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Mount Kilimanjaro: Where it all started for me

kilimanjaro_top

Why Kilimanjaro?

To be honest I had only heard about it in passing or like most people it was a line in Toto’s 1982 hit ‘Africa’. I needed to do something to challenge myself and I just happened to stumble across an advert about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity. Wow, that would be a dream adventure and if there are other people doing it then it’s possible I might be able to do it too.

In the days that followed what was once just another obscure place in Africa began to take a hold.

Not like me to follow up on anything this daring I started looking into what was needed to get out there and do it, a colleague at the time had also unbeknown to me had started to enquire about the climb and we decided that we would use a company called ‘Action Challenge‘ to go with.

The Preparation

As I tend to keep myself generally fit, training a few times a week but because it was unknown what sort of fitness level was needed and hearing different stories I trained as often as I could without overdoing it, not concentrating on one specific type of fitness. I also viewed lots of videos on youtube to try to find out what it would be like conditions wise. From about a year before I started doing a few hours on the bike a week as well as some weight work, also getting in a number of 7 mile runs comfortably but nothing more. As I found out my fitness was not the problem the altitude was.

The Trip and Climb

Other than one person which I already knew there were 16 others on the trip all from differing backgrounds and ages all with a common goal to summit the highest freestanding mountain in the world. Most were to become good friends.

Machame Gate

All ready to go at the Machame Gate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were to do the Machame Route which takes around 6-7 days climbing and due to 5 diverse climatic zones each day is like passing through another world from rainforest to some days walking through what can only be described as a lunar landscape.

After arriving in Moshi and driving to our hotel to meet the guides and get to know each other better it was time to prepare our kit bags for the following day.

We arrived at the Machame Gate early morning for the start of day 3 after a good breakfast to register and meet the porters and cooks for the trip and then set off. The weather was humid and sapped your energy but the surrounding rainforest with all the amazing wildlife, rich variety of trees and flower were enough to keep you going. The highlight spotting the Columbus Monkeys in the trees high above us.

 

 

Dense rainforest at the beginning of the Journey

Each day other than the Summit day taking 15 hours and the last which was around 4 hours the trekking lasted around 6-7 hours with a lunch in-between. Through day 4 with it’s ever changing scenery and day 5 where we cross the amazing moon-like landscape and the lava towers, when we encountered the most surreal hailstone storm ever, a vast rocky landscape being peppered with ice filled the air with thousands of ping’s and ding’s that could only be described as a huge wind chime that was all around you.

At the end of day 5, we camped at Barranco after a small descent in altitude to aid the acclimatisation and set down for the night with the cooks preparing another great meal not knowing the scene we were to awake to next morning.

Day 6 started like most others but we were in the midst of the clouds by this point and as the morning continued the clouds rose to unveil the task for the day, 257 metres (843ft) of almost straight up volcanic rock which is the Barranco Wall, which sounds difficult but actually a joy to climb. From the top, Heim Glacier could be seen that looks like a huge wall of ice or ice curtains, the majesty that Kilimanjaro in front of you.

Kili_Glacier

Kilimanjaro’s Glaciers are breathtaking.

Physically I was fine up until the last night. I made sure I ate and drank as much as I could each day (6 litres of water is recommended to help with the altitude) and maybe the fact I found it impossible to sleep properly from the first night in the hotel until summit night may have had something to do with the issues I faced on summit night. Waking up just after midnight, a few hours into the summit night I still felt strong and ready. During the summit, I didn’t feel like I was having any trouble but then the strength went out of my legs. We were taking tiny steps almost as though you were tightrope walking. I barely made it. By the time we got to Stella point at sunrise I was just able to watch the sun come over the horizon and marvel at the view I had almost like an outer body experience, like being drunk but not knowing it. I was determined to make it having come so far, not wanting to tell people back home I failed having got all the way to the last night, getting quite emotional at the thought of telling my kids that I never made it (evidently that’s quite common with altitude sickness so I don’t feel so bad), but if it hadn’t been for the guides and the porters holding me up the last couple of hours from Stella Point around the crater to Uhuru Peak I would have had to go back down.
 
There, I had made it! 5895 meters (19340.55 ft) high I was at Uhuru Peak. I would have liked to have spent more time at the top taking photos and taking it all in, and I definitely would have wished I’d been able to wait for a few of the other guys to have a photo taken with too, there are some great pictures of the guys I made the journey with at the top. But you can’t have everything, I made it and I’m very grateful for those who made it possible.
 
Just as hard though was the journey down, with a guide either side we rushed down back to the camp we started our summit attempt from and the sheer relief when making it back to camp was enormous.
Watching each one of the Kili Crew (as it had become called) come back down triumphant,  strangely each made me happier than the fact I had achieved it myself.
Kili Porter

One of the porters that got me to the top. I couldn’t thank them enough.

 
The last day of the trek see us descend to the Mweka Gate and onto a quick celebratory lunch before going on to our hotel which I can honestly say was out of this world and having a proper shower for the first time in almost a week was again something we take for granted but not this time. Boots were taken off and blisters attended to. Some enjoyed the facilities of the hotel but most people just enjoyed the rest of a comfortable bed for a relax before the gala dinner to celebrate once again our achievement. With amazing authentic food and a few beers, good company and music we partied into the evening until it was time to say goodbye.
 
The final day saw us going into the town of Moshi to pick up a few souvenirs and have a look around. This would be one of the just another of the overriding memories of the trip, seeing the people of Tanzania go about their business in everyday life. Quite an eye opener. Then onto the airport for the overnight flight to London where we would all say our goodbyes before heading off in different directions home.

What I Took Away from Kili

The whole thing was amazing from start to finish, the people and the bonding most notably, plus one of the first nights in camp seeing the sky so clear and the stars shine so bright they seemed almost touchable, this is not normally something I would pick up on but this was something else. Also, the scenery when the mist faded the morning of the Branco wall climb slowly revealing the size of the mountain itself. But most of all the people that I took the journey with and the porters which without them it would either be impossible or not nearly as enjoyable.

Getting to know the people of Tanzania where and how they live is also a reminder that people from all walks of life can become firm friends no matter that their lives are the polar opposite of ours. There’s is a whole world out there with different cultures and meeting the people from them is the only real way to experiencing it.

With a big group of strangers coming together, you are always going to meet people you have little in common with or some personality clashes, but all in all, everyone got on really well with everyone else and I definitely made some friends that I’ll still keep in touch with for years to come. We have even had a few reunions and hopefully many more to come.

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