Tanzania 2010-2011: Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro

Northern glaciers on Kilimanjaro

In my office there hangs a new certificate next to my Kilimanjaro marathon medal. It is a certificate that certifies that I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro, 5895 m (19341 ft) on January 19^th, 2011. Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain in the world and tallest in Africa, is an amazing unique ecosystem unlike any other mountain. Everything about this mountain is captivating and after living on it for almost two years, I was lured into its spell and compelled to climb. What follows is a description of the trek.

Diana, Natalie, Mara and Cindy

Team elders: Diana and Cindy (Mawenzi Peak in background)

Team goofballs: Natalie and Mara

Team: The team was an all woman team. Diana, 49, a visiting nursing professor at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, was the instigator; Kilimanjaro had long been on her ‘bucket list’. Natalie, 23, Diana’s daughter, is a teacher at Moshi International School and was an enthusiastic accomplice in her mother’s scheme. Mara, 19 (turned 20 descending the mountain) a Gustavus student, was spending her interim term with her mother (me) and had wanted to climb last year when she lived in Tanzania. I, 53, a Fulbright Scholar teaching at the College of African Wildlife Management - Mweka, had always wanted to see the famous endemic plants of this mountain as well as see the view from the top of this mountain. So this was our team. We had trained on the mountain roads and trails near my house as the expedition approached. We almost lost Diana due to food poisoning just 2 weeks prior to the climb. Though not fully recovered, she managed to get up the mountain through sheer determination.

How many people does it take to get 4 women up Kilimanjaro?... 13

Staff: To get the 4 of us up the mountain it took: 1 lead guide, 1 assistant guide, 1 cook and 10 porters. No small undertaking!!

Route: We took the Marangu Route which is the easiest and most popular. This route has huts rather than tents. They are simple A frames of minimal creature comforts. We took 6 days which is recommended to allow your body to adjust to the altitude. The statistics are as follows.

Day	Location	Distance / elevation gain	Elevation at destination	Steps: Cindy’s pedometer	Vegetation
1	Gate to Mandara Hut	12 km / 1009	2709	16357	Forest
2	Mandara to Horombo	15 km / 1017	3726	17500	Forest / moorland, heath
3	Horombo to Horombo	8 km / 200	3726	7419	Upper moorland
4	Horombo to Kibo	15 km /992	4708	13975	Alpine desert
5	Kibo Hut to Summit (Uhuru Peak) and back down to Horombo	6 km up and 21 down / 1187 m up and 2166 down	5985 (Uhuru Peak) then descend to Horombo at 3726	38000	Summit, lots of rock, back down through alpine desert
6	Horombo to Gate	27 km /2026	1800	27500	Moorland, forest
Total		104 km / 8370 m up and down		120751	5 life zones

Diana and Natalie: hot chai and cards

Food: Awesome and plentiful. Lots of rice, pasta and soups. Always chai (tea) or hot chocolate. They woke us up every morning with hot chai!

Weather: As tough hearty Minnesotans we scoffed at the idea that this mountain could be so cold, after all its Africa. But we discovered that it is cold at night. We had borrowed sleeping bags but still needed to sleep in multiple layers. We only had one day that rained, or I should say hailed, and fortunately that was our short, acclimatization day and we were inside playing cards when it hailed! The top of the mountain was cold, but tolerable with the right clothing.

Schedule: Each day started with chai, followed by washing and packing. Porters carried most of our gear. In the day packs we carried rain gear, warm clothing, 3 liters of water, lunch, camera and miscellaneous other personal stuff. Breakfast was served in huts at tables, eggs, porridge, toast, fruit,etc. Our days were spent hiking (7-8 hours except the summit day which was 15+ hours of hiking), taking pictures and investigating the plant life! Arriving in camp we were served afternoon tea with popcorn! This was followed by washing, relaxing and then dinner was served around 7 pm. We managed a little bit of reading, cards and photography in between all the activities.

Summit Day: This is the big day that everyone anticipates. This is where altitude sickness is most prevalent. Three people had to be evacuated while we were there. One woman, who was in our hut, was vomiting and had to be taken down. When this happens they take porters from all the groups to get the individuals to a lower elevation as quickly as they can. Altitude sickness is serious stuff. We had all taken altitude medication. Most of us experienced some minor altitude sickness symptoms, mostly headache, appetite loss and nausea. I pretty much lost my appetite.

Kibo Hut is more like a barrack in a desert. It is cold, windy and barren. You arrive in the late afternoon, dinner is served around 5 and then you try to go to sleep by 6 or 7 pm. That was a bit hard as we had a group of Germans sharing our room who snored loudly! Between the nervousness and snoring I hardly slept. We were awoken at 11:30 pm and were given toast, chai and cookies to eat. (They don’t want you to eat much because you will likely throw up.) I tried to eat, but wasn’t particularly successful. Drinking is very important at this elevation and we were constantly drinking. Getting suited up is accompanied by nervous energy and lots of questions….what the heck am I doing??? Summit day we wore: long underwear (bottoms and tops), fleece sweater, down jacket and gortex jacket on top. Legs were covered with long underwear, insulated pants and then gortex wind pants on top. Boots with heavy woolen socks covered with gaiters, hats, scarves and hoods completed the outfit along with a headlamp. The first day of our trek, we started the hike in light hiking pants or shorts and t-shirts; what a contrast!

Sunrise from Gilman's Point, Kilimanjaro

The Team: Sunrise at Gilman's Point

Our trek up began around 12:30 am. Fortunately we had a full moon and we didn’t need our headlamps though we kept them handy for detail work. Pole pole (which is Kiswahili for slow) is the mantra as we begin the ascent. Our guide sets the pace which is indeed VERY slow. But at this elevation you really can’t go fast without losing your breath. You simply place one foot in front of the next over and over again and slowly you rise up the mountain. We stop frequently for water, but it is hard to stop for long as the cold sets in quickly. There is a long chain of hikers going up the mountain. This is high season and probably 30 other folks are going up the same route that night. I can see the headlamps of groups higher up.

Almost there... Uhuru Peak (Uhuru is Kiswahili word for freedom, liberty)

Our group rises slowly with minor altitude ailments in the group. Fatigue, headaches, cramps and cold are part of the experience. Nonetheless we plod up the mountain. At sunrise (6:30 am) we arrive at the rim of the mountain (old volcano) to Gilman’s Point (5703 m). The sunrise is awesome and we all congratulate ourselves for getting this far. However, the next 285 meters to the actual top of the mountain, Uhuru Peak at 5985 m was considerably harder than we anticipated. We were deceived by the relatively small elevation gain and had forgotten to take the altitude into consideration. Nonetheless we made it to Uhuru Peak where we found many people taking pictures and congratulating one another. We too took our turn for pictures.

Ta dah!!! We did it!

Above the clouds

The view from the top is amazing. The glaciers were stunning and it is so sad to know that they are slowly receding. Despite the amazing view you don’t linger long at the top as it is cold and you still have a long ways to go. The descent starts with retreating along the crater rim to Gilman’s Point and then back down the mountain to Kibo Hut. From Gilman’s point in the daylight you can see how far you have climbed and it is impressive. Going down for the next 6 km is tough on the knees. Fortunately there are places where you can ‘ride’ the rock scree, but by time you get back to Kibo Hut the knees are pretty wobbly!

The descent, 6 km downhill to Kibo Hut (Mwenzi peak in background)

Horombo

When you arrive back at Kibo hut you are exhausted. Muscles twitch, you have no appetite and you are cold. We were given an hour to rest / sleep, but despite my fatigue, I couldn’t sleep. After our hour we all manage to get our bags packed and begin our descent to Horombo Hut. It is pretty important to descend as quickly as possible to avoid more altitude sickness which is why they move everyone down the same day. We are exhausted but somehow manage another 15 km to Horombo Hut. At Horombo we have dinner and collapse into a deep sleep.

We awake on day six rested and ready for our last day of descent. On the last day we passed through three vegetation zones. The hike is essentially all downhill.

Perspectives on the Mountain: I have lived on the shoulders of this mountain for a year and a half and seen its moods, clouds and vegetation on the lower slopes. I have long wanted to climb, but the cost and the ‘popularity’ discouraged me. Now, I am glad that I did it; I have a new perspective of this amazing mountain. As you climb Kilimanjaro you rise through five life-vegetation zones to the top. There are many endemic plants on this mountain including the giant senecios and lobelias. These plants were a major lifetime highlight for me. They are found nowhere else in the world and have evolved unusual strategies for surviving in this environment. Fittingly the certificate that certifies that I made it to the top is decorated with endemic plants which made this botanist even happier! This mountain has long held the fascination of many people and I understand this even more now.

The mountain faces many challenges; deforestation, declining water supply and shrinking glaciers. Tanzania has done a good job of trying to forestall some of these issues, but the problems are global in scope. It is my hope and prayer that shrinking glaciers here and elsewhere around the world will motivate us all to seek creative solutions together as a global community. Whether you have climbed this mountain or not, we cannot afford to lose these precious places and must fight to see that they remain wild and pristine.