An Aussie Abroad

“Poli poli, Kilimanjaro hakuna matata”. As we passed porters on the trail this phrase would often form part of our attempts at a conversation. In Swahili it means “Slowly, slowly. And Kilimanjaro will be no worries”. Standing above the clouds, surrounded by some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever beheld, attempting to have a conversation with people in my broken Swahili! Definitely not your typical holiday.

Four days of climbing culminated in a midnight crack at the summit. The going was slow, snaking and twisting our way across the face of the mountain, inching up in altitude in an attempt to avoid any sickness from the height. We walked in silence, broken every now and again by the porters, talking to one another or helping one of our group.

Four hours pass by pretty quickly on the mountain, by now my head was splitting, I was struggling to keep the nausea at bay and my lungs felt like I was running a marathon! I tried to just keep moving one foot in front of the other following the legs in front of me, as long as they kept walking I’d just tag along. But eventually those feet stopped moving, the young girl ahead turned to me, tears in her eyes, and said she couldn’t go on anymore.

I took a few gulps of air and glanced over my shoulder, no one was there! According to our porter it had been over an hour since the last person turned back. We left with 40 people, when I turned back only 10 were left, at dawn only 6 stood at the summit.

Defeated I turned to begin the walk back down and stopped. Until this moment I had spent the evening looking at the ground in front of me, unaware of the unimaginable beauty above me! The sky stretched on forever, the stars gleaming against the coal black sky and the moon hanging like a giant pearl. So close that if I just reached out I could take a handful of stars as a souvenir! It was in that moment I realised what I had been missing all along. My entire life I had always been in a rush, wanting to get to my next destination, but the goal was never the destination. It is in the journey that we learn, grow and understand. Kilimanjaro hadn’t said “no”, she simply said “not now”.

I watched the sunrise from my bed and then drifted off to sleep. The next morning was a blur; breakfast, packing, waiting before finally leaving. I took one last glance at the mountain and promised the mountain and myself that I would return one day to finish the journey I started all those years ago!