Exactly 10 days ago I stood on the peak of Africa. No words can
truly describe the magnificence of the hike and the extraordinary
experience of standing at the summit but I will attempt to give you an
impression of it in the following..
On the first day we got picked up by a shuttle bus that took us
from Moshi (800m above sealevel) to the small village of Machame (at
1800m). After meeting the porters (our team including the five of us
consisted of 21 people!!) for the first time and getting the last
formalities settled (which took a little longer than usual as the power
at gone off, and somebody was sent to fetch a generator) we started the
hike. On the first the hike led us through a dense rain forest. In the
beginning it was very humid and hot but it became gradually colder as we walked higher. In the distance monkeys were crying and birds were chirping. Trees were covered in moss and lianas and every
once in a while you would have to crawl over a decaying log. I always
kept pushing myself to walk slower than a actually wanted to, using
taking pictures as an excuse to stop. As I had no idea how my body
would react to the altitude I thought it was probably the most sensible
thing to do. My guide Stephen totally agreed: "Is good to walk pole
pole (slowly) on mountain".. so that's what I did. You couldn't help to
feel sorry for the porters who were carrying a lot of things (including
all our tents, cooking equipment etc etc)and I would show them my
respect by telling them "Pole", which basically means: " I am sorry for
you to have to do more work than normally necessary". The usual reply
would be : "Asante" (thank you) or if I looked especially tired: "Na
wewe pija" or "Na wewe pole" (The same to you ;) ). Arriving at
Machame Hut, our first camp it started raining and we had to seek
shelter in our (which were already set up thanks to our kind porters!)
I hoped it wouldn't rain more on our hike but I did look forward to
snow in higher altitudes. On the first day we had increased altitude by
a whopping 2200 m and I still felt great. My spirits were high for the
following days.
On day two the landscape had already changed
completely. The big trees and dense forest disappeared to give way for
moss covered rocks, cactus-like plants and smaller shrubs. The path was
winding and steep. Rocks were treacherous and slippery due to the rain
that had fallen the previous day. Extra care had to be taken not to lose sight of the group as we were quickly concealed in a dense fog, normally
described as clouds. The camp, Shira hut (3800m), was also completely
concealed in clouds and the guide deemed it to be too dangerous to go
on a half day (acclimatisation) excursion to the Shira caves. Therefore
the group and I decided to spent the day playing cards, drinking tea
and coffee and eating basically :-)
On day three I woke up before dawn as I had slept badly the entire
night and decided to go for a walk. I was exhilarated when I say the
sun rising just above the beautiful ice covered summit which was
completely free of clouds. I couldn't wait to be up there myself!
Day three is probably the most important day of the hike apart from
summit day, naturally ;-) the trail leads through a high altitude, snow
blown desert up to a natural monument called the Lavatower at an
intense 4700m. After consuming lunch at this high altitude the path
winds through a gorgeous canyon sprinkled with small encalves of green
plants and waterfalls to Barranco camp at 3900m. This is the key to why
the Machame route has a higher success rate. Climbing to a very high
altitude at such an early stage signals to the brain to produce more
red blood cells in order to cope with the lack of oxygen at the high
altitude. The view from Barrancu was absolutely stunning. When we
arrived the summit was clearing and we looked down on a fluffy
candyfloss blanket of clouds beneath us. At night the clouds would
disappear and the town of Moshi would have a twinkling competition
with the stars.
Day four included the most challenging and simultaneously the most fun hike of the all (so far).
It led up the Barrancu wall which at some points was at an angle of
60-70 degrees and took some arm power to overcome. The trail led up and
down several times this day again allowing the body to get used to high
altitudes. Karranga hut was again at 3900m and I could feel my body
getting used to this altitude feeling stronger than ever ;) We went on
a small day excursion to 4200m where I built my own little rock-tower
monument to please all the coming generations of hikers. When the
summit is clear and you sit in the right angle the peak of my rock
tower reaches the peak of the summit.. ok I will have to show you
pictures of that as soon as I have proper internet!
The sunset over the clouds at Karranga was magnificent painting the summit in reddish pink colours.
Day
5 we hiked to Barrancu (snow/ice) camp at 4600m. The landscape was
desert like again and the clouds swept through camp ever so often. I
was getting quite nervous and could tell that the other members of the
group were too. We got a last briefing of Stephen before going to bed
at 5 o clock pm.
Summit night! We were woken up at 11 o clock
pm. I hadn't slept at all, too anxious to rest. The fact that my
tent-buddy Harriet was perfectly asleep and breathing deeply made my
even more nervous: why couldn't I fall asleep? Luckily I heard the guys
in the other tents turning and talking: I wasn't the only one who
couldn't sleep.
And then it was time: I put on 4 layers of clothes (it gets as cold a
-20 degrees C at night!) drank a cup of tea and ate a biscuit. Off we
hiked towards the summit.
It is difficult to describe exactly what I felt. I was very tired due
to the lack of sleep, awed by the beauty of the night sky and Moshi
beneath us, my feet were freezing and my mood went from being very
happy and making jokes, to not being able to move and having to sit on
the next rock due to oxygen deprivation. One thing I know for sure: it
was a good thing that we walked by night and couldn't see how far we
still had to go. I tried to concentrate on walking one foot at a time,
trying not to stumble or fall. Our guide Stephen but especially Rich,
the assistant guide were very motivating and helped us keep going. All
of us were very tired except for Maria, the Swiss girl, who seemed
completely unaffected by the altitude. She was probably the main
motivating factor of the group, joking, singing and hugging people when
they needed it. Looking back I was probably quite lucky. Yeah I was
tired (my legs have never felt as heavy before!) but at least I wasn't
nauseous, didn't have a headache and didn't get an edema. When we
reached Stella point, which is located at the crater rim I got an
energy boost. From here it is only less than an hour to the summit. I
walked pole pole, one step at the time, stopping every 5 steps to catch
my breath, getting Rich to take pictures for me because I was just to
tired. And then: There it was in the distance. The world famous
signpost I had been walking to wards for 6 days. What happened with my
body is difficult to explain. Tears filled my eyes, endorphins and
adrenalin were pumped into my blood making otherworldly happy. I was so
exhausted but still I had all the strength in the world to walk now
that I was almost there. I walked towards it the sun rose and drenched
the summit with all the beautiful glaciers in beautiful colours. I
stayed on the summit for at least half an hour. Stephen had to drag me
down again. I could have stayed there forever! The roof of Africa!
After
this extraordinary experience at the summit we still had to walk down.
When we finally reached camp (blisters covering my feet and my knees
hurting badly as soon as the adrenalin had worn off) we had walked a
total of 15 hours since midnight! At camp we celebrated and the
following day walked all the way down to receive our diplomas.
We celebrated once more with our porters and guides inviting them to
the moonshine brew: banana beer and some kiti moto (fried pork). They
all appreciated this gesture and it was a perfect end to a perfect week.
Climbing
Kilimanjaro is probably at the same time the hardest thing I have ever
put my body through and the best thing I've ever done. Having climbed
Kili I feel I can do anything. I've been on top of the world already so
every thing else should be a piece of cake, right? ;-) I am happy I
pulled it through even though it was hard at times and I thank my group
for that as well. I consider myself very lucky to have found these
people. We had great fun together and I hope that I will go on more
adventures with these guys in the future!
What happened after Kili then.. well since then I've been on a safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro which was a perfect reward. There was nothing better than just being able to sit in a
while watching nature and animals walking by outside. And we (Rif and
Jen who I met at the hostel and who were on Kili at the same time with
another group) were very lucky as well. We saw all Big 5 as well as 3
cheetas, crocs, hippos and a serval cat. The absolute highlights were
the leopard 10 m from the car eating a kill in a tree, the elephant
bull drinking water from our water tank at camp and the wild boar
ripping open my tent to steel some non existing food from my tent :)
Now
I am in Mombasa planning on going to the city center today (the
backpackers is located a bit out of town!) Yesterday I spent the day at
a luxurious resort at the beach. Some Americans (from the hostel) and
me just walked into the resort, claimed some chairs and were even
offered towels and tea. The animation team invited us to play beach and
water volleyball with them.. Nobody asked us if we actually live at the
resort.. In a way it is reverse racism because they just assume we must
be rich because we are white (even though I was wearing a very dirty
t-hirt and smelled a little bit of sweat ;) but you know what, I don't
care. We had a great day at the beach :-)
My plan now is to go to
Lamu island, which is supposed to be the Zanzibar of Kenya.. :-) I
think I really need a hot beach after the cold mountain :-)
