The Roof of Africa

50 feet in front of us I could see a cluster of LED headlamps, only now they weren’t steadily moving forward in a row; they were excitedly moving in random directions.  Next I saw the flash of a camera, and it was then that I knew we had almost made it.  The sun had not yet risen, but the colour had started to emanate from the horizon.  We stumbled 20 feet closer and as I looked to my left at Di she started to cry.  A few more steps and Andrea’s eyes began to water, and finally the tears started to well up in my eyes as we approached the sign.  There it was in front of us: “Congratulations You Are Now At Uhuru Peak, Tanzania, 5895 m”.  At 6:10 am, we made it to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa.

7 days earlier Andrea came to meet us so that we could climb the highest peak on the continent.  The next morning we were assembled at our hotel with our fellow climbers.  There were 12 in total and we would all be attempting to summit through the Machame route; one that took 6 days or more and was known to be the most scenic.  There was a girl from Kazakhstan who would be Andrea’s tent mate, a couple of economists from Yale (one with a PhD and the other one with a masters), a young medical doctor studying in the UK (who said he would be the first person from his home country of Mauritius to summit if he made it), a French couple who had met and lived in Shanghai (fluent in Mandarin) and were on their honeymoon, and 3 Americans, one who worked for Oprah and was in Tanzania for a month volunteering, one who was a marathon runner and another who was a web guy.  With this group we set out to conquer the tallest mountain in Africa.

The first day was fairly easy, although it was a muddy 6 hour hike through the misty rainforest and since we were amidst the clouds the entire time it was rather muggy.  That night Di reached a brand new milestone; it was her first time to ever sleep in a tent!  The next day we managed to break the clouds and get our first peek at the summit and the famous residual snows atop Kilimanjaro.  The third day we maxed out at an altitude of 4630m to facilitate our acclimatization before descending back to 3950m to camp for the night.  Some members of the group started to feel signs of altitude sickness, mainly in the form of throbbing headaches.  Fortunately the 3 of us were still feeling fine.  As we ventured higher, the landscape underwent a gradual change into a semi desert which was quite striking.  The fourth day was where things started to get interesting as 8 of us continued on while the remaining 4 stayed back to acclimatize for an extra day.  We underwent a steep climb up the Barranco Wall early in the morning   and about 6 hours later we arrived at the base camp at 4550m.  Heading up the Wall gave us the opportunity to witness the magnificent spectacle of the landscape beyond the clouds.  The sun was radiating and we were all in awe of how gorgeous the view was.  We rested for a couple of hours before having dinner, after which we went back to bed for another couple hours in preparation for our summit attempt which would begin at midnight.

At 11:30 pm we had our preparatory meal of chocolate biscuits and hot tea.  All the girls had headaches and slight fevers, and though I wasn’t feeling great I was definitely in better shape.  We put on all the layers we had and at exactly midnight everyone assembled outside.  We had our exceptional guides Festo and Meshuko give us (Di, Andrea, the Kazakh and I) a final briefing and motivational high fives, and then off we went.  As we started our ascent there was a continuous line of at least 50 headlamps slowly snaking its way up the mountain.  Over time the gap between the headlamps increased as the slower groups started to falter and the faster ones broke away from the pack.  By around 3 in the morning, the climb became exceptionally strenuous; each step up the steep slope required more and more effort as the air became extremely cold and thin.  Even sipping water for a span of 2 seconds required 5 seconds of heavy breathing just to recuperate.  At one point the guide told us to glance at the moon and the night sky was unlike anything I had ever seen.  The sliver of a warm yellow glow of a crescent resembled a smiley face and it was surrounded by millions of stars.  They appeared so close in proximity to us that I imagined if I had a butterfly net I could just take a swing and capture a star.  I really wanted to take a photograph but getting the camera out would have been far too demanding, so I did my best to take a mental imprint before I dropped my eyesight back to the ground to watch my feet slowly inch forward in a zombie-like state.  At 5 in the morning we finally made it to Stella point (5685m) where we were given some warm sweet tea carried in a thermos by one of the guides.  After a short rest we made our final one hour push towards the peak, walking on the summit glacier.  At this stage most of us could barely walk in a straight line as the altitude was disturbing our equilibrium.  Every few minutes I was feeling the need to throw-up and the guide wanted me to down a Red Bull to induce vomiting, which was theoretically supposed to make me feel better.  It’s interesting how Kili guides and bartenders both agree that Red Bull stimulates puking.  I was certain I didn’t want to go that route and just kept pushing on.  After an hour of what seemed like drunken stumbling in the cold while gasping for air, we made it to the summit!  We were one of the first groups there and the experience was truly indescribable.  It was such an exhausting journey that to finally reach the top was exhilarating and emotionally overwhelming.  We were all overcome with happiness and relief that we had finally arrived.  I can fully admit that it was for all of us (not just us 3 but every single person we talked to) the most physically challenging thing we had ever done.  After 20 minutes of enjoying our accomplishment we started our 23 km descent to a camp located at 3100m.  As we descended we were able to watch one of the most magnificent sunrises of our lives.  Unfortunately the rising sun also let us see the other climbers who were still on the ascent.  Some were vomiting everywhere; others looked as though their eyes were in the backs of their heads as their guides basically carried them up.  It was not a pretty sight (though I’m sure we weren’t so pretty either, especially with our constantly running noses).  By the time it was the late afternoon, we reached our last campsite with tired knees, burning thighs and exhausted calves.  We had been hiking for a total of 14 hours with only a slight break in-between to grab some lunch.  However, the return to normal oxygen levels gave our brains enough energy to allow us to soak in what we had done.

We had made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  All 3 of us had made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  The victory would not have been as complete if even 1 of us didn’t summit.  Being up there has been the most memorable experience on this trip so far; and there are no 2 girls I would have rather shared it with than Di and Andrea.  Andrea was always at the front of the group plugging along, never asking for a break and constantly encouraging us.  And Kili was Di’s first real camping/hiking trip, how many can claim that?  Obviously I’m unbelievably proud of them.  Now, who’s up for Everest?