Kilimanjaro

I survived the mountain! From Moshi, Tanzania to the top of Africa at 19,590 ft and back in 6 days. It was the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my life but also probably one of the most rewarding. I left my SFS family on May 7^th with lots of tears in Arusha. I caught a bus to Moshi which was a very different bus experience than what I’m used to. The bus was crammed with people to its maximum capacity. I sat between two men with very little personal space and people stood on the bus in the aisles. The bus would pull over to the side of the road periodically and the door would swing open with people hanging out calling out our destination. Also in some areas where we stopped people would run to the bus carrying snacks, drinks, and candy that they thrust at the windows for people to buy. I arrived in Moshi sweaty and thirsty and got a cab to the hotel where I was meeting my fellow climbers and where we were departing from in the morning. The people from the other SFS group were Ashley, Riley, and Arjun and we all had dinner together at the hotel, compared our experiences in the program and prepared for our hike to begin the next morning.

We were picked up by Job, the trip organizer and a car-full of porters and equipment. We drove to the Machame gate where it promptly started to rain and everything was packed up. We donned our raincoats and gaiters and started our hike at about 4,000 ft.  Our two guides were named Simon and Laurent. As we hiked we discovered that Simon had been up the mountain more than 200 times and Laurent more than 100, definitely comforting. We began hiking in the rainforest which is the 2^nd zone of Kilimanjaro after the agricultural zone. The hike was beautiful in the rain and reminded me so much of California that I started having Big Sur flashbacks, especially with the rain. Luckily my raincoat kept me pretty dry! We passed many huge trees that were completely covered in moss as we climbed up the mountain. For most of the hike we were walking into mist and there were clouds on either side of us so we couldn’t see what was beyond the trees. It was eerie but really cool! As we walked the porters who carried the tents, food, and majority of equipment passed us. I expected that they may have big backpacks to put everything in, but no, they carried big plastic bags on their heads and necks. Their strength amazes me! We hiked into the next zone of them mountain which was moorland which also had a lot of moss but the vegetation changed a lot. The trees became more like bushes and it got a little more rocky. We reached our camp much quicker than expected because we were all in good shape (thank you Shawn-T from Insanity). Our camp was called Machame camp and it was at about 9,900 ft. We were supposed to wait while the porters set up camp which felt really weird since I've never had all that done for me. When they called us down they showed us to a dining tent where a table and chairs were set up. We were served chai and popcorn for a snack and then a really nice meal for dinner. The meal included leek soup, fish and potatoes, a vegetable sauce, and bananas. It was delicious! After more chai it started to get pretty cold so we got into our sleeping bags and slept.

The porters hiking ahead of us in the moorland zone.

The next day was short but steep. It started out clear and sunny which was a nice change from the rain. We caught our first glimpse of the distant peak we were headed for. We hiked up a slippery rocky trail passing streams, waterfalls, and caves. As we walked the clouds rolled in and we were covered in mist droplets. We reached an overlook where we could see the blanket of clouds below us covering the land. Our lunch break was at the top of a ridge where large ravens circled us eyeing our food. It was downhill to Shira camp at 12,672 ft which we reached at about 1:30. We had a chance to explore the area around our campsite where lava flows had created ridges. We walked along one ridge and sat watching the clouds moving up the mountain. They cleared from the peak again and we had a great view of Kibo (the main peak of Kili). Another yummy dinner and then bedtime!

One of the ravens at our lunch spot

Our third day was our acclimatization day and it was a long hike. We hiked up into the alpine desert zone of the mountain. Our highest point of the day was called Lava Tower at 15,180 ft, the highest I’ve ever been! I could definitely feel the altitude up there! The lava formations were huge and we descended among them into the moorland again. Our camp was in a beautiful valley which many rivers ran through. This was Barranco camp at 13,035 ft.

Our campsite in front of Barranco wall

The next morning we had to climb the Barranco wall which required some scrambling up rocks. It was a lot of fun for us but I don’t know how the porters did it! We kept hiking up to Barafu camp which was our base camp to reach the summit. This was at 15,180 ft. We had a partially sunny day which was nice because it started to get pretty cold up there. We ate dinner and went to sleep as soon as we could because we were exhausted from the day and we had to wake up at 11:00 pm to start our ascent to the summit.

The view of the top from base camp

So after about 4 hours of sleep we got up and began to hardest hike of my life. The first part was all rocks but we soon reached snow that we had to trek over. The wind whipped at our faces and when we stopped for water our bodies quickly got cold. We slowly went up and up and the altitude made everyone feel a little sick. The sunrise began at 5:30 in the morning and we all couldn’t wait to feel the warm sun on our bodies. It was a beautiful deep red sunrise above the sea of clouds that stretched below. We could see Mawenzi peak, the smaller peak of Kili as we watched the sun come up. Finally we made it to Stella Point at 18,938 ft where we rested in the sun before our final climb to the summit. The last climb was very slow completely on snow and I stepped slowly one pole at a time feeling pretty dizzy. There were huge glaciers on either side of the trail. I made it to the very top at 8:10 am and got pretty emotional up there looking out across everything. It was amazing and I was in disbelief that I actually made it. We took pictures at the top and then headed down to base camp.

Sunrise as we climbed

At the top of Uhuru Peak!

Walking down felt great on the lungs but was hard on the knees on the slippery scree. We were SO tired too since by the time we reached base camp again we had hiked for 11 hours! We took an hour nap, ate lunch and then had to leave for the next camp. As we napped it snowed and hailed outside but when we left it was only raining a bit. We hiked 4 hours through more rain to Mweka Camp at 10,230 ft. Descending to that altitude felt so good even on my exhausted body! We ate dinner and immediately passed out. Our last day we woke up early to try to beat the rain but it was still there. We heard that there was a lot of snow on the peak so we were grateful to have done it when we did. It was a 3.5 hour hike down, down, down through the rainforest. My legs and especially knees were very sore but my lungs felt great. We made it to the bottom, signed ourselves off of the mountain, and piled in the van to go back to the hotel. At the hotel we organized the tip for our crew who were wonderful! When we gave out the money there was a huge celebration with all the porters yelling, doing handstands, forming a dance circle, and hugging us. It was hilarious and a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget. We must have given them too much but they deserved it and we had gone with the cheapest tour company so I felt good about it. We jumped in hot showers, ate fries, pizza, and milkshakes, and tried to dry all of our wet clothes. The next day Arjun, Ashley, and Riley would leave for Nairobi early in the morning and I would take a bus to Same (a town outside of Moshi) to meet my WWOOFing family.