Entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park, and the start of the Machame Trail.
Our first camp site. We went up 1200 m that day.
Day 2: having a break along the trail.
Day 3: Barb and I with the peak in the background.
Sunset as seen from camp.
Day 5: getting closer!
The summit! Truly amazing!
A view inside the crater.
Well, I did it! It still seems a bit surreal, but I have now been to the top of the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, and the tallest point in all of Africa!
It all started on Sunday, August 5th. We (myself and Barb, the Canadian girl I'm travelling with) were supposed to be picked up at our hotel somewhere between 8 and 9 (remember, no hurry in Africa), so when 9:30 rolled around I started worrying. We called the tour office and apparently our guide was at the hotel, he just hadn't bothered to try to find us in the lobby! So we got a late start, but it didn't seem to matter because once we got to Machame gate, there were tons of people milling around, waiting for their guides to get climbing permits. We were the very last people to start up the trail at around 2:30 in the afternoon, and I was a bit worried because our itinerary said we had a 7-8 hour hike in front of us, but it turned out to be only 4 hours to our first camp. It was a nice hike up a fairly wide trail through the rainforest-absolutely gorgeous. We arrived to find our tent set up and were quickly served a hot supper right in the tent! So day 1 we went from 1800m to 3000m, and we passed quite a few people on the way up, which made me feel a bit better about being out of shape!
Day 2 was another 4 hours of hiking, but this time is was quite a bit more challenging, due to both the steepness and rockiness of the trail. We arrived at Shira Plateau camp just after noon, and had the whole afternoon to relax in our tent. This camp was at 3,600m.
Day 3 - About 6 hours hiking total. We rose all the way to 4,600 m before descending to Barranco camp, which was in a mist valley.
Day 4 - began by climbing straight up a cliff, which was made more interesting by the fact that our guide kept taking shortcuts so we were passing people left and right! Today was a short hike; only 2 hours, because we did the 7 day climb to allow more time to adjust to altitude. From this camp, Karanga Camp, we were supposed to go to Barafu Camp on day 5, (2 hours away) and then rest all day and start climbing to the summit at midnight. But, our guide had other ideas. He figured we were strong and could handle the altitude, and we agreed since neither of us really had any problems. So...
Day 5 began early; we set out from Karanga camp at 7:30 and climbed steadily upwards to Barafu camp, where we took a 15 minute break, and then started our ascent to the summit! The upside to this was that it wasn't freezing cold and pitch black; the downside, we ended up climbing straight up for nearly 7 hours! We reached Stella point (5,780m) around 2 pm on day 5, and I thought I might never make it at times because we couldn't see the top while we were climbing. My legs felt like lead and jello at the same time, and for every step we took in the loose scree, I slid half a step back. But making it to Stella Point gave me more energy, and we walked around the ridge through snow to Uhuru Peak! 5,895m! I was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time! It was absolutely stunning to be up there, and we were the only people up there! Not a cloud above us (because they were all below us) and I could have been in a t-shirt it was that warm! We stayed about half an hour just enjoying the views of the crater and enormous glaciers (hard to believe they are supposed to melt by 2020!) before beginning our descent. And while it took us nearly 5 hours to get up, it only took 35 minutes to get down! We basically slid and jumped, using our poles for balance, and I had about a cup of dirt in each shoe by the time we got back to Barafu Camp! We had a short break there, and then descended all the way down to 3,800m where we had supper and went straight to sleep.
Day 6- 3 hours down in the pouring rain, sore feet, but exstatic that I had made it! We had lunch at the bottom and a bottle of sparkling wine! So we paid for 7 days and did it in 6 - not bad! Back to Arusha, where we have been hanging out and buying souvenirs, the coolest one being a Kilimanjaro water bottle (to go with my backpack).
This morning we went to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide. It was very interesting. Tomorrow I'm off to the Usambara Mountains, which are between Kili and the Indian Ocean. About 3 days there with Barb, then Zanzibar! I'm running out of internet time, so until next time...keep fit and have fun!
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