Reviving le blogue. Because there are just some memories I never want to forget. Stories I want to recount. Adventures I want to relive.
First things first. I don’t consider myself a hiker. I suppose I started hiking regularly when I moved to Hong Kong in 2017 - ironically, not when I grew up and lived near the Rockies for 27 years, lol. And while I don’t entirely recall when I put Kilimanjaro on my bucket list, it’s been there for quite some time. Carolyn had pre-emptively decided that 2022 was her year to live out her lifelong dream and she kindly allowed me to join her. So thus began our journey to the roof of Africa.
We booked through the global travel tour operator, GAdventures. Both Carolyn and I had credits to use from trips cancelled during the 2020 Covid pandemic. And not to dwell on this too much, but both of our experiences with GAdventures had been subpar (to put it lightly) from the beginning, so we were very hesitant how the rest would unravel once we touched down in Tanzania. Needless to say, the local team blew every expectation out of the water. My heart is so incredibly full from the kindness, thoughtfulness, support, patience, encouragement, laughter, and every song and dance from the CEOs and all the GFighters to get us to that summit. They poured their heart and souls into making sure we were taken care of and had every chance to succeed. I will never be able to thank them enough.
Day 0: Arrival into Kilimanjaro
With all the airport chaos as of late due to post-COVID travels, Carolyn and I were beyond stressed about travelling, making sure we had all our gear for Kilimanjaro (not to mention our belongings for the rest of our trips). We had decided to travel with “carry-on” bags only - I brought on a typical carryon sized rolling suitcase and my 35L pack became my “personal item”. Luckily nobody really questioned us and we just kept walking anyway passed security and onto the plane and onto our second plane. We found out shortly after we arrived that we were the lucky ones as some of the others in our group hadn’t received their checked luggage and would have to rent equipment for the Kilimanjaro trek - our literal nightmare that we thankfully had dodged. Thank you Calgary airport security and KLM flight attendants for turning a blind eye - we knew you knew.
Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp | Distance: 11KM | Elevation Gain: 1,200m| Elevation: 3,000m | Time: XX hours*
We had met our whole group first thing in the morning - 10 of us total - Malte and Vicki, friends from Germany; James and Dan, mates from Liverpool; Pat and Graham, father and son from BC; Nick and Aivey, a couple from Melbourne. Everybody seemed lovely and Carolyn and I were happy that we lucked out with such a diverse group from all over, different walks of life, age groups, and a balance of genders. This was the beginning of 6 days together after all.
I could feel the buzzing in the air as we drove through the village of Moshi collecting the final few things before heading to Machame Gate. Once there, we had a quick lunch - the first of many bowls of soup - and then approached the starting point. From there, it was 11KM of trekking through the jungle. It’s a very lush start with big gorgeous trees and even cute monkeys greeting us on our way. We had a bit of a late start and were the last group to pass through the gates, so by the time we arrived to Machame Camp, it was a quick trip to our assigned tents and onwards to the mess tent for dinner.
This would be the first of our nightly rituals to check-in on everyone and see how we’re all getting on. They’d use a device to measure our oxygen levels as well as our heart rates and we’d be asked to answer the same 3 questions: How much water did you drink? How are you feeling? How was the food? Had we known this would become public knowledge, Carolyn and I would’ve worked a lot harder to hit our 3Ls of water that day, but had to embarrassingly share that we’d consumed maybe only 1-1.5Ls. Other than that, we were feeling great and the food was fantastic!
Day 2: Machame Camp to Shira Cave Camp | Distance: 5KM | Elevation Gain: 900m | Elevation: 3,900m | Time: XX hours*
After our first night at camp, I had to say I was surprised that I wasn’t actually too cold. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep well because I always have trouble getting comfortable in a sleeping bag, but at least it wasn’t the cold. Thankfully I had brought my hot water bottle (Thelma the thermos) and Chevy was kind enough to fill it for me every night. She was definitely key in me being able to get some shut eye through the night.
Selena, our only female guide, led us on Day 2 which also meant that she’d join us for breakfast, lunch and dinner (though jury’s still out on if that’s a treat or torture for the guides..lol). This day was more elevation to gain in a much shorter distance than the day before and I really loved the terrain this day.. Big rocky steps and a bit of scrambling meant I got to touch rock with my hands. I’ve been missing out on climbing season this year, so any chance my hands could touch real rock was a plus for me! We finally also spotted the peak of Kilimanjaro for the first time - it’s known for always being in the clouds and we were high enough now to see where we were eventually headed. Uhuru peak. It was a beauty (and also slightly intimidating if I say so myself).
We were drinking much more water today, which meant that we were “sending messages” much more frequently as well. Sending a message (getting wifi, visiting the internet cafe and all the other network jokes) - this was the mountain code for pee breaks. but we weren’t in a particular rush and knew we’d get there slowly pole pole, but surely. “Pole pole” (po-lé) was the speed in which our guides took us on the trails. It was slow for sure, but to be honest, it was the exact same speed that I typically go anyways, so the pace felt great to me, haha! As we were trekking we also needed to be mindful of the porters who were passing us. We’d stay to the left of the trail as we watched these guys go by carrying not only their own packs, but up to an additional 20KG of our extra gear, tents, or other camp supplies. They would either pack it on their backs or sometimes balance it on their heads - unreal how physically demanding their jobs were and they were absolutely flying by us as well. Mega shout-out to them each day for their dedication and hard work.
On our way to camp, we hung back with our guides, Reagan and David and learned that “Kilima” actually only means “small hill” (thought Kilimanjaro means big mountain) this would be the butt of many jokes about us only climbing a “Kilima” each day. Carolyn and I would also learn that day that if we hung out long enough at the end, our assigned porters would walk to meet us at the entrance, grab our bags and carry them for us as they led us to our tents. Definitely not an experience we saw for others, but I wasn’t about to complain about that.
Lastly, we were told there was a cave nearby that we’d visit. And after camping in the 3rd largest cave in the world, I knew I had to re-set my expectations, but still I love caves. Pretty sure this was the 3rd smallest cave in the world. Enough said. lol.
Day 3: Shira Cave Camp to Lava Tower | Distance: 7KM | Elevation Gain: 700m | Elevation: 4,600m | Time: XX hours*
Leaving Shira Cave Camp was the first time that I think I started to feel the effects of the elevation. I mostly just noticed that it took me quite a bit longer to catch my stride. It was a steep start, but nothing I hadn’t encountered before and it felt like a kilometre in before I could catch my breath again. The trail here was in a vast open space. Looking back we continued to see the sea of clouds from camp and the terrain reminded me of Iceland (slash what I imagine Mars to look like) since it was remnants of volcanic rock and lava.
Lava Tower to Baranco Camp | Distance: 3 KM | Elevation Gain: -600m | Elevation: 4,000m | Time: XX hours*
The Lava towers is where we’d hike up to as the highest point for that day (and the whole trek so far), but then we’d hike down to Barranco camp where we’d stay for the night. Trek high, sleep low was the strategy to acclimatize.
Hiking into Barranco camp was like walking through a garden - pretty wild flowers and these incredibly ornate and unusual looking palm trees (that I would then dub “palmies”) had adorned the trail. We were probably spending so much time taking photos and videos of the area that our guides were starting to get annoyed with us at this point, but alas it was our trek and they -likely begrudgingly- let us enjoy our slow stroll into camp.. where Eric met me to grab carry my bag for me to my tent like usual, hahaha :)
Day 4: Baranco Camp to Karanga | Distance: 5 KM | Elevation Gain: m | Elevation: m* | Time: XX hours*
Barafu wall. This. was. my. day. I had been looking forward to this day all trek. This is the big scramble up the wall and I was totally in my element. Except not. I could feel the various effects of the altitude sickness pills by this point - the random tingliness in all my limbs and now the lightheadedness was starting to hit me if/when I stood up too quick. So needless to say, I loved getting down and dirty with the rock, but my body needed me to go POLE POLE.. I still loved it, but wish I could enjoy it more. after the wall, we had a big down hill and also a big up hill grind to our lunch spot.
Here’s where we unfortunately had to say good bye to Vicki as she wasn’t feeling well for a couple of days now and needed to make the tough decision to take care of herself and make her way down back to Moshi. I can’t imagine being in that position and we are all incredibly proud of her for having come as far as she did and making the call to put her health first.
Karanga to Barafu Camp | Distance: 4 KM | Elevation Gain: | Elevation: 4,600m | Time: XX hours*
Onwards to Barafu Camp. This is where we’d settle in before our 11pm wake-up call to summit Kilimanjaro. We could see Stella Point from here and let me tell you, it looked a lot more than 5KM.. After an early-ish dinner, we’d received our briefing for summit day and were instructed to try to get as much sleep as possible. It was still daylight, but the more hours of rest we got, the better we’d be. So to the tents we went.
Day 5: Barafu Camp to Stella Point to Uhuru Peak | Distance: 4.3KM + 700M | Elevation Gain: 1,300m | Elevation: 5,895m | Time: XX hours*
Summit day. While it’s been a week now since summit day and I can’t fully remember every detail, NGL, it was still one of the hardest things I have every done. It’s steep, it’s dark, it’s cold, and when I say there’s no air, there’s no air. Imagine trying to take a big, deep, long, yoga inhale but then only receiving small, short breaths of air and nothing more - that’s what it felt like to breathe at that altitude. On top of that, you’re climbing a steep ass slope, in the middle of the night, on little sleep and it’s cold AF. It was so cold, that on our short breaks, I wanted to get up and start moving again because the longer we stopped, the colder I got. This coming from a girl who winter hikes and had 6 layers on top, 3 layers on the bottom, ski socks, ski mitts, and hand warmers.
Again, I need to give a massive shout out to our guides and the GFighters that took us up to the summit. While it was very challenging and at one point I had tears in my eyes thinking that I wouldn’t summit, they were there to help us through it all. When it was too cold to take our mitts off, they fed us, gave us sips of water, took photos for us, clothed us (all short of bathing us, really) and even serenaded us to lift our spirits (and physically lift up us girls) to distract us from the fact that we were taking on this immense mountain. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that without them I would’ve never summited that day. Extra big shout out to Kevin for trying to warm up my hands in your underarms. It didn’t really make them warmer, but it made me laugh so hard I didn't really care anymore.
We actually saw the sunrise in the middle of our trek up (mayyyybe 3/4 of the way). The guides would say that we did well and set a good pace, but I could tell we were slow AF. It was fully light out by the time I could see the sign for Stella Point. This was the first milestone, but also 90% of the way there. I so desperately needed to get off the side of the mountain at that point that I nearly “ran” the 20 meters up to the sign but upon doing so, had entirely winded myself. I needed to sit down immediately to catch my breath for a few minutes before continuing onwards.
Stella Point to Uhuru Peak was only another 700m to go, but the air was so thin, I needed to take a few breaks to get there. I wasn’t physically tired, but I just couldn’t breathe very well anymore. Eventually, we made it and it was an incredible sense of achievement. I am very proud that I persevered and trekked to the summit of Kilimanjaro (and in our first group no less). 5,895m above sea level. We did it!!!
Uhuru Peak to Barafu Camp | Distance: 5KM | Elevation Gain: -1,300m | Elevation: 4,600m | Time: XX hours*
Now for the trek back down. Typically a descent is shorter in time, but somehow felt just as long. The route was different - they took us down a shale-y route which was great, but my legs felt like jelly and I thought they’d give out at any point. Rasheed was so patient with us and let us take breaks even though I’m sure he wanted off that mountain ASAP. The best though was our little GSurprise when we saw Chevy and Edouard waiting for us about 3/4 of the way down to congratulate us and bring us some juice to give us the energy boost we needed to make it the rest of the way. We then bumped into more GFighters along the way to once again take our bags and walk us all the way back to our tents. Once we were back at camp, the GFighters sat us down, dusted the dirt out of our trousers, helped take our shoes off and put us in our camp shoes. The service was impeccable and we felt like queens. Just unreal.
Barafu Camp to Millennium Camp | Distance: 3.5KM | Elevation Gain: m* | Elevation: m* | Time: XX hours*
After a nap in our tents (which was much deserved, but also may not have been the best idea since we all woke up a bit groggy), we packed up once again and headed down to Millennium Camp. It was a short distance to go, but we needed to ascend a bit to make room for others and also sleep at a lower elevation.
Day 6: Millennium Camp to Mweka Gate | Distance: 13.5 KM | Elevation Gain: m* | Elevation: 1,800m | Time: XX hours*
Our last day was the longest distance we’d travel, but a very chill hike down. Almost a bit too chill when Carolyn, Malte and I stopped for an impromptu photoshoot. Needless to say, we think they sent Reagan in to bookend us and make sure we didn’t stop for any other photoshoots and got on with our hike down. It was a different route down from the one we came up on, and also incredibly stunning to walk through the jungle. Many wild flowers, and even spotted some Colobus monkeys (which I dubbed Skunkeys for obvious reasons). Though our group had to wait a couple of hours for everyone to arrive to the gate, it gave us a chance to play the cards that I had brought and it was fun to shoot the shit for a bit.
All in all, it was an absolutely incredible experience that I want to keep with me forever. So here we are, a blog post for the ages.
The (main) Team
CEOs: Reagan, David, Kesta, Selena
GFighters : Chevy, Eric, Kevin, Moses, Rasheed
Swahili Words
Jambo: hello
Mambo: how’s it going?
Poa poa: Cool, cool
Poa Kichizi Kama Ndizi: Cool like a banana
Hakuna matata: no worries
Asante sana: thank you very much
Karibu sana: you’re welcome
Pole pole: slowly
Lala salama: sleep well/good night
Parachichi: avocado
Twende: Let’s go
Sawa Sawa: Okay, okay
*missing details will be updated at a later date
