Well, 5 days till we leave and believe me, I’m counting!
This whole Kilimanjaro jaunt has been one big adventure and we haven’t even left home yet. It’s something we’ve both wanted to do for a while and we had even kitted ourselves out in Europe before heading home on our overland trip. We carried the stuff all the way down with us but when we finally got there we decided not to do it. At that point we had been on the road for three months and hadn’t done much exercise for most of it. More importantly, we had both been ill. Scott had lost 6kg and was looking pretty weak and haggard.
Then, after putting the idea on the back burner for a few months, we got together with Sally and Andrew and heard about their plans for the trip. In July we had a Sunday breakfast with them, the day after their return and Sally in particular was waxing lyrical about the trip and what a wonderful experience it was. That got us all excited again and soon we booked our own trip.
From then until now we have put a lot of hours into getting fit. I know that many people say that fitness doesn’t make a big difference and that altitude is the great leveller but be that as it may, I’d rather have one less thing to worry about. We’ve put in lots of hours at the gym, on our bikes and walking. I hope it all pays off.
We’re also not taking any chances with the altitude. We bought Diamox as well which is supposed to help with acclimatisation. I’m not too sure about this whole idea of taking drugs for ‘just in case’ type of scenarios, particularly when our trial dose of yesterday gave me tingly feet and a metallic taste in my mouth – both listed side effects. However, as Corné from Wild Frontiers said to me – why jeopardise the whole trip just because I am reluctant to take the medication. It’s a valid point.
I’m very excited but still nervous. Particularly about the 5th (the summit) day. We end up walking for something like 15 – 18 hours. That’s a long time!
The main news from today is that Corné called to say that there is a slight problem. Brief moment of panic while I waited to hear what the problem was. In the end, it was not really a problem – our flight out has been re-scheduled from 1:15pm to 10am. This isn’t really bad news. It means that we will have to get to the airport at 8am so there will be no time to hang around the house in the morning getting bored, nervous, excited – whatever.
It also means that I’ll have to leave work early on Friday – I mean you have to pack after all! Seriously though, I want to pack while there is still time to rush off to the shops if I find that I have forgotten something. I’m not normally obsessed with packing but I have never had to pack for 5900m before.
D-Day tomorrow! It’s now 5:30pm and we’re actually packed and ready to go. It took a bit of shuffling and leaving out of stuff – I’ve never had such a huge pile of stuff to pack before. It’s all the cold weather gear of course. Our bags come in at well under the 20kg airline baggage allowance but at 17kg they’re also a lot more than the 12kg porter limit. I hope that this isn’t a problem – the bags will be lighter on the hill of course.
I’m nervous – just generally about making it to the top of the mountain. So many people say that it is the hardest thing they have ever done but what does that really mean? Some friends have told me that gorilla tracking in Uganda and walking in the jungle was the hardest thing they have ever done and another friend tells me that the Otter Hiking trail is the hardest thing she has ever done. Neither of these things is particularly hard to do so I guess that it is all relative. I get the impression that some people expect it to be a walk in the park and are shocked when it isn’t. In my typical fashion, I have imagined it to be terribly hard. Hopefully I end up being pleasantly surprised!
48hrs from now the first day’s walking will be over so let’s see how I feel then.
So here we are at Key’s Hotel in Moshi, Tanzania. Getting here was a pretty painless procedure. The plane left Johannesburg about 20min late and was far from full. We had a three-seat row between the two of us, always nice. Interestingly, it was a free seating flight – not that common. We sat on the right side of the plane and were lucky. It was through ignorance but we ended up getting great views of the mountain while we were coming in to land.
Arrival was quiet and easy too. Check yellow fever certificate, check visa and collect bag off carousel. When we got through customs, there was a guy with a Wild Frontiers sign waiting for us. As I said, easy. We ended up as eleven people from the flight, all going to Keys Hotel. Got my first bit of a shock – turns out we’re all going up in one group. Well, three guys (one not from our flight) are taking the Arrow Glacier Route so they will be with us for part of the way but not all.
Next surprise – rumour has it that seven more people will be joining us. That takes us up to 19 people less three for some of the stages. Not exactly what I had in mind. Still, it’s not the end of the world. Call it another travel experience, a first for me. That of the Tour Group Holiday.
First day on the mountain over and I made it! It went a lot better than expected. No blisters or even threats of them. Tired but fine.
Back to the beginning of a long day. We were up at around 7am and showered and packed by 7:30. We had breakfast, handed in our valuables (cash and passports) and were basically ready to go. We watched tons of porters load up and leave and carried on waiting. We ended up being split into smaller groups as we had booked. This means that Scott and I make up a little group of two. It’s quite scary it sounds like we have EIGHT people in our support team. Francis our guide, an assistant guide we have yet to meet, 5 porters (we’ve only met one – Simon) and a cook. Wow.
Anyway, we hung around waiting this morning for ages – basically for the Three Peaks/ Scout Group to get themselves sorted out (11 People) and left Keys soon after 9am. We did get a great view of the mountain from just up the road from the hotel. While we were waiting we took a short walk to see and photograph it, and to scare ourselves all over again!
We arrived at Machame Gate at around 10am and were walking by 11:30. We got here at around 4:30pm. The walk was not hard – we climbed about 1200m in total but it was a slow, easy pace. Francis, did no pace setting today so it was all up to us, or more accurately me – Scott always walks behind me.
We wore our gaiters, which wasn’t really necessary but did keep some mud off. It was easy to see that the path would be terrible in the wet season but we were lucky. There were a few muddy/slippery patches but nothing bad. It would be awful in the rain.
Today was a perfect day for walking. Cloudy, not too hot, not too cold. The whole day was spent in the rainforest, which was great. There were however 80 hikers starting today and I have no idea how many support crew. Hundreds would not be an exaggeration.
We arrived to find our tent pitched with our bags inside. We changed our T-shirts, socks and shoes and then sat down at our own little table, complete with tablecloth, to enjoy a snack of tea, hot milo, popcorn and biscuits. Plus a little bowl of hot water to wash with. It was really impressive stuff and the popcorn went down great. We are now waiting for supper.
At about
4pm we climbed up a fairly steep ridge and when we reached the top we left the
rainforest and hit moorland. It was almost like a line between the types of
vegetation. There were still trees but far fewer and of a totally different
type, and we were in the clouds. Now it’s 6pm and chilly and getting dark.
7:30 pm update: It’s now totally dark and quite cold. We’re in the tent, inside
our sleeping bags.
Supper
was awesome. We started with vegetable soup and bread, followed by pasta, fried
potatoes and fried cabbage and carrot mix. Next it was a choice of tea or milo
again. I am most impressed.
Apparently
we get woken at 7am tomorrow with washing water, breakfast at 7:30 then pack and
start walking at 8.
Now for
news regarding the rest of the people from Keys Hotel. The three Arrow Glacier
guys (nice guys) arrived without problems, the German couple too. The
German/South African guys made it too but one of them told Scott that he is
wrecked. Bad news after the first day and not a particularly strenuous one at
that.
The big
news is the 3 Peaks/SA Scouts team of 11. Apparently they started walking but
were called back due to permit problems. They had special discount permits as
scouts but it is said that there was no one there to verify this. Hence the call
back. Josh (Australian guy doing Arrow Glacier) says that he expected them to
started walking only at about 3pm. I can’t see them getting here today if that
is the case. Some of them are like us – flew in yesterday and fly out next
Saturday so a one day delay would be a disaster. Let’s see, we may wake up
tomorrow to hear their racket in our ears – they’re a noisy bunch!
Our
mattresses are those high density (really high density) foam jobs about 1.5cm
think. Hard as a rock, well maybe not really but it sure feels like it.
We saw
the mountain briefly again before sunset. It was great to see but I don’t feel
as if I am on a mountain. It’s all too big and far away to feel real. Maybe
that will only happen during the last day or so. Oh well, I have lot more to say
but am too uncomfortable to say it so goodnight.
It’s
only 1:30pm and we’re already here at Shira Camp. Francis told us that it
would be a 5-hour walk and so it was. He also said that it was steep and only
6km long. Right on all counts. We climbed about 900m today.
I’ll
start with some general impressions first and then fill in the details. Both of
us are still feeling strong. No headaches, nausea or any of the other symptoms
of altitude sickness. I have been drinking a lot and that is supposed to be
good. Last night I got enough sleep but needed many hours to achieve it. Our
mattresses were hard, the ground rocky and sloping, generally not very
comfortable. Tonight it’s rocky again but flatter.
This
morning we woke to a basin of hot water for washing followed by a breakfast of
toast, porridge, fried egg, paw-paw and milo. We wolfed it all down!
We
started walking at 8:30 and it was up, up, up. Quite a rough start to the day.
We stopped at 11:30 for lunch and I think that I am spotting Francis’ ways.
Yesterday he trailed behind us reading and when he got tired of his book he did
a bit of guiding. That was my initial impression anyway but I think that I got
it wrong. He goes in front and sets the pace when the hills are steep and the
going gets tough. He sets a nice slow pace too – I feel as if I can walk
forever behind him without getting breathless. When the going is flatter or
easier, he falls back and lets us set our own pace. It’s a nice way to do
things. I don’t know if he also uses it as an opportunity to judge our
strength. He also answers all our questions, rests when we ask him too and
sometimes when we don’t, especially if it is a nice viewpoint!
We
stopped for lunch just over a killer ridge at 11:30 as I said earlier. I am
repeatedly impressed. Lunch was great – bread, margarine, peanut butter,
honey, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, green pepper and hard
boiled egg. Tea too. It’s not only the quantity, quality or even
variety that most impresses me, it’s the presentation. Tables and chairs plus a table cloth. Sliced vegetables, even the oranges
were cut into quarters AND cut loose from the skin! I don’t after myself that
well!! Now I’m off to check the status of my popcorn and milo…
We’re
back in the tent. No popcorn today but freshly roasted peanuts (as in still
warm).
It’s
cold up here; we’re above 1 cloud layer but not the second. It’s only 4pm
and we’re all fleeced up, not only with jackets but trousers too.
We’re
still going strong so I’m hopeful for tomorrow. I have a slight headache but
that isn’t necessarily altitude. Tomorrow night we sleep at the same altitude
as tonight but we cross 4600m during the day. At that point we will be higher
than we’ve ever been before so let’s see how we feel.
After a
brief doze we went for a walk around the camp and caught up on the news. The
Arrow Glacier guys are fine, I have no doubts that they will make it. They saw
the two German guys (Joe and Jan), they’re still slow but carrying on. Of the
German couple, the guy had to turn back but Petra is still going on. Scott and I
had the conversation and decided on the same thing – if one of us turns
back the other will carry on. Rumour
has it that a total of four people turned back this morning. I would have
thought that it was too early for altitude; we camped at about 2900m so it just
goes to show. Of course it doesn’t have to be altitude, it could be food,
water or any one of a number of things.
The
Scout group eventually made it too. They did have the rumoured
permit hassles and only got going at 4pm yesterday. They spent last night at the
½ way mark for day one and then caught up with us today.
We had a
long chat with Jan and Joe. They’re pretty nervous. Jan stayed behind to chat
some more after Joe left. Jan’s doing OK but Joe did no training so apart from
his other concerns, he is stiff and sore as well and getting worse every day.
The literature is really misleading making this sound like a casual stroll. I
guess they want as many tourists as possible but it is quite irresponsible.
We’re all nervous here!
We
chatted to Francis about tomorrow. We have the option to go up to Lava Tower or
not. The downside is that it is obviously more walking but the upside is that it
takes it higher. The map says 4900m but Francis says 4600m. This is good for
acclimatising, but also
important psychologically for me. It will be the highest I’ve ever gone and it
will be quite a milestone, mentally at least.
Dinner
was great again. Mushroom soup and chapattis followed by chicken, rice, beans
and a vegetable ‘sauce’. Now this sauce was so thick and chunky that it is
something I would serve with rice or pasta and call supper! It was all followed
by fresh orange and banana and then tea.
We saw
some great views of both Kibo peak and Meru this morning. There are huge
ridges, plains and foothills that the standard photos of the mountains never
reveal.
We
started walking again at about 8:30 and again it was largely uphill. We stopped
at around 12 for lunch where the path splits to go up to Lava Tower or head
directly to Barranco where we camp tonight. I actually thought that the Lava
Tower route was not optional and that the shortcut existed only for porters. It
ended up that only 4 or 5 of us went up to Lava Tower. It’s strange because I
thought that this was an important part of the acclimatisation
process. Anyway, we hung around there for an hour or so with Petra and had tea
with the Arrow Glacier threesome before heading on to the camp. The weather was
awful up there, you can’t say that it was raining but nor was it hailing or
snowing. It was more like raining hailstones than raindrops. Lava Tower was
impressive but due to the mist, rain, generally crap weather and breathlessness
I was less whelmed than I hoped to be. I was not too happy up there –
definitely a little shortness of breath on the way up.
The walk
from Lava Tower to Barranco was down all the way. The first down on the entire
walk so far. I know that ‘walk high, sleep low’ is the motto to live by when
acclimatising but it’s
quite depressing going down before you have to. The Barranco site is the best
campsite so far – there is a huge wall of rock on one side with the mountain
behind it and hills covered with giant Lobelia on the other.
The
toilets get worse every day and so far the walking has got harder every day too.
I had a bad stretch going up to Lava Tower, really fighting for breath and Scott
had a headache. Your mind starts playing games with you and most people we speak
to feel the same. Every twitch and pain is minutely probed and examined. I was
feeling generally listless and not hungry. I had what felt like sinus pain
behind my eyes. Of course it may have nothing to do with altitude, my rest heart
rate is only 68, which I think is great at this altitude (3900m). I took some
cold and flu medication, was really struggling for breath when I went to bed but
slept very well and woke up feeling great.
Woke up
at 6:30 feeling great and wolfed down my breakfast – I was starving after not
eating last night – and by 8:20 we hit the road. The first obstacle was the
Barranco Wall. It was not nearly as bad as it looks – it looks like a sheer
climb, but it was still pretty staunch scrambling and walking. The day was rough
with lots of up and down walking and 3 very steep hills to climb in between all
of that. We ate a wonderful lunch – French toast, banana fritters, potato and
carrot chips and our regular fresh tomato, cucumber and green pepper. I didn’t
think I would want to eat all of that but it went down very well. We are now at
Barafu Camp (Barafu means snow in Swahili) at 4600m. We walked in hail again
today. I have been very impressed with the quality of the path up to now –
soft, springy and really good to walk on. The last part of today was stony,
almost like walking on slate, not the best walking surface and tomorrow promises
more of the same. Yep tomorrow, the final push is nearly upon us. It is now 4pm
and we get woken in 8 hours to start the last stretch. Nerves are jangling all
around!
Francis
reassured us that we are strong and will make it with no problem tomorrow. In
fact, he says that we will summit early. Scott also says that now that he has
got this far and still feels fine, he is very confident that he will make it all
the way to the top. I feel fine and am breathing nicely. I haven’t checked my
hear rate but it feels good. I found the last part of today very hard and
don’t know if I can handle 8 hours of that. Oh well, let’s see.
This campsite is a true base camp. Stony,
no plants or any kind of life, cold, in the clouds and the worst toilets of the
bunch. My standards are very, very low when it comes to things like this but
there is a toilet here that I won’t even use!
So
that’s it. It was a hard day’s walking; don’t let anyone tell you that you
don’t need to be fit to do this. Tomorrow will tell if it is spiritual
experience or if by the time I reach the top all I want to do is head down.
I’m only focusing on getting up. Once I’m up there, the 10-hour walk down
will have to look after itself.
Just had
a chat with Jan. Joe threw in the towel this morning and turned back. I don’t
think that it was as much the altitude as that the effort was just too much for
him.
It’s
just cleared enough for us to see the mountain – good grief! Now it truly
looms over us, casting a long shadow.
We
both made it!!!
What a
day. Francis was supposed to wake us at 11:30pm with tea and biscuits. It is
hardly surprising that we were both awake long before that. In fact I don’t
think that slept for more than a few minutes at a time. We started walking at
12:15 and reached Stella Point at 5am. This is awesome going and we ended up
being the first ones to get there. We left up to an hour later than some other
groups and overtook every single one of them. We then had to pace ourselves and
slow things down in order to reach Uhuru Peak at 6am and not before sunrise.
I went
like a steam train – I don’t know why. Scott says that he would never have
made it in that time without me. Don’t let this fool anyone, it is a hard, hard walk.
At times
it is gravel mixed with dust and you just sink into it. The last 100m (or maybe
even less) to Stella Point is very tough. It is really steep and you are walking
through scree – yuck. So it was hard work even though we went really well. In
fact, the top arrived sooner than I expected! It is not for the fainthearted or
the unfit. Once at Stella Point it is an easy 30 min stroll to the summit, which
we stretched to a chilly 45min., Sunrise was great. The sun on the glaciers was
wonderful and for the first time in my life I was really somewhere that was
clearly the top, if not of the whole world, then at least the visible world!
The
final report has to be though that it was not a spiritual experience at all. I
was willing to believe that it might be. Buddhists believe that God lives in the
mountains so why not. He left this one a while ago. The sunrise wave of tourists
numbered over 20 and kept growing. It removes all sense of spirituality, well to
me anyway. This doesn’t make it less of an experience though.
We only
spent 20min or so at the summit before the cold drove us down. I was still
feeling great but about halfway back to Barafu Camp I started feeling awful.
Scott felt sick at Uhuru so that we can call altitude. Me I think it was more a
case of over-exertion, not eating enough or not drinking enough. Back at Barafu
we collapsed into our tents and slept for 2 hours. What bliss. Then after a
light lunch (at 10:30) it was the 3½ walk to Mweka camp. What can I say about
this, I made it here, we arrived at 2:30pm but the day involved 2hours more
walking than I was happy with.
I got
here and crashed, ate supper, am now writing this and plan to crash again in a
few minutes (6:30).
It was a
long, hard day. Hardest thing I have ever done? I actually think not. I have
once or twice in my life exerted myself to the point of tears or even being
sick. That didn’t happen here, didn’t even come close. If I were any less
fit it would have been a different story. People are still arriving now – you
have to admire your strength of will. I know that if I were part of this group,
I would be saying that I had never done anything harder.
Off to
sleep. Tomorrow 3-4 hours walking then showers, wash hair, soft bed….
Back at
the hotel.
The walk
down was painless and only a little over 3 hours long. We kept meeting people
and in the end Petra, Jan, Etienne, Scott and I all arrived at the Park Gate
together.
We
signed in and bought the obligatory book and T-shirt. Scott and I always buy a
book as well as the usual T-shirt. It’s nice to do a little post trip
research! The final test was the 10 min walk to the bus. Bit of a surprise that,
just when you think it all over.
At the
bus we all piled in – guides, our porters and us and headed back to the hotel.
It was a shorter drive than the one to the park because you don’t end the hike
where you start it.
At the
hotel after a shower we headed back to the bar for a goodbye visit with our
guides. We handed over our tips, some old T-shirts and a lot of snacks that we
never got around to eating. We enjoyed some beers together and then we went for
a short nap before taking a walk into town. We went to the hotel bar again, it
was about 5pm but we only back to our room after 11pm!
We were
chatting with Etienne, Lawrence, Josh, Jan and Joe during all that time. It was
a good evening with lots of alcohol flowing and apparently Jan and Joe were
still going after 1am. I just couldn’t carry on any longer but there was a
strange reluctance to say goodnight to each other. I think it is because that
would almost be like officially ending the trip.
Jan
missed his T-shirt opportunity at the park gate and was so drunk that he paid
one of the Scouts some exorbitant amount of money for the T-shirt. He’s too
embarrassed to tell us what he paid but it was a lot. We paid $10 for each of
ours and all Jan will say is that he paid a LOT more than $20 for his. He was
drunk at the time so what can you say.
We
subsequently found out that he probably paid $100 for the T-shirt but he’s not
giving anything away – too ashamed I’m sure!
Up early
in the dark and at breakfast by 5:30. We left for the airport just before 6am
and got about 5min into the drive to the airport when the bus broke down.
We’re a little skeptical about this because it was going along perfectly when
the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road, lifted off the engine cover,
stopped the engine and declared the water pump broken. Superb diagnosis but as I
say we’re a little skeptical.
Anyway,
we were all transferred to a local bus, we broke down at a bus stop (!), and had
an uneventful if slightly crowded ride to the airport with local music
accompaniment. I enjoyed it, we listened to some yesterday too and it’s nice
stuff.
The
checking in and customs process was painless and the plane actually left 10 min
early.
The
flight home was uneventful but once we landed the adrenaline that had kept me
going disappeared and I was left exhausted. I slept in the afternoon and was in
bed for the night by 8:30.
I did a
little research on how others found the mountain. Jan and Etienne both admitted
to finding it an emotional experience. Jan went so far as to say that he
hadn’t cried when he got married or when his son was born but he did when he
got to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The sunrise from the top was what did it for
him. Etienne on the other hand says that it wasn’t the summit that was
emotional for him but more the look of sheer determination on people’s faces
as he was heading down and they were still fighting their way up.
It’s
strange but when I have done something like this it immediately becomes less
special to me. It’s almost as if I am saying well, if I can do it it’s
automatically removed from the list of special and hard to do to the achievable
column. Part of the problem with this trip in particular is that I was so ready
and prepared for anything to happen – mentally in particular that when it
arrived (the summit) it was too soon and anti-climatic.
Francis
and Ellie said that we were the strongest group they had ever taken up. Not true
of course! We
left Barafu at least an hour later than some groups and still reached Stella Point
first. Scott is quite proud of the fact that I got there first and keeps telling
people about it. I did make it before him and he was struggling to keep up. In
fact, when Francis pointed up and said ‘that’s Stella Point’ I was
surprised. I had focused on not checking or counting time until it got light and
we reached Stella Point long before that. It's not that we were trying to race
to the top but just that the pace I found comfortable was
All of
aside, it was a great experience and I have no regrets at all. Scott regrets not
spending more time at the summit and in particular not going to the crater. You
can’t decide on the day to do that. You have to arrange it with you guide and
be prepared in advance – especially for the extra walking! I would also have
liked to see the crater too but the cold drove most things out of my mind