The Kili story

Flying High

It all started with a beautiful morning. The weather was good, the streets were quiet, then I started walking up the mountain, before I knew it I was up on top of the highest mountain in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world a.k.a the roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. Ok..I wish, of course it takes a bit more than good weather to achieve such feats. Rather its a story of the essence of being human, so grab a cuppa and tag along.

The why?
If you have been following my blog then you have probably a guest post by my brother who climbed it last year. Well, I also didn't mention that it is the only thing he's been talking about since then, beginning all conversations with "When I was at Kili ...". Being the curious character that I am, I had no choice but to add it to my bucket list. Since then it had been sitting at the back of my head waiting for the right time. That happened after graduating, when I got the time and resources for hobbies madness. When I asked my brother to hook me to his agency, I was informed that the next group would be climbing end of July, which coincided with a time I would be in Tanzania. And that my friend, is how I found myself being a mountain hugging creature.

The preparation

Machame Route

I signed up for the Machame route which is the longest and for good reason deemed the most difficult a.k.a the vodka route. It involves walking uphill at least 5 hours a day for 6 days; a feat that is almost impossible without  both physical and mental preparation. My regular running schedule and the proximity of mountains in Cape Town made prep a lot more convenient, note the word, convenient, not easy, convenient.

Doing CapeTown things #Hiking

In addition to regular runs, I stepped it every Thursday by running a full 20K (yes a full marathon, hills and valleys and all) before work. It wasn't easy but by the end of the run my mind was crystal clear, just what I needed at the end of the work.

On the weekends I would be somewhere on Table Mountain, on yet another new and exciting route. Through the different groups I hiked with, I met lots of people, nice people, interesting people, software engineers, a number who had climbed Kili and a lot more who kept asking if I have climbed Kili, being Tanzanian and all. That was exactly the motivation I needed.

Somewhere on Table Moutain

Even with all the preparation, the thought of cancelling was always looming around. When I missed a workout or a hike, when things were blurry at work, in short whenever life happened .Believe it or not, up until 2 weeks before the climb I was thinking of cancelling. Luckily, if I did, there would be no refund so I had no choice.

I swear I've never better taken care of myself than the week before the climb. No workout was missed, every step I took was calculated. It was Do or Die kind of situation. Up until I arrived at the Machame gate of Kilimanjaro National Park, I was still unsure whether I would follow through but guess from there on, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK.

Day One: Machame Gate (1800m) to Machame Camp (3000m)

Definitely not ready

Day one was literally a walk in the park, not very steep. We were welcomed with friendly blue monkeys, a rain-forest, beautiful flora.

Blue Monkey friend

the rainforest

"impatiens kilimanjari"

The real challenge was the mental one, the voice that kept saying, "This is it, Are you sure you ". I am forever grateful for the company of experienced guides who kept pushing and encouraging us as well as 7 other climbers who empathized with all the struggles, encouraging you if you need a break. I walked really fast, but it didn't seem get to get any closer . Just when I was about to give up, I saw the signpost for Machame Camp at 2835m above sea level.

Almost giving up

There it is!

Although the camp is not very high, there was a lot to acclimatize to that night. We were so far from civilization,  the phone signal was so weak that I gave up on communicating, the night was cold, we were already above the clouds, sleeping in tents, helping ourselves in the bushes, and the air was starting to get thinner. This was among the many reasons I couldn't sleep. In between staring at walls and unsuccessful attempts of trying to sleep I was reading 'What do you care what other people think'  by Richard Feynman.

Above the clouds

Day Two: Machame Camp (3000m) to Shira 1 Camp (3750m)
Aside: Shira Camp is named after the Shira Peak, the oldest peak of Mount Kili, probably because we could see it from this camp
I decided to take it slow not only because I was tired but also because it was a very steep climb for almost 4 hours.  It was the beautiful scenery of the moorland vegetation, the clouds below us,the toilet breaks and chats with guides and porters that made it much more pleasurable. After being covered in the forest for 2 days we finally caught a glimpse of the mountain and got even more excited.Interesting plants we learnt about are the everlasting flower which flourishes on the mountain and the "old man beards" tree which has a symbiotic relationship with moss.

Saw the lady, Saw the target 

Flying high 

The everlasting flower

Old man's beard is warmed by moss which seeks shelter on it.

 You have no idea how much feels of doubt and hope crept through me. They say walking clears your mind, I could see 10 years into my future. We met another group from Singapore that was on the same route and routine as us. It was comforting to learn that they like us, were taking it slow.

We took our time

 The chitchats were great, but nothing was comforting as seeing the colorful tents on Shira Camp just a few meters away. We arrived very exhausted to find other groupmates waiting for us, but the cool thing about arriving late is we find food ready. We had lunch , then had a bit of chill time before we went up again to acclaimatize with the high altitude. At 3750m above sea level, my whole body was screaming resistance but I limped through it anyway. On the way we saw Shira Cave which was previously used for cooking and camping, activities which are now prohibited due to volcanic activity.

In rainbow colors in Shira Cave

The view of the two camps was also very rewarding.

Shira 2 camp from afar

Being poetic

I winded the day with reading, dinner then sleeping, (no, trying to sleep), while nursing period pains and muscle cramps #FunTimes. I believe, my body was still trying to figure out what is happening.

Day Three Shira 1 Camp(3750m) to Lava Tower(4600m) to Baranco Camp( 3950m)
Here comes joke, on the third day we gained about 800m elevation only to loose it by walking back down, so much for acclimatizing...
Bright and early we started our day, washed wiped (there are no bathrooms) ourselves then walked up the gentle slope. One of our teammates was suffering from a cold, so we walked at his pace really slow. It was heart breaking seeing the porters overburdened by our luggages struggling, despite the fact that we payed for the service. Although it was encouraging to see experienced people struggle, it was still heart breaking. My engineering mind started thinking of a possibility of a cable car for porting luggages and those who are physically limited from climbing. I hope someone has thought about this.

I was feeling energised so I walked faster, against the guide's advice who insisted on "polepole" (slow) to adjust to higher altitudes. One of our fast group mates got very sick, lost his appetite and vomited. This is where I actually appreciated my always-on, larger-than-life appetite, like for once its good for my existence not evil. After lunch, we started descending towards Baranco Camp and boy was it fun. Just when you think its getting easier, heavy rain pours, you cross the same river a hundred times , your nails hurt from sliding down. I wont complain though, I got to see waterfalls and the giant groundsel. The giant groundsel is peculiar in that it grows near to water sources  and its leaves never die, they protect it from the cold.

I saw a waterfall

With the giant groundsel

Day Four: Baranco Camp (3950m) to Karanga Camp(3930m)

Vultures and four-stripped-mice are perhaps the only fauna on the moutain

#Views #Ice

Colors of Baranco Camp

The plan was to climb the famous Baranco wall(4600m), descend into Karanga river and then climb up again to Karanga camp (4200m). The name Karanga means nuts, it is derived from the river that flows besides the camp all the way to Moshi town where it waters ground nuts among other crops.

We were warned about cliff hanging and kissing walls on Baranco wall but it wasn't enough preparation for the adventure. For CapeTown hikers, imagine Lions Head chains, made slightly more technical , more in number, more traffic and at a higher altitude. At one point of cliff hanging I looked down and started questioning all my life choices. Then again, the traffic jam and rage brought me back to reality. It was definitely fun. After the wall, I was very energised so with permission from my guide I joined the Singapore group since they were slightly faster. I got the chance to chat with porters, rangers and guides who were surprised to see a young Tanzanian climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Yap, you guessed it, before taking this challenge I was also a regular Tanzanian who took photos  of the mountain and took pride in the mountain but never thought about climbing it. To make even matters worse, my tribe is from the Kilimanjaro region, yet I was the only Tanzanian in our climbing group, the rest being from East Africa and Switzerland. I arrived at the camp with little energy to read or do anything rather. Went to our dining tent, where we symbolically ate nuts (Karanga translates to nuts in English) and played 30 seconds until the guide had to force us to sleep.
Yes, its true, altitude messes with your thinking capacity, whatever silly thing was done can be blamed on the mountain.

Day Five: Karanga Camp (3930m) to Barafu Camp(4670m)
Barafu is swahili for ice.

Climbing in the rain

My mind and body were exhausted. Trust me when I say I looked forward to taking a dump. Like my thoughts were"look at how light and comfortable I am, I can now live to my full potential". Whoever said it is the most refreshing activity up the mountain didn't lie. The mountain kept throwing more challenges. We ploughed through rain on a gentle then steep slope only to be welcomed by guess what, Snow Fall. We arrived at Barafu Camp mid-afternoon to comforted by warmth, soup and food amidst the snow. Nature was sending weapons of combination of the cold, altitude, fatigue, detachment from home, unshowered body against which willpower was being tested. It occurred to me that I couId be much more comfortable in warm Dar es salaam but here I was being stubborn with the mountain. My main motive was to challenge myself, so my stubborn, A-type personality dragged my mortal body along. We didn't do much that evening since we were preparing for the much anticipated Summit Night,  its not like we had the energy to.

Day Six Summit Night)
So, on day six we start a bit early, actually a lot early like 1am early. I distinctly heard the wake up call, because I didn't sleep, grave mistake. Layer upon layer I dressed up, prepping myself for the final battle(8 tops, 4 bottoms, 7 socks, 2 gloves), put on my headlamp and started the walk. 10 minutes in, I started feeling things. First I was feeling heavy so I took some layers which helped only for the next hour or so. Then came much needed sleep I had been deprived of for the entire week, the darkness simply catalysed it and made me slower, there was nothing I could do about it. Then came a group mate who was oxygen deprived thus came down, I got very emotional. Then came a bad stomach, this was tough, but I walked slowly until when I was ready to vomit and diarrhoea. You know what else comes with the altitude? Lethargy, with its companion lack of appetite which I experienced for the first time in years. Imagine the slowest zombie walking, I was slower than that. A couple of hours and a thousand breaks later I was acclimatized enough to start craving sugar, a consequence of which was apparition of all biscuits and chocolates. In my normal life, I live mostly sugar-free but hey what happens in the mountains stays in the mountains and perhaps makes it to a blog post. Sugar worked, but it can only do so much without oxygen, an atmospheric gas that is a very scarce at high altitudes. At the speed I was walking, it seemed like forever and I could already see other climbers who were already coming down. Yes, I did cry, multiple times, yes I thought of giving up, yes I hated myself for being this defeated, yes I questioned myself, yes I almost gave up. I'm forever grateful to my groupmates who said, "Don't worry, we'll wait for you", to our guide who told me I was too strong and fit to give up. Sometimes that's all you need to hear.


We finally arrived at Stella Point (5746m) in the afternoon, where we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the crater, glaciers and a Coke, how thoughtful of the porters! Honestly I wasn't thinking of going any further, as a matter of fact I took a much deserved power nap while the others had the energy to celebrate. This changed when the guide pointed at the Uhuru Peak sign post standing majestically at 5895m. It looked really close and I knew it would still be tough but my type A spirit couldn't resist the challenge. Slowly I dragged my way to the peak, this time with intention and before long, I saw her, the majestic Uhuru peak, the lady I had been anticipating to meet. That my friend is how I joined the 0.0002357% of the world population that had been up this high.

Victory

Doing all the things

 I wanted to do all sorts of shit, sing, dance, hug the signpost, take selfies, and of course I didn't do them because I only had energy for a few photos, also it is not allowed to stay in high altitudes for too long. Since we were late, we also had to rush to reach the base camp in time to descend to a lower camp (Millenium camp). The thought of warmth motivated me as porters literally dragged me down. I remember taking a 5 minute break only to nap and dream a proper dream. We ended up sleeping at Base Camp that night, and upon arrival I slept-like-a-baby. That's all I had energy for.


Day Seven: Barafu Camp to Mweka Gate
The plan was to descend straight from base camp to gate (Mweka gate). I've never had a more glorious morning. Even though all my body was screaming for rest, I was too excited to care. Slowly we descended through the desert then moorland then rainforest vegetation. We passed by Millenium and Mweka camp to find other climbers also descending.

Mweka Camp

 All was well, until the last stretch, you know when you can see civilization but it seems so far. We distracted ourselves with photosessions, it seemed like forever. Up until we saw the gate.....

All the feels!

We had done the thing!

And received certificates!

I can finally answer the question with pride, yes, I have climbed all the way to the top and survived.
It was here that I started feeling things again: hunger, thirst, cramped legs, butts and thighs, cracked nails, foul smelling body but it didn't seem to matter. I felt like I could conquer everything you threw at me (still do). We were driven back to the hotel in Moshi where we returned borrowed gear, tipped the team of guides and porters, showered (7 times for me) and celebrated our victory.


Post Climb
I had made plans to leave at 4am with a lift but of course I overslept my alarm, taking the bus instead. In Dar es salaam I intended to sleep and have a proper massage, but then my crazy brother Dominic and family made me run a marathon the very next day -Bagamoyo Historical Marathon - of which he's an organiser.

I hoped to look victorious as I shared my story but my sunburnt face had plans of its own. I intended to go write a blogpost soon afterwards, but here I am, two weeks later. I guess you see the trend here, which leads me to the lessons.

Lessons
Here are the lessons I learned in no particular order.

• Never give up. Life will happen, plans will change, you will feel defeated, but always remember how far you've come. Success will be delayed, you will feel defeated but embrace it , learn the lessons and soldier on. Living is a lot like climbing mountain, although you'll feel defeated when an 80 year old passes you, it won't matter in the long run. With the spirit, pay it forward too, don't let your friends give up. Surround yourself with people who won't let you give up. Finish what you started, just do it! That's the face of commitment.
• Be comfortable with your own voice. Even though we were always accompanied by guides, talking deprives you of climbing energy so the walks were mostly me and my thoughts. Boy, did we had a party up there, actually more like a boxing match between all the versions of me. It was fun to watch.
• Take care of your body. Although running didn't make a fast climber, it definitely gave me the confidence to cross fitness off my barriers. It gave me the confidence to say I was giving this challenge my all. Maybe, my muscles wouldn't be able to recover or I would fall sick if I didn't exercise, who knows? I simply know that I had the confidence that I need to all other projects I commit. 
• There is never the right moment for anything you want to do. Life will always happen, people will question you. Everyone I told questioned my sanity, my manager almost told me not to do it, my parents faint heartedly let me do it. Hard as it was I chose to believe in me, even when my body was also resisting. 
• Its amazing what you can accomplish when you are not distracted. I was able to finish two books and had time for more. Thanks to no internet and no social media. My official dream is to retire in a cottage somewhere in the woods.

I thought this was going to be my first and last physical challenge but believe me when I tell you that I'm already looking at my next climbing challenge. Yes, once the madness starts, it continues. With said, I hope you have a mad week and catch me on my next adventure. 👊