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Mt. Kilimanjaro | |
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After having climbed 5-6 thousand meter mountains
in both the Himalayas and the Andes, I made my next target conquering
Kilimanjaro. Uhuru Peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro's highest summit is the highest point
in Africa and Kilimanjaro is the world's tallest free standing mountain.
Another reason Kilimanjaro is so popular is that it is not technically a
difficult climb, there are several different paths you can take to the top and
several of which avoid the ice crevasses and steepest inclines. The real
dangers are not the climb itself but the weather and the altitude.
There are three main routes one can take up to Uhuru Peak. The easiest way up Kilimanjaro is the "coca-cola route" Marangu. This normally takes five days / four nights. I opted for the slightly more difficult Machame route, dubbed the "whiskey route". The benefits are that it's known to be more scenic, and more importantly, it also requires six days / five nights - giving the climber an extra day of acclimatization. The third route is the Umbwe route which does require some rope work and crampons and should be challenged by experienced mountain climbers only. Kilimanjaro is an excellent hike because it takes you through a vast array of terrain in a very short period of time. The first day or two you trek through farmland and into the dense rainforest mysterious rainforest. The next couple of days are spent above the low clouds of the rainforest and into the mountain steppe terrain, before reaching the dry, arid moon surface landscape that leads up to Uhuru peak. You get to do it all over again on your way back down, albeit a different path. Throughout the entire journey, there are captivating, breathtaking scenes and the walk never becomes too exhausting. That is of course, until the final push on gruesome day 6! |
| Day 1 - Arusha - Machame Gate (1,800m.) -
Machame Huts (3,000m.) I was picked up by my tour group, Shidolya tours from the Colobus Mountain Lodge outside Arusha and driven to the Kilimanjaro National Park where I met up with my team. I had one guide, a cook, and two porters. At first I felt a little embarrassed about having such a huge entourage for being a one man party but in the end I could see why it was necessary. Day 1 was surprisingly actually quite strenuous as we walked for a good 6 or 7 hours through a scenic dense rainforest up to the Machame huts at 3,000 m. Day 2 - Machame Huts - Shira Hut (3,840m.) Day 2 was actually quite a breeze compared to the previous day as the walking time was considerably less. We came out of the rainforest and above the clouds to the Shira camp. The walk only took about 5 hours. I got my first glimpse of the Kilimanjaro peak from Shira in the morning as a reminder of the daunting task ahead. |
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Above: The nearby Mt. Meru is Tanzania's 2nd
highest mountain at 4,566 meters. It is visible on several parts of the
Kilimanjaro treck. Day 3: Shira Hut - Barranco Hut (3,950m.) This was one of the most scenic days yet a little more tiring than the previous days walk. We hiked up from the Shira campsite to about 4,000 meters, at the base of the Lava Tower. Along the way there were some spectacular views of nearby Mt. Meru, Tanzania's 2nd largest mountain (although I'm not sure, this might have actually been day 4 - my memories a little jaded). We then descended through a picturesque valley before coming up to the Barranco Hut campsite. The re-ascent was quite tiring and for some reason the altitude began to affect not just myself but other hikers. I saw a couple of people getting quite sick here. The Barranco Hut did offer some spectacular views of the cloud covered view below, as you can see from the photos below. Left & below: Watching the sunset and basking in the view from the Barranco Hut campsite was one of Kilimanjaro's many gems. |
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| Day 4: Barranco Hut - Barafu Hut
(4,600m.) Day 4 is best described as the calm before the storm. We started walking a steep incline out of the Barranco Valley, out of the mountain meadows and into the rocky desert land that is found at altitudes beyond 4,000 meters. We arrived at the campsite of Barafu Hut quite early in the afternoon. There was good reason for this. The plan was to try and get to sleep by 6-7 pm and wake up just before midnight for the final push up to Uhuru Peak. Barafu Hut offers some stunning views across the Kilimanjaro Saddle of Uhuru's twin peak, Hans Meyer Peak on the Mawenzi cone. Keeping yourself warm is a major issue at Barafu Campsite as temperatures can reach -20 degrees Celsius at night. I put on just about everything I had in my bag but got lucky as there was it was not a windy night. Below: I think my cook put one of these in my stew one night. Below right: The view from Barafu Hut... a fellow trekker poses in front of the Mawenzi Cone, Kilimanjaro's second highest summit after Uhuru. |
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Day 5: Barafu Hut - Uhuru Peak
(5,895m.) - Mweke Hut (3,100m.) To say that this was the most difficult day of the hike would be the understatement of the century.... this was the most physically strenuous days of my life!!!! I got up at 10:45 pm as planned and we began our steep ascent to Stella Point at the edge of Kibo Crater. Only my guide and I made the final part of the journey as the other three opted to stay back at the camp. We started off fine. It was neither dramatically windy nor cold and we were the first ones out of the camp. As I said earlier though, Kilimanjaro is not necessarily a technically difficult climb - it's all how you handle altitude. And this was my nemesis, I knew from my previous experiences in the Himalayas and Huyana Potosi in Bolivia that I don't handle altitude that well. Things were going fine until we reached about 5,300 m. I don't know if it's my asthma or what but basically I just couldn't breathe and eventually other hikers began to pass us. Fortunately I had an excellent guide who was committed to making sure we made it so I struggled my way up to Stella Point and then along the rim of Kibo Crater to Uhuru Peak - Africa's highest point at 5,896 meters. I must admit I felt like kissing the ground when we reached the "you have reached Uhuru Peak" sign but I was so out of breath I just sort of stood there and grinned. The views from here of the ice glaciers below were breathtaking. I just wish I had been in a slightly more cognizant mental state to have taken more photos but as it was I was absolutely exhausted and out of breath. (Day 5 continued below) |
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(Day 5 continued) .... The descent down was also exhausting. It was broad daylight and warmer and as we descended, the altitude became less and less of a factor. Still, the pressure on the leg muscles was quite intense and we got back to Barafu Hut in the late morning. My guide then gave me the news that we had to walk another 3 hours down to the Mweka Hut campsite. Wasn't much I could do, so after about half an hours rest we descended. Day 6: Mweka Hut - Mweka Village (1,700m.) - Arusha Mweka Campsite was located just about the above the rainforest terrain at about 3,100 meters and made a nice little stop on our way down. From the campsite, there were excellent views of snowcapped Kilimanjaro rising just above the forest trees. The last leg of the journey was an easy hike down through the rainforest canopy to the Mweka Wildlife Park where I was awarded with my certificate. There's no better way than to celebrate climbing Kilimanjaro than with a Kilimanjaro... a Kilimanjaro beer that is! Actually my group and I had a well deserved couple of Kilimanjaros before driving back to Arusha. |
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