After almost a year in the making, from the initial idea to the actual itinerary, from promoting to members then confirming attendees, from hosting multiple information sessions to group training hikes, from team equipment list shopping excursions to social dinners for the team to get to know each other – the time to leave was finally here.
Saturday, January 16th
Our group of hikers gathered at YVR to check our bags for the impending 27 hour journey. It was 5am and we were all vibrating with excitement – we’d been training to hike Mount Kilimanjaro, the shining queen of Tanzania, for months and now the time had finally come to take off. After we grabbed Starbucks coffee to battle the early morning yawns and eagerly greeted each member of our summit team, we commemorated the departure with a group photo courtesy of Michael’s new selfie stick!
Sunday, January 17th
After many long hours of travel — which included a 3 hour lay-over in Los Angeles with numerous near-celebrity sightings, a 15 minute sprint through the Amsterdam airport to make our connecting flight, catching a few mile-high z’s, and watching too many airline films — we arrived at the Kilimanjaro International airport near Moshi at 10pm local time to find our bags were still in Amsterdam with all of our trekking luggage. Exhausted, we headed to our hotel, Bristol Cottages, where we met with our head guide and determined as a group that we would wait and spend the next day being tourists in town instead of starting the trek with little to no gear.
Monday, January 18th
We spent the next day cruising around Moshi. We met a local named Jackson that took us for lunch at a restaurant that served authentic food from his village, which allowed us to walk through the town and scope out the beauty of Africa. After lunch Jackson took us to a shop in a nearby mall where we could pick up last minute trekking items and local art work or souvenirs for our loved ones back home. There wasn’t too much panhandling, as most of the people on the street were selling second hand clothes, shoes, utensils, or artwork. The group had fun trying to bargain down prices, which is a big part of the culture in Tanzania.
Tuesday, January 19th: Machame Camp (3010m altitude)
Waking up for a 7am departure after a quick breakfast and a few too many coffees we hit the road en route for Kili. Because we started our journey a day later than expected, our route was altered at the last minute. Instead of starting at the previously planned Lemosho gate, an 8 day adventure, we were to depart from the Machame gate just to the west and requiring only a 7 days trek. All of our gear was packed; our 36 porters had each weighed our bags (15 kilos max!) and were waiting patiently. We ate a hot lunch under the tourist canopy while the guides could sort out documentation with the park officials. Monkeys patrolled the perimeter to see if they could take any unattended lunches but failed to take any from our group (other groups were not as lucky!).
Unfortunately, our hike started with rain, though we were protected by forest for the better portion of the day. We had been told to keep our waterproof gear in our day packs so they could be put on at a moment’s notice, and we needed it almost immediately.
After a 13km hike and 1,200m elevation gain we arrived at Machame camp where we would spend the night, still within the forest climate. Our first night’s sleep was an exciting one — almost of us were kept up late from some dangerous-sounding monkey fighting in the forest. A symphony of birds gently woke us up come morning.
Wednesday, January 20th: Shira Caves (3845m altitude)
This was one day that made us happy we started our journey late, because it poured cats and dogs, a form of weather we hoped we had left at home! Although we were technically visiting during Africa’s dry season, I found the rain to be heavy even by Vancouver’s standards. It made the journey far more arduous and I wondered how many people had regretted signing up for this excursion at all. By the time we made it to camp, 6 hours and 6 river crossings later, the rain had mostly cleared and we wandered over to the caves that Shira Camp was named after.
As we huddled in a circle inside the cave, spooky campfire story style, we learned that as late as the year 2000 many of the porters who were ill-equipped to hike the mountain would sleep in these caves. Each year there were many casualties from cold, smoke inhalation, and mold; it was not until trekkers complained to the park rangers and demanded porters were given the appropriate equipment necessary to survive in the mountains that the caves were closed off.
Thursday, January 21st: Barranco Camp (3960m)
We started our next day leaving Shira caves, still in the dampness of the previous day’s showers, and headed towards our first real step of acclimatization: Lava Tower. We were to spend 30 minutes at an altitude of 4,600m, which for most of us was the highest altitude we’d ever encountered in our lives, in order to allow our bodies to adjust to the low oxygen environment we would find at the summit basecamp. Right as we arrived for lunch the rain started again and no one was feeling very positive about stopping too long for lunch. After quickly scarfing down the easiest items in our lunch box, it was on with the rain gear and off to our next camp. It was a beautiful descent in to a valley with trees straight out of a Dr. Seuss novel; the scenery was spectacular, unlike any we had seen before.
Luckily we arrived as the rain stopped which allowed us to dry off some of our wet clothes in preparation for the next day’s dreaded climb up Barranco Wall. Some couldn’t sleep due to their fear of heights, while others were giddy about the challenge. Either way, the next day promised to be an exciting one as we slept near the base of this massive and technical-looking rock face.
Friday, January 22nd: Karanga Camp (4035m)
In all of our prior research this often came up as the most difficult part of the journey. Our guides assured us that the wall appeared more challenging and technical than it actually was, but that did not calm the nerves of those in the group. It took a bit of coercing and a few pep talks but we eventually conquered the imposing face of Barranco Wall.
By the time we arrived at our camp, we could see the full moon shining over the peak, ready to guide us up on summit day. The weather was finally in our favour and we spent the afternoon climbing a large boulder behind our camp site and taking stunning photos of the sunset glowing on the snowcapped summit of Kili.
Saturday, January 23rd: Barafu Camp (4673m) and last nap before summit
Our day began with a relatively short hike to the Barafu camp where we were to eat and rest before the final summit attempt. Our four main guides assured us that we would be successful if we went “pole-pole,” meaning slowly in Swahili, drank lots of water, and believed in ourselves. The camp was at 4673m of elevation, and all of us could feel the effects of altitude with any degree of exertion – even walking the moderate uphill to go to the bathroom left all of us short of breath and exhausted. With over 1000m more to go up, it was a sobering reality that our hardest work was still ahead.
We ate lunch, napped for a few hours, woke for dinner at 5:30 and then laid down for our last rest before the summit. The wind was howling around us, and with our elevation, the mountain offered little to no protection from the sound nor the cold. We were to depart in two groups: one leaving at 11pm to allow extra time for breaks, snacks, and a slower pace, and a group at 12:30am for those eager and unaffected by altitude. We had our eyes on Stella Point, the final checkpoint before the summit, but it seemed to be the same distance away every hour we climbed. Each step with any amount of uphill (which was nearly all of them) sucked the breath out of our lungs, and every unexpected stair-like step left us breathless.
Sunday, January 24th: Uhuru Peak (5895m) and Mweka Camp (3070m)
It was now almost 5am Sunday morning – we hadn’t eaten any snacks, or used the washroom, or tried to drink from our mostly frozen water bottles since we’d left Barafu camp. With one hour to go before Stella Point, our spirits began to rise as we looked down over the mountain and saw how far we’d come. By this point our group had divided, but the guides had prepared for this: along with our four main guides, there were two additional porters in case of injury, fatigue, or unexpected descent. Upon reaching Stella Point, we could see the red lines of sunrise creeping over the African savanna like something out of the Lion King.
Our guides assured us we were less than an hour from Uhuru peak. The one kilometre from Stella point to Uhuru peak was the longest kilometre I’ve ever hiked. Six of us arrived together at the summit just after 7am for a tearful photo with the rest of the group hot on our tails.
We carefully descended after some celebratory hugs at the top, arriving back to Barafu camp in time for delicious juice, lunch, a nap, and further descent to Mweka camp.
Monday, January 25th: Return to Bristol Cottages
Our final descent day was beautiful and warm, and the downhill went much faster once we’d achieved the success of summiting the Shining Queen of Kilimanjaro. Before we left the last camp of our adventure, our guides sang us the song of the mountain and we thanked them with a song of our own, including various phrases we’d picked up in Swahili.
Again we entered the rainforest, again spotting monkeys, impatiens kilimanjari (the official flower of Kilimanajro, found only on this mountain), and many happy fellow hikers. We celebrated at the bottom with one last lunch with our guides and headed back to Bristol Cottages for our first night in a proper bed in over a week.
Tuesday, January 26th: Safari Time
We woke bright and early to head to Arusha to meet our jeep drivers for the next few days, immediately loading our belongings into their cars to head to Tarangine National Park. There we spotted giraffes, elephants, and jackals by the hundreds! Like something out of Jurassic Park, the enormous creatures cruised effortlessly through the park, unaffected by our gaze. Our guides took us to the Rhino Lodge, located on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, to spend the night before the next day’s adventure inside the crater itself.
Wednesday, January 27th: Homeward Bound
Another early morning and delicious breakfast later, our group descended into the natural wonder that is Ngorongo Crater. It is home to some of the last black rhinos, now classified as critically endangered, as well as prides of lions, massive herds of wildebeests, warthogs, vultures, more elephants, and zebras by the thousands.
Our journey was at its end, and we left for the airport completely exhausted but extremely fulfilled. It was, without question, the trip of a lifetime, and one that will be hard to beat.
Pamela Haaf
Professional Training Coach
Innovative Fitness Kitsilano
p. 604 714 1661 / c. 778 839 4320
www.InnovativeFitness.com
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