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Published: September 25th 2006
Uhuru Peak: Summit!
Our group at the summit. We look happy, but we're exhausted and dirty!!!Hi everybody!!!!!!
Sorry for the long long radio silence. I've been away from computers and all things technological for quite awhile now. But I'm ready to write down the whole Kilimanjaro experience now. Yes, Tezza, I did take notes so you wouldn't miss a THING! 😊 As for Zanzibar, I'm going to save that as a seperate entry, so tune in again soon...
KILIMANJARO
Departure from Ghana: So I stayed in Ghana overnight with my friend and colleague and hit the road on Friday Sept 8th at 9pm. I caught the plane in Accra airport to Nairobi which is a few hours ahead and I landed early in the morning, around 6 or so. I got my "transit visa" to pass through the country to get to Tanzania by bus, and I waited outside for the bus to come. I eventually found it, and sat for about 10 hours (the schedule said 5) in a bus to get to the base hotel in Tanzania. On the way we stopped on the border between Kenya and Tanzania to do customs stuff. We actually had to stop on each side which took twice as long. I don't know why they don't
Welcome to Tanzania!
As shabby a sign as you'd expect from the window of the bus. Still in Africa, I guess! immalgamate it... but whatever.
Iburu Lodge: So finally we arrived at the base hotel where we'd depart from the next day on the trek. We had met most of the people in the bus and got to know each other a bit there. We ate dinner together (a disgusting buffet of unidentifiable meats and some prawn curry that smelled like socks) and hit the hay early to get ready for the next morning. The room was pretty cold as we went to bed, with no air con, and little did I know this was only a preview of things to come!
The Group
(singles)
Brownie- 22, Canadian rugger and mining diva!
Gavin- 21, Irish student
Eden- 33, Australian sign writer
Belinda- 35, South African moved to London
Tim- 20s, English music teacher
Paul- 33, English convention organizer
(couples)
Nikola- late 20s, English physiotherapist
Rob- late 20s, New Zealander, no idea what he does.
Stephan- early 30s, Belgian engineer
Karen- 29, Belgian human resources
Day 1: 1950m - 2700m, 3-4 hours
In the morning we had breakfast of scrambled eggs that smelled SO bad we sent them back, and then got our briefing. We were
Starting out
Our group at the trailhead. told all about altitude sickness and other unpleasant things that might happen on the mountain, as well as gear requirements (although this struck me as a little late...), and we were given a hand-drawn map of the route. We weighed our baggage to make sure it didn't exceed porter weight regulations, and we were on our way.
We packed into these bush taxis and headed off about 3 hours along a very bumpy and dusty road to the trailhead. The truck ride was a long one, but so similar to rides to site in Burkina that it wasn't really anything of note. The company was great though, and I got to know Eden and Gavin, the guys who would later make up the other two thirds of The Three Idiots, as we became known. More on this later.
Once at the trailhead we met our guides, and started the 3-4 hour hike we would do that day. It was the easiest hike of the whole trip, along farmland and rainforest. We saw these Kilimanjaro monkeys (native only to there I believe) that look like big tree skunks. The group was in good spirits and there was lots of
On trail
It's only the first day. I'm still clean! lively talk and joking. Everyone was young and fit and the group seemed to gel right away. When we got to the camp, we ate dinner in our little mess tent, and then went to bed. The tents were all set up by the porters, and I was supposed to be alone cuz one of the other ladies requested her own tent. Well, it was already getting cold, so I suggested to Eden and Gavin that we all throw our stuff in my tent and I shack up with them.
It was so for the rest of the trip. And thus The Three Idiots were born.
Day 2: 2700m - 3600m, 7 hours
We woke up and were fed, then proceeded to walk about 7 hours to the next camp. The days at this point start to all sound the same, so bear with me. The terrain this day was very up and down, so lots of intervals. We maxed out at 3900m altitude and set up camp at 3600m. We follow the mantra of "walk high, sleep low" to help with acclimatisation. The cold really started to show then, and there was really no view to speak
Mess Tent
Our dining room table for 6 days! of since we'd been walking among the clouds almost the whole time. We had bacon for breakfast which made my day, and the group continued to be in good spirits and chatty. Lots of teasing and talking about pee, since Gavin was taking Diamox (an anti-altitude medication) and peed 14 times that day!
Day 3: 3600m - 4330m, 4 hours
This day was a short but tough day. It was all really gritty uphill (as you can tell since we did about 750m of altitude in 4 hours) and the pleasant chatting stopped as everyone tried to keep up and pay attention to what we were doing. The weather and surroundings got increasingly bleak, with not any sun at all, still walking through clouds. The highlight of the day was seeing the giant senecios trees that are exclusive to Kilimanjaro. I saw them in the Imax movie with Tezza, and I knew I just had to go see them. So after our tough walk and some lunch, we did an acclimatisation walk of another 2 hours, to build up a bit of altitude and come down to sleep. After the acclimatisation walk I was so pumped about my trees
Crazy trees!
These are my giant fuzzy trees. Tezza, I really saw them!!!! Woot! that I asked one of the guides to take me out to get a closer look, so I trekked out again (with Eden in tow) to see them. These trees are special because the top leaves die, then wrap themselves around the trunk to build the "fur" that protects the tree from the cold and allows it to survive in the harsh climate. Go furry trees!!! 😊
Day 4: 4330m - 4700m, 5 hours
This day we did a lot less altitude than other days as we crossed the "saddle" of the mountain between two peaks. It's fairly flat, but it's cold and the wind howls since there's no cover to protect you. There isn't even any scrub at this point like we've walked through so far in alpine desert. It's all just scree (loose rocks) with a few boulders around. It's bleak and cold and a long long walk for the mind. Finally arriving at Kibo Hut (the camp where we were to spend the night) was a big achievement for all of us. The group has been quite all day as we're so tired and cold. Lots of people aren't sleeping and are losing appetite as a
Looking down
Taking a look down at where we've come. Not exactly tropical! result of altitude sickness, so that wears on them even more. Still everyone is basically cheerful. I have been lucky so far and have suffered only from really minor headaches which Advil took care of nicely. Tonight is a tough night for us all mentally because we know we'll attempt the summit tomorrow. At dinner, the guides come in and brief us on the summit attempt procedures. We'll be woken up at midnight, eat a light breakfast of tea and cookies, then hit the trail at 1am. We'll walk all through the night until we hit Gilman's Point (5686m) which is the top of the mountain, then those who want to will continue to Uhuru Peak (5895m) at the top of the crater, the highest point in Africa. As all their info sinks in, there is complete silence in the tent, and we all forget we're breathing for a minute. We've just taken in the magnitude of what we came here to do, and it's just hours away. To put our minds at ease, they sang a local Kilimanjaro song in Swahili and we all clapped along to bring ourselves back to life.
In the tent that night, there
Getting There
Me with the mountain the day we crossed the saddle. The light plays tricks so you can't see the summit really in the photo.
were none of the usual farting contests or Dutch Ovens or shinanigans. Even the Three Idiots were surprisingly quiet and solomn. None of us slept a wink though, from the anticipation, and when they came to the tent at midnight we were all ready to go.
Day 5: Summit Day, 4700m - 5895m, then down to 3720m. 15 hours.
So the big day came with some serious cold. We hit the trails in pitch dark, all with headlamps on. We trudged on through the steep scree which slipped out from under our feet and slowed our progress. The night sky was our reward for getting up early, and we could see every single star in the universe it seemed... We trudged up, on and on for hours until we saw the sun coming up over the clouds. Another beautiful sight that I can't describe. But we only had a few seconds to look back and enjoy it, though, because we just kept trudging on and on. After 4 or 5 hours my mind seemed to float away, and it was just a meditation to think about my breathing and just put one foot in front of the other. It
Kibo Hut
At the camp from which we'd made our ascent. Woot! was really hard and my muscles were tired and sore. At 5000m oxygen levels drop from 70% normal (above 4500) to 50% of normal levels, so we spent almost the entire day at extremely low oxygen. I was really suffering, and all I could think was "wow, everyone else seems to be just fine" but when we spoke afterward it seemed everyone else felt the same way. Early in the day one woman, Karen, got sent down the mountain after the guide heard crackling in her lungs. This is a sign of pulmonary edima (sp?) and a serious and deadly effect of altitude sickness. But there was no time for hugs, and we carried on without her.
Around 7am we hit Gilman's Point, which is the top of the mountain at the base of the crater rim. The last hundred meters or so of this portion is the hardest we did, and I thought so many times I wouldn't make it. But lo and behold! I did! 😊 At the top, Nikola was surprised to be proposed to by Rob, and in her shock said yes. The pair are now engaged!
After a few minutes for pictures and
Sunrise
The view as we climbed up the mountain. After hours of pitch black, the sun started to come up. This is looking down towards one of the lower summits of the mountain. Our summit is still way up! a rest, myself and the boys trudged on to the final stop, Uhuru Peak, leaving Nikola to turn back with one of the guides. Another 2 hours and a pretty moderate climb later, we were standing at the highest point of Africa!!!! Eden started to cry, and I'd held it together pretty well until I saw that, so I broke down too. There were lots of hugs and smiles and congratulations. The pictures show us much happier than we are; we're dirty and exhausted!!!
So then, the long walk down.... I was showing signs of altitude sickness at this point, and we were in a hurry to get me down the mountain. I was moving slowly though, and I was hallucinating a bit, so it was quite an adventure for the guide charged with my safe return. You're the best, Joe! On the way down we met Belinda, who had fallen far behind the group and was presumed down the mountain. Turns out she trudged up at her own pace with a guide and was bent on seeing the summit. She inspired us all; a real warrior!
Once we finally met up together at the camp where we'd
Gilman's Point
Me at the top of the mountain, but still at the base of the crater. 2 hours to go! stayed that night, we were told we had another 4 hour hike down the mountain to the next camp. If I'd had the energy, I would have strangled someone. So down we went, another 4 hours until we got to camp where we promptly ate then passed out for a full 10 hours!!!! 8pm to 6am!!! Best sleep ever...
Day 6: 3720m - 1950m, 5 hours
So the last day held not too much surprise. Just a nice gentle decent through some beautiful forest. We didnt' come out the way we came in, so it was all new and very pretty. We saw people coming up the mountain asking "how was it??" and all I could think was "you don't want to know...". I tried to wish them luck, though! My muscles were so stiff and sore by that point, I was barely moving, but doing my very very best.
That night at the lodge, we drank heavily and all of us were cheap drunks on the Kilimanjaro brand beer.
And that's how it wrapped up! For the Zanzibar portion of the adventure, stay tuned!!!!!
-Brownie
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Hans/Frans
non-member comment
Congrats
Heya Hans/Frans, Yay for you!!! I am so glad to hear from you and your adventure, it's just like the Imax move cept you lived it...very jealous! The blog was great, the pictures were awesome(you look like a real adventuress) and how does it not surprise me that you were coined an idiot!!!! Looks like it's you who makes me the clown...not the other way around!!! anyways, I'm so proud of you/excited for you for having done this. I look forward ot hearing about the relaxing part of the trip! Love always, H/F xoxo. Ps. that pic of ur legs look sliek you have really rugged man legs!