5895 meters of FUN

So…Mount Kilimanjaro? What ev’. No problem….

After a rescheduling flight by Rwandair (a free day at a hotel WITH a pool) we made it to Moshi. The bad news: 8 hours late. The good news: the same flight as Christine who was coming to hike the mountain on the same day as us, but with another company. So we all arrived, visas granted and made our way to the hotel. The next day we met with our GAP person only to find out that hike was not through GAP but through Zara tours (Read: if considering GAP, don’t. Just go directly through Zara because it’s cheaper) and met the gang we’d be hiking with. There was us, a Canadian from Vancouver – Mike, an Irishman – Kevin, and the Schrader family from Pennsylvania – dad and four brothers. The next day we were off….slowly, slowly….

To be honest, I started the first two days keeping track of what we saw, what our campsites were like, what the weather was like…then I stopped. We became tired, exhausted and focused on reaching the summit only. Aimey misplaced one camera battery, I thought I didn’t charge my spare and because of the cold weather we took few pictures to conserve the battery power so we’d have a working camera on summit day.

The hiking itself was beautiful. At times our group was alone with no one but our guide, the rocks and the wind. At times Christine would be just behind or just ahead so we’d meet up and encourage each other. Our group was FANTASTIC. Most of them had hiking experience and everyone took the hike seriously. It’s a big mountain, and we knew it. We were encouraging, realistic and happy to be doing this together. Four days later….and we were at the Rooftop of Africa!

Here’s the scoop: we began at 1200m. Four days of hiking later and we were at 4800m and ready to ascent. We arrived at this last base camp at 5pm, dinner at 6pm and to rest. We were woken at 11pm and began hiking the 7 hour hike to the summit at 12:15 am in the black – pitch black. The moon was nearly full and all you could see was the reflection of the glacier in the moon light and a string of headlamps walking, pole, pole up at the dark. At some point, maybe 2am, maybe 3am our water began to freeze, we began to layer more and I began to feel the first affects of altitude. We were so quiet hiking, slowly, slowly. Aimey and I were checking in on each other frequently with a “You doing okay?” My breathing was laboured, I was cold, tired and exhausted. My head lamp was focused on Aimey’s shoes and my eyes never lifted except to sneak the occasional peak at the summit. Eventually the moon disappeared and it was dark. Very dark. But after hiking for what seems like ever and what seemed like five minutes all at the same time….the sun began to rise I knew we were close. I’ll be honest when I say that I would not have made it up without Aimey. At one point I said, “I can’t.” My breathing was heave. There was no oxygen getting in. My legs were done. But she pulled me up and we continued to the ridge, a short 45minute walk to the summit. The sun continued to rise and we began to see people returning from the summit with big smiles, a spring in their step and saying “You’re almost there!”

Okay…now here’s where I get all emotional on you…. My breathing became most difficult when I thought about what this all meant. I am leaving Africa and what a way to say goodbye. So, we reached the summit and…there were tears. All of us in the group admitted this later. It was absolutely taxing on our bodies and our minds.

Of course…we still had to get back down. 6.5 hours up (Aimey’s certificate says she arrived at 6:44am….mine says 6:45am!!! Okay…I know she had to drag me there but come on!) and it was 4.5 hours back down…then an hour nap, lunch and another 4 hours until the next camp. Add it up folks….2 hours of sleep, hiking beginning at midnight, 15 hours of hiking.....8 very tired hikers. But worth it. So worth it.

So, from the rooftop of Africa I began to say my good bye to this great land. Tomorrow we head out on a safari and then to explore the rest of what East Africa has to offer. (Here are a few pictures…yes, I know…picture-fest of us but whatev’. If you hiked Africa’s highest mountain, you’d be proud too….)

Day 1: Starting out. Clean clothes, clean hair, big smiles.

Da

Christine meet up with our group!

View from our second night. Mount Meru in the distance

We made it!!!!

The gang's all here...We started together and we finished together

Our guide who was a bit creepy McCreeperson but in the end helps us reach our goal.

Day 6... end of the trail. Dirty clothes, dirty hair, big smiles!

Our certificates...our guide thought it was funny to write that Aimey arrived a minute before me. I don't know that it was but I do know that she arrived first, dragging my sorry behind