Conquering Kilimanjaro.

Conquering Kilimanjaro.

August 6^th 2013.

Moshi, Tanzania.

The snows of Kilimanjaro.

WOW! WE DID IT!

The last week has been and may remain as one of the most grueling tests of mental and physical endurance that I have undergone on my travels.

Now, I grew up in the coastal mountains that surround Vancouver, I currently live in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, I have climbed the Himalayas in Nepal and Pakistan, I have crossed the Alps, transversed the Caucasus Mountains of Russia and ran every day in the highlands of Ethiopia. Yet none of these experience could prepare me for this climb.

Crossing the border from Kenya by bus.

The motivation was clear, my students this year had to hear about it almost every day, I have been determined to climb this mountain, and the whole trip in Africa has been centred around making this happen.

When I arrived in Moshi, met my guide, met the group I would be joining, and heard of the odds of making it up I began to get a little discouraged. Many people had just returned from the climb at the hotel, and many had not made it to the summit, some had suffered from altitude sickness, others got injured, and many just simply lost the will to finish the climb.

Edging towards the top.

But much like my last blog entry about Nairobi, a little bit of optimism can go miles in this part of the world. I met an Australian gal named Tiana who had just climbed the mountain. I invited her for dinner, and she gave me her altitude medicine, gave me a few tips on how to make it up and we enjoyed some of the worst South African red wine in the process. But after this dinner I felt a bit better and I knew when she told me, “You will make it Will, I can tell”, she was being serious.

Day 1: Trekking in the jungle, getting poured on the entire day. Not the most fun, but my optimism was not broken. We climbed up to nearly 2800 Metres the first day to stay at the Mandara huts on the first night.

Pouring rain on day one.

Day 2: We emerged from the jungle into an area of shrubs, which had be effected by a recent forest fire that our guides explained was caused by villagers trying to clear land for farming further down the mountain, but went out of control. As we moved further away from the rain forest we caught our first glimpses of sunshine and then we saw it! THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO.

We made our camp at what we coined the “base camp” at Horombo, which sits roughly just above 3700 metres elevation.

A little bit of Austrian Schnapps to help with the climb.

Day 3: Acclimatization day. We did a short hike up to what the guides call “Zebra rock”, getting up to 4100 Metres elevation and building our lungs up to the challenge that would await us on day four. I have to say, taking this extra day to acclimatize was definitely the right call, and anyone thinking of taking on Kili, make sure you take this extra day, it is worth it in the end, I assure you.

Acclimatization day at Zebra rock.

Day 4: We made our way from Horombo to Kibo, the final camp before the summit, standing at over 4700 Metres high. By comparison, this camp is higher than Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania, and the 5^th in all of Africa. It took us five hours to walk the near 10 kilometres to Kibo, and here we rested in preparation for the summit attempt, which was to begin at 11:30pm!

OK, now we are getting serious!

Day 5: Awaking at 11:30 pm after a short post dinner nap, I crushed some tea, a few cookies, watched the Japanese man on the bunk above me throw up, and  then it hit me, it was time to go!

This was where the climb turned to PURE HELL! The middle of the night was cold, the water in the pack began to freeze, people began to falter all around us, from the cold, the altitude, the pain of climbing 1200 metres straight up in the air. The guides say that they do the ascent in the night so that people do not get demoralized by the scale of the climb in front of them.

Up top as the sun rises over Africa.

I just kept saying, “One more step, one more step”, and inched my way to the top!

I made it up to Gilman’s point at the top of the mountain where I got my first up close look at the snows of Kilimajaro, and from there I began to walk towards Uhuru point, the highest peak in Africa. From here I watched the sun rise on the horizon, staring out at one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

I edged my way to Uhuru, celebrated with some Austrian Schnapps, and then it suddenly hit me, I MADE IT!

The descent was fast and swift, and we made our way back to Horombo, where we all mutually agreed that this climb was something we were all proud of, but would not likely do again for a while.

The sleep that night was one of the best I have ever had!

The highest point in Africa.

Day 6: We ran down the mountain at record pace, a place that had taken us days to climb up, we descended in only hours. We boarded bus back to Moshi, had a ceremony for our certificates, proving to the outside world that YES INDEED, we did it!

I bought some Tanzanian red wine for the group to celebrate, and I have to say, it may not have been the finest Pinotage of South Africa, but it was the best glass of red wine I have had in months. Well deserved group!

I think I need a shower.

We took our guides out for dinner at the “Chagga Grill”, as our lead guide is from the Chagga tribe, drank every beer on offer, tried the local “cognac”, which actually tastes like gin and rung in the night in style!

Tanzanian wine to celebrate.

Cheers to us! Well done group!

I have just arrived in Nairobi after discovering my flight to Madagascar was overbooked, and here I sit at the Intercontinental hotel, dining on fine foods, having had a hot shower, and staring out my window at the concrete jungle that is Nairobi. It all seems so surreal that only two days ago I stood on the roof of Africa, freezing, smelling, hairy, exhausted, and here I am in the lap of luxury.

Africa truly is a land of contrast. And the trip ain’t over yet!

Congrats to our group to all those that helped make Kilimanjaro possible.

Sincerely,

William Delaney