The Tanzanian Experience: Part 2 - Kilimanjaro

With my former climbing companion out-of-commission thanks to a now spineless sea urchin, I began my solo trek towards Kilimanjaro, in hopes of summiting the 19,340ft “roof of Africa.”

After my initial tour group fell through due to overall sketchiness (i.e. being asked to pay $800 in cash to a man I had never met, who knew nothing about my hike, but had an office in an abandoned building under a DIFFERENT name than the company I had originally put my deposit down with), I was on the prowl again. Thanks to a man named Jacob who followed me for about two miles along the road, eventually persuading me back to his office, I soon had found a nice German couple with which to complete my climb. However, after a conveniently timed “African Death Cold” had its way with me, bed ridding me for almost 48 straight hours (not very fun when traveling solo, with no TV and only German books to read), I was forced to delay the start of my hike, and once again find new companions with which to climb.

Three days later, with my body in recovery mode, I commenced my hike, traveling alongside 3 fellow Americans: Two mid-20 guys from Seattle, and a 37-year old, ex-peace corp volunteer from Atlanta (a nice improvement upon playing 3rd wheel to the German couple).


The Crew:
Joining myself, and the three other Americans, were the following:

Guides – John and John – The nicknames of Rasta John and Little John were distributed quite soon after our arrival to restcamp the first night, as the wafts of “wacky tobaccy” exuding from Rasta John’s tent were more than prevalent throughout our 6 days on the mountain. Little John’s nickname was less “inspired,” although still well deserved.

Chef – Chinga – Although his name translates to sex in Spanish, this did not limit Chinga’s ability to cook up some mean meals for us each and everyday. Surprisingly enough, the food was quite amazing, as our entire group decided that we ate better while on the mountain than at any other point in our lives over the past few years (at least when the mountain wasn’t killing our appetites).

Porters – Although we never caught any of their names (as most did not speak any English), we did sympathize for the 9 porters, who worked on minimal salary to carry up our equipment (including tents, sleeping bags, dinner table & chairs, and of course the 20 pound kerosene tank). Nonetheless, they were all very friendly, and even gave us a nice farewell on our final day on the mountain:

Kili Video


The Route: Machame (aka “Whiskey Route”) – 6 Days, ~ 60 Miles

Day 1: Base Camp (4,900ft) -> Machame Camp (9,800ft) – 11mi

Day 2: Machame Camp (9,800ft) -> Shira Camp (12,600ft) – 6mi

Day 3: Shira Camp (12,600ft) -> Lava Tower (15,200ft) -> Barranco Camp (13,000ft) – 9mi

Day 4: Barranco Camp (13,000ft) -> Barafu Camp (14,900ft) – 8mi

Day 5 (Summit Night): Barafu Camp (14,900ft) -> Uhuru Peak (19,340ft) -> Mweka Camp (10,200ft) – 4mi ascent, 14mi descent

Day 6: Mweka Camp (10,200ft) -> Mweka Gate (6,500ft) – 9mi


Daily Routine:

7:00AM – Wake up

7:30AM – Eat breakfast (Toast, Eggs, Sausage, Fruit, Hot Chocolate)

8:00AM – Commence our day of about 6-7 hours of hiking. In order to “conserve energy” and acclimatize as much as possible, the majority of our hikes involve walking VERY VERY slowly (“pole pole”), to the point where a pause is taken between each step in our climb. Although the Machame Route was supposedly the most scenic, the first 3 days of our hike were spent climbing through foggy wetlands, as the rain/clouds decided not to cease whatsoever. Thus, the only view we really had of anything was of the two feet in front of us. Stunning!

12:00PM – Rest for lunch (packed bag of chicken, cheese sandwich, a biscuit, cookies and a sour green orange – and of course all-you-can-drink hot chocolate)

2:00PM – Arrive at our restcamp

2:30PM – “Snack Time” – Involves sitting in our little dining tent, drinking hot chocolate (yeah, we were slightly addicted) and talking about what ailments were taking their toll on our bodies that day

3:00PM – Nap, play cards, read, walk around restcamp chatting with other hikers (~ 20 of us total on the route), attempt to dry out clothes which are usually soaked by the end of each day, and of course attempt to convince your body that there is good reasoning for putting it through this experience

5:30PM – Dinner (Mushroom/Cucumber soup, Beef/Chicken stew, Rice & Vegetables, Pasta, Mango desert) – OR – Clif Bar (when appetite is nonexistent)

7:00PM – Sunset

7:01PM – Ummm… what now? No lights + no electricity = forced early bedtime

11:00PM – Wake up for the 1st time in the middle of night, either due to cold, an annoying need to “relieve oneself,” or more cold. Repeat this every 30-45 minutes until sunrise. Good times!


Budget Hike Highlight:
After arriving to camp the 1st night, I soon learned that the porters had completely forgot to pack me a tent OR sleeping bag, thus forcing me to share a tent with Snorey McSnorester from the peace corp, and sleep in a old sleeping bag that didn’t zip close, and smelt like it had been shared by an entire hockey team after a 5 hour practice. Hello freezing smelly nights! It was quite a relief when I did receive my new tent on the 3rd night (which of course did not zip close, and left enough room at its mouth for the freezing air to pour into my humble abode each and everynight). Thus, when I was not battling the freezing air of the mountain evenings, I was also trying to fend away little mice which kept deciding to crawl up my leg during naps… Cute little scary fellers.


Overall Highlight of the Hike:
On the 2nd night, after about 2 hours of blessed sleep, I was awoken at about 11pm by a general feeling of death. Although we were not at an altitude yet to induce severe altitude sickness, I soon learned that water poisoning was coursing through my body (thanks to some sketchy Zanzibar bottled water – aka tap water resealed in a bottle). Thus, my new best friend was soon to be the hole in the ground known as our toilet (see picture below). The next two days are more or less spent battling severe dehydration by drinking ungodly amounts of hot, boiled water (the only safe water to drink), attempting to consume “rehydration salts” (tasted like tangy ocean water), and of course forcing myself to eat whatever I can handle as my appetite had been reduced to zero. Man this is fun! Luckily this only lasts for almost the entire hike (somewhat subsided by summit night). : /


Summit Night:
Commencing our summit attempt at approximately 11:30pm (after about 3 hours of sleep), I spent the next 6 hours climbing through the airless, freezing night with my only focus on the two feet in front of me. Fighting every urge in my body to either pass out, fall over from dizziness, or throw up (as random waves of nausea came every 10 minutes), the hike was probably one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. It was even a struggle to try not to cough, as this act was more exhausting than the hike itself (never realized how much air you waste when you cough…). Nevertheless, at 5:20AM, we made it to the top! First group up (a new record according to our guides). From the summit, we enjoyed the early morning sunrise over the horizon, took some pictures (although the majority did not come out so well since it was still quite dark), before beginning Part Two of the “day from hell” – the hike down (basically 3 straight hours of jogging back down the mountain along loose rocks and gravel, 2 hours of light rest, and then ANOTHER 3 hours of jogging down the mountain even further). After another 3 hours of jogging down the mountain on our final day, we were at the bottom, and had successful climbed the tallest mountain in Africa! Goodbye functional legs, hello permanent limp!


Overall, despite the random setbacks here and here, the hike was still an amazing experience, and I’m thrilled I was able to do it. Although our final celebration dinner was slightly tainted after our two guides threatened the lives of one another (due to the fact that that our main guide – “Rasta John” – had been stealing tips from the rest of the group), the trip was still a success. After another funfilled day of Tanzanian travel (in which I missed my shuttle to the airport, lost my cell phone, and almost was shot at the Kenyan border for taking a picture of an ‘unwilling participant’), I arrived back in Cape Town, to bask in the joys of true African civilization.

Onto the pics:

	View of "Kili" from the foothills of Moshi
	Hiking... seemed to be quite a common trend during our 6 days on the mountain
	Enjoying some fine hot chocolate during one of our breaks
	My humble abode -- notice my tents inability to close itself properly, thus causing me to utilize MacGeyver techniques to cover up the hole as much as possible
	"The Mess Hall" -- an eating facility turned porter sleeping tent at night
	The "facilities" -- hopefully a therapist can help me forgot the horrible memories which stemmed from my time within these walls
	Our group - 2 guides, 9 porters and 1 chef
	At the top with the two guides: Rasta John and Little John
	Early sunrise over the glaciers on the mountain
	View over the clouds
	Celebration Dinner with Little John (post awkward death threat experience)