Jambo, pole-pole

---

Jambo, pole-pole
My adventures on Mt. Kilimanjaro
February, 2008

Mt. Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania, which is in east Africa just south of the equator. To get there requires a lot of flying time. I left Louisville at 2:30pm, flew to Detroit where I met up with Dave and then boarded a flight to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam the next morning and after a 3 hour layover, boarded a KLM fight for Kilimanjaro International. This leg took 8 hours, 10 on the clock, as we were still heading east. We flew directly over the Sahara and as I had a window seat, I was amazed at the size of it. For nearly 4 hours we passed over the desert and you could see the outlines of sand dunes, even from almost 40,000 feet. We arrived at the Kilimanjaro airport after dark and were met by Richard, who is Tusker Trails’ transportation person. From the very beginning, we were impressed by the professionalism and attention to detail that would mark our excursion with Tusker. Dave and I chose them, as I recall, because of their extensive evacuation protocols from the mountain (which we were hoping not to use!) and the fact that they were noted for their favorable treatment and support of the porters. They cost a little more than other trekking companies but throughout the whole trip I never thought the extra money wasn’t worth it.

After collecting our bags we met nine strangers who were soon to become our great friends and boarded a bus for about an hour long bumpy ride to the Keys Hotel in Moshi. To me, the hotel resembled a small estate, with a drive that led to a central open courtyard surrounded by an open air front desk and restaurant and bar with rooms above. There were also quite a few two story cottages surrounding the grounds and Dave and I shared a room in building 3 for the next two nights. We had a traditional Tanzanian dinner of chicken and rice (it’s a staple in developing countries worldwide!) and vegetables and met most of our traveling companions. Dave’s Peace Corp colleague Akbar was already at the hotel as he had been on a Safari. We met Angus from Australia and Matt from New Zealand, two thirty something aged Cambridge rugby buddies who now work in the financial markets in London and New York, respectively. Another group member, Bob from Florida, who is a marathoner in his mid 60s was there with his wife Barb (she was not climbing but was staying in the local area for the next week.) Three Canadians, Linda and her daughter Jess (who was staying after for a month of really cool service work in Moshi) were on the climb with their friend Lane. Finally, Ted, an experienced hiker IT guy from Wisconsin and Linda D, a semi retired professor from Brooklyn rounded out the crew. Our rooms had mosquito nets surrounding the beds, and the view from the bed through the netting was something I would get very used to as I developed a stomach problem the next day and spent most of the day in bed.

In the morning we saw our first glimpse of Kili towering over us. We all took too many pictures, as she was an obsession that was growing within us. At 19,300, Kili is the world’s largest free standing mountain. It is basically a volcano rising straight up out of the African plain. In the past ten years the snow has all but disappeared with just receding glaciers remaining. In the morning the peak was cloud free and visible. By 11 o’clock clouds were forming as hot humid air moved up the slopes and hit the cold air at altitude. By 5 that evening the clouds cleared and the peak, called Kibo, was visible again. It seemed elementary and interesting from the ground, but would quickly become our daily reality and routine for the next 7 days. Looking, watching and observing Kibo, we were wondering what would happen in 6 days when we attempted the summit?

In the morning we went for a couple hours walk up the road from our hotel and saw some great sights of surrounding area. Lots of people in colorful traditional clothing. It seems the women are in charge of farming the really fertile soil - lots of banana trees and maybe beans? And they carry baskets with bunches of bananas on their heads. The slopes surrounding Kili are populated by people from the Chagga tribe and according to the Stedman book on Kili; they have a relatively prosperous lifestyle. In many ways it is very similar to Central and South America - lots of concrete block houses, small individual family farms and school children wearing their uniforms to low one story schoolhouses. I really like the area and the people and would love to come back and get more immersed in the culture.

At midday we met our three guides who would lead us up the mountain. Tobias was the crew chief and he was joined by his assistants Steven and Shabaani. All three were veterans of many climbs and had started out as porters. We later learned that Tobias and Steven were Chagga and Shabaani was a Masai. Tanzania hasn’t had the tribal strife that Kenya has experienced and according to Steven, it is due to the respect that everyone shows for each other. When all of our guides were together, they would speak Swahili amongst themselves, as this is the universal language of the area. Only when in the company of people all from the same tribe would they speak their tribal languages of Chagga or Masai.

As the crew was going through daily schedule for the trek I noticed that they thought we were on a 6 day hike, not the 7 day we were scheduled for. This extra day allows you to cut the day before the summit into two days to better acclimatize to the altitude, and once we were up on the mountain we were all glad we did the 7 day trip! They showed us the safety and first aid equipment, checked our gear, distributed sleeping bags, hiking poles and gaiters to those who rented them, and began to talk about the overriding philosophy of the climb - pole-pole - which is Swahili for slowly - slowly. The best way to reach the top is to go pole-pole and allow yourself time to acclimatize to the altitude. There are seven main routes up the mountain. We were taking the 7 day Macheme route. This is known as the whiskey route, as it is the opposite of the more popular Marangu, or coca-cola route. The Marangu is easier, shorter and cheaper, but it is not nearly as scenic and because it is so fast - you summit on the 3rd day I think - there is a very high fail rate. Tusker claims an almost 100% summit rate on the 7 day Macheme route, which is why the next morning, after I was fully engaged with vomiting and diarrhea, we found ourselves in a 6 wheeled transport truck heading up the Kilimanjaro foothills to Macheme Gate, the national park entrance to this route.

At Machame Gate, we were met by a circus of vehicles, trekkers, porters, and locals selling hats, bandannas and hiking poles. Two big park signs gave ominous warnings of the task ahead. We were only carrying a day pack with lots of water, snacks and rain gear. Non-trek gear had been stored at the hotel and we had packed our other belongings in these blue Tusker duffels that the porters would carry. We would later learn that there were a total of 48 people on our crew - the 3 guides, a camp master, a cook, and about 42 porters. The amazing porter capabilities were very similar to what we experienced on the Inca Trail. The porters would haul all the gear ahead and have camp set up before you arrive. In the morning you leave while they are packing camp. They pass you up an hour later and set up either lunch or dinner in advance of your arrival. The Tusker difference with the porters was obvious to me from the start. Our porters had hiking boots, packs and decent gear. Other group’s porters were in poor footwear and whatever clothes they had. We also were told that our porters were the highest paid on the mountain, even though that is only $8 per day! Supposedly there is a waiting list to be a Tusker porter and Tobias, as crew chief, gets to pick whoever he wants.

We grabbed our poles, strapped on our gaiters and started hiking up through the rain forest. I had never used gaiters but they attach from below the laces on your boot, strap under your heel and go up to mid calf. They do a great job of controlling mud mess and the keep rocks and pebbles from getting in your boots. The first part of the trail was actually a 4 wheel drive track that gave way to a trail as we ascended. After a few minutes the first porters began to pass us, carrying 40 lb duffel bags on their heads. Almost all of us had a 2-3 liter water bladder with a drinking hose, along with an additional liter of water in a bottle. From the start it was pole-pole and lots of water. We also learned to greet everyone with “jambo”, which is a universal Swahili greeting. This first day we walked about 11km and climbed from about 6K ft to 10K ft through a beautiful rain forest. After stopping to each a lunch of chicken and fruit that we had been given at the start, we reached the Macheme camp in mid afternoon. These campsites are large with several trekking groups in the vicinity. Tusker, who seemed to do everything first class, would send a porter out first thing every day to stake out a great camping spot at each campsite. Camp consisted of two man yellow tents, a cook tent, two big blue tents that somehow all the porters slept in and two big orange dome tents that were our dining tents. Every evening we would arrive in camp and Tobias would invite us to get “tea, coffee, milo” in the tent. (Milo is like Nestle Quik with vitamins added. Angus told me it was popular back home in Australia too). Popcorn was available, too. The dining tents had a table and 6 chairs in each. After resting for a while dinner would be served; soup followed by a rice or pasta dish. The food was great through out the whole trip, although I still wasn’t eating very much due to my stomach problems. Another part of camp life that was unique to the Tusker group was two private latrine tents and port-a-potties that the lowest ranking porter must have had the honor of schlepping up the mountain! This first night I was very thankful for them several times as the alternative was a smelling latrine with only a hole and no seat.

By six in the morning the next day my stomach had finally settled down and for the rest of the trip I felt great. Breakfast was porridge or oatmeal, some wonderful cheese and toast. Every evening after dinner and each morning, we would have a health check with Tobias and either Steven or Shabaani. They had a health chart for each of us and would ask us a series of questions, starting with, “How do you feel on a scale of 1 - 10?” If you answered less than 10 they would ask, “Where did the other numbers go?” They asked if we were eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, had headaches, nausea, and the like. They also had a monitor that they put on our fingers to determine oxygen levels and pulse. My pulse was really high the first two days but as I felt better, it kept lowering, even as we gained altitude. In the mornings they would get a stethoscope out and listen to our lungs for pulmonary edema, or the building up of fluid on the lungs, which is a really bad and potentially deadly side effect of the dreaded AMS, or acute mountain sickness. I even noticed that Tusker did these checks on the porters.

As the second day’s hike began, we immediately ascended out of the rain forest into the heather climate zone. As on cue, the clouds came at 11 and we even donned our rain gear for a while. The weather would change in an instant on the mountain, going from hot and sunny to cold and misty or raining in minutes. It could go from sunny and 80 to 30 and snow in matter of minutes, so we learned to put on layers that could come off and on or unzip easily. This day’s hike was a short but steep hike from 9,900 ft to 12,600 up to the Shira Plateau. We got our first taste of scrambling up and over rocks and climbing some small rock outcroppings. We asked Shabaani if he thought it was true that someone rode a bike up Kili. He replied that it is said that it happened, but since he didn’t see it he didn’t necessarily believe it. He told me this as we were climbing up some rocks. After climbing the whole mountain, I don’t believe it either.
Our route up Kili took us up the western slopes of the mountain. Once we reached the Shira camp, we would then traverse laterally around the base of Kibo to the eastern side where we would summit. This was the shortest and easiest day, except for Bob, who was getting really sick with the same bug I had. Maybe it was something we ate? Before the trip was over we were calling Bob “Beck Weathers”, after the climber in “Into Thin Air” who had 9 lives and never succumbed to the mountain. Bob was so sick and didn’t eat for 4 days but kept going through it all, gaining the respect of everyone for his fortitude, especially for a guy in his mid-60s.
The Shira Camp was on a wide plateau with great views of Kili, Kibo and Mt. Meru, a volcano 60 miles to the west. At tea they served us appetizers of chicken wings (that’s what they called them) that must have been fried in the oil that had cooked fish the night before. They were horrible and especially didn’t agree with Angus. By this time we were really getting to know our fellow hikers and I made it a point to try and walk with each person to get to know them better. As on the Inca Trail, the relationships you build were one of my favorite parts of the trip and will remain a special part of my memories.

Waking up the next morning at 12,600 feet was cold! This day’s hike was to the Barranco Huts and was the first example of hiking high and camping low, if you call a campsite at 13K low. We hiked up a series of very long, ever increasingly high ridges up and out of the heather into the alpine desert. Eventually we reached our lunch spot near a rock formation called Lava Tower at 15,200 feet. This was higher than I had ever been and I could feel it. One time Akbar and I fell behind about 40 yards to tie a shoe or something and the effort to walk faster to catch up was huge. It really illustrated the wisdom of pole-pole. I find that I tolerate altitude pretty well but at 14k I got a headache on cue, so I started taking Advil and that helped a lot. At the lunch stop, we had hiked about 5km pretty steeply up and everyone was pretty tired. It was very cold and windy as well and we tried to eat behind rocks to break the wind. When you hike you cook and stay pretty warm but when you stop it is pretty cold! Our guides knew we would drink a lot of water so along the way there must have been a spring because some of the Tusker guys were there with a re-supply of fresh filtered water for us! After Lava Tower, we began a descent into the Barranco valley that was absolutely some of the coolest and most magnificent scenery I have ever seen. This afternoon and the next days’ climb of the Barranco wall could seriously challenge any hike that is out there for challenge and beauty. It was also during this part of the hike that Linda from Brooklyn began to slow down and in another amazing tribute to Tusker, was paired with Steven almost exclusively so that she and the rest of the group could hike at the best pace. Back in the heather of the Barranco valley we encountered lots of the pineapple looking Lobelia plants and the alien, huge Groundsels that were part cactus, part tree, part Lost in Space. The Barranco Camp is perhaps the most spectacular on the hike and was my favorite. We were right under Kibo and the huge Barranco Wall, which we had to scale the next day. That night it was clear and cold and there literally must be 100x as many stars in the sky. It was amazing how bright and huge the Milky Way is. Angus and Matt showed me how to find the Southern Cross, which was really cool and always so visible once I knew what to look for.

I hope the version that you are reading has the pictures of the Barranco Wall attached because it is hard to describe how cool and fun the 800 foot, near vertical climb up the wall was. We strapped our hiking poles to our packs and climbed hand and foot up a precarious route with many false summits. At the end they even laid a rope to assist with an especially steep part. Here the porters were simply amazing. They were making the same climb we were with duffels, chairs, packs and food strapped to their backs and balanced on their head. Typically on the trail the call of “on the right” meant that porters were coming through. Here you found a ledge off to the side as they climbed through! Halfway up the wall I just thought to myself “man, this is really being alive!” If they had given us the chance, I would have climbed back down and climbed it again! After reaching the top we stopped for lunch and then made our way to the Karanga camp, which involved more spectacular scenery and a scramble down and up a huge ravine that would have merited a national park in the states! The Karanga camp was at 13,200 feet and if we had been on the 6 day trek, we would have gone on for 4 more hours. We were coming around Kibo and from this camp we could see the ridge that we would climb in two nights for the summit.

Day five entails a hike through a desolate moonscape terrain that could be a setting for a Star Wars type movie. This is total alpine desert. Almost nothing grows here, the air is thin and it gets cold and hot very fast. Barafu Huts is the last camp before the summit and sits at almost 15,400. By comparison, the peaks of the highest Rocky Mountains are all 14k. Our campsite at Barafu was literally made up of small spaces on the side of a steep rocky hillside. We rested as best we could and tried to take afternoon naps because we were going to start hiking for the summit at midnight! During the later part of the day we saw many 6 day trekkers coming in all the way from Barranco, looking exhausted. One large lady was literally being pulled by her porter. By now the stress was growing. We had been circling the damn mountain for 5 days and we were all determined to make it up but were growing apprehensive. 15K was so high, how would we make it past 19K? Different people were now suffering the effects of altitude: massive headaches, throwing up or suffering from diarrhea. Tobias told us to quit taking Advil and gave us these tiny pills he called “dex” for headaches. They worked wonders, even though I have no idea what they were. The guys who got sick got another magic pill that worked wonders as well. By now almost all of us were taking Diamox, a prescription drug that helps you adapt to altitude and also makes you go pee constantly, so you have to drink lots of water, which causes the cycle to continue! Luckily, I had recovered fully from my stomach bug and I felt stronger every day. With the exception of a small headache, I was ready to go.

We tried to sleep after dinner but I couldn’t, so at 11pm, I pulled on long johns, hiking pants and wind pants, 2 shirts, a fleece sweater, a fleece jacket and my parka, two pairs of gloves and two pairs of socks, a stocking cap and head light, and headed for the dining tent. There they fed us again, gave us a box lunch that we gave most of to the porters (My appetite was a casualty of the altitude and greasy grilled chicken legs just didn’t do it for me) I did have a ton of energy bars and granola packed. They gave us a container of sugary glucose for the trip. Some folks chose to save it and eat it along the way. I put it in my water bottle to make an energy drink, which was a fortuitous decision because even though I had bought the insulated hose for my bladder, it froze up at the top. The glucose water eventually became slush but I was able to get some out. The tension in the tent was getting stronger and stronger by the time we headed out at midnight for a 4000 ft climb straight up. I had saved my ipod battery for the summit so I was jamming the whole way up! The whole scene was surreal. We were in a group of 10 with several porters and two guides. All you could see was the light of your headlamp shining on the path and the boots of the person in front. Ahead of us and behind us you could see other groups climbing, bobbing along like moving constellations of stars. From time to time you would be delayed by a slower group or passed by a faster group. The trail was a repeating series of switchbacks over increasingly looser small rocks. Tiny step forward and slide back. Over and over. We passed people puking, pooping and with nose bleeds. One jerk kept passing us up and cutting off people on the switchbacks and we saw him sick on the side later on. Up and up for 6 hours. Although it was cold, having the right equipment was great and I never really felt cold, except for my fingers. In fact, I had the arm vents on my parka open the entire time. Eventually the horizon began to brighten and you could see the glacier on your left and the crest above us. My ipod ran out of juice about 5 am, right when I realized that I was going to make it to the top of the “bitch”, as my obsession had caused me to begin to call Kibo. As the sun peaked over the horizon it was amazing. Ask Dave about his epiphany. We were on top of the world as we came to Stella Point and the rim of the crater! We had made it and it was awesome! The morning dawned beautiful and clear and I won’t ever forget it. We were told later that it was about 0 degrees with a 20 mph wind but I felt great! My mind was clear but the one effect of the altitude that I was aware of was very decreased motor skills. I needed to put on my sunglasses and it literally took me about 10 minutes to take off my gloves, unzip my pocket, and switch glasses! I was laughing at myself! Plus that task completely winded me.

All of the material I read said that although Stella Point was the volcano rim and you will get a certificate for reaching this, the real peak is Uhuru Peak, a seemingly short hike of 45 minutes. What they didn’t say is that we still had to climb another 500 feet! At this altitude, that could have been a mile more! I remember walking next to these amazing glaciers, cast in the reddish glow of dawn, and being too tired to take a picture. What I was seeing was just like a picture in the book I had and I just decided to cup that picture out for my photo album. By this point I had to put these hand warmers I bought next to my camera to keep the battery from freezing, even though it was deep in my jacket. (And I did get the picture!).

After about 45 minutes we made it to Uhuru. It was just awesome! We all took a ton of pictures, hugged everyone we knew and just breathed in what little air we could, savoring every moment. There is a sign on the summit that everyone stands in front of to get a picture. Walking back to Stella Point we had all the energy in the world as we passed climbers still trudging up, offering them words of encouragement as if we were experts or something!

Now we had to get back down. The path down was the same one we came up. It would be a black diamond ski run and in fact, one way down was to put your feet out, your weight back and just slide down. That worked for a while until my hamstrings were screaming for relief. When we stopped for a break we realized that we didn’t have Dave with us. I knew he was ahead of me so being pretty certain of that, Shabaani took off running, with a full pack of supplies on his back, at full speed down the mountain, where he found Dave. These guys were in amazing shape! It took about 3 hours to get down to our old Barafu camp, where we made an exhausted attempt at lunch, laid down for an hour and then started down for our last camp, Millennium Camp at 12k ft. All in all, we had been up for 36 hours and hiked most of that time, but it was awesome! There was a park ranger at this camp who would sell you a cold beer. Boy it was a good one!

The next day was our last day. This is an easily forgotten, but awesome, long but beautiful hike of 14k. We ended up in a beautiful rainforest and met up with the park gate at 5400 feet. I had read in the book “Three Cups of Tea” how the author, Greg Mortenson, described when descending to lower altitudes that the “air envelops you like a blanket”. How true that is. You could actually exert yourself and not get winded. As parts of our group descended faster than others, we talked the Tusker folks into quick ride back through beautiful coffee farms to our hotel, where the first shower in 7 days awaited. And as the evening wore on and we celebrated our victory with several well earned beers, the clouds parted at 5 pm and there was Kibo, clear in the setting sun, staring at us from far above, but we knew we had been there!

---

Photos

11 Trekkers
Angus, Matt, Bob, Akbar, Ted, Dave, Jess, Linda, Linda, Glenn, Laine

Ready to go at Machame Gate
Glenn, Akbar and Dave

Doing all the Heavy Lifting
All along the trail the porters will pass you up carrying all the gear on their heads!

Day 2 on the Trail
This is a great shot of the trail in the heather between Machame Camp and Shira Camp

Great Spot for Lunch
This is Dave and Akbar as we approach our lunch spot on day 2

Gotta love the Porters
Here is Ted making way for one of our porters

Shira Camp
Remember how I said the weather can change very fast - here is Shira camp in the early afternoon

Shira Camp inthe Morning
And here is Angus and Matt in the morning

Getting a Medical Check
We all had medical checks every morning and every evening

On the Climb to Lava Tower
This is probably around 14,500 feet

Steven and Ernest
Steven was one of our super guides and Ernest was always bringing up the rear, with a yellow bag of medical supplies on his head.

Lobelia
These pineapple looking plants were common in the heather region

Groundsels
And these Lost in Space looking Groundsels were common too.

Barranco Camp
This camp was amazing. Here is Kibo, the Barranco Wall below it and our tent in the foreground

Approaching the Barranco Wall
Look closely up at the top of the wall at the climbers!

More climbing the Wall
This was so much fun!!!

The Path to Karanga Camp
Check out the path - it goes straight down and then straight up the other side.

Karranga Valley
One more valley to cross before we tackle the summit

Barafu Camp
Here we tried to get some rest before the midnight attempt at the summit

Comments

[Jess]

Hey Glenn! This is great! I'll have to steal all of your pics when I get home. I'm still in Moshi.. starting week 2 of my volunteer placement. I got to teach/play hockey with a bunch of kids this weekend! So much fun! I'll send around my pics (and my mom's and Laine's) when I get back. Take care! Jess

[Peter]

Way to go Glenn!
Glenn, these pics are awesome. What a great experience. You should be very proud for doing something like this!