Kilimanjaro



Our journey back to Arusha from Haydom was much less eventful than it was a month ago when we travelled down to Haydom. We had no problems at all and even arrived earlier than expected. We had the rest of the day at our hotel to get ready for our walk up Kilimanjaro. It is normal to return to the same hotel after the walk and therefore leave all the things that you’re not going to need on the trek at the hotel. We were told that our two main rucksacks should weigh about 15 kg each. You don’t really need that much when walking up Kilimanjaro so it wasn’t much of a problem to meet the weight limit. There are of course no showers en-route and so we thought we might as well try and wear the same trousers and shirts as much as possible in an attempt to keep the weight down. As it turned out, one of the porters always brought us a bowl of hot water at the end of each day. A flannel dipped in the hot water and wiped over the body was very effective and made us feel much fresher afterwards.

A view on the way up Kilimanjaro

There are several routes up Kilimanjaro. The quickest is the Marangu Route. The disadvantage with it is that it uses the same path up and down and that it has the lowest success rate for reaching the top. This is thought to be due to the fact that many arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport from their homes at relatively low altitude and then go straight up Kilimanjaro as quickly as possible without giving any real time for the body to acclimatize to the altitude. Having said that several of the student nurses from Norway that we met at Haydom did just that and had no problems at all and enjoyed the trip. This route also uses huts for sleeping and so requires booking in advance to ensure a place in each hut. Since we had the time, we decided to opt for one of the longer routes and therefore theoretically increasing our chances of reaching the top. These have the advantage of giving the body a longer time to acclimatize to the altitude not only by taking a day or two extra but also by going up to higher altitudes and then descending again on a traverse around the side of Kilimanjaro on the way to the top. They are also more interesting since they don’t go back down the same way. We chose the Machame Route with 6 days and 5 nights with tents as our accommodation. We read that it is also considered to be the most scenic route.

Eli, Iren & Phil (Day 2)

We were picked up by Eli and the guide, Loi, after breakfast at the hotel in a minibus. Some of the porters were already in the minibus and several more jumped in on the two hour drive to the Machame Gate. We couldn’t quite make out if all the porters were ours or they were going to be part of another trip. By the time we got to the Machame Gate we were 15 people crammed into the 9 seater minibus. As it turned out we had 8 Porters (one of whom was also the cook) an Assistant Guide (Eli) and our Guide, Loi. Ten people just to get us up Kilimanjaro! There was a lot of equipment to carry such as tents, table and chairs, gas and cooker, cooking equipment, and food for 10 for almost a week not to mention our rucksacks and their own things. We just carried a small rucksack with what we thought we would need each day. There was a slight delay of about an hour at the gate since the network for Visa Card Terminal was down. This being Africa I thought they would have had a reserve solution of using an old carbon copy swipe machine but they didn’t have one. Everyone has to pay a Kilimanjaro National Park fee to climb the mountain. At $635 (NOK 3700, Euro 487, £406) each (covers 6 days) it’s not a cheap walk and a good earner for the Tanzanian government!

We've got to walk up all this!

The sign post at the very start of the walk showed our current altitude of 1800m and warned about the dangers of not turning back if some of the symptoms of altitude sickness presented themselves. We hoped this would not be necessary and undeterred started off by heeding our guide’s advice of taking it easy by walking slowly. Only 4000 meters remaining to the top! Everybody talks about the guides saying “pole pole” (Swahili for "slowly slowly") to make sure that the tourists don’t use up all of their energy and/or get ill. We had decided before we started that it wasn’t going to be necessary for the guide to tell us to slow down since we would take it very easy from the outset as there was no real hurry to get to each camp as long as we got there before it was dark. If other walkers overtook us then that was no problem. So, our strategy to get to the top was to walk slowly, drink regularly from our camelbacks and take one of the longer routes. This coupled with the fact that we walked up Hanang (3400m) the week before and that we had been at Haydom (1700m) for a month would hopefully give us the best possible chance for reaching the top.

Starting the walk in the Rainforest Zone

Still a long way to go

There are 4 different climatic zones from the bottom to the top of Kilimanjaro. The Machame Gate is in the first zone, the Rainforest, which stretches from approx. 800m to 2800m. It was a bit overcast when we started which was fine since it meant that the temperature was in the low 20s so that we could walk in shorts and t-shirts without getting too hot. The path was fairly steep but smooth for about the first two hours. There was the odd drop of rain but luckily it didn’t really get started. Our walk through the rainforest up to the first camp, Machame Camp, was therefore a dry one. Even though the porters carried a lot, they walked much faster than us and had already put up our tent by the time we arrived and so we just had to freshen up before dinner was served in the mess tent. The toilets at the camps are as basic as they get and do not smell fresh. Those familiar with the outdoor toilets in Norway will know the concept as these are similar only there’s nothing to sit on. Just a whole in the floor that is not particularly big. It looked like people needed some training to get their aim in…

Eating in the Mess Tent

Dinner was always a three course meal with soup as a starter, meat and veg and then usually some fruit and coffee/tea. There was always more than enough and it was hot. This pleased Iren as she was very sceptical about the hygiene and the risks of diarrhea etc.

Before we left we had a short meeting at the tour operator’s office to discuss the trip and for them to check that we had all the required equipment and cloths. You can hire almost everything you need if you don’t have it with you. They could provide sleeping bags and mats at no extra cost. We had our own sleeping bags and mats and we almost said that it wasn’t necessary to take theirs since we have our own when Phil suddenly said that that was fine and we would like to have them. As it turned out it was great having the extra sleeping bags and mats as it got cold during the nights and it felt luxurious to have an extra sleeping bag each to put over our own bag or to put our bag into theirs.

Our tent on night 2

No problems so far!

It had rained during the night but it had stopped when we left the camp after a breakfast of millet porridge, omelet and toast. They grow a lot of millet in East Africa and it has been part of their diet for thousands of years. However, even though we ate it for breakfast every day, believing that it would give us energy for the day ahead, we didn’t really take a liking to it. As we started off walking on day two it was overcast and fairly cool. We were still in the rainforest zone and would continue to be for the rest of the day as the next camp, the Shira 2 Camp, is just on the edge of the next zone: The Heather and Moorland Zone from 2800–4000m. We kept to our plan of walking slowly and drinking at regular intervals and completed day 2 without any problems. Towards the end of the day the trees were getting shorter and more dispersed and the wind picked up. When we got into the camp the wind had just blown down the mess tent. The mess tent was tall and square and not at all aerodynamic and so the porters decided to wait until the wind had died down before attempting to put it up again. Therefore we had our evening meal in our tent.

Our Guide, Loi (Day 3)

Plant in the Heather & Moorland Zone

It was cold in the morning of day 3 although it didn’t take long to warm up. We were now into the Moorland Zone and the vegetation was markedly different to that of the rainforest. To help acclimatize the route took us up to the Lava Tower at 4600m where we had lunch. Iren didn’t like the look of her half boiled egg but the ravens had no objections. She tried to explain that eggs need more time to boil at this altitude. We then followed the path down to the Baranco Campsite at 3950m. On route to the campsite were some unusual trees that looked like the type of Christmas candle holders that have several prongs stemming out from the middle. These were infact Giant Groundsels (Dendrosenecio Kilimanjari) that are found on Kilimanjaro and few other places.

Some of the Giant Groundsels

Getting ready for the Breakfast Wall

The campsite was in a great location where we could see one of the peaks of Kilimanjaro and we could also see the twinkling lights from the town of Mossi far below. Our guide, Loi, also pointed out the route that we were to take in the morning. It looked very steep and was appropriately called the Breakfast Wall. The weather was cold and clear with a temperature just above freezing as we left the mess tent and walked the few steps to our tent.We had had managed to walk up to 4600m without any problems at all. Iren took a medicine called diamox (125mg x 2) that can help prevent altitude sickness. It has several side effects that Phil didn’t like the sound of and therefore he didn’t take it. Iren only experienced mild pins and needles occasionally but this was helped by drinking water.

People walking up The Breakfast Wall

Eli hugging the Kissing Rock

We were lucky again and had a good night’s sleep. Many people experience poor sleep quality at altitude but so far we had slept soundly each night. The morning was again clear and when we set off we could see a thin line of people walking slowly up the Breakfast wall. One part of the path requires maneuvering around “The Kissing Rock” by putting your arms around it like an embrace. There is a drop on the side of the path and tragically a porter was killed by falling from here earlier in the year. The porters are amazing.The tourists manage to get around the rock by holding on to it but the porters have huge loads that require using both hands.

Typical picture of the amazing Porters

Everything has to be carried

When we got to the top of the climb there was a great view of part of the top of Kilimanjaro. After a break here the walk was again in the Desert Zone and was fairly flat for a couple of hours. Lunch was served at an exposed spot (Barafu Hut) and so the porters had put the tent up for us. This was great since as soon as we got in it started hailstoning. This lasted until we had finished lunch and we were ready to walk again. Iren was again sceptical about the food and didn’t eat the chicken. The second half of the day was spent walking uphill to the Kilimanjaro Base Camp, again at 4600m.

One of the Desert Zone paths

We arrived at the campsite and as usual our tent was waiting for us at around 17:00. We were served dinner and were told to try and get some sleep until we would be woken up at about 22:15. We again had no problems walking up to 4600m and felt fine. The ascent to the top of Kilimanjaro starts in darkness with most people leaving around 23:00 with head torches and arriving as the sun rises. This usually takes about 8 hours. The porters don’t follow you up to the top since we would be coming back down to the same place. One of the porters would be coming with us in case we needed some extra help. We seemed to take ages getting our things ready for the final ascent and ended up only sleeping about 2 hours.

Walking ever upwards in the cold and dark

We were woken at 22:15 with tea and biscuits. It was cold at this altitude and so we had slept in the cloths we were going to walk to the top in so that they would be warm when we started. We were glad of this because it was very cold in the tent when we drank our tea. At about 23:00 we were ready to start our walk to the top. Just before we started Phil suddenly felt a bit queasy and threw up. He didn’t feel too good but was not going to let being sick stop him from starting the climb. Ten minutes later Phil was sick again. Now he was walking very slowly and we had to let people pass us. After another 10 minutes Phil was not only sick again but had to find a rock to squat behind since diarrhea had started!

Sunrise on the way to Stella Point

Not too far to Stella Point

Phil was also feeling very tired. The guide told us that we should try and continue and that he would make a decision about whether we could continue later. The night was as good as it gets on Kilimanjaro; clear and cold with an almost full moon. The sight upwards was of a never ending line of torch lights snaking its way to the top. Phil tried to walk with his eyes closed at one relatively easy place but soon found out that that was not a good idea as he just managed to stop himself from falling over as he appeared to fall asleep walking. Iren's diamox tablets seemed to be helping her as she had none of the sympotoms that Phil had. Iren gave Phil some tablets that might help him but these were soon brought back up when he was sick again after a few minutes. Loi, our guide, didn't appear too worried about Phil being sick at regular interals and said that this was fairly normal. (Loi said he ha a 98% record of getting people to the top and so I don't think he wanted Phil to worsen his statistic). We kept on going up and up in the darkness and the cold. We didn't feel very cold since we were well dressed and kept moving although ice had formed on the outside of our jackets. The photos show Phil smiling and of course can't show that he was feeling pretty miserable on the inside. Phil was determind to continue as long as Loi didn't say that he would have to stop and go back down. He just concentrated on putting "one foot in front of the other" for the next 7 hours. It was a long night...

Relief at Stella Point 5739 meters

Slowly but surely towards the top

At last we made it to Stella Point on the crater rim. There is a sign post here showing the altitude of 5789 meters over sea level.  There was some temptation to stop here but the thought of being so close to the top kept us going. After a 20 minute rest we continued the 45 minute or so walk up the remaining 156 meters. At this point we discovered that lots of other people were also struggling and walking slowly. We joined in with them and eventually saw the sign post standing at the top of Kilimanjaro at the Uhuru Peak. We had made it to the roof of Africa!

Celebratory photo at the top of Kilimanjaro!

9 hours of effort to get this far!

After all that effort, another short rest and after taking lots og photos, it was soon time to make the descent back down to the Base Camp. This went much faster than going up since the surface was like loose snow and meant that each step was accompanied by sliding. Phil began to feel better and was not sick on the way down to the Base Camp.

Part of the summit glacier

  There is still a lot of the glacier left at the top of Kilimanjaro although it is getting less every year. Estimates say that it will be completely melted within a few decades. There is now 80% less ice on the summit than there was 100 years ago in 1912.

After about four hours we made it back to the Base Camp where we could rest for two hours. We got into the tent and fell asleep immeadiatly. We were woken by Loi and ate lunch before continuing down to the night's camp 2000 meters below.



Team work! Phil, Eli and Loi



Loi and his crew singing for tips

 As is the tradition on the final morning, Loi and his crew of porters lined up and sang a couple of songs for us. The guides and porters are relatively poorly paid and so rely on tips from their customers. Loi called each member forward and we gave each of them a tip in dollars. They looked happy so we presumed that we gave them enough. At the exit gate we queued up to sign the book and receive our certificate recording our achievement of climbing Kilimanjaro. After a break we were driven back to our hotel in Arusha.

We did what we could to allow our bodies to acclimatize to the altitude of Kilimanjaro but Phil was still sick. Iren fared better although we’ll never know whether Diamox helped her or not unless we try another high mountain without it. Well, at least we made it to the top in the end!

At 10:00 the next morning Eli and a newguide were to pick us up and take us on our next trip: Safari in Lake Manyara, The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.