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Published: October 26th 2008
Getting Picked Up
Starting our journey with the hotel van at Kilimanjaro Airport!You can't live in Tanzania and not at least consider climbing the mountain that graces the labels of our beer, water, tourist t-shirts, and airline slogans: Mt. Kilimanjaro.
So, I made the commitment and signed up to climb "Kili" during my October break from school. We cleverly planned for some days to catch up on sleep and relax between term 1 of school ending, and our climb beginning. So, on Sunday afternoon, Emma (a friend of mine that also teaches at the Elementary School) and I flew up to Northern Tanzania for the start of our life-changing adventure.
We were picked up at the airport by the hotel bus, and drove for 2 hours to the Marangu Hotel. Throughout the entire drive, we could see the mountain taunting us. The top layer was covered with clouds and they slowly moved away so that we had a few glimpses of the snow covered peak as we neared our starting point: the hotel. We got to the hotel, checked into our room, and then met up with our climbing group for our first dinner altogether. Whereas we originally signed on to join a group of 6, making a total group of
Kibo!
View of the summit from our hotel, on Day 1 8, something changed and we joined 3 other travelers. Our group consisted of Bjorn and Ruth- a German couple on a 3 week holiday around Tanzania, and Bryan - an Aussie who had just completed week 1 of his vacation on safari with the same group as Bjorn and Ruth, and was now finishing his trip with the climb. So after dining together, we separated for our last night's sleep in proper rooms and beds.
The next morning, we got up for our group breakfast, packing inspection (the hotel checks that you have all of the required clothing and equipment, and if you don't they will loan it to you for the week), briefing (basically you sit in a room and are told about all of the worst case scenarios of altitude sickness), and finally meeting our crew! We were set up with a crew of 16: 1 lead guide, 3 assistant guides, 1 cook, and 11 porters to carry our bags, tents, food, etc. And then the adventure really began!
**hotel itinerary is written in bold**
Day 1- Machame Gate to Machame Camp. Landrovers take climbers to the gate at 1800meters at the entrance to Starting Gate
Our group on Day 1 at the entrance gate. From left to right: Bjorn, Ruth, Me, Emma, Bryan. the forest. From here, a 5 to 6 hour walk, gradually ascending through the forest to a ridge between two streams and then onwards to the camp which is just clear of the forest at 3000meters.
After our morning of packing, briefing, etc. we still had a two hour drive to get to the Machame Gate. Once we got there, we had another hour of standing around while we got signed in for the first hike, drank a few cups of tea (four cups were recommended for each meal- saving our water for the actual hiking times), and ate lunch. We finally set off around 2pm. We spent the afternoon walking through the forest, pole pole (slowly), and probably enjoying the best weather that we would see for the next four days. By this I mean that it rained a bit, we had to put our waterproof jackets on, but the temperature was still above freezing, and the rain wasn't so hard that our stuff was able to dry overnight. It was a long walk, that's for sure, but I enjoyed it and managed to keep my energy through the whole walk. When we arrived at camp, the sun
Walking
The firs of many long walks... pre-rain. had set, and the temperature had plummeted. We quickly signed in, then went and found our tents (the porters set them up when they got to the campsite earlier), and changed into our warm layers for dinner and bedtime. It was already cold enough that we could see our breath when we talked, this was a sign of weather to come later in the week. We had a lovely dinner in our dining tent (general meal time expectations: tea, hot chocolate, carbo loading, and way too much food in general). The guides and cook were shocked at how "little" we ate, even though we felt we had stuffed ourselves silly. This became an ongoing discussion throughout the week. After dinner, for lack of activity and due to the long walk in the day, we headed to bed.
Day 2- Machame to Shira Camp. Walk up a steep ridge from Machame Camp through moorland to about 3600meters, heading straight towards the peak. Then, after about 4 hours, the path turns left, flattening out into a gorge and ascending more gradually to Shira Camp (3840 meters) on the Shira Plateau to the west of Kibo. Total time is about 5 The Path Ahead
What the first few hours looked like. - 6 hours.
We woke up with the sun, and convened again in the dining tent for breakfast (tea, hot chocolate, porridge, eggs, toast) and to discuss and pretty much come to the agreement that we had slept terribly and were freezing cold in our tents. Once again, this discussion would become repetitive over the course of the week: "the days are great, but the nights are the worst part!" Our steep walk commenced, and we were briefly fooled into believing that the day would be sunny and great. Quickly the weather turned and we found ourselves spending much of the day walking in rain and clouds. The "steep" part of the climb was steep and covered in many rocks. As I get tired, I have a tendency to drag my feet a little, but this wasn't possible with the rocks around, because you had to lift your feet to step on or over them. It really makes you focus on your walk and take very deliberate steps. I secured my spot right behind Goudance, our head guide, and just followed his feet, stepping each time he moved a foot. Stepping is a term used relative to what we
Arrival at Camp 1
It was actually really cold, but I hadn't had the time to put on my warmer layers yet! We all wore hats and fleece jackets to dinner. A sign of what was to come... would normally do in our day to day altitudes. Here, the "slowly slowly" advice is no joke. In order to allow your body to slowly acclimate to the changing altitudes each day, as well as to be able to breathe normally while walking and climbing, you are literally SLOWLY moving each foot. I liked to picture it as if I was holding the hand of a small baby, just taking his or her first steps. You barely move each of your feet forward as the baby tries to step, and yet you slowly progress across the room. That is exactly what our steps were like, how fast they were, and yet we made hundreds of meters of progress each day! I began to have some breathing issues already, despite the slowness of our steps, and one of the guides offered to carry my day pack for me for the rest of the climb. What a difference that made already! We finally arrived at the camp at around 2:30 in the afternoon, and everything was wet and foggy. We settled into our tents, I gave my feet a little soak in hot water, and when the fog briefly cleared, we tried
Day 2, View
What we were hiking towards on Day 2: Kibo! to take some photos. Once it got dark, the misty fog really settled in, to the point where I tried to go use the toilet after dinner and couldn't see past my own hands! I got nervous about being hopelessly lost on Mt. Kilimanjaro on only night 2, and just turned off my headlamp and squatted where I was, knowing that nobody could see or find me through the fog, so my outdoor toilet privacy was totally safe. I was about 5 paces away from my tent, so I wasn't so hopelessly lost in the end. On to another freezing and mostly sleepless night. This is the first night that I experienced some altitude induced nausea and vomiting.
Day 3- Shira to Barranco Camp. The path continues directly up the ridge towards Kibo. After about 4 hours, the path forks to the right and descends into a gorge (Barranco) and the night is spent at Barranco Camp (3950 metres). Total time about 5 - 6 hours. This day also has an unwritten acclimatisation hike where you keep going up at the forking point, heading to the Lava Towers, which are about 4,600meters or so, before you head
The Porters
Carrying our bags and various other camping accoutrement up to our next site. back down to the gorge for the night. This way your body can experience a high altitude and you can see how it reacts before the big night.
This morning, we woke up to a clear and sunny sky! We could see the Kibo summit from our camp, and our wet jackets were just dry. We began our walk going up (pole pole) and took some rest stops for photos and snacks. Once again, just as our walk got underway, the weather turned. This time, it started as hail. I wasn't too worried because I thought it would just be a quick hailstorm, and that it would just hit and fall off our clothing, not making us too wet. This may have been wishful thinking on my part, as I'd accidentally not packed my waterproof pants into my day pack, only my jacket. As if to test my strengths further, the hail continued, full force, and we all had to put our waterproof layers on (for me, just my jacket, for everyone else, head to toe coverage) for the rest of the walk. Luckily the guides still had my day pack, so that stayed dry under their ponchos. We
The Clouds Rolling In
And here comes the rain! made very slow progress due to the wet iciness of everything we walked on, and even stopping for lunch was a feat, as we had to look for a small rock overhang that we could squat under to get out of the hail for a little bit. We reached the fork in the trail, where the usual option would be to continue going up to the Lava Towers, to get some acclimatization opportunities, but due to the hail, we were behind schedule, tired, and cold, and the guides decided to cut out that extra few hours of our day and just head straight to camp. When we arrived at camp, we were wet, frozen, and worried about having enough dry layers for the impending summit in 2 night's time. We settled in for another cold night at camp - there was literally SNOW on the mountain walls surrounding our campsite valley- and I had the guides fill one of my waterbottles with hot water so that I could stick it in my sleeping bag at night for some extra warmth. I was already sleeping in 3 layers, top and bottom, and wearing my hat to bed. Another night of little
Day 2 Walk
Nice wet, slippery rocks. The porters made it look easy. sleep and lots of nausea left me feeling less than refreshed for the next morning. As I said before "the nights are the worst part!"
Day 4- Barranco to Barafu Camp. Cross the Barranco Valley, climb the Barranco Wall (not technical climbing), then follow the Kibo South Circuit. Wonderful views are to be had of Kibo's southern glaciers if the weather is clear. Lunch next to the river in the Karangu Valley, then on to the intersection of the South Circuit with the Mweka ascent path. Turn left and climb up a ridge for about 2 hours to Barafu Camp (4600 meters). Total time about 6-7 hours. I could barely choke down any breakfast when I woke up on day 4. This was not good, as we had a grueling hike ahead of us. Our outerwear was still wet from the day before, but we piled it on and headed on our way. We had to climb up and out of the valley, which entailed some rock scaling and scrambling. They say it isn't "technical" climbing, but I distinctly remember overhearing someone say "If we were in (insert first world country here), we'd be wearing harnesses right
Goudance and Me
He got me through the week. now!" Oh dear. I stopped about an hour into the climb to down a quick granola bar for energy, as my nausea had finally subsided. Then we continued our climb up, up, and up. The misty rain had already re-commenced, per usual. Unlike the day before, I had not only remembered my waterproof pants, but had gone ahead and decided to wear them as my outer layer for the whole day. Thank goodness too, because things got wet! We stopped for lunch under a rock ledge once again, and then continued our ascent up to the summit base camp. We stopped for a toilet break in another camp site, where the hike would have ended if we'd been on a 7 day tour instead of 6. I silently cursed the fact that we couldn't stop, and we began our slow but steep walk up the path to our camp. It was here that I had my first big break down. I was having trouble breathing the thin air, and needed to stop and catch my breath. I also had a massive bruise on the front of my foot for some reason (boot laces, maybe?) and it was hurting a lot
The Path Ahead
Follow the tiny dots (people) to see where we still had to go that day! this particular afternoon. The group was cold and wet and wanted to keep powering on, but I could feel that my body needed a break. So rather than rationally asking for a guide to stay with me, I broke down in tears. I was exhausted and not breathing well, tears were the natural course of action! In any case, the head guide, Goudance, stayed with me and took me up to camp at a pace that worked for me. We went super slowly, slowly, with Goudance setting little goals for me with a rock or other area as a resting point. He would try to take my mind off things by asking me questions about my life and my family, and even offered to let me wear his boots for the summit, if my boots were the cause of my foot bruising. Goudance's patience and attention really helped to get me through the afternoon. We found ourselves walking for the last hour in the SNOWS of Kilimanjaro! It was literally snowing on me! What a unique experience. We arrived at camp at 5pm, at least one hour after the rest of the group, but at least I made it! I
Into the Tent
and out of the rain! quickly changed into dry and warm clothes, and Emma had been an angel and already rolled out my mat and sleeping bag for me. 30 minutes after arriving, we were called to the dining tent for dinner, before going to bed at 7pm, surrounded by snow! We were to try and get as much sleep as possible before our 11pm wake up call for the walk to the summit. I put 2 hot water bottles in my sleeping bag, because it was that cold!
Day 5- Barafu Camp to the top. Leave hut at 1 or 2am. Steep climb over scree and rock towards the Rebmann Glacier. Pass a cliff and then enter the gap between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers, arriving at the crater rim near Stella Point (about 6 -7 hours). One more hour to Uhuru. Descend via Barafu hut (1-2 hours from Stella Point) and then continue for another 3 or 4 hours to Mweka Camp. So, we were a little earlier than the 1 or 2 am estimated wake up. We were up at 11pm, in the breakfast tent by 11:20. I was feeling so nauseas that I could barely choke down a
Foot Soak
We were given bowls of warm water each morning and afternoon, to wash with. I opted to use it for my feet! cup of tea. We were all well aware that we needed to get as much in as possible for energy on the way up, but I just couldn't do it. I had my pockets full of chocolates and hard candy, for sugar energy during the walk. It was well below freezing and we all had on hats, scarves, gloves, about 6 layers or tops, 3 layers of pants, 2 pairs of socks, etc. Emma decided she'd reached her limits and wouldn't need to summit to feel the trip was successful, so she saw us off from camp and then stayed at the tents. The rest of us (myself, Ruth, Bjorn, and Bryan) left camp and began with the steep rock climbing. What a tough way to begin! It was hard not only because it was dark, the rocks were frozen from the snow, and we had to literally climb up them, but also because we were exhausted from 4 previous nights of little sleep, long days of walking, and lack of oxygen! Needless to say, I split off from the group early on, because I needed to go at my own slower pace, with a separate guide. Peter was already
Foggy Sign
We tried to wait out the fog before taking a photo. This was the best we could hope for. carrying my day pack for me, so he stayed behind to walk with me. Poor Peter. He stood by with a sturdy hand on my shoulder, as I periodically had to stop and vomit. He stopped with me and waited patiently as I caught my breath every few steps. He encouraged me to keep trying even when the tears (which froze as soon as they left my eyes) began falling. Peter managed to keep me going for 45 minutes longer than I would have otherwise made it. As we started the climb, I convinced myself that I'd go until the sun came up and assess my strength from there. By 1am, I was convincing myself to just wait til 3am to make a decision, and by 2:45am, I was done. I couldn't go more than 2-3 steps without having to stop to either pant and catch my breath, or vomit. I was crying, and I could see the peak was still very far away. We had reached the 5000m mark, and I knew that at my pace, it would take at least 10 hours to summit, and then there was the whole getting back down factor to consider. So, after
Day 3 Wake Up
We were foolishly delighted by the sunny sky... another rest break spent on my knees, Peter and I turned around and headed back down to camp. I knew I made the right decision, as it still took 1.5 hours to get down just from where we had been (and the hotel itinerary said that it only took 1.5 hours to get down all the way from the top?!). I had to stop for nausea a few times while coming down, and it was really difficult to go back down the steep and icy rock section while it was still dark and everything was frozen. I had no shame about sitting on my butt and sliding down in parts. The worst part was the last 20 minutes of the walk down, because you could see the tents but there was still a long way, with many ups and downs, to get to them. Despite how terrible I felt, the beauty of the hike was not lost on me. I spent over 4 hours walking in a clear night sky, with stars and the nearly full moon lighting my way. You could see all of the peaks of the mountain, and the snow on top of Kibo. It was a
Camping Grounds
There were at least 100 people on our trail... gorgeous site, but I had zero energy to even try and think of taking a photo.
So, I got back down to camp around 4am, and Emma let me back into the tent. I took off my outer most layer and then passed out from exhaustion for 2 hours. At 6am I hear Bjorn being brought back to his tent and then as soon as the sun was up, we packed up our things, and prepared to descend to our final camp site. The cook prepared us some fruits and juices to give us energy, but all I could stomach still was to suck the juice out of a few slices of orange. Bjorn told us his story: he got about an hour or so further than I had, but then also was completely exhausted and his body was not doing well with the altitude. He couldn't walk well and was constantly needing to sit or lay down. Eventually the guides decided that he needed to go back down. But Ruth and Bryan had powered on, and both made it not only to Stella Point, but then on to Uhuru! We were all very proud of them.
As if the
View of Kibo
I would have enjoyed it more without the nausea it was already causing. day hadn't been long enough, the three of us non-summiters then set off to walk for 4 hours downhill to Mweka Camp. This part was great for Bjorn and I, because we could literally feel the thicker air becoming easier to breath, and could see the blood pumping stronger in our veins! We both started feeling better and better as we got to lower altitudes, and my appetite came back! Unfortunately, poor Emma's body decided that it had battled enough over the course of the week, and she had some serious struggles with coming down the mountain. Luckily, we were in no rush whatsoever, so we just went down slowly. When we got down to our camp, we had a leisurely afternoon, sitting around and talking, unpacking our sleeping things in our tent, and having a cute picnic lunch outside (the dining tent was still up at base camp for the summiters to have breakfast after their climb). When the other porters started arriving in camp, we knew that Ruth and Bryan wouldn't be far behind, so we went and sat near the camp entrance, to welcome them back and congratulate them on their success. It felt like we were
Woman vs. Mountain
In the end, I'd call it a tie. such a team!
After they arrived and we welcomed them in, we had tea time in the dining tent and heard their stories. We saw photos from the summit, and I couldn't believe they were still able to stand and talk! Needless to say, regardless of how far we'd each made it in the summit, the combination of the trip nearing an end, being back in breathable air, and a long day of being awake and walking, helped us all to have an amazing night's sleep. I suddenly had so many dreams!
Day 6 - Descend to Mweka Gate We woke up, packed up, and then spent 4 hours walking down to the end of our trip. It was an easy-going walk, full of talking (one of the first days where we could actually summon enough air to both breath and talk at once!), and already reminiscing. We got down to the gate, signed a book saying how high we each got, watched tourists get bombarded by local craft salesmen, and then got in our truck to head back. We stopped shortly after leaving the gate, for our last picnic lunch, during which we bought beers for
Once Again, the Weather Turns
Never just one outfit for the day... layer, layer, layer. all of our guides, porters, etc. When we got back to the hotel, we spent the afternoon relaxing, unpacking, and drinking beers! Of course we all drank Kilimanjaro beers, and even marked the labels to show each of our personal highest points. We had our last group dinner together that night, reminiscing about funny comments and memories from the trip, like how Bjorn will never be able to eat another Snickers bar again, how soup, tea, and porridge were quickly going to be cut out of all of our diets (there was a slight overkill of them at meals), and how happy I was to finally be able to sit in a chair with a back again! The following day, we all eventually went our separate ways to either go back to work, or continue our vacations.
It was an absolutely amazing experience. I am so glad that I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and pushed myself as far as my body could go. I met such great people in our climbing group, was so lucky to have such amazing and caring guides, and was literally a part of the Snows of Kilimanjaro. Although I'd read sites beforehand that compared climbing
the mountain to being as difficult as childbirth, I find myself looking back fondly at all of the hard days, and even harder nights, and even considering doing it again if Mom decides she's up for the challenge sometime!
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Jackie Turner
non-member comment
Wow!
Holy cow girl, you are a rock star!!! Wow wow wow!!! I was literally moved to tears reading this. I really admire you for listening to your body and making the trip your own. I am absolutely your climbing groupie and I have to say, I'm a little in awe...and totally, totally impressed!