We woke up bright and early to travel the 2 hours to the start of the Machame Route. Our guide was fantastic - Stanley - and we quickly were learning Swahili and singing songs along the route with the echo of Pole, pole (pole eh, pole eh - slowly, slowly) resounding every couple of minutes. That is probably one of the hardest things to learn on our trip, to take slow and deliberate steps, that felt more like a jaunt in the park then a climb up the highest climbable peak in the world without assistance! We were headed for the roof of Africa and the slowly, slowly let us acclimatize and really experience the journey along the way! All in all this was the hardest, most challenging yet exhilarating task we have ever undertaken in our lives, ever second was worth it.
Day One
The first day we climbed through rainforest from the park entrance, a slow steady climb, with a few downhill bits but mostly uphill. The forest was pretty quiet not too many animals or birds, just trees and vines and a few flowers. We hiked for about 4-5 hours to our first camp with a glimpse of the peak just before dinner. Our tent was just out of the rain forest zone and into the first of the Alpine zones. We had 8 porters, a cook and a guide! You wouldn't believe it to see these guys booting it up the mountain with packs on their backs and huge bags, packs etc carried on their head and necks! The park is really good about ensuring that porters are not abused and they can only carry 25 kg's at a time, however, they really are incredible . Our first meal was a gourmet meal of soup - the guide was constantly telling us to eat more and your polite no thank you's are met with another ladle full of soup. After that filling first course, we had a huge helping of potatoes, vegetables and fried fish, followed by our dessert - fresh fruit. Each meal was like this 3 courses and eat, eat, eat to give us the energy for the day. We camped at 3000m.
Day 2
We awoke to a beautiful day and a huge breakfast, 3 bowls of porridge and then eggs, sausage(aka hotdog) and toast and fresh fruit. Today was a steady climb much steeper than the day before with some scrambling over boulders, the last bit was very steep taking us into the heather zone with views of the 3 peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro - the Shira peak, Kibo peak and Mwenzie Peak. We were headed for the top of Kibo! We climbed to an altitude of 3940m and then dropped back down to 3840m to set up camp at Shira Camp. There are no longer trees but low lying shrubs and flowers. The scenery was incredible and we sat out in the afternoon sun and watched the clouds roll in after our 4 hour hike to camp. It is definitely colder and we broke out the tuques once the sun started to set.
Day 3
The views of Kibo were incredible this morning and we started out on a steady uphill climb toward the Lava rock which sits at 4600m. It is a fantastic rock formation that formed after the volcano exploded and a great spot to have lunch. We pulled out the long johns for today's hike. The hike and the sun warmed us up but as soon as we stopped moving the chill would set in and on went the layers. We were doing fantastic and hiked for 4 hours back down to Baranco camp, feeling like a million dollars until the last stretch uphill at the end, when the altitude effects started to be felt. Camp was back down at 3940m so a good place to acclimatize. The landscape was different yet again with very low lying shrubs and some flowers, loads of rocks and boulders.
Day 4
Today was a fantastic day of hiking. We had very steep ascents with loads of scrambling and bouldering. Looking for hand and foots holds and hauling ourselves onto the next rock face and through cracks. We followed the path along the ridge line at 4200 m then back down again into the alpine desert zone and up to another steep ridge with a steady uphill climb to Karanga camp at 4040m. Nights were much colder now, but the clouds parted in the middle of the night and there was a spectacular view of the peak.
Day 5
Today we headed to Barfu Camp at 4600m. It was a steep gradual climb to the ridge at 4400 m, then we dropped down in to the valley with lots of loosed slate and then another long, steep hike up to camp with some scrambling along the way. This campsite was incredible, our tent was meters from the edge of a cliff with Mwenzie peak facing us. The sites were set amid huge boulders with a ridge line behind our tent, Kibo peak in front and Mwenzie peak across with a huge valley in between. The guys are fantastic and we learned lots of Swahili. We spent most of our time resting for the big summit. To bed right after dinner to eagerly await 11pm.
Day 6
Really it was still Day 5, we woke up at 11pm and got ready to summit, long johns, tuques, ,mitts and headlamps all ready for the big trek up. We had a quick cup of tea and started our hike around midnight. It was like a pilgrimage ( or field of dreams - if you build it they will come). A slow snaking line of headlights heading up the mountain, our guide was humming and singing Tanzanian songs as we climbed over slate rock and then started scrambling over rocks and boulders to the first ridge. Then we headed into the shale, one step forward and slide 2 inches backwards. We started out warm enough with our many layers and as we climbed higher and higher the winds rose and cold whipped at us. Two or three lights were above us on the mountain so we kept focusing on them with only one or two quick breaks along the way. It was all uphill climb and the air was definitely feeling thinner. Halfway up our camelbacks froze. We finally made it to the top, we just had to keep thinking one foot in front of the other and stop focusing on how tired we were and how much we wanted our warm sleeping bags. When we crested the top our guides started celebrating and the wind was whipping. We had a warm cup of tea, put on the rain pants to block some of the wind, only our eyes were exposed now and we headed to Uhuru peak. It took us 6 hours to reach the peak at 5896m and with the wind chill it was about -20. We waited until the sunrise started and watched as the glaciers all around us were illuminated. It was incredible. We started our 2-3 hr descent at about 645am. The way down was incredible with spectacular views. It was amazing we had hiked up through such incredible scenery and had no idea. When we got back to camp everyone was cheering and we had a quick drink before crashing into our sleeping bags for a quick 2 hrs nap before our 4 hr descent to Mweka camp at 3100m.
Day 7
Today was our last day on Kili. We descended down to the Mweka gate through the rainforest, with monkeys calling from the sides of the paths. It was an incredible feeling to reach the gate and get our certificates for summitting Mount Kilimanjaro. We aren't sure how many people made it to the top the day we summitted but it was far fewer than the lights that started the trail up. Between sleep deprivation, cold and sheer exhaustion we made it to the top and that is the most exhillerating feeling of all, mind over matter.
Here are the pics! Too many to insert in so check out the link!
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm106/cyndijones22/Mount%20Kilimanjaro/?albumview=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click
