Kilimanjaro - A Once in a Lifetime Experience

Most of the time when you say this is a "once in a lifetime opportunity" it means this is probably the one and only chance you'll get in your life to do something , but that is not what I mean when I say it. I bet at a later point in my life I could come and hike Mount Kilimanjaro again, but the point is that I don't want to. Although it was an amazing, beautiful and exhiliarting experience, I am sure it will only happen ONCE in my lifetime!

Apparently US airways cannot check a bag completely through that has 4 connections, and I did - Orlando to Charlotte, to Washington DC, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and finally to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Because of this set-back the ticket lady in Orlando (at 4:00am) had to hand write my final destination on my baggage sticker - JRO. As I looked out the window upon landing in my first destination, Charlotte, I saw the baggage men panic at the sight of my baggage ticket. Waving their arms and pointing at the ticket with looks of confusion, I knew at this point my bag wouldn't arrive in Kilimanjaro. What I didn't know, is that it would spend 3 days in Frankfurt, Germany. Luckily I have a bulldog of a mother who persisted with US airways to find my bag. I ended up renting all my hiking gear, buying toilettries and even undewear at the local Tanzanian market, and was eventually hand delivered my bag to my campsite at 3,720 meters four days after arriving in Africa.




Upon arriving in Tanzania I was picked up by Sampson, a representative for Absolute Africa. He briefed me on the climb, ending his spiel by telling me that vomiting is normal due to the high altitude. I should have listened! The next day I started the 6 day Marangu Route also known as the "Coca Cola Route", considered the easiest of the six possible options. 50% of all travellers use this route because of the "comfortable" mountain huts with solar powered lighting. At the entrance gate I was greeted by my guide William, my two porters and one chef. As the others ran up the mountain carrying all my clothes, food, and gear on their backs (and heads!), I walked leisurely through the initial rainforrest with William until we reached the Mandara Huts at 2,700m. After a hot dinner of cucumber soup, fried bread, curry, rice and fresh fruit, I climbed into my sleeping bag for a good (but cold) nights rest.




The second day I met up with some fellow travellers who became my hiking buddies - Owen from Norway, Ronnie and Patrik from Sweden and Sam from Canada. On day 2 we walked through grassy moorland, eventually ending at the Horombo huts at 3,720m, where there is a real sense of being above the clouds. Apparently altitude sickness is a serious thing when hiking such a high mountain, so not only does your guide repeat the phrase "polle polle" which means "slowly slowly", but I also had to spend 1 extra day at the Horombo huts to help acclimatize.






On day 4 we climbed very gradually through a "lunar desert", eventually ending at the Kibo Hut (4,700m) which sits at the base of the crater! Here we were told to get as much sleep as possible because we were going to start hiking at 12am the following morning. In what seemed like an instant we were woken up with cookies and tea, and set out in the pitch black night to start our ascent. We started in high spirits, singing and laughing, but as things started to get cold (I thought they were cold before, but didn't know what I was in for), I started to lose my spirit. The zig-zag climb over loose volcanic rock was steep and at about 5,500 meters my Kilimanjaro dreams began to crash in on me. (Only 6 days ago I learned that altitude sickness pills exist, but I wish I had known this before I started my climb!!) I began to get a horrible headache, nausea, and was so cold I couldn't move my fingers or toes. As the other members of my group continued up the mountain I was left behind with William, doubled over in pain. After about 4 1/2 hours I ended up making it to Gilman's point, where I proceeded to drink hot tea and then vomit it all over the Gilman ground. My poor guide was rubbing my back and wiping the snot from my nose, while I moaned in pain.



I insisted on continuing and walked the two painful hours to the summit, just in time for sunrise. It was so cold that my guide William had to take all my pictures because I couldn't get my fingers out of my gloves. But with glowing white ice, glaciers and mountainous peaks in every direction I attempted to shake off my miserable state to take in the scenery. At 5,896m it was glorious. But what was even more glorious was heading back down the mountain! After another 2 days of hiking I arrived back at my hotel this afternoon to a hot shower and hamburgers with my hiking buddies. I have now conquered the highest free standing mountain in the world, and I only cried twice! Woo-hoo!



Today I am off to Arusha to hop on my Safari truck and begin my 60 days down to Capetown.