On my way home

On the way down

Descending down steeply through the rainforest towards Mweka Gate and our exit from the mountain, I am still amazed by this diverse and truly fascinating mountain. Not just in terms of the vegetation, but also the huge variety of people that attempt to summit.  

Mweka Gate (our exit) is a real hubbub of activity. You can buy all sorts of souvenirs, have your boots cleaned (which I happily paid $2 for!) and get your "I have done it" certificate. Extremely touristy, but I guess that is exactly what we were.

At least none of us had the need to travel in the Kili ambulance!

 

Hotel and shower!

When we initially got to the hotel, it seemed like a 2* hotel, but now it felt like a 4*. Oh to get into a shower!!! And the luxury of having a Western toilet to sit on!!! I had to wash my hair twice to try and get the grid out.  And yes, I know it doesn't take much to keep people happy after they descend from Kili.

I feel good knowing that we are a source of income for the Tanzanians, and hope that the whole Kilimanjaro Nature Reserve will be run properly so that it can be preserved for the future. Looking at photos from 30 years ago where the snow covered most of the mountain, and it still snowed most of the time, you realise that the beautiful ice glaciers that we saw will not be there much longer. 

On this mountain, friendships are born but sadly also broken. In our case it was four almost strangers being thrown together, but it was lovely being with positive like-minded people, "sticking" together.

Most people taking Kili on are adventurous and determined. But some arrive psychologically unprepared for just how difficult it is to summit and mentally don't cope with the challenge. Pushing through the pain makes the victory so much sweeter and something you should treasure for the rest of your life. My friend Cath taught me to write down my short and long term goals, as this serves as a reminder to ourselves and will help to make the goal/dream a reality.

I am excited to see my family again tomorrow but also sad to leave the magic of the mountain behind.

Lala Salama! Sleep well!

Summit!

Today was tough. Very very very tough.

We left Barafu camp at midnight. My water bladder's sucking tube was already frozen (despite the fact that I blew all the water out last night!) so you can imagine how cold it was.  We quickly had to go back to camp to get an alternative bottle holder. Thank goodness that I noticed it early as it can be disastrous not having water on summit night.

We soon joined a long queue of potential summitters and could see a line of headlights going up.  It was full moon and the moon was guiding us. If I thought our previous "pole pole" pace of one step per second was slow, today's was even slower at one foot per second (no adult supervision needed to try this at home). It is quite a shock to your body to realise that even if you want it to go faster, it just can't! Have I yet mentioned how tough today was?

Dr D first to Raymond's and then my rescue! 

Raymond soon started showing signs of mountain sickness: headache and nausea, and we made short stops every half an hour. Delmence immediately pulled out her medical "chest" and dosed Raymond. We continued on at a very slow pace.

About halfway up I started getting a headache. "Dr D" once again pulled out her kit and gave me eight pills to swallow. (Yuck). After taking so long, my hands were totally frozen from taking them out of the gloves.

Fortunately Bruce and Delmence didn't suffer much from mountain sickness. But all around us there were some VERY sick people, some who had to turn around.  

At about 6am the sun came up and it was breathtaking to see the sun coming up whilst being on the highest mountain in Africa.

It took us an arduous and difficult seven hours to do one km upwards and we reached Stella point, and then another hour to Uhuru Peak (5895m). Getting there I just wanted to cry, but am not sure if this was out of joy or pure exhaustion. All of us felt very emotional reaching the highest point in Africa!

When I got to the top I suddenly felt zoned out. Posing for a very quick photo, I just wanted to go down as quickly as possible. The other three said they knew something was wrong when I wasn't writing the blog straight afterwards or walking around looking for (and getting excited over) a cellphone signall!  After descending about 300m I felt absolutely fine again, albeit tired.

We reached Barafu camp, had a quick rest and lunch (thank goodness I regained my appetite), and then walked down to Mbweka camp where we are spending our last night. This has been a veeeery long day with about 15 hours walking, parts of which were very strenuous. Our bodies are aching and we cannot wait for a hot shower tomorrow! Hooray!!! All four of us are so thrilled with this achievement. I believe that things that don't come easy are more appreciated. All in all this has been an unforgettable experience.

Tomorrow: our last day on the mountain as well as the results of our not-so scientific experiments.

Why we did it:

Since I knew that this mountain exists, I wanted to conquer it. This year things just fell into place, and my dream has come true!

Bruce and Delmence are experienced travellers and have climbed mountains in Bolivia, Himalayas, Chile and a few other places and Kili is something they wanted to do for ten years.

Raymond had Leukemia in 2006, and lying in his hospital bed, he visualised himself walking up Kilimanjaro. The Leukemia came back in 2008 and when it went into remission again, he just knew that he had to make it happen.

That is positive hope for you!

All four of us had dreams and we're able to turn it into a reality. The School of Hope is a school that helps children on their way to reaching their dreams so if you would like to become 50/500 Club members or make any sort of donation to them, go to Thembalitsha's link or use the banking details listed on the blog. You can claim the tax back!

Lala Salama! Good night!

Day 6: Almost there!

Baranca Wall

Rock "hugging"

Standing at the bottom of the daunting Baranca Wall, I cannot help but wonder how many people and bags have fallen off the ledge. Starting our scramble up, it was actually lots of fun!!! A bit of rock climbing and rock "hugging" at places, but I didn't feel unsafe at any stage.

This is probably a very difficult day for the porters who are balancing heavy and uncomfortable items on their heads. We tend to think that just because they are used to the altitude, going up is easy for them, but believe me, it is not. Tanzania is such a poor country that people don't have a huge choice of jobs, so at least Kili is providing work for people who would otherwise have been working in the Tanzanite mines, or else be jobless.

When we got to the top of the Baranca Wall, the most beautiful scene awaited us - it looked as if we were floating on the clouds! Going down again, then up more rocks, then scrambling down rocks and once again up a hill we reached Karanga where we had lunch - the most crumdidiliumptious (as the BFG says) corn fritters and toasted cheese sarmies. We went up and down a few more valleys and then reached Barafu.

Some people have already turned back home from Baranca Camp as they were too sick to continue. Thankfully, apart from a few light headaches, we are all feeling strong.

Flying high

Tonight it will be Uhuru Peak!

Today was a long and tiresome eight hours walk. We will have an early lunch and try to get a few hours sleep.  Sleep is something that doesn't come easy on the mountain due to getting used to the altitude, and I think the thin mattresses don't help at all! After having a quick nap, we will start at midnight towards... Uhuru peak 5895m.

Food, luggage and the Lion King

Food:

We have been getting the MOST amazing food whilst on the mountain. Fried banana, pancakes with to die for vegetable soups, chicken curry, spaghetti bolognaise... Delicious and nourishing. Delmence is making plans on taking the cook home with her. Raymond has a huge appetite but says that "apparently" he never eats that much at home. On the other hand, I don't have as big an appetite as the others and have to force myself to eat as carbo loading is extremely important. Fortunately the food is delicious so that helps.

Luggage:

I have again today realised that the fact that I could start my climb despite having lost my luggage, is nothing short of a miracle! And to understand what a feat this is, you have to know the amount of intensive planning and shopping that goes into deciding on every single item, from clothes to gear.

And not only did I manage to get everything I need, but got some of it in abundance. Have to admit I do not make much of a fashion statement wearing blue and green and pink together (although the pink sock will never again look the same).  Think on my return people will assume the photos have been taken on the same day as I am wearing the same clothes on all of them! I got a headlamp, socks, snacks, wipes, tissues (an essential item!!!), beanie, scarf, cap, tog bag (albeit an overweight wheel variety) etc.  I was even able to get so much that I could share snacks, tissues, black bags,etc with others who needed.

Fortunately I had with me on the plane my: hiking shoes, rain gear, inner and outer gloves, gor-tex jacket and pants and sleeping bag. I looked somewhat silly lugging my sleeping bag around at Joburg airport (although it came in handy as a pillow when my flight was delayed!) but I will forever be grateful that I had those items with me.

Of course I miss my books (((sigh))) but I can always read them later. I also don't have Simon Wheeler's cap that would have gone up to the top with me. Simon is my fried Amanda's brother who died in a car accident at the age of 33 (along with their sister). He was busy training for Kili at that stage and I am now finishing a journey that he could not. Fortunately I still have his photo so he will still be summitting.

Lion King:

I am convinced Simba was born in Tanzania. Simba in Swahili means Lion, Rafiki means Friend, and the locals sings the most beautiful song "Hakuna Matata" (not the Lion King version). 
Lala Salama! (Sleep well!)

Day 5 Lava tower, baby steps

Lava tower, baby steps…

We went up to 4600 meters above sea level to Lava Tower today. We took it extremely slow: taking only one step per second!!! And yes, that is at a pace of: 1001... 1002... 1003...

Lava Tower at 4,600m

We have by now spent a day in the rain forest, a day in the moorland, a day on the Shira plateau, and today we walked through a somewhat "moon landscape" area with grey-ish sand and small rocks scattered around. But unlike the moon astronauts, we did not fly through the air but were instead gasping for breath.

One can actually feel the air become thinner and thinner as you go up, and it also gets colder and colder. You think you are taking deep breaths, but not much oxygen gets to your lungs. The moment you go down in altitude, you can immediately feel it because you breath easier again. Which is the reason why, like today, we walk all the way up to 4600m, then down to 3900 to sleep at a lower altitude. From tomorrow it will just be up, up, up.

All four of us expected the worst, but we all felt absolutely fine! We were hugely relieved as the way your body handles today is a good indication of the way your body will react for the rest of the trip. All in all we had a very easy day!!! We realise that we are lucky as there are many others around us complaining of headaches, being nauseous etc. One of our "neighbours" was so sick this morning at Shira 2 that he didn't even want to come out of his tent.

Barranco camp

We arrived at Barranco Camp and this is by far the most beautiful camp we have been at. It is set between the mountains, floating above the clouds, and if it wasn't for all the tents, you might think you are close to heaven. 

I think now is also the time when we start missing our families. I am so grateful to be here and to have this amazing experience, and wish I can bottle it and share it with others and especially Jan, the kids and my mom, who made this trip possible for me. I feel that even if something happens and I don't summit, I will be leaving here, having had a most amazing experience. 

Day 4 Shira

Spectacular but brr…

We watched the sunset throwing the most amazing colours over Kili peak last night at Shira 1. Truly spectacular! And as soon as the sun set, the weather turned from warm to FREEZING. It is very difficult to type on the small Blackberry keys without risking frostbite, gangrene and all that (!). So out of pure self preservation the messages might just become shorter each day…

When we woke up this morning, the tents were frozen over and we were greeted with a spectacular white icy scene. If we weren't so cold, I might even have said that it was like a fairy tale.

Our walk today was the last easy one. We did 7km, gained 370m in height, and again took it very "pole pole". It was nice reaching our camp early afternoon and we had time to relax. We also took the time to inspect the toilets (which has become a very interesting part of our journey) and found these to be in good condition.

Clever Americans!?

You can spot the British and American climbers a mile off. They usually pay $200 extra for someone to carry a "porta potty" for them all the way up, have massively thick mattresses (compared to our 20mm mattresses) and are always pristinely dressed. At this stage I would gladly pay $200 to have a toilet to sit on! I have also realised that one of the reasons they tell you to ensure your quads are strong, is not just for climbing hills. But also for all the squatting you need to do. I will never again take for granted the luxury of a Western toilet!

I am truly fascinated by the radical way the vegetation changes every day. Today, whilst walking over Shira plateau, it was scattered with big boulders, everlasting flowers and blobs of greenery. We have been truly blessed with lovely weather and no rain so far, which is fortunate as my range of clothes is limited. Today was again a very enjoyable and beautiful day.

Luggage here but let’s not take any further chances

Reaching Shira 2, I got some excellent news: my luggage has arrived at the hotel!!! The bad news is that it will take a porter, coming up with a shorter route, 2 days to get to us, so he will only reach us on summit day. Deciding that it is quite pointless for them to send my bag up for one day's use, and also then taking the risk of missing the porter along the way, I told them to rather leave the luggage at the hotel. Oh, the thought of clean clothes awaiting me...

Tomorrow is going to be tough, walking 10km, but going up to 4600m above sea level, so early bed tonight! Even though all four of us are feeling very good at the moment, we will only see tomorrow if and how our bodies have acclimatised and how we will cope with the altitude.

Day 3 3650 m

Facilities at Big Tree terrible

All four of us were fairly relieved leaving "Big Tree" camp. We were somewhat unsettled yesterday evening, and the toilets at this camp were in terrible condition. Bruce also had a bout of "projectiling" during the night, and both Delmence and I had headaches and felt nauseous. The three of us started taking Diamox to help us acclimatise but Raymond decided to be experimental and not take any. Let's see how this is going to pan out!

Into the moorland…

Our hike took us through the rainforest again and after an hour we reached the moorland. It was really odd to see how radically the scenery changes, looking as if a line is drawn between the two areas' fauna. Even the soil changed from "volcanic red dust" to volcanic black dust". This horrible fine dust creeps in everywhere and by the end of the day I looked as if I could be classified as a different race!

For me the moorland was even more beautiful than the rainforest. Quite unbelievable, but the fauna is very similar to the Western Cape, with proteas, heide and fynbos!
We again took today "pole pole" which means "slowly slowly". So even though we were now 3610 m above sea level, our bodies coped very well and we didn't feel as out of breath as yesterday.

And out again – seeing Kili peak for first time!

Leaving the moorland, we came over the last hill and could for the first time see Kili peak! Up to now it was under cloud and out of sight. I even started to wonder whether this mountain actually exists!
We now entered the Shira plateau, and could instantly feel the weather becoming cold. Again it was surreal to see the fauna change dramatically from moorland to... flatness. This is the coldest campsite as it is so exposed and the tents often freeze overnight. This has been a relatively easy and very enjoyable day. Tomorrow should be our last easy day so I am really looking forward to walking from Shira 1 to Shira 2 tomorrow!