Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet of elevation is the highest peak in Africa and a mountain I spent many years dreaming about. Long before I started climbing mountains I had thought about this mythical mountain. Located in Tanzania, it is an impressive sight rising mightily above the African plains. I climbed Kilimanjaro in August of 2016 via the Machame route.
Getting to Tanzania - August 21, 2016
My journey to Africa started with an evening flight from Chicago to Amsterdam on KLM airlines. I don't usually fly out of the international terminal at O'Hare, so it was a fun change to depart from there. The city has made the terminal much nicer since the last time I flew out of it many years ago. It used to be a dreary place with not much to see or do. Now it has shopping, quality restaurants and bars, and was very open and inviting.
The flight was uneventful and 9 hours later, I landed in Amsterdam (about 7 hours ahead of Chicago time) at 7 am in the morning, the next day. I had a few hours until my flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, so I wandered around and explored the airport. The Amsterdam airport is rated one of the best in the world and it is indeed very nice. There are numerous shops and restaurants and many areas for tired travelers to sit and relax.
Around 10 am local time I boarded my next flight. This one bound for Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania. It was another 9 hour flight and it was a little before 9 pm local time (1 pm back in Chicago) when I finally landed.
The process for getting into Tanzania was not easy. I had to proceed through three separate lines to exit the airport:
First line - Get Tanzanian visa
Second line - get visa stamped
Third line - clear immigration and customs
Seemed a little convoluted, but the lines moved fairly quickly and after 45 minutes I made it through and much to my delight, my bags were right there waiting for me. I have had several international flights where my bags don’t make it, so it is always a relief when they arrive!
After gathering my bags I exited the airport and found our guide, the world famous Dave Hahn waiting for me and the other climbers. Dave has summitted Everest 15 times! (I hope to do it once!) We waited for most of the rest of the team to arrive (One woman had missed her connecting flight and would be coming in on a later flight). We then walked to the van that would drive us to our hotel. The driver of the van was waiting for us with a glass of Champagne. (I could get used to living like this!). After brief introductions we embarked upon the short ride to the Dik Dik hotel where we would be staying the next two days. It was dark during the ride, so I wasn't able to see much of the countryside.
After arriving at the hotel, we had a nice team dinner and then I tucked in for some sleep. I had been up for almost 36 hours and was jet lagged and ready for a good nights rest.
Recovery Day - August 22, 2016
I woke up feeling much refreshed and met up with everyone for breakfast at 8 am. Afterwards, we had our first formal team meeting where everyone on the climb introduced themselves. Our team consisted of Dave - our guide, Kathleen - a doctor from Arkansas, Jason - A fed ex driver from Arizona (and my roommate/tent mate), Marie and Francois - doctors from Montreal, Canada, Tim and Connie - business owners from Iowa, Mary - a AAA travel agent from California, Christine - a hotel manager from Taos, NM, Deborah - a sales executive for Helly Hanson who lives in Chicago, and myself.
We each shared a bit about ourselves and why we wanted to climb Kilimanjaro. Dave explained what we could expect over the next two weeks and how we should organize our gear (for the mountain and for the safari). After finishing the briefing we went back to our rooms to organize our gear. Dave stopped by to check on us and answer any questions we had on gear or the trip.
After I finished sorting my gear, I walked with a few others to an observation tower near the hotel. On a clear day you can see Kilimanjaro from this tower. Unfortunately, it was not a clear day for us. It wasn’t cloudy, but it was very hazy. Even without the best views, it was still a nice place to look around and see a bit of eastern Africa!
The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around the Dik Dik hotel. The hotel is very scenic and has a nice relaxed vibe. Each of our rooms has a hammock on the porch. My roommate and and I took turns relaxing in it.
We had an early dinner and then went to bed to try and get some sleep before starting the climb early tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016
We woke up early today -- 5:30 AM. I did not sleep well and it seems no one else did either. I'm sure it was some combination of excitement for the climb to begin and remaining jet lag from the several days of travel and large time change. We ate a quick breakfast and were all loaded into the waiting truck by 7:30 am. It is amazing how many people fit in the truck. All 11 of us "westerners" got seats in the back and then all of our porter staff packed in around us and everywhere else they could fit anyone. We ended up with about 50 people in the truck! To give some perspective on how it works on Kilimanjaro, for our group of 11 climbers, we had 49 support staff (cooks, porters, toilet staff, etc). It's pretty crazy but it provides a lot of jobs to the local economy.
It took about 2 hours to drive to the Machame gate entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park, where we would begin the climb. There are several routes up Kilimanjaro. I chose to climb via the Machame route. At the gate we first registered with the park rangers and then had a snack and stretched while we waited for the porters to unload our bags and prepare them for transport up the mountain. It was a little after 11 am when we finally began climbing.
The first hour of the climb is up an old mountain road through the forest and is wide and easy to walk on. After about an hour, there are some permanent toilets. We took a break nearby and then continued up the trail. Here the trail narrowed and the woods thickened. It was easy walking, but a somewhat long day. We climbed from 6000 to 10,000 feet in elevation and walked about 7 miles. The first couple of hours we were in the clouds, but by the end of the day we had climbed above them and were in the sun. After 5 hours of climbing we arrived at the Machame camp for our first night on the mountain. This camp is situated in a thinkly forested area and very crowded. Our porters already had our tents set up, so all we had to do was move into them.
I cannot say enough about the amazing porters on our trip. Every day, by the time we would arrive in camp, they would have our tents and the dining tent completely set up. As we would unpack in our personal tents, they would come by with a bin of hot water for us to freshen up. The porters work incredibly hard and did so much to make the trip more enjoyable for us.
We had a wonderful dinner and by 8:30 pm we were back in our tents ready for some sleep. Sunset is about 7:30 pm and it gets chilly very quickly once the sun goes down.
Shira Plateau - August 24, 2016
Kilimanjaro is located near the equator so the day is almost equally divided between day and night. This meant that I got to sleep until almost 7:30. After several days of being on the go and really busy, it felt great to get almost 12 hours of sleep! I definitely needed it. I went to the dining tent where I met the rest of my team for coffee and breakfast. It is such a treat having such a large support team. The porters work incredibly hard - they are up before us to make hot drinks and food and they go to bed after us once they have cleaned everything up for the day. They set up and take down all of the tents - at every camp we have our own two person sleeping tents, a dining tent, and two toilet tents. They also carry most of our gear between camps. We only need to bring a small backpack with rain gear and snacks and water.
The route today continued up through the forest and was slightly steeper than yesterday. The weather was sunny and warm. We would hike an hour, take a break, and repeat. After about 5 hours, we exited the woods at a place called Shira Plateau, where we would be making our home for the night.
The Shira Plateau camp is located on a vast open plain at 12,200 feet of elevation. There are still a few small trees and large shrubs, but it is not as forested as the previous nights camp. This camp was more spread out than the Machame camp and offered fantastic views in all directions.
We arrived in camp in the early afternoon and spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing, and getting to know each other better. We had a team dinner and then were off for another long night of sleep.
Lava Tower and Barranco Camp - August 25, 2016
We are getting into a routine…As usual, we got up around 7:30 am. It was a beautiful, cool morning. I headed to the dining tent for a fantastic breakfast of bacon, ham, eggs, and fruit. Prior to this trip I was not much of a coffee drinker, but our guide brought a french press and Italian roast coffee with him and after a couple of days of drinking it, I became a coffee convert and began craving it each morning!
Today was a fun day and the weather was gorgeous. The route ascended gradually out of camp and continued upwards until we reached a rock formation know as Lava Tower 4 hours later. There were still a few small trees and shrubs on the first part of the trail, but as we got closer to the tower, we left the greenery behind and were surrounded by rocks. Lava Tower is located at a little over 15,000 feet of elevation. We stopped and took a nice long lunch break here. It was sunny with light winds and it was exciting to be up so high.
After lunch it was time to descend down to Barranco camp, our destination today. This camp is located at 13,000 feet elevation. Most of the afternoon, the trail was an easy downhill walk. As we got closer to camp, the trail got a bit steeper and we entered an area with some fascinating looking trees. I do not know what type they were but they looked like mini palm trees and it was an incredibly interesting area to walk through. The trail followed the valley floor and we passed several scenic waterfalls along the way.
We arrived in camp mid-afternoon and as usual, spent the rest of the day relaxing and eating. Our tents were situated on a hillside and I had some incredible views down the valley in the evening.
Barranco Wall and Karanga Camp - August 26, 2016
We slept in an extra half hour today to let most of camp clear out before we started. The route to the next camp starts by climbing the Barranco wall. This is a short but steep section that ascends the side of a rock wall. The trail is single file and extremely narrow. We left later than usual to allow the porters with their huge loads go ahead of us. They move much faster than us and we didn’t want to force them to wait behind us.
It was impressive to watch the porters on this section of the trail. There are a lot of large boulders and precarious spots along the trail and watching them maneuver through this section with huge duffel bags on their head was quite impressive. It was challenging enough with just a light backpack! It was chilly on the climb up the wall because we were in the shade the whole way. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the top and back into the warmth of the sunshine.
We took a long rest break and were treated to some amazing views of the mountain and surrounding areas. The weather, now that we were in the sun, was perfect.
The remainder of the day was spent scrambling up and down a series of rolling hills. After a couple of hours, the Karanga camp came into view. It looked to be very close. Unfortunately though, to get to it, we first had to descend 1000 feet down a very steep valley and then ascend another 1000 feet back up the other side.
It was hard work, but we successfully negotiating the valley and worked up a good sweat. We made it to camp where we participated in our now standard afternoon activities of reading, listening to music, and hanging out in the dining tent.
We were now at a little over 14,000 feet of elevation. Only 5000 more vertical feet to go!
Barafu Camp - August 27, 2016
Today was another beautiful day. Africa has been very kind to us with the weather on this trip. I slept in a little bit later than normal and then, after another stellar breakfast made by our amazing support staff, hit the trail. The route today gradually ascended another 2000 feet. It was mostly rolling hills until we reached a large steep hill just before camp. We couldn’t really see camp until we reached the top. There is a stream at the bottom of this hill and it is the nearest water to the camp. There was a very impressive stream of porters going to and from this stream. The porters have to climb back down to this stream to collect large amounts of water and then carry it back up to camp. This is the last camp before the summit, so the porters need to bring up enough water not only for dinner, but for all of us to drink on summit day tomorrow.
As we ascended higher, we gradually left all vegetation behind. Barafu camp is located at a little over 15,000 feet of elevation on a rock outcropping. Camp is large and spread out among the rocks. It was so rocky here, it felt like we were camping on the moon. Our camp was tucked off to the side and was somewhat tricky to get to.
It was an early dinner today. The plan is to get up at midnight tonight and head for the summit. I was in my tent and trying to fall asleep by 8 pm.
Summit Day - August 28, 2016
Big day today! We woke up at 11:30 pm - I didn’t really sleep much. It is hard to sleep when 1) it is so early and 2) you are nervous thinking about the upcoming summit day.
There was no moon tonight so it was very dark and surprisingly cold. I felt colder in Africa than I ever did on Denali which was weird and unexpected! We had a light breakfast and some coffee to wake us all up and shortly before 1 am we were on the trail headed upwards. Summit Day on Kilimanjaro is a long, tough day. You have to first ascend 4000 feet and then descend another 9000 feet.
The first couple of hours we just plodded slowly ahead on the trail. It was very cold and with no moonlight, the only thing I could see was the small spot of light on the trail in front of me where my headlamp was pointed. The trail was consistent, but you had to pay attention to your footing closely in the dark. We climbed for almost two hours before we took our first break. The break was short as it was it gets really cold very quickly when you are not moving. I was climbing with my full down parka on and I was still chilly.
We kept making slow progress upwards and at 5:30 am we got a big morale boost as the sun rose up over the horizon. It didn’t get any warmer, but there is something about sunrise that provides a huge mental boost. An hour later at 6:30 am, we reached Stella Point, on the crater rim of Kilimanjaro. Here you can look down into the crater and see the trails of the other routes to the summit. We took a short break and then began the last section of the trail. This section follows the crater rim steadily upwards from Stella Point to the true summit about 45 minutes away. This section wasn’t very steep but at almost 19,000 feet of elevation it was a lot of work. I saw many people being virtually carried through this section by their porters.
I continued slowly and steadily and just before 8:30 am I reached the summit! It was a gorgeous day and I could see for miles in all directions. It was here that I was able to finally see the remnants of the last glaciers still on Kilimanjaro. They are all expected to be completely melted within the next ten to twenty years due to global warming.
I took several photos at the summit marker and waited for the rest of my teammates. Once everyone arrived we took a few group photos and a nice long rest break. I thoroughly enjoyed being on the roof of Africa!
Alas - all good things must come to an end and we still had 10,000 feet to descend today, so we started back down towards high camp. The route down was slow going. We were all tired and due to the many loose rocks, it was very difficult to keep our footing in many places. It took about 3.5 hours to get back to high camp and my legs were shaking by the time I got back
During the last hour of the descent, I had started to feel unwell. By the time I arrived in camp I felt a little nauseous. I spoke to Dave about it and he advised that I was probably dehydrated and should get some food and water in me. I didn’t feel like eating, but I forced myself to and it helped considerably. The porters had been waiting for us at camp with a hot lunch and hot tea and after a while I started to feel a much better.
After lunch we packed up camp and at 1:30 pm we were back on the trail to descend the remaining 5000 feet. We were descending via the Mweka route which is largely used as a descent only trail as it goes basically straight down (and up), The first couple of hours were on a well worn trail and other than being hard on the legs and feet, it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, around 12,500 feet the trail turned incredibly rocky. At this point, me feet were badly blistered and my quads felt like they were on fire. The next few hours were rough. Around 12,000 feet, the trail descended back into the forest and the clouds moved in. It didn’t rain, but it was a cloudy the remainder of the day. Our entire team was thoroughly exhausted by the time we rolled into the Mweka camp around 5 pm. We had been on our feet for almost 17 hours straight.
Mweka camp is a very scenic camp located in thick forest with trees all around. We ate a quick dinner around 6 pm and an hour later all of us were in our tents, happy and exhausted from the long but rewarding day.
Last day on the trail - August 29, 2016
Today was our last day on Kilimanjaro. I slept amazingly well after the hard exertions of the previous day! I awoke at half past seven and enjoyed another amazing mountain breakfast. As we finished eating, the porters and guides asked us to come outside where we were treated to a special song and dance by our local guides and porters. They all gathered in a circle and sang to us for a long time and then one by one, we said thank you and goodbye ,to each of them.
Dave, our head guide, spent the next hour calculating the tips for each of the 50 members of our staff. It was interesting to watch him trying to figure it all out. There is apparently somewhat of a formula that is used to determine who gets what but he had to make sure he had the correct amounts for every staff member.
Later in the morning we packed up for the final time and began the last section of the trail. My feet were still very sore from the long day yesterday, but I knew I would be done shortly so that made it more tolerable.
The trail today was a similar to the last part of the trail yesterday. We were in the forest and although it was not raining, the trail was damp and slippery which made the descent rather tricky. It is amusing to watch all of us methodically making our way down the trail with light packs and our nice hiking boots, carefully placing each of our feet, and then see a group of porters wearing torn shoes with massive bags on their heads, go running past us without the slightest worry. I have no idea how they do it, but it is impressive to see.
We descended the last 4000 feet in 2.5 hours. We took one break for lunch about halfway down.
Finally in the early afternoon, we arrived at the Mweka gate. Here we signed out at the ranger station and took some celebration photos.
We loaded all of our gear and ourselves into the giant green truck again and headed back to the Dik Dik hotel. We stopped and enjoyed a nice local lunch along the way. After arriving back at the hotel I took a good long shower (my first one in a week) and then repacked my clothes for the next three days of safari. We had a celebration dinner where we all listened attentively as Dave told stories of the many, many mountain exploits he has been on. Dave is a really interesting individual and a fantastic story teller.
