Climbing Kili

Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, and the highest mountain you can climb without specialist equipment – 5895 m above sea level.

“Kili” means BIG in Swahili. “Manjaro” means WOW!

“Let’s climb it!” I said while still in Australia. My mate Dave agreed instantly, Des took longer to convince.

What was I thinking? It turned out to be the hardest endeavour I have ever undertaken.

Dave and his friend Kath arrived in Africa two days before the climb. We drove from Nairobi into Tanzania and spent the night before the climb in a motel in Arusha.

The expedition consisted of us 4 walkers, three guides, a cook, a cook’s helper and 12 porters. We will start at a height of 1650 metres and walk over 50 kilometres including a vertical rise of 4245 metres.

East African organisation meant that our climb did not start until 5:00 pm on day one – a two hour walk up many steps, through a very green montane forest.

Day two consisted of a 5 hour walk; up, down, up, down. The technique is to walk to a higher altitude but sleep at a lower altitude. This aids with acclimatisation. Without this you can experience headaches, nausea and even crazy behaviour which may be life threatening. We eventually left the forest and walked through heath land.

Day three, a gentler walk. Six hours, but mostly across the Shira Plateau, except for one or two steep sections. Still lots of heath plus proteas and everlasting daisies.

Day four – a long day, lots of up and down. Surprisingly, our camps are still hovering around the 3500 metre mark. Des is violently ill and doubting her ability to continue. Nausea had led to many bouts of vomiting. Out came the altitude & anti-nausea tablets, and the hydralyte. In some sections strange cactus-like trees dominated the landscape.

Day five was only a 3-4 hour walk but steeper than I had anticipated. Our camp site was still below 4000 metres and I was still wondering how the higher altitudes would affect us. Des is much better today, no sickness and a positive attitude. I am very proud of her.

Day six, a five hour walk, steep at the end. This day also brought hail and snow. We were approaching 4500 metres above sea level and it was getting very cold. 

The landscape is now mountain moraine with very few bushes and shrubs. We reach our camp at 1 pm, have lunch and then rest. Dinner is early as we must be up and ready to start walking at midnight.

Day seven – the summit attempt. Up at 11:30 pm. A cup of tea and a few biscuits then off up the mountain, with all of the layers of clothes that we possessed and a headlight to show the way. We weren’t told this, but over the next seven hours we would walk ten kilometres and rise over 1300 metres in altitude. The temperatures would drop to minus ten degrees, and there would be a solid katabatic wind racing down the mountain side. Stopping was necessary to rest, but too long a stop would chill your body to the bones.

All of us wondered when the top would finally come into view. As we walked, other groups could be seen snaking up the mountain with only their headlights visible against the blackness. We were all facing the possibility of altitude sickness, but thanks to our great guides, this did not occur.

The summit, at 5895 metres was truly amazing, not least because you think of the exertion needed to reach it. On a fine day the view is expansive, however we looked down onto a sea of cloud. It was just as remarkable, and very strange to look up to blue sky and down to cloud. The four of us had conquered the mountain.

After photos and a cup of hot chocolate we headed back down; another ten kilometres but all downhill, with more and more oxygen with each step. Five hours later we are back at camp. Lunch, a two hour sleep and then a two hour walk to a campsite further down the mountain. This left us a six hour walk to the exit gate the next day. Six and a half days to summit, only one and a half days to walk back down! Although the lower altitudes were welcomed, different muscles are used walking down, and our swollen feet were pushing hard into the front of our boots.

Our guides took us out to lunch and then dropped us back to our hotel in Arusha. 

That first shower was the best thing I have ever experienced.

Would we do it again? No, not in a million years.

Were we happy with our achievement? Definitely.

(Hopefully there will be a calendar coming out in January. Any profits will go to a good cause in Western Kenya. Please buy one).