The trip of a lifetime. So much intricate preparation went into this trip. It was so rewarding to be able to stand on the peak of the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world! Let me tell you my story...
Eleven of us met at the Bristol Cottages in Moshi where we spent 2 nights. Wendy, Siti, Gevan and I had spent two days in Amsterdam before flying to Tanzania. So by the time we arrived we were over the worst of our jet lag (Tanzania was only 1 hour ahead of the Netherlands). I did not know this group other than my dear friend, Wendy. But we certainly got to know one another. Wendy is an x-ray technologist. She used to work with Siti who now works in St. Pauls hospital in Vancouver along with most of this group.
On our first full day there our chief guide, Amoo, checked our gear. We also got a thorough briefing regarding the trek. We had to take the least amount of supplies but needed clothes for summer and winter use. We rented sleeping bags, hiking poles and gators from them.
Four days before we left for Tanzania we had to spray all our hiking clothes, backpack & boots, we slept in treated nets at night, took malaria pills and used lotion for our skin after dark. Our travel doctor assured us if we took all 4 precautions, our chances of contracting malaria were next to nothing.
6 pic slider -- We went for a walk in the morning. It didn't last long. We were immediately bombarded with men who were very insistently trying to sell us their wares. Later we learned that we had gone the wrong way. So we tried again in the afternoon, this time with Barb. Pic 1: This mosque was close to our hotel. In the early morning hours we'd hear the loudspeakers announce the call to prayer. Pic 2: The school children were so friendly, greeting us with "Jumbo!" Pic 3: Many of the stores were selling similar items. Pic 4: The afternoon market place was bustling with people bargaining and trying to sell their home grown produce. Pic 5: A tree full of Egrets. Pic 6: A Ficus tree.
As the sun was setting we climbed to the top story of this high rise to see Kilimanjaro. At first I thought, "I can't see it". Then I realized I was looking too low. I had to look above the clouds, not below them! My next thought (along with everyone else) was, "We have to climb that???"
Day 1 of our 7 day trek: 11 km / 1220m gain / 1830m to 3050m / 12:00 noon to 6:00pm
The Machame route is the most challenging route but it offers more scenic views and more variety of flora & fauna.
Eager to get going and full of anticipation. Would we make it? Would we get altitude sick? It felt good to finally get going.
6 pic slider -- It was a 1.5 hour drive to Machame Gate, our starting point. This first day we walked through rainforest. We had 1 chief guide and 4 assistant guides. They set a comfortably slow pace right from the get-go.
Pic 2: Violets Pic 3: Impatients
Arrived at Machame Camp. We had a group of 40 men for our group of 11. They carried everything up with them. Even fresh eggs and produce. They are permitted to carry no more than 22 kilos each but that didn't include their own personal gear. They'd disassemble the tents as we were eating breakfast and leave shortly after us. By the time we got to the next camp they had everything set up already.
Pic 2: No, that's not the summit of Kili. Pic 3: Always a good time in the dining tent. The food was fresh and yummy. Frankie did a fine job of serving it to us.
Trek day 2: 5 km / 800m gain / 3050m to 3850m / 8:20am - 1:10pm
Hiked to Shira Camp. This day the trail was short but steep & rocky. Because the trail was narrow, we had to keep standing to the side to let the porters pass.
Every morning we'd pack our overnight gear into our big backpacks. The porters would then carry them up while we took our day packs. We woke to find frost on the ground this morning.
Early morning light.
3 pic slider -- I don't think after this trip we'll ever complain of hard work again after we saw how these porters carry such heavy loads up into thin air, day after day. (3 pics in this slider)
6 pic slider -- We leave the rainforest and enter the moorland zone. Pic 5: Tree Groundsel.
Pic 3: Red Hot Poker flower. Pic 4: Helichrysum. Pic 6: Mountain Pineapple.
It was at this point that one of our porters fell and fractured his wrist + wrenched his ankle. With a paramedic in our group, he got help with a sling and other porters carried his load up to the next camp. There he was picked up by a helicopter.
A haunted mystical looking landscape.
Each camp was shared with about 9 other groups. In the evening we went for a short hike to acclimatize.
Sunset on Kilimanjaro. We continued the next days to hike around it to the right.
Trek day 3: 10 km / 800m gain / 3850m to 4000m / 8:15 am to 5:00pm
Hiked to Barranco Camp.
The guides had a cunning way of getting us out of nice warm sleeping bags in the mornings at 6:30am. They served us hot coffee and ginger tea in our tents!
This was the only day it rained. It was more like a light drizzle than downright rain though. We were constantly taking our raincoats off & putting them back on. Peeing became a problem now, with not much vegetation to hide behind. Desperation overcame modesty. A rock would have to do. We drank a lot of water because it adds more oxygen to the blood.
6 pic slider -- Lava Rock (pic #6) was the high point at 4650m. From there we descended again after a lovely lunch. They even set up our portages-potty outhouse!
6 pic slider -- Leaving the pass and descending only to have to ascend again to Barranco Camp. Last 3 pics: Lobelia
Trekking day 4: 5km / up to 4200m and then down to 4050m to Karanga Camp
The Barranco Wall had very steep exposed sections where our guides were quick to lend a helping hand.
We watched 3 paragliders float down from the summit of Kili before breakfast. Later we learned that one of them was killed that day. He was from North Vancouver.
The porters are packing up. Above the clouds.
This steep climb up the wall would take us just over an hour.
6 pic slider -- The porters had to take their loads off of their bodies and hand them down to the other porters at the sketchy sections.
Group shot with Mt. Meru in the background. Happy that we all made it safely up the wall.
Coming down from the high point.
Mt. Meru. Our tents had a crystal layer of frost on them in the morning. The outhouse zippers were hard to open because they were frozen. The night sky was amazing!
Trek day 5: 4 km / 650m gain / 4050m to 4700m to Barafu base camp
Our crew. They danced for us in such an exuberant unrestricted way, before setting off for the highest camp.
We summited from the right side.
3 pic slider -- We made it this far. After dinner was tried sleep for a few hours. By midnight we were ready to start the final climb to the summit... Pic 3: Arrived at base camp.
Summit day!!! 5 km to summit & 13 km from summit to Mweka camp / 1300m gain & 2805m loss.
This was THE day. At midnight we were starting the all night climb in very thin air, with the stars above us and before us a line of hikers' headlights glowing eerily in the dark. Each of us had a porter that was quick to help if we needed a drink or needed coats and gloves put on. Amoo was leading us. Every now and then he's say into the quiet night, "Sippy sippy!" (which was a reminder to keep drinking water) or "Polee polee" (which mean "slowly slowly") or he'd say, "We're a team!" and we'd answer "with a dream!"
These 4 sunrise photos were taken by Marilyn Myo-Iwin. I was not carrying my camera till I got to the summit. We were almost on the ridge when the sun came up.
8:30am at the summit. A quick group shot so our altitude sick member could get back down fast. And so we wouldn't freeze. And so others waiting in line could take their group shots.
Can't get a better high than this!
The crater.
6 pic slider -- Photos from the crater rim. These ice fields were as high as a ten story building! Pic 2: Mt. Meru Pics 4 -6 pics of the inside of the crater. The hole is to the upper left.
Why did we climb at night? Two reasons: To avoid the heat of the day and in the mornings it was always good weather. By noon the clouds would begin to close in.
Back at base camp we had lunch and a nap. It was hard to get back up and continue our descent for another 1600m. Never in my life had I done such a long descent. Add to that the lack of sleep and thin air. We had taken a different route down, doing a lot of boot sliding on scree.
5 pic slider -- Pic 3: Sugarbush flower. Made it to our last camp. We shared a rather quiet dinner and then slid into our sleeping bags and gave in to exhaustion. We all slept 10 to 13 hours that night. Not even Gevan's snoring woke us up.
Trek day 7: A day of celebration. 10 km / 1410m descent / 3090m to 1680m.
5 pics There were slippery muddy sections on this trail. Our group filed in to the finish line, hobbling, hiking backwards, leaning on another for support. Two of the women had blue toes and one lost her big toe nail. One suffered from painful knees and another from altitude sickness. But we were very proud to have all made it to the top!
Later we treated our guides out for dinner. We asked them what they were saying about us women in their foreign language. Charles looked a bit uneasy at first but then answered, "We were not looking forward to guiding a group of 10 women and were thinking it'd be a lot of work. But we were surprised at how it turned out, that it was quite the opposite. It's unusual that in such a large group everyone summits. But you all did!" Then he and the other guides cheered: "VancanKilis are the best!" (that's the name Catherine came up with for our group).
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