Mt. Kili - Tanzania

Sunday, August 13, 2006

I had a restless night of sleep last night. Not sure why. Maybe it was the fact that I took a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon. Traveling is fun, yet by the time you get to your destination, you are exhausted from sitting on an airplane and sitting in airports for hours. Doesn’t seem like sitting around would make you so tired.
Funny story….at some point last night, I went to check my watch for the time and accidentally took the phone off the hook. I didn’t realize it until I woke up. I remember thinking in the night, “what am I holding?” and then just dropping it. Kind of funny, since I asked for a walk up call.
I love getting on a bus filled with you know, who stare at you like you are a freak. What is even better is they start speaking in a foreign language. After the uncomfortable beginning, talk starts among me and a couple of others. Come to find out no one on the bus is going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
My first thought is I could be the only climber with just the guide. That could be kind of nice, but also a tad scary and I would get lonely.
The first Kenya/Tanzania border crossing for me. When I was done going through immigrations for Tanzania, me and a French girl that was on my bus were sitting around waiting for our bus to cross the border. While we were waiting some native young boys started talking to us. One of them asked where I was from. I said the USA and he said “California,” I said no Utah and he again said California. Another kid that was behind me asked me why my hair wasn’t dark like the French girls. Kind of funny.
Along the way to Moshi after crossing the border, the bus picks up other random individuals. GAP Adventures, who I booked the tour through, must work with a shuttle service in Africa.
I was dropped in Arusha (about 1 and a half hours from Moshi) at the bus station with my luggage. No one gave me any information on where I should be going or if another bus was coming for me. Actually, the driver didn’t seem to know where to tell me to go either.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, a bus to Moshi arrives. On that bus was a fellow GAP Adventure Kilimanjaro trekker. I was not aware of this until we were the only two left on the bus. The young guy, Gavin, is originally from New York but just graduated from graduate school and a job lined up in San Francisco.

Song Quote for the blog: “I have no answers for you” Dave Matthews Band – Song Where Are You Going?

Monday, August 14, 2006

Today the “great” climb starts. Nervous…a little…excited….of course. I met my guide last night for a short briefing. His name is Joel.
The bus to the Marangu (Manrangu is the route I will be climbing to the top). This route is the tourist route and often referred to as the Coke-a-Cola route. Note sure why. Could it be because it is so popular? I guess that I will find out) gate is boarded at 9 am. Before leaving, I am introduced to an older couple from Sweden that are joining the group. Their names are Peter and Marionanne.
On the bus ride to the trailhead, I meet a newlywed couple from England who are on a month long honeymoon in Africa. They are the only two in their group but I see them along the way.
Once we are checked in and start the trek, a young cute, dating couple from Ireland join the group. Their names are Shawna and Peter.
Our assistant guide, Faustian starts us walking while our main guide is still checking in.
Our climb today takes us to Mandura Hut. It was a 3 and a half hour climb through a thick rain forest zone. The rain forest is really very pretty, green, and lush. Really pretty. We stopped for lunch a little off the trail. At our lunch location, there is a separate dirt road that the porters walk on for the first part of the climb. It is so amazing how much they carry and how fast they go. I just have a hard time carrying my own daypack.
Mandura Hut is at 2,750m – 9,000 ft. Our climb started at 1,800 m.
The accommodations tonight will be spent in mountain huts. Four beds (one set of bunkbeds. At camp there are some blue monkeys wandering around. My first sight of some wildlife in Africa.
It got dark and cold fairly fast tonight. Outstanding stargazing. The stars were so bright. You could see the Milky Way really clearly. Even though I was cold, I couldn’t pass up a once in a lifetime chance to stargaze on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Song for the blog: Are You Ready for This?

Tuesday, August, 15/Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The climb today continued some more through the rain forest before reaching the heather and moorland zone. At camp last night, after getting settled a little, we took a hike to a crater. I enjoy taking smaller hikes and moving once reaching camp for the night.
Our camp tonight is at Horombo Hut (3,720 m). The climb today was hot and a little steep. The heat bothered me more then the altitude. There were some good views along the way of the Kili Summit and Uhuru Peak (Africa’s highest peak).
The climb was done at a pole, pole (go slowly) pace today. Joel and Faustian, our guides, are very enthusiastic. Faustian doesn’t speak very much English. He is carrying a radio and listening to rap/hip hop and some African music. It is fun to walk along and sing and dance to the music. I decided to leave my ipod behind at the hotel so I am glad I have some sort of music.
Once we moved out of the rain forest into the moorland, we climbed above the clouds. How cool to be above the clouds. What a magnificent sight and feeling.
Tonight was another great stargazing night. The sunset was a spectacular sight. Once again, I couldn’t pass up watching the sky despite the chill in the air..
After arriving in camp today, a few of us took a hike to Zebra Rocks which is a rock that has steaks on it from water that has dried up over the years.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Yesterday at lunch, I lost my sunglasses. It was bound to happen at some point along the way. I am notorious for losing my sunglasses no matter where I am. Good thing I brought another pair.
The climb today takes us past the final watering point and ascended onto the saddle of Kilimanjaro between the peaks of Kibo and Mwenzi. The vegetation thins out as we enter the desert-like alpine zone. Our stop for the afternoon/evening, since we start our summit climb at midnight, is at Kibo Hut (4,703 m), in a stone construction with no running water.
Our sleeping arrangements are ten in a room with 5 sets of bunk beds and a table in the middle for mealtime.
Around 11:30 we are woken for a cup of tea before heading out for our night climb to the summit.

Song Quote for the blog: "In this proud land we grew up strong we were wanted all along, I was taught to fight, taught to win, I never thought I could fail." Peter Gabriel - Song Don't Give Up

Thursday, August 17, 2006

As we start our climb around midnight, I start to get hot with all the layers I have on. I have to readjust some clothing to avoid getting overheated.
Our pace is slow and methodical. The silence is eerie. In order to keep going, no one wants to use their energy to speak. Every hour, before reaching Gillman’s Point (4 hours), we stop for water, but not for long, so we keep moving. IT is hard to move again but realize that we need to. At one point, I eat a few jellies that the Irish couple had. Just a few of those helped me tremendously for a little while. The climb is steep (switchbacking all the way) to Gillman’s Point (5,861 m). At this point it starts to get colder and windy. The temperature is a chilling -20f.
The climb to Uhuru Peak is another hour and a half climb. At this point, the group starts to disperse as the altitude rises and the air thins. At one point, I have to hand my daypack over to our guide to carry. He is very willing and at every short break, gives me my water, which freezes at some point. There is one last climb to Uhuru Peak that I was not expecting. I had quite a few moments along the way, where I thought about giving up and turning around but knew I had to keep pushing on.
At 6 am I reached the top of Africa with 2 others from the group. Peter (Sweden) and Gavin (USA). The USA was represented very well. GO TEAM USA! The three that didn’t reach the summit were Irish Peter (he got altitude sickness and got close), his girlfriend, Shawna (she went back down with him), and Marionanne (she decided to not go any farther then Kibo Hut).
Joel, our guide was so energetic the whole way up. He was singing and encouraging us to keep going. Sure made it easier to reach the summit.
Towards the summit, we met up with other people climbing from other routes on the mountain.
It is a great sight to watch the headlamps, in the distance, from other trekkers as they reached the summit
Despite the climb to Gillman’s Point being exhausting, tough, and just trying to concentrate my energy on moving, I did take the time to look behind me and see the lights from headlamps of people making the trek and to see how far we had come. I saw the moon come out (even though it was only a quarter moon). What an incredible sight.
Since we arrived at the summit before the sun came up, you could see the red in the sky as the sun started to rise slowly. The views from the peak were quite impressive.
We were only at the peak long enough to get a couple of pictures (I was lucky my camera behaved for one picture, since my battery was dying and freezing).
We tried to get back to Gillman’s Point for sunrise but found that I still had to go slowly.
The descend after Gillman’s Point was a steep slide down through the rumble. I am so happy that we climbed at night, otherwise I don’t know if I would have made it with seeing what was in front of me. The reason for climbing the summit at night is because it is easier to climb the scree (since it is volcanic ash we climb on) slope when it is frozen.
After a short rest and breakfast at Kibo Hut, we start our descend back to Horombo Hut for the night. I left my only source of time, at Kibo Hut. Our guides were rushing us so much that I didn’t grab it. I realized almost instantly that I forgot it but didn’t have time to go back. Luckily, the guy from the England couple who are on their honeymoon, sound it and brought it to me. Phew….that would have been very bad not to have a watch.
The accommodations tonight are in a hut with six beds. Enough for the whole group to stay in.
After an afternoon of resting, we celebrated a little in our hut with our guides and the English couple. I enjoyed a cold coke while the rest of the group enjoyed a Kilimanjaro Beer. I never drink coke and found it slightly refreshing. At the first two camps, they sell beer and coke. At the last camp, they only sell coke. Probably for good reason since alcohol and altitude don’t mix.
Even thought I made the summit climb sound like a horrendous experience, it was by far one of my favorite Africa moments. Would I do it again….HELL NO…..I am crazy but not that crazy.

Song Quote of the blog: "I have climbed highest mountain.....I have run I have crawled" U2 - Song I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Friday, August 18, 2006

Today is the final few hours on the mountain. We departed early and arrived at the entrance gate around 12:30 p.m. where I received a well-earned certificate.
About an hour before the gate, there were a few kids playing. I took pictures of them. The kids here are so cute.
It was so nice to finally take a shower even if the water was cold.
Later that night four of us (Shawna, Peter, Gavin and myself) went to a local high class nightclub with out guides. The club was called "Pub Albertos"
We arrived early and the crowd didn't start rolling in until around 10:30.
It was fun toe dance and people watch. The culture in Africa is so different from that in America. Men dance with each other. You usually see men walking down the street holding hands. Interesting to visit other countries and experience part of their culture and how things can be so different back home.
What a fun night! I love to dance, even though I am bad at it. A once in a lifetime chance to go out to a club in Moshi, Tanzania. What happens in Africa, stays in Africa.

Some Common Swahili words used on the trail:

Rafiki - friend
Hakuna Matata - No Worries
Mambo/Jambo - Hello
Pole, Pole - Go Slowly
Haraka, Haraka - Fast

Song Quote of the blog: "Stolen from Africa, brought to America,Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival" Bob Marley - Song Buffalo Soldier