acclimatisation day to maximise our chances of actually making it to the top. The months before we left were spent at the gym and walking up and down Jacob's Ladder (242 steps) in Perth countless times! Oh, the joys of training!
We were met
at Kilimanjaro International Airport by Kilitreks and Safaris, the company with whom we were attempting the climb and taken to a nice hotel in Moshe. Waking up early next morning I went out into the gardens and had my first glimpse of 'Kili' towering above me in the clouds! I wondered how I would ever get to the top!! I met another lady in the gardens busy writing up her diary and she informed me that she had not made it to the top and it was the hardest thing she had ever attempted! This did wonders for my confidence! That evening we drank to a successful attempt for all of us by sharing a small bottle of Shiraz from the plane which we drank out of little cups from passionfruits cut in two!
We set off on Saturday 10 January 2009 and drove to the Marangu gate where we registered before heading off on long, hot, dusty village tracks for the next 3 hours to reach the start of the Rongai Route which approaches Kilimanjaro from the north. Little did I realise that the frozen meat for the trek had been stached under my seat and during the
course of the long, hot drive, the meat defrosted and my day pack which was also under the seat soaked up all the blood!! On arrival at the gate I had to spend ages washing the pack and some of the contents using a toilet cleaner to try and get rid of the smell!! Undaunted, we set off through farmland and jungle vegetation, (where we were lucky enough to see Colobus Monkeys), to reach Simba Camp situated at 2850m. We slept in two men tents and each morning and evening we were brought small bowls of hot water in which to wash. This brought back memories of our 5 month village live in when we first arrived in Botswana! You soon get used to this and feel just as clean as if you had had a shower! We had a delicious dinner of soup, fish and fried potatoes followed by copious amounts of tea. It is really important to drink as much as you can to help ward off the effects of altitude sickness. Next morning we discovered buffalo footprints and an elephant print around the camp but unfortunately we didn't see the animals themselves.
Next morning we headed
off very slowly after a substantial breakfast of porridge, toast, eggs, tomatoes, sausages and tea/coffee. We saw very few hikers that day as this route is not as popular as some of the others. (We liked this aspect of it!) We passed some caves that used to be used as camps in earlier times but it is forbidden to camp in them now. On our second night we pitched our tents at Second Cave (3450m) We were all beginning to feeling some effect of the high altitude; nausea, headaches and a general lack of appetite. We forced ourselves to eat as we had heard that you HAVE to keep up your food and drink intake if you are going to make it to the top. I usually have a voracious appetite but there were times where I was litearlly forcing myself to eat one spoonful after another! It was cold so we all went to bed early but didn't sleep very well as the ground was rocky and sloping a bit. What we did appreciate were the water bottles that had been filled with boiling water and given to us before retiring so we could use them as hot water
bottles during the night and then they served as our drinking water next day! A brilliant idea!
Arriving at Third Cave the next day, most of us felt varying degrees of nausea. We relaxed in the afternoon, reading, playing games and resting. We took the novel, 'The Road' with us and all read it during our climb! Colin had taken some Diamox to combat altitude sickness so was up about 6 times in the night as it works as a diuretic!
Early mornings on the mountain are magical and we enjoyed getting up early and taking photos of the moon disappearing as the sun rose. It was an eerie feeling being above the clouds. Climbing an outcrop of rocks for a photo had one puffing and panting fairly quickly! This was our acclimatisation day so we set off and climbed to 4,400m where we had views of the Outward Bound School Hut and amazing views of Mawenzi, one of the other volcanoes that makes up Mt Kilimanjaro. This peak is extremely steep and rugged and is rarely climbed. We spent time at 4,400m resting and building a substantial rock cairn before descending to our camp site to sleep.
Adding in an acclimatisation day like this increases your chances of making it to the top. It follows the advice to 'Climb high, sleep low.'
We pushed on next day. over steeper and rockier paths and most of us were taking headache tablets. As we moved around to the southern side of the mountain we began to get good views of glaciers. We arrived at Kibo Hut (4700m) around 12.45pm. This is where all the trails meet for the final assault of the mountain so we enjoyed mingling with other climbers and hearing their stories. Chatting to a couple of young guys in their 20s who said it was the hardest thing they had ever done, made me wonder if I would get to the top! Michael and Joel had fun dressing up in thermals and having their photos taken out in the cold! We got some great fun shots of them fooling around on a rocky outcrop in front of Mt Mawenzi. It was very cold at Kibo huts and when we had our briefing that night I was shaking. 1 couldn't work out if it was the cold or nerves! Probably both! We went to bed at
7.30 to try and sleep and were woken at 10.30pm to prepare for the final climb.
We were to leave at 11.30pm and I thought an hour would be too long to get ready. By the time we went to the loo, tried to eat and drink something and struggled to get into all our layers of clothing we were battling to be ready in time! Even putting your shoes on and lacing them up is a huge effort! I had 5 layers on my legs, 7 on my body, 3 pairs of socks, 3 hats and 2 pairs of gloves and I still felt cold! The slippery scree slope was hard going in the dark with our headlights and we all just focused on getting to the rim of the crater! At times we felt like we made one step forward and two steps backward! It was the most amazing experience when we reached Gilman's Point (5680m), the crater rim of Kibo, in time to see the sun rise around 6.30. We had been climbing for 7 hours.
We caught our breath and then decided to keep going around the crater rim to the highest point on
The Mess Tent
Enjoying a meal togetherKilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak (5986m). It took us another hour to reach the Peak and even though this section wasn't as steep we still had to climb and at this high altitude it took all our will power to keep going. We arrived around 8am and were blessed to have the peak to ourselves for some of the time. Joel, bravely stripped down to his thermals to have his photo taken!! We had to help him get his clothes back on as his hands were so cold! We had amazing views over the plains far below and the glaciers along the way. It was a magical feeling being on the roof of Africa! As a child I had been able to see the snows of Kilimanjaro on a clear day from our house in Nairobi so it was very gratifying to actually be standing there many years later. Alex, one of the guides had told me I would be first to the top after I had told him that I had grown up in Africa and I did actually get there first, with Joel a couple of seconds behind me! My camera froze but luckily Colin's camera was still working at
The drop toilet
I am always asked about the toilet arrangements! the top! Our guides were amazing, very patient and very encouraging and in fact our best photos at the top were taken by Hassan, our chief guide! Michael had stopped at one stage to wait for Colin who was struggling with his breathing and Michael nearly fell asleep, another symptom of altitude sickness! We were only allowed to be at Uhuru Peak for 15-20 minutes and then we started back to Gilman's Point and then back down the scree slopes to Kibo Huts.
Coming down was really hard! The boys took off and just about ran all the way. Penny and I came in at a more leisurely pace later, arriving around 11am! We had been walking for 11 and a half hours with no toilet stops! We were greeted with congratulatory cordial drinks and after only half an hour's rest and a quick lunch we had to pack up and start down to a lower altitude. We walked another 4 hours to the Horombo Huts (3700m) and after a wash and some tea we fell gratefully asleep in our tents! We had been walking for about 16 hours that day and all felt exhausted! We had started at
4,700m that day and climbed to 5,896m and then descended to 3,700m!
Our seventh and last day on the trek was a wonderful time. We passed through amazing terrain and marvelled at the scenery and all the flora along the way. Little waterfalls refreshed us as we climbed down into the rainforest areas again and shared stories with fellow travellers about our experiences! We saw the beautiful little Kilimanjaro Impatiens flower, which is only found in that area. Arriving at the gate was special and of course, the boys had to have the Meadows' 'Oh, what a feeling!' photos taken!
Hot showers were most welcome that night before the presentation of our certificates. The next day Keith and Penny headed off on an African Game Safari and we moved into cheaper accomodation in Moshe for a few days, exploring the area and spending time with Pastor Harrison O'lang from the University. The boys and I left a few days later and Colin spent a further week helping out at the university before returning to Australia. It had been an amazing trip of a life time and a wonderful way to finish off our time in Africa after our
previous three weeks in Botswana.
Keep scrolling down for more photos on THIS page, before clicking 2 to see the rest of the photos.
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Paul W
non-member comment
OOOOO K
So the 5 day walk is nothing really... that's what you're saying, right?