Kilimanjaro!!

Sorry its taken so long to post about my recent Mt. Kilimanjaro trip. Its definitely taken a week to recover from the mountain and then another few days just to get my thoughts together. I don't know how to adequately describe the 6 day adventure but to say it was by far one of the hardest things I've done physically. The first day of the trip was spent traveling from Nairobi to Moshi, the town at the base of the mountain. Although seemly not difficult it proved to be a challenge in of itself. With little sleep the night before, we stayed up late repacking our bags, we took off in a 20 seat passenger bus for the border. No surprises there as we tried to grab a few minutes of rest. The border of Tanzania was no problem for me as I had already secured my visa before hand and quickly got my exit Kenya stamp and entry Tanzania stamp. The boys had a little more trouble as they have both tourist and diplomatic passports with stamps in both. Luckily we had no major issues and it was back on the bus. We got to Moshi later that evening and had a quick bite to eat. Mainly we were exhausted and just wanted to get up to the hotel room for some sleep, our last on a real bed in awhile.


Machame Gate

The next morning we piled in another van and took off for the mountain. At this point we still hadn't actually seen the mountain as it was covered by a thick haze and even after the hour drive to the park gate were still not seeing any true "mountain". Formalities at the gate took longer than we expected as the park rangers take their jobs very seriously. Every hiker must sign in at each camp so that they can be tracked along the way. A few hours later we were finally off! The first day consisted of a mainly uphill climb through the rain forest. Luckily the mist quickly burned off and we didn't have to deal with any rain. The first day set the tone of the trip as two of the boys quickly forgot the climbing motto of "pole pole" (slowly slowly) and rushed to keep up with the twice as fast porters. Me, I took my sweet time as I knew we had 5 more days of this and there was no reason to get burned out now. By the end of day 1 we were above the cloud line which made for some amazing pictures of the summit and clouds from machame camp.

Machame Camp. Our Guide Vinncent.


Our first sighting of the peak from Machame camp.

The second day started with a very steep climb followed by a short decline. This day was spent getting out of the way of the porters and trying to get to camp at a reasonable hour for lunch. Again two of the boys went ahead and paid for it later!! What took us an hour took them 35 minutes. They were exhausted for the short acclimatization hike our guides wanted to do that evening. Shira camp was lively into the night as hikers celebrated their first day with songs and chatter. I went to bed early as I had a hard time adjusting to the camping the first night.

Apparently you can still get phone service on the mountain!

Day 3 we started to finally experience some real altitude. During the day we hiked up to lava tower which sites at about 4,600 meters above sea level. Here we ate lunch, or what we could make of it. At this point my appetite was gone. That's usually one of the first signs of altitude sickness and was luckily the only one I had! Every bite was a testament to how much I knew my body needed the fuel despite not wanting to eat. I think the guides were a bit grateful that I was willing to share part of my uneaten lunch too! From the lava tower we hiked down to camp. This hike was relaxing despite falling on my butt a few times. The point in going down to camp refers to the old motto, "walk high, sleep low" and just helps hikers get better used to the altitude. At the end of day 3 I was feeling tired but still had energy. Jin, one of the boys with us, started to feel the altitude and decided to forgo dinner for a rest.

The taller is the peak covered by clouds. The shorter in the front is lava tower where we stopped for lunch.

The fourth day started with a challenge as we were asked to scale the 1000 meter wall. Luckily for me I was too focused in each step that I forgot to look down. This was good as there were a few times we were too close to the edge for comfort. I was amazed that the porters managed to balance 50-60 lbs of equipment (sometimes on their heads!) and scale this wall. I barely got up it without anything!! After the wall it was about 2 more hours till lunch. Normally campers would stay here for the night but we pushed on to base camp after lunch arriving at approximately 5pm. This is when my body started to give out on me. I was utterly exhausted and promptly lost my lunch upon arriving to base camp. That night I managed to put down some soup and fruit but was seriously doubting the summit attempt that was schedule for 5 hours later.


My home away from home for 6 days.

We got to bed at about 7pm only to be woken up at 11pm. After layering up we were off. I was apparently not going fast enough as the guides decided an hour and a half into the hike to split me from the group. The boys took off for the summit and I kept trying to put one foot in front of the other. The hours past as I tried to make it up (sometimes being dragged) the mountain. Luckily the dark conceals the very steep trail. At about 5300 meters I started having chest pains and notified the guides once they moved to both lungs. In concern of a possible pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) the guides thought it best we descend. At this point I was approximately 3 hours from Stella point then another hour from the peak. I knew my body was giving out and although I was disappointed knew going down was the best course of action.

The wall that we climbed. You can barely make out the peak in the clouds.

The boys summited Mt. Kilimanjaro at about 8am and were back down to camp by 11. After getting a quick nap we headed back down the mountain. It may seem harsh to hike that much in one day but the guides are quick to tell you that they want you out of base camp as soon as possible. The hike down was almost harder than up and I found myself wishing for some incline as my toes jammed up into my shoes. I had carefully avoided any blisters until this day where my toes rubbed on just about everything in my shoe.


The peak from base camp at 4,000 meters.

That night we celebrated with a Mt. Kilimanjaro beer and as the saying goes if you can't climb it, drink it! The next morning we woke early, thanked our group and headed the remaining 3 hours down the mountain. We were in high spirits as we crossed the park gate and signed out one last time. From there we headed back down to Moshi, quickly showered, and piled back on a bus to Nairobi.

That night in Nairobi, the mountain seemed like a mile away instead of being on it just that morning. It was a good time to eat some great food (now that my appetite had returned) and rest. The next morning Josh and I woke early as we still had a 5 hour drive ahead of us back to Kisumu. 5 hours later we were safely back home unpacking all the dirt and wet clothes that were the remaining reminder of the mountain.

Yes I am disappointed that I didn't reach the top but at the same time I am so proud of what I was able to do. It was the hardest thing I have asked my body to do thus far and I did make it higher than any other peak in Africa! Will I do it again? I'm not sure. It definitely is a serious undertaking but I would like to make it to the top. I guess only time will tell!