How long did it take you to climb Mt Kilimanjaro?
We decided to hike the Machame-Mweka Route because it was advertised as being more difficult than the 
Marangu route. The Machame trail starts on the south-western side of Mt Kilimanjaro and winds around the mountain, approaching the summit from the east. The trail took us through lush lowland forests and dry and dusty mountain desert, over barren rocky slopes, to a summit with glaciers.
The day before we left for our climb, we had lunch with a young couple from Sweden. They had just completed the Machame Route in six days. After hearing about their exhausting summit/descent day, we were relieved that our trip was seven days long. The extra day provided more time for rest (hooray!) and acclimatization.
The distance we hiked most days was not very far. Not matter what, though, our pace was always “pole, pole” (slowly, slowly). We wanted to acclimate properly so we didn’t die on the summit attempt. No sense in speeding up the mountain, only to spend the summit climb feeling like crap. I really had to reign in my inner border collie – anyone who has run or cycled with me knows I chase figures in the distance, even if I have no chance of catching them. I combatted this mental illness by staying at, or near, the back of the pack.
I was allowed to unleash the border collie on the way down from the summit. I literally flew down the mountain, riding the loose dirt and scree almost to the Barafu camp. It was so much fun. I’m fairly sure I alarmed Robert, our soft-spoken Tanzanian guide, with all my whoopin’ and a-hollerin’. I don’t imagine he sees too many crazy blonde ladies in his part of the world.
How many people were in your group?
There were eight people in our group. I came with Tom and Greg and we met Robin, Graciela, Klemens, Mickey, and Jane. We were so very lucky to have such great people in our group, especially since we were stuck with them for seven challenging days.
Robin, the youngster, hails from Arkansas, where she works as a graveyard manager at Walmart. Despite her small stature, it was quickly apparent to us that she was as tough as nails. Her personality was as fiery as her beautiful red hair. I loved her spirit of adventure, her dry wit, and willingness to share her Snickers.
Jane was the oldest in our group but she hiked like a billy goat. I have never followed someone so sure footed before and it was a challenge to follow her steps up and down rocky slopes. She was as quiet as one would expect a librarian to be, but my conversations with her revealed a very interesting person. I could totally visualize her riding the horse she bought once she retired just because she had always wanted one. I was impressed by her and Robin, both single women who made this challenging trip alone to answer the call of adventure.
I’m not even sure I can write about Mickey without endangering national security. Suffice it to say, he was some kind of bionic man, possibly built by our military. An American Ninja, who protects our nation both here and abroad. He consistently had the best pulse oximeter readings: super low pulse and super high oxygen saturation. He laughed in the face of high altitude. The secret about Mickey: his rock hard body contained a huge heart. He was always the first to offer help to anyone in the group.
Graciela and Klemens were the other couple in our group and I found them to be hilarious. They work and live at AP Farm, just outside of New York City. Graciela is the house manager and Klemens is the chef. They have lived in, and traveled to, many places and had so many stories of their adventures to tell. They should write a book. You can get a good feel of Graciela by reading her guest post on our blog. Her claim to fame during the trip was having anything we might need among her belongings. (She even had a hot water bottle!) I have no idea how she met the weight limit on her bag.
Was it cold?
The hike began and ended in soul-sucking heat. Africa is HOT, especially for pink people like Greg and me. After the first day, however, the temperatures began to drop. On day #3, we awoke to ice on our tents at Shira Camp. I was cold, but it was a relief after the unbearable, dry heat of Moshi. (The locals say, “Africa is hot. And, Moshi is hot for Africa.”)
We began our trek to the summit just after midnight (early day #6). It was cold and windy. At the summit, the wind chill dropped temperatures into the negative teens! That is COLD, especially for this California Girl, who thinks anything under 70 degrees is freezing!
I dressed as instructed by our guide, Zach, and I never got cold. Even my feet were warm! Simply amazing and I’m sure it was one reason why I had such a great time summiting.
Top layers: Patagonia Capilene 1 shirt, Patagonia Capilene 2 zip shirt, Patagonia Capilene 4 zip shirt, (Graciela’s) Arcteryx jacket, Mountain Hardwear down parka. Bottom layers: Patagonia Capilene 4 base layer, Sport Hill 3SP wind pants, Patagonia Puff Pants. Other: wool beanie, buff, two pairs of gloves (thinner liner inside big ol’ gloves), the heaviest Smart Wool socks over Injini liner socks, gaiters.
I may have looked like the Stay Puft man, but I was comfortable.
Did you set up your own tent?
No, thank goodness. It was bad enough just sleeping in a tent, let alone having to put one up. We had 25 porters assigned to our hiking group of 8 people. The porters set up and broke down camp every day. They lugged our heavy equipment up and down Mt Kilimanjaro, often carrying items on their back and heads! It was a sight to see.
At Barafu Camp, as we waited for it to be midnight to start the summit trek, we rested in our tent. Outside, the wind was howling but our tent held strong against the unrelenting buffeting. Now, had I been responsible for putting up my own tent, I would have been blown right back down to the Machame Gate, much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but without the cute dog. Thank goodness for those wonderful porters.
What did you eat?
We had a very talented chef, who somehow cooked for everyone with a single hot plate. It was magic, really. We burned a ton of calories every day, but I was never hungry for dinner. I usually ate a plate of plain rice and a bowl of vegetarian soup, despite the offerings of spicy vegetable sauces and platters of chicken. By breakfast, however, I was starving and usually stuffed my face with whatever carb offering they had. My favorite was red millet gruel with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar. We also had a wide variety of fresh fruit to choose from: bananas, strawberries, mangos, and pineapple.
The variety of dishes we were served was impressive. One night, we even had french fries. They were soooo good. That might have been the night that others in the group learned that I can kill with my thumbs.
We drank water, water, and more water. I even drank hot water with dinner, because I didn’t want the caffeine from tea. In the morning, I drank a few cups of hot tea to get my motor revving.
I brought quite a bit of food from home but only ate a few bars and chews. The best thing I had was the Snickers bar Robin gave me as a reward for not falling to my death from the Barranco Wall. It had the taste of victory!
You camped????
I think I was so focused on how I was going to have a successful climb up the mountain that I never really thought about what camping for six nights would mean. I haven’t camped since I was in Girl Scouts and this trip was a big reminder why.
I set out so naively, in my clean clothes, with my clean hair and skin. It wasn’t long until I adopted the same “whatever” attitude everyone else had. I couldn’t fight the dirt and smells, and eventually I just stopped trying.
And, having to pee in a bottle in the tent to avoid stumbling around outside in the cold darkness? Nothing really needs to be said about that awful chore, but Greg summed it up quite well in another blog post.
Was it hard?
While anticipating this trip, I thought for sure that climbing Mt Kilimanjaro would be the hardest thing I’d ever done. Yet, while it was a challenge, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Some of that was due to the training we did prior to the climb, but most of it was due to how carefully we were acclimated by our guides. I know attempting to summit with altitude sickness would have made this challenge much tougher.
What will you always remember about this climb?
This was a question I asked the people I spoke to before my trip who had already climbed Mt Kilimanjaro. They all answered in a similar way: “the cold!”. It was certainly cold but two memories will always jump to the front of my mind when asked what I remember about the trip. The first memory is that of Greg’s emotional response to summiting once we safely made it back to Barafu. The second memory is that of one of the porters (Rajaman) singing the “Jambo, Jambo Bwana” song with me when he dropped off the hot water bowl before dinner. Each time, we would sing and do a little dance together and his huge smile always made me feel so happy.
It was THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME and I’m so thankful I was able to share it with the love of my life, Greg, and good friend, Tom. Life is good!
