Kilimanjaro

There was no way to post a day by day account of the climb while we were actually on the mountain. What follows are my recollections almost four weeks after the event (edited by Sue). I have separated the trek into daily summaries so ‘Day 1″ was actually the 8th of February.

The nine member team was Sue and I together with two of her sisters (Claire and Sarah) and their husbands (Jonathan and Steve), a friend of mine from work (Fatheya) with her brother (Ibrahim) and maid (Lolly).

Day 1

We met our guides, ‘Little’ Chunga and Freddie, at the Weru Weru Lodge, near Moshi. They would be instrumental in getting us to the top of Kilimanjaro. It takes two of them plus a team of about 27 porters to get nine of us up the mountain.

From the lodge we travelled to the Londorossi National Park Gate, on the western side of Kilimanjaro, for registration. Then from the apparent chaos that was the organisation of porters and their loads we continued to the Lemosho Roadhead, the starting point for our eight-day climb.

We then walked for about two hours to get to the start of the walk at 2100m! From here it was an enjoyable, if often very steep trek through unspoilt rainforest to arrive at Big Tree Camp at 2780m.

Day 2

A spectacular thunderstorm meant a damp night at Big Tree Camp but after the wet start, we were rewarded with a beautiful afternoon. The day saw us emerge from the rainforest into moorland and cross the high desert plateau of the Shira Caldera to Shira One camp.

Perhaps inspired by a clear view of the mountain, the porters treated us to their repertoire of Kilimanjaro songs.

Day 3

Another wet night was followed by a wet morning’s tramp across the Shira Plateau. A steady climb took us from moorland to the upland desert beneath the Lent Hills. The promised panoramic views were mostly lost in the low cloud.

We arrived at Moir Hut camp (4175m) just before a short-lived but vicious wind brought a blizzard biting into our skin and coating the camp in snow. However, it would take more than a freezing blizzard to prevent our guides following the plan to take us on an acclimatisation walk! It was simply delayed. The lower part of the Lent Hills gave us an extra 200m of altitude which, we were told, was good for us!

Day 4

A grey morning soon turned into clear, bright day as we made a gentle ascent (all things are relative) past the glaciers of the Western Breach. We enjoyed beautiful views across a snow-covered landscape as we walked to Lava Tower Camp at 4640 m. Another acclimatisation walk took us up a further 200m to the foot of the Arrow Glacier. We were rewarded with stunning views of the hanging glaciers and back towards Lava Tower and our camp.

Day 5

We were all pleased to leave Lava Camp. The altitude had given everyone headaches and nausea and the drop to 3940m was enough to make a difference.

Fatheya was carried off the mountain the previous evening, totally exhausted. Ibrahim accompanied her and Lolly joined them both in the morning. So we were down to a team of six.

An early morning descent took us into the Barranco Valley with its spectacular scenery and bizarre vegetation. However, on this trek, a descent was simply the prelude to an ascent. It was time to make the 90 minute climb up the Barranco Wall. This is the only part of the trek that requires some scrambling. It was something that we all enjoyed as it gave fabulous views back along the valley through which we had just come.

The Barranco Wall includes the famous ‘Kissing Rock’ where the ledge is so narrow climbers are forced to hug the rock as they inch past. It seemed to pose little challenge for the porters though.

After a short lunch break at the top of Barranco Wall we headed down again past stunning lava features to the mountain streams below. Naturally, that meant another climb to reach Karanga Hut Camp at the top of the other side of the valley.

This was the day that we all recalled as being the most interesting  and enjoyable. It also led to what would be our last full night’s sleep before the final ascent.

Day 6

A good night’s sleep without headaches, a lie-in until 8am, together with early morning sunshine, had everyone feeling good.

A relatively short but steep climb took us from Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp (base camp) at 4640m. From here, as we had obviously not been punished enough, a further acclimatisation walk was thought to be a good idea (our guides were proving to have sadistic tendencies). However, it gave us a good look at the path we would take to the summit that night as well as the rock climbing that would precede it.

It was then back to bed to rest before our 10.30 pm start.

Day 7

We left camp at about 10.30pm with strict instructions from Chunga and Freddie not to ask “Are we there yet?” for at least six hours. About 100 hours later we finally arrived at Stella Point (the ‘first’ summit at 5750m) on the crater rim.

The beautiful moonlit night had been largely unappreciated as each of us focused on the boots of the person in front. Sadly, the much-anticipated sunrise over Mount Mawenzi disappeared as the wind picked up, clouds closed in and snow drove into our already freezing bodies. The white-out conditions meant that we did not even stop for photos at Stella Point.

All that was left was an hour long slog along the crater rim to the summit, Uhuru Peak at 5895m. Out of breath most of the time we had glimpses of the summit glaciers but none of the amazing views that we had hoped for. We did manage to get the obligatory group photo in front of the summit sign and the sisters had a Valentines Day that they would never forget.

Then we had to come down. Nothing could have prepared us for the brutal, four hour, slip, slide and march through ice, snow, slush, mud and scree which was every bit as hard as the climb. We eventually collapsed into our tents at around midday for two hour’s sleep before a further knee-jarring four hour descent to Millennium Camp at 3790m.

Day 8

The last day was another body-challenging, five-hour descent. Our increasingly tired knees took a hammering. However, the beautiful rainforest, allowed pleasant distraction from the pain.

Our final destination was Mweka Gate (1630m) where a well-earned Kilimanjaro beer awaited us.