Since our summit blog post gave away the punch line, I guess you all know that we made it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro (the highest point in Africa), but the fun is always in the details, so I thought I’d share a few of the highlights from our trek up the mountain. We’ve also uploaded photos from the trek in our Kilimanjaro – Part 1 and Kilimanjaro – Part 2 albums.
Laura and I were lucky to be joined by our good friend Christi from San Francisco, who not only provided moral support and humor as we slogged our way up the mountain, but also pretty much planned our entire Tanzania tour (with some help from BikeHike, a Canadian [of course] tour operator), including the Kilimanjaro trek, a couple of game drive days in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro National Parks, a bit of mountain biking and hiking in the Rift Valley, and a few recovery days lounging on the beaches of Zanzibar. We would be remiss if we didn’t give a HUGE shout-out to Christi for all the hard work she put into planning our adventures here in Tanzania. Thanks, Christi!!
Nairobi to Arusha
For Laura and me, the adventure actually started before we got to Tanzania. For some crazy reason (mainly cost), we decided not to fly directly to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha. Instead, we flew from London (our hub pre- and post-Currinups) to Nairobi and took a tourist shuttle bus from there, across the Kenya/Tanzania border, and into Arusha where our BikeHike tour was scheduled to begin. Bad idea jeans. Roughly 80% of the “sealed road” between Nairobi and Arusha is under construction and/or being repaved, so our 4-5 hour smooth bus ride turned into 7 hours of driving over bumpy, dusty side roads with about 20+ people crammed into a hot van that comfortably sat about 12. The passport control process coming into Tanzania made passport control in the Nairobi airport (which was already a complete Charley Foxtrot) seem like the model of efficiency. Needless to say, we were grumpy, tired, dirty, and hungry when we finally got to the L’Oasis Lodge in Arusha on July 3rd, but we had no trouble turning our frowns upside down when we saw Christi there waiting for us, beer in hand! Reunions with friends in foreign countries are always a big boost to the travel psyche, and this one came just in time for us.
;)
Christi, Laura and Dustin with our guide Rahima, one of only three female guides in Arusha National ParkWe spent our first full day in Tanzania getting our legs warmed up on a short hike and seeing some classic African game (giraffes, water buffalos, zebras, warthogs, baboons) in the nearby Arusha National Park. That evening, we had our pre-trek briefing with our guide Evans from the local tour operator, Adventure Sport & Leisure. Somewhat unexpectedly, the owner of the company (Dave) was there and told us that he was going to join us for our trek up Kili. He knew that we’d decided to take an extra day on the mountain and sleep up at Crater Camp (elevation 18,750 feet) before making our push to the summit, and he was keen to join us since he’d only camped at that altitude once before. He also probably knew that camping at that altitude was going to be rough (it’s really cold up there, and altitude sickness can be pretty severe), and he wanted to make sure we were well looked after. In any event, it never hurts to the have the owner of the tour company on your trek, so after discussing our route up the mountain, going over the list of gear that Laura and I should have brought but didn’t (it’s tough to carry everything when you’re on a long trip), and figuring out how to repack our bags for the 10+ porters that would be carrying most of our stuff up the mountain, we were excited to get up there and get started!
The Plan
There are many different routes for getting to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Most people take six or seven days to make the ascent, either from the south or from the east. Some crazy people do it in five days (either from the east or up the Western Breach route, more technical and dangerous due to falling rocks), and a few other crazy people (like us) decide to take eight days and spend a night at Crater Camp, only a few hundred feet below the summit. This option has some pros and cons. The pros: you get to spend more time at lower elevations getting acclimated, you have some time (assuming you feel well, a big assumption) to explore the crater area up at the top of the mountain, and you don’t have to start your ascent for the summit in the middle of the night. (Most people who climb Kili get up to around 15,000 feet, spend a short night there resting (but probably not sleeping), and ascend the remaining 4,000 feet to the summit starting at midnight or 1AM (to catch sunrise at the top), then immediately *descend* almost 9,000 feet of vertical on the same day. Ouch!)
Our plan seemed so much better. We would spend four days hiking down around 12-13,000 feet, then take two days to climb up to Crater Camp (again, at 18,750 feet) where we would spend the night and make a leisurely short ascent to the summit at a civilized hour of the morning (6AM or so) before making our way down (still the 9,000 foot drop, but hopefully on fresher legs). That was the plan, anyway. :)
The Warm Up
;)
Day 1… we have a LONG way to go to the top!On Day 1 of our trek (July 5th), we drove from Arusha to the Londorosi Gate of the Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park, got checked in there and had our gear weighed (they’re very strict now about how much porters can carry), drove an hour or so along another bumpy, rutted, dusty, overgrown road (you will quickly sense a theme here as the Tanzania adventure unfolds), had a quick lunch at the Morum Barrier Gate, and finally got started hiking. Somewhat amusingly, an hour and a half later, we were finished with Day 1! Our camp – Shira 1, elevation 11,845 feet – was situated on the Shira Plateau and had a beautiful, clear view of the the mountain. After our head guide Evans introduced us to our crew for the week (more shout-outs for our wonderfully named assistant guide Hallelujah, as well as Emanuel, Macmillan, Alan, El Doctor, and all of our porters!), we had a quick hot meal with Evans and Dave in our small dining tent, and we went to bed thinking: this isn’t going to be so hard after all. Ha!
Our next three days of hiking were actually pretty manageable. We had a relatively short Day 2 from Shira 1 Camp to Shira 2 Camp (elevation 12,670 feet) via a scenic landmark called Cone Place. As a rule, we tended to hike higher than our final destination each day; this is supposed to be good for getting acclimatized to the altitude (“hike high, sleep low”), but it also just feels good to know that you have some downhill at the end of each day. We arrived at Shira 2 and enjoyed some popcorn with our evening tea – we really were roughing it up there. Really! Another hot dinner cooked by the fabulous Macmillan, and we were off to bed for one of many cold nights of camping on the mountain.
Day 3 was a longer day (around 7 hours) hiking from Shira 2 Camp to Barranco Camp (elevation 12,960 feet), via another awesome feature called Lava Tower. We had lunch just before getting to the Tower (elevation 14,760 feet, the highest elevation the three of us had ever been), then followed Evans up to the top for more amazing views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the trekkers below on the trail. He’d told us that there was a “trail” up to the top of Lava Tower, but in reality it was a pretty challenging scramble to the top over cliffs and rocks. All three of us were a little freaked out at times on our way up, but the views up there were worth it. We finished Day 3 with a long, gradual descent through the greenery of the Barranco Valley to Barranco Camp. Laura, Christi and I all had mild headaches when we reached camp for the night (a sign of things to come?), but we all felt better after some Advil and a hot meal (we still had our appetites, which was a good sign). A bit of reading in our tents, and off to bed.
Day 4 (July 8th) was our last easy day before the pain began. We started the day scrambling up the infamous Barranco Wall, a steep, rocky trail (of sorts) that rises above Barranco Camp. Watching our porters and others carry their heavy packs, gas canisters, water, and other gear up the wall was pretty crazy! The rest of the day was an easy mix of ups and downs, and we got to Karanga Camp (elevation 12,890 feet) just as the clouds started to role in, with time to relax a bit in the afternoon before trying to get some sleep.
The Grind to Crater Camp
Day 5 is when the wheels started to get a little wobbly on our metaphorical cart. Neither Laura nor I had slept very well the night before, but we rallied for an early start anyway. We had a long, steady climb up to Barafu Camp (elevation 15,100 feet) where lunch was waiting for us (our porters and camp crew were truly amazing and always seemed to be way ahead of us on the trail). Everyone was starting to feel the effects of the altitude (mild headaches, waning appetites), but we pushed on and climbed up to the unmarked Kosovo Camp (elevation 15,800 feet) where we would camp for the night. For those of you tracking the numbers, Day 5 involved an elevation change of around +3,000 feet, and believe me, we could tell we were higher. The next couple of days were going to be interesting, that’s for sure.
We tried to sleep that night, but it was REALLY cold, and a wicked wind storm whipped up after dark – there were times when it felt like our tents were going to come unstaked, even though we were tucked in next to some big rocks for protection. Also, around midnight, we heard a few other groups hiking through camp on their way up to the summit (remember, another 3,000+ feet of elevation to go to the top, with a huge descent to follow on the same day), but we tried our best to ignore them and get some sleep. It didn’t really happen.
;)
We thought we had it tough until we saw our porters carrying our entire camp up to Crater CampThe next morning I woke up extremely cold and grumpy from lack of sleep. I was also really starting to worry about our lack of cold weather gear. I only had thin gloves and an even thinner hat, and my warmest layer was a down vest, not a full jacket. I started to wonder whether we were foolish in thinking we were equipped to hike up to (and stay at) Crater Camp, never mind getting to the summit without freezing our asses off. I actually tried to convince Laura and Christi that we didn’t need to go higher (we’d all talked a few days before about keeping an open mind and not falling prey to the “summit or bust” mentality), but in the end they convinced me to keep going. We borrowed a couple of items from our guides, Laura and I packed up our stuff (the last ones to be ready again, so not like us), and we all headed up the mountain.
Our last long day of climbing was a slow, steep, slippery grind over loose rocks and scree, but Evans and Dave kept us moving ever so slowly – “pole, pole” (POLE-ay POLE-ay) means “slowly, slowly” in Swahili – and encouraged us to take short breaks every so often. Finally, after a few hours of steady progress (we called it the “old man shuffle”), we made it up to Stella Point (elevation ~18,700 feet), only a couple hundred meters below the summit and right on the edge of the huge crater area that sits hidden at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Laura was already suffering from a pretty bad case of nausea, but she managed to rally for what felt like our “mini summit.” The views up there were incredible, and we could see a few of the glaciers that still remain on the mountain. We savored the moment, then hiked the last couple of kilometers down into the crater and over to Crater Camp.
The Summit
;)
Does this photo really need a caption?Our afternoon and night at Crater Camp were, in a word, miserable. At least for me. I arrived feeling pretty good, but a throbbing headache and serious nausea set in soon after lunch, and I spent the next twelve hours huddled in our tent, checking my watch literally every 20-30 minutes hoping that time would speed up and praying that I didn’t vomit. Laura felt a bit better after eating lunch, but she spent the afternoon in the tent feeling pretty rotten as well. Christi was either feeling a lot better than we were, or she was too stubborn to miss the scenery at the crater (I think a bit of both), because she joined Evans, Dave, and Hallelujah on a 2-hour hike over to the lower crater area and back. Doing anything but sitting up in the tent and maybe walking to the toilet was completely out of the question for me.
Our night at Crater Camp was long and ridiculously cold – we had ice crystals forming inside our tent (for this one night, Laura, Christi and I shared one tent for warmth, LOL) and our water bladder tubes all froze solid just sitting in our tent. I woke up (or rather, stopped counting the minutes until sunrise) thinking once again that there was no way in hell I was going to be able to hike the remaining 45 minutes up to the summit in the morning. In the end, Dave and Evans convinced me that I would regret not trying for the top, and they assured me that my symptoms, while uncomfortable, weren’t serious enough to worry about.
So up we went. Pole, pole! Our old man shuffle had turned into a death march, but after a little less than an hour, we were up near the summit and could see our final destination. Adrenaline kicked in, and we walked confidently to the very top of Africa… and everyone managed to keep their breakfasts down in the process! We spent just a few minutes making our photos and taking in the view, and then we started the long, steady descent off the mountain.
;)
The Long Descent
Getting to the top was hard, but the descent off the mountain may have been the hardest part of the entire trek. Just like everyone else who treks to the summit, we turned around after reaching the top and descended almost 9,000 vertical feet in one day. That’s a lot of downhill hiking! Our knees, quads, and calves were aching when we finished, and we still had one more short day (3.5 hours or so) the next day to get to the southern gate. For the next few days, our legs felt like we’d done a marathon – walking down stairs was excruciating. Nothing that a few Kilimanjaro beers couldn’t take care of, though.
In the end, we were thrilled to have conquered Kili, but we all agreed that it was probably the last time we’d ever hike that high. Pretty cool to have hiked to the top of Africa, though, and in the end we were feeling pretty powa powa kachizindizi — cool, cool, crazy like bananas!