Kilimanjaro, Altitude, and an Element Named Bob

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The people who named Kilimanjaro didn't beat around the bush when it came to the meaning of the name. No symbolism here, just, 'The Big Thing.' How appropriate is that? The summit, Uhuru Peak, is 5896m, which is pretty darn high. Add in the fact that it stands alone and towers 5km over the surrounding countryside, and it's easy to see why it was called 'The Big Thing.'

We started out trek after a few recovery days in Arusha and a shuttle transfer to Moshi. We met with our guide and assistant guide the night before to talk about gear and to finalize when we were being picked up. Liam and I had decided to do the Lemosho Route, which is the longest one. Ours was an 8 day trek, starting near the Londorossi Gate, on the west side of the mountain. It took a few hours to drive to the gate, and after a bit of a wait for permits and porters we drove to the trailhead. That last stretch of road can be described in a few words: bumpy, rutted, muddy, steep, and feels like nothing so much as the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. We even had a sideways slide.

When we arrived at the trailhead we started walking. First through some potato fields, then into the rainforest. True to it's name, it poured down on us for a while, and when it stopped we were left with mud and bugs. Liam got an impressive 150 bites on his calves. 86 on one, 64 on the other.

Our camp that night was in the rainforest, and we got treated to popcorn, cookies, soup, and a delicious dinner upon arrival. As we soon found out, this is the standard treatment every afternoon and evening! Basins of hot water were also provided for washing every evening and morning. And the best part was not having to carry any of it! That's what the 7 porters, waiter, chef, assistant guide, and head guide were for.

We both slept well that night, and after, and after porridge, tea, eggs, and toast for breakfast we continued up the mountain. After another hour in the now sunny rainforest we turned a corner and abruptly found ourselved in the heathland vegetation zone. Here the Erica trees are only 6-8 ft high, but so dense that leaving the trail is pretty much impossible. We climbed over 2 saddles then up a long ridge to the rim of the Shira Plateau. It was fogged in and we couldn't see the summit, but we made camp just in time to avoid a rainshower. The guides had been telling us all day to drink water to avoid dehydration. I'm guessing we were, judging by the 13 pees we each had by 2pm XD. Here we at 3500m, in the moorland zone. Trees and shrubs are smaller here, so we were able to wander around a little. That night when we awoke around 1am to use the facilities, it was totally clear, and we got our first glimpse of the top of Kilimanjaro by moonlight.

The next day was shorter, and we had a steady uphill until we reached Shira 2 camp at 3900m. We got in at noon, and were served a hot stew lunch. We also found several captive pigeons in the bathrooms, who liked to sit in the rafters and poo on unsuspecting tourists.

The forth day was one of our biggest days.We climbed up to Lava Tower at 4640m, ate lunch, and dropped back down to 3960m at Barranco Camp for the night. The scenery was more alpine desert for most of the way up, which was beautiful, and bits of the mountain poking in and out of view in the fog were amazing. Both of us felt great during the day, but after a 2 hour rest at Barranco we were starting to feel gross. Liam seemed to be coming down with a flu, and I had a bad headache. The fog completely cleared that evening, leaving the summit in full view, but neither of us were in a fit state to appreciate it. Instead we went to bed to sleep it off.

By morning I felt considerably better, and Liam was still sick but well enough to tackle a shorter day. As usual, the day started out sunny, but clouds and fog began to roll in around 10am when we started hiking. We took a couple of hours to ascend the Barranco Wall, a steep, scrambly section that Liam enjoyed despite being sick. Then we went down, and up, and down, and up one last time to Karanga Camp. Another hot lunch and afternoon rest, and Liam felt well enough by dusk to take some sunset photos.

Our sixth day was also short, and even easier then the day before. It was a simple, gentle, and short uphill walk to Barafu Camp at 4640m, from where we would make our summit push. We had a wonderful lunch of toasted fried bread, fries, and cabbage. For the first and last time we actually ate all the food they provided-usually there was enough for 4 people!

We then rested for the afternoon, had an early dinner, and were in bed by 6pm. While waiting for sleep that night we talked about several random topics, including how if we discovered an element, we would name it Bob, because then every schoolchild would remember it.

The waiter woke us up just after 11pm, and we forced down some tea and cookies before starting out by midnight. The moon was so bright that for the first 4 hours we didn't need our headlamps. To sum up the trail, it was long, steep, and boring. We took several breaks to de-layer and re-layer, as we warmed up then cooled down. By the time we hit 5200m Liam was slowing down to get more air into his lungs, so our pace slowed. The last 50m before reaching the edge of the crater, Stella Point, the trail was loose scree. We were both very excited upon reaching the point, and after a tea break we continued towards the summit, with the sky lightening behind us. It took just over an hour to walk around the crater rim, and we reached Uhuru Peak at 5:56am, just before the sun rose.

The summit was frigid, and my feet were blocks of ice in my boots, so we stayed only a few minutes for a couple photos before starting back down from the roof of Africa. I almost ran the first section to warm my feet up, while Liam followed much more slowly, taking sunrise photos. Below us, Kenya was covered in cloud and haze, and Tanzania was in the shadow of the mountain. Seeing the sun on the glaciers was amazing, and I instantly began to warm up. The trip down was much faster, taking only 2.5 hours despite photo and de-layering breaks. It was 8:45am when we returned to Barafu, but we were already exhausted. After packing and tea we had to carry on and descend another 1300m to Mweka Camp. By the time we arrived both of us had feet that were killing us and were very happy to have a rest. We had lunch, then crawled wearily into our tent for the afternoon, the dinner and back to bed.

Our last morning was bright. We packed up our stuff for the last time, and our crew sang a few songs to us before we headed down. It took around 3 hours to get down, back through the rainforest. Our driver met us at the Mweka Gate, and we drove back to Moshi to our hotel, for a much needed shower.

Despite the fact that for part of the trip we weren't in the best of health, both Liam and I had an amazing time. Now it's a few days of recovery, then we fly home. I've enjoyed my time in Africa, but I can't wait to get back to Canada. Bring on the snow!

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Photos

Layers!
I was really cold.

Comments

[mary lou]

tthe aimless gal and guy whofound their aim!!!
counting the time till you are home. love g.m.l.