Let me start with the many thank you's - Thank you to GreenPaw Adventures, our amazing guides and porters, and of course, my fellow hikers for all their hard work and fierce determination to make it up the mountain.
We did the 6 day route up Machame Route to Uhuru Peak then return via Mweka route. This is one of the more popular routes for those hoping to summit in just a week’s time and I can see why. Plenty of beautiful viewpoints, plus lots of opportunity for acclimation to defeat altitude sickness!
Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp
Busing from our hotel to the mountain was full of anticipation. But, I felt amazingly calm about the whole thing. I was packed, double checked my pack, then checked it again. I’d read other blogs, took advice from the guides, and knew that I had everything that I needed with me. Now, it’s all up to my fierce determination to make it to the summit!
Once we arrived at the gate, it was quite a wait to get checked in and cleared to head up the mountain. With 17 in our group hiking, we had a total of 52 guides, porters, cooks, etc to support us in our journey. Talk about a group to organize!
We ate our lunch while waiting for check-in to be completed, then began our trek through the rainforest. I didn’t realize how slow the pace would truly be. Everything we had been told so far is that it would be slow (“pole pole” in Swahili) to help with acclimation, but I felt like a snail!
Our guide kept us on pace though, teaching us that this is not a sprint up the mountain. Reminding us to always drink water (“sipy sipy"), snack intermittently to maintain energy, and of course, bathroom breaks in the forest to get rid of those 4 liters of water that we were drinking per day!
The rainforest was misty and foggy, with tropical plants like I’d never seen before. But, we were on a well worn trail, slightly uphill the whole way, so there was no fear of getting lost. As we continued at our slow pace, our porters ran past, carrying loads of up to 50 lbs to set up camp for our arrival.
After 4 hours, 40 minutes of hiking, we reached our first camp - Machame Camp - which is where the terrain changes from rainforest to the alpine desert. We were arriving just as the sun went down, causing temperatures to drop drastically and I began to get a chill from my damp clothes.
Changing into dry clothes was instantly refreshing, following by a warm soup to start dinner. There was no better end to our first day. We crawled into the tents pitched for us, snuggled up in our sleeping bags, and were off into the night.
I woke up in the middle of the night to use the toilets - well, that may be a broad use of the term. Really, they were buildings with holes in the ground. But, it was a clear night - you could see the stars more beautifully and vibrant than I ever have before. It’s just past a full moon, and you can see the snow-capped peak of Kili reflecting in the moonlight. Breathtaking. I can't wait to be there.
Day 2: Machame Camp to Shira Cave Camp
We started bright and early with a wake-up call at 6:30. The chill from the evening still lingered with the frost atop the tents, but I woke right up from the hot porridge for breakfast. I started with multiple layers, but quickly stripped back down to just a shirt once the sun was out and we were hiking.
Our hike was drastically different than yesterday with the change from the rainforest to alpine desert. About 75% of our hike today was uphill, many parts much steeper compared to the meandering trail of yesterday. We had some huge steps, where you almost had to pull yourself over them because they would be higher than my knee!
As we were leaving the moss-filled tree line (kind of like the hanging moss in the swamps of Louisiana), the views were wide open down the mountain and over the plains below became visible. I was in pano-heaven!
Our hike today was a short one as well, only 5 hours and 47 minutes to reach Shira Cave Camp. After a short rest and hot lunch, we did an acclimation hike above Shira Cave Camp. We passed by the actual Shira Caves, which are named for where the Changa Tribe used to sleep when climbing Kili. You can still poke your head in, but no one can sleep in the caves anymore because of chances for partial collapse. Where we rested at at the top of our hike provided for wide open views of Uhuru Peak - thus obviously some stellar pictures!
That night I began to have the first beginning feels of altitude sickness, just a minor headache - so I began to take the altitude sickness pills.
Day 3: Shira Cave Camp to Lava Rock Camp to Baranco Camp
I can start to feel the fatigue of my body this morning. Probably a combination of all the walking and sleeping on just a thin mattress pad on the hard ground. I’m really missing my pillow-top mattress about now.
We continued our hike today through the alpine desert. The beginning of the day was primarily uphill, causing me to quickly strip away the layers I had added to fight the morning chill. Most of the day was full of a meandering trill with ups and downs.
You could tell within our group that I was not the only one starting to feel the fatigue, as we were stopping a bit more often and had a slightly slower pace that the prior day. To help distract myself a little from the climb and to get into a zone to keep moving, I began to wear my headphones and play some calming music. This helped find rhythm to my walking and tune out some of the struggles that my fellow climbers were experiencing. I knew that keeping a positive attitude and focusing on my goals would be my best chance for success!
We had our only cold lunch today because of the longer hike - with a stop at Lava Rocks Camp - surrounded by crows begging for food. This was my least favorite meal of the trip - a piece of chicken, a carrot and honey sandwich (yes, you are reading that correctly), and fruit. I did have to supplement it with some snacks from my stash to get enough energy for the afternoon. Needless to say, I took one bite of that carrot and honey sandwich and decided it was not for me.
The remainder of afternoon was a descent down to the next camp, which is basically at the same elevation at we slept at the prior night for acclimation purposes. I always thought the uphill would be the hard part, but really my quads were burning after the descent more than any muscles had so far this trip. Areas where you are going down large rocks are the easy part - when it was just small pebbles that would slide out from under you, I actually slipped and ripped a hole in the knee of my pants!
7 hours, 4 minutes after our morning departure, we arrived in Baranco Camp. Our porters and cooks already had our tents pitched and supper on the way, thank goodness for them taking such good care of us!
After dinner, we started using a small device (just clipped on the end of your finger) to measure our heart rate and oxygen levels. The guides want you to stay below a certain threshold or they start to become more concerned about you as we travel higher in altitude. I'm in the safe zone so far!
Day 4: Baranco Camp to KaRanga Camp to Barafu Camp
These girls... literally lifting my spirits!
This morning was potentially my favorite part of the hike thus far - scaling the Baranco Wall! If you’re scared of heights, probably the exact opposite. It’s an extremely steep hike/climb where on occasion you use your arms to pull you up. Our guides spaced out every four people or so to provide assistance and ensure our safety.
When you finally get to the top of the wall, it’s a flat area where you can take gorgeous pictures standing along the edge of the cliff looking into the abyss.
From the top of the hill almost until lunch its a slow trail of rolling hills very similar to the terrain of yesterday morning. But, just before Karanga Camp, there is a steep descent then ascent to cross a ravine. Talk about earning your lunch. But it was worth it, we had a hot lunch during our stop at Karanga! And I felt energized and ready to go for the rest of the day.
Heading uphill from Karanga, we started entering the clouds. It’s hard to explain being within a cloud - it’s almost like dense fog, it’s a little moist, but you can still see around you. It’s just something you’re going to have to experience for yourself! I thought they would seem fluffier.
Coming to the end of the day, we stopped on a ridge, below us was a valley and on the other side, atop another ridge was the Barafu Camp. I know that this isn’t the peak, but it feels like a success to make it to the final camp. (So close!) Hiking up the ridge to Barafu was the first time that I could really feel the lack of oxygen in my lungs. I was taking deeper and deeper breaths to try to pull enough oxygen out of the air.
The cold is even more intense now, we’re wearing our gloves while eating dinner and I don’t think I’ve ever peed more quickly in my life! I’m in love with my sleeping bag. Did I mention that it was really, really warm?
Did I mention it was cold on the peak?
Day 5: Summit Day then to Mweka Camp
After only three hours of sleep, the guides woke us up to head for the Summit. It was just after midnight. To combat the cold, I slept in my base layer (or long underwear) and put the rest of my clothes in the bottom of my sleeping bag so they would be warm when I put them on. (Great decision!)
We had a quick breakfast of coffee and hot porridge before we started the climb to the summit. It was pitch black out, barely lit by a few stars in the sky. We all had headlamps to light the trail, stayed in a single file line, and it was almost like walking in a daze. You’re a little delirious because of the lack of sleep, freezing temperatures so cold that your water turns to a block of ice, and just slowly moving along thinking “I’m almost there, I can make it.” (Our at least that was my internal mantra).
The first hour or so from Barafu is fairly flat, then the trail becomes a zig-zag or switchback up the side of the mountain as it continually gets steeper.
Somewhere between two and three hours into the hike I was overcome with dizziness and nausea that I had to sit down. The guides didn’t let me rest for very long, because they didn’t want your muscles to get cold. Even though I was still dry heaving, they pulled me up and pushed me to keep going. The rest of the journey until the sunrise is a daze, it’s almost as if my body blacked-out because it didn’t want to realize the pain that it was in. I just kept moving, following my guide by literally placing my footsteps in his, sometimes a little wobbly, sometimes leaning on a rock to dry heave a little more. (Or so I was told).
Then, it's like I came to when I saw the sunrise coming over the side of the mountain, bright pinks, oranges, and yellows. As I reached for my camera, I realized at some point, the guide had taken my pack off to make my climb a little easier, but then he pointed up, and I could make out the top edge of the mountain - Stella Point.
6 hours, 14 minutes - I made it to Stella Point! (Second highest point in Africa). I stopped and rewarded myself with some chocolate. Maybe the most well deserved piece of chocolate that I've ever eaten.
After a few other members of the group made it up, we walked around the edge of the crater to Uhuru Peak, which is the tallest point in Africa! Uhuru means independence - It was named so in 1961 once Tanzania gained their independence. It's altitude is 5,895m or 19,341 ft above sea level - which also makes it the tallest freestanding peak in the world.
Walking around the crater was a long and slow journey, just barely uphill the whole way. I was moving pretty slowly by this point, that the rest of the group had gotten a bit ahead of me. When I walked over the crest of the last hill and was able to see Uhuru Peak, I was hit with this overwhelming surreal moment. Tears formed in my eyes, I can’t believe that I finally made it. I’ve been so enthralled with the idea of hiking Kili ever since I started planning this trip to Africa, and it was all worth it. Being at the fifth highest place in the world was no longer just a dream, it was a major accomplishment!
Now, just for the walk back down. It was a whole other ballgame - you’re so exhausted that you just want to lay down already, but you have to keep going. It took about three hours to get back down to Barafu, but I couldn’t have been happier when we arrived to take a nap. Followed by a big lunch, we ate then packed up to head further down the mountain. By this time, a bunch of the group was struggling with some signs of acute altitude sickness, so the only solution is to head down to a lower elevation.
We took the Mweka Route down the mountain, as it is a more direct path than the Machame that we went up. We hiked down for an additional four hours, with my quads burning the entire time. I’m ready to be off this mountain.
By the time that we had arrived at Mweka Camp, our porters were ahead of us and had already re set-up camp, and our cooks had dinner on the way. Did I mention how amazing our guides, cooks, and porters were?
Day 6: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
After breakfast, we said goodbye to our porters and cooks, as they would make it down the mountain much quicker then us. To say goodbye, our crew sang and danced for us, “The Kilimanjaro Song” - look it up on youtube. This was followed by our chance to say Thank You to our crew and give out their tips. You’re supposed to hand them tips out individually to each person (Follow this link to my packing guide, tricks, and tips for Kili). .
Mweka Camp is just on the edge of the alpine desert and rainforest. So our walk down was rather slippery. The trail was a mixture of clay and some small rock, with lots of steps formed by tree roots or handmade. I fell so many times, with my feet just sliding straight out from under me and landing on my butt or side over and over again. I think this was the mountains way of saying goodbye - it’s been great, have you had enough yet?
I couldn't have been more relieved at seeing the sign at the base of Mweka Base was a huge relief “Bon Voyage!”
And, since a picture is worth a thousand words, and this article is long enough - enjoy my Selfie Flipogram video and experience all my emotions climbing Kili. I've never done a harder, tougher, more physically and mentally demanding thing in my life, but it was worth every minute of it.
