As part of my plans for the summer, I decided to go on a trip with some ski club friends to climb Kilimanjaro. I figured this could be a great trip while living in Europe as a group of friends had already finished most of the planning, it fit with my schedule, and I was in good physical fitness based on the amount of running I regularly do for marathon training. Kilimanjaro is a single mountain that is freestanding rather than part of a range as you would see in the Alps or the Rockies.
In retrospect, I severely underestimated the physical requirements of the hike. Leading up to the trip, I didn't do much preparation other than my typical running and then in the final week I had a bit of a scramble to get to all required vaccinations and medications (in French) and order/receive hiking boots the day before I flew to Tanzania; luckily, most of the other gear was the same that I would need for skiing. This was my 2nd trip to Africa (following Morocco in Fall 2015) and Tanzania was substantially different than Morocco.
Our tour was organized through Trekili; I was very impressed by our tour group as all of the staff was very helpful and knew what it would take to get us up the mountain by keeping a slow pace, monitoring our vital signs twice daily (Oxygen and Beats per Minute), and working altitude acclimatization into our daily hiking routine as much as possible. We had 2 guides (Matthew and Stephen), 1 cook, 23 porters for 5 hikers; may have been slight overkill! Every day we received 3 massive meals, were greeted with morning tea/coffee in our tents, had a tea time snack around 4p, and had a full bathroom that was set up at each camp; we never could finish all the food! We were by no means a low maintenance group if you read on through my daily summaries. Once we determined on day 4 that we could all stomach french toast, it somehow found its way into all of our meals.
Another interesting fact about one of our guides is he was hired by a runner to plot the course to run up/down Kilimanjaro that set the women's record (approx. 13 hours) earlier this year and he accompanied the run down.
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| Matthew (Guide) and Team |
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| Stephen (Guide) appearing out of nowhere along the path; he did this often |
During our trip, we became known as 'the Dreamer' team from our tour group; I'm attributing this to our likelihood of summiting or something was getting lost in translation from Swahili.
Getting to Tanzania
I took the 7:15a flight from GVA to Kilimanjaro airport (through AMS) and arrived late the night prior to our trip; this was the longest trip without crossing the ocean I have taken. When first arriving, I was a bit lost trying to find my airport pickup that ended up being a sign that said Mike and no other indication of tour company so I tracked my progress through GPS on my phone to make sure this was the right ride; other than that the flight in went well. Immediately the following morning, we started the transportation to the gate and the first day's hike;
Day 1 - Arusha to Mt. Mkubwa Camp
We started our day with a 2 hour drive from Arusha to register at the park gate and then began with a 3 hour hike through the mountain forest to our camp for the night. On the hike, there were monkeys and many ferns, mosses, and tree coverage. When reaching camp, we were greeted with a large dinner in the mess tent; the food on the trip was very good and better than I would likely eat while living in Geneva as I was often stressed to eat as much as possible in order to ensure I would have enough energy since I assumed there would be a point of the trip where nothing would be appetizing or I may succumb to the altitude sickness. Following dinner, our vitals were taken (also taken each morning) and this became a routine each day of the trip; during this process, our BPM and O2 were taken, we were asked how we felt on a scale from 1-10, and how much water we had drank during the prior day (recommended 4L - 5L). Each time vitals were taken, I think my heart would beat about 10 beats faster due to nervousness. First day felt great so there were no surprises between any of the group members. One major consequence of the recommended amount water to drink and the combination of altitude medication (Diamox) was the need to use the restroom often; typically this would not be an issue, but getting up 4-5 times a night when it's below 0 C is dreadful!
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| Registration Gate.....The Beginning! |
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| Mountain Forest Hiking |
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| Kilimanjaro View from Camp on Day 1 |
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| Team on Day 1 in good spirits and looking warm! |
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| Mess Tent for meals |
Day 2 - Mt. Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp
Following the morning tea and breakfast, we hiked 3 hours until lunch then another 2 hours to the Shira I camp; we crossed from Mountain Forest area to Moreland (Mountain Tundra) and closed the day with Kilimanjaro in the background. During the course of our hike we started in the Mountain Forest area, moved into the Moreland area and will progress through the Semi Desert and Ice Cap areas on the way to the Summit.
As we finished our hiking at 3, we had time to kill after the afternoon tea and played some cards. During our dinner debrief, we were warned to be cautious at night as there are Caped Buffaloes and Hyenas near this camp typically; luckily neither of the two were seen by any members of our group. The following morning, I awoke to find frost on my tent and this became an ongoing theme for the remainder of our trip.
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| Kilimanjaro from Camp |
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| Morning view from the tent |
Day 3 - Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut Camp
During day 3's hike, we hiked 5 hours mostly flat with a slightly uphill climb to the Moir Hut camp. The first half was a little chilly as there was still frost on the ground, but once the sun rises it gets hot! At this point, I'm still feel quite strong as does the rest of the group, but people are starting to struggle with the sun as it was quite intense during the day. For days where's it's sunny, I purchased a safari hat to hike in that was a lifesaver! Hat looked ridiculous, but definitely offered protection and I wasn't the only person wearing one (Matthew our guide). Luckily, I found that I was generally quite prepared on the trip with the gear that I packed as this was a concern when doing my packing the day before the flight; most of my equipment was spread amongst the group during the course of the trip (athletic glasses to Lianne for a day, Turbin/Gaiters/Vaseline to Mandy, and carabiners to clip water bottles to Jill). This night's camp was at 4200 and after lunch team team was to climb to 4600m as an acclimation hike; we had our first bouts of altitude sickness this day as we had one team member unable to do the optional hike and the other threw up twice on the hike so we had to cut it short to 4400m. The acclimation hikes were quite helpful even as people got sick as they prepared the team for the Summit hike that would be a shock to the system as we neared 6km (most skiing is at less than 4km).
We had a scary situation this day as a team member was unable to make the optional hike as she appeared quite incoherent, drained of energy, and had to be given oxygen as her vitals were quite low. Luckily, one of our other team members was a nurse so it was quite helpful to have someone familiar with this situation; in addition, our guides were familiar with these types of situations as I expect this is common for at least one member of each group. Only positive part of this situation was we discovered that the camping crew would boil water and put in our water bottles so that we could then use this to heat our sleeping bags at night; we all did this every night going forward.
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| Mountain Desert |
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| Teamwork! |
Day 4 - Moir Hut Camp to Barranco Camp
The team member that needed oxygen was fine today as her body had acclimated to the altitude surprisingly in just one night and she was able to continue the hike; it's quite amazing what challenges the altitude can present. This day in general took the greatest toll on the group.....
We started the day with a hike to the Lava Cap, which was 4550m and immediately upon reaching the top for lunch, we had one team member get sick in the mess tent and all other team members were a bit woozy/light headed after hiking uphill into the sun (it took us 1:50 to walk 1 mile). After lunch, we hiked downhill to the Barranca camp for the night, which was at 3900m.
At this point of the trip, I've hit my lowest point as I'm was running a light fever (101F), my stomach was a mess, and pretty sure I'm breaking out with an eye infection or pink eye (learned this was just dust after instantly recovering with a shower after the hike); the team in general was having a hard time eating and replenishing energy, and all of our team was showing some sign of dehydration/exhaustion. During dinner, there were even short discussions about people considering backing out and not progressing; I'm pretty sure I would have to be dragged off of the mountain for that to happen.
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| Lava Cap |
Day 5 - Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley Camp
Everyone awoke the following morning and generally felt great; being at a lower altitude helped us all get a goodnight's rest, which seemed was all that we needed. I only awoke once during the night, which was a good alternative to getting up the typical 4-5 times due to Diamox. Each night, we typically are given about 12 hours of sleep possible so I generally found myself eager to jump out of bed and get dressed to start hiking; this never would happen in my normal work life.
The mornings hike was up the Barranco wall, which was difficult climb as it was less 'walking' a trail as we had been accustomed, but scaling a rock wall through switchbacks as the trail was very steep and narrow. This was one of the few places in our entire journey where there were not multiple paths where the porters could pass us so this created an added challenge. Despite the difficulty of the terrain, the group enjoyed this portion of the hike as we welcomed the challenge and the difficulties and this distracted our minds from feel exhausted or looking ahead in dread of the hours of the journey that remained. Upon reaching the top of the wall, the views were gorgeous as one side was Kilimanjaro and the other was a sea of clouds with Mt. Meru peaking through the cloud line that we are now above. Following the wall, we hike through two valleys to our final camp (Karanga = English for Peanut) that is located at 3995m around 3:30pm for the night where we relaxed, had tea, grabbed pictures, and waiting for the next day as it would be the final hiking day to the base camp to our ascent hike, which would begin at midnight. Fun fact is this was the first place where I had phone service so many of you received emails/txt this day.
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| Top of the wall |
Day 6 - Karanga Valley Camp to Barafu Camp (Base Camp)
Hiking on this day was kept to a minimum (3 hours to the base camp) as we had lunch at the base camp and spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing before an early dinner (5) as we would only get a short nap during the night as we went to bed after dinner around 7p and would awake up at 11p to start the summit hike by midnight.
Spirits were high in the group as the camp was at 4.6km and we were feeling great; the last time we were at this elevation was near the lava towers, which was a struggle for the team (see day 4).
Day 7 - Judgment Day - Base Camp to Summitt (Uhuru) to Mweka Camp
I'm pretty sure that I did not sleep at all as we went to bed at 7p, I was nervous in anticipation of the following day's hike while also trying to avoid getting out of bed due to the low temps; I ultimately broke down for a bathroom break at 9p.
The hike was quite challenging as it was basically 7 hours uphill the entire way (4600m to 5875m); the hike had some spectacular views though! As we started the hike it was completely dark other than the stars above and the headlamps of the other hikers on the path; we likely saw 20-30 shooting stars as a group. Much of the hike was like this until we reached the summit at sunrise; this was quite nice for views, but it also helped our team focus on what was immediately ahead rather than getting discouraged at seeing an endless path above.
The last 1.5 hours was very difficult as the air was very thin and it was difficult to catch your breath; we all wanted to kill the guide when he said almost there and then responded that there was 1.5 hours left. It felt like a death march where I would inhale every left step, exhale every right step, while my heart was racing and feeling as if a heart attack was imminent. It was a great accomplishment when our group reached Stella point. From Stella point there was only a short 30 minute hike to the actual summit (Uhura peak) that was much easier.
The summit was quite cold as our hands immediate froze when taking off our gloves and the water bottles froze along the hike; it was nice when the sun rose to add some warmth. I was very impressed by our group as no one got sick and we held an incredible pace that was very consistent! I later learned that we were one of the faster groups on the mountains as we arrived at sunrise.
Our descent down the mountain was the same path and it only took us 1.5 hours and was more so skiing through the sand than actual hiking. We were eager to get down the mountain on our small amount of sleep so that we could grab a nap before needing to continue our hike to the next camp.
When reaching the camp, we were all drained and napped before we started the 3 hour hike to our camp for the night. We later found out that our other team member who did not attempt the summit was taken by mobile stretcher to the final camp. The path was not the easiest as it was full of rocks and not smooth so this would have been quite the site to see; the stretchers have a single wheel underneath and cannot be comfortable.
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| Mountain stretcher; looks comfortable? |
For dinner that night, the cook made us a typical Tanzanian stew of beer, carrots, onions, and plantains that was quite tasty; he also made us a congratulations cake that was quite special.
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| Summit Team |
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| Spartan Will! |
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| Glacier at the top |
Crater view at the top
Day 8 - Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate and Airport
For the final day of our trip, we had a 3 hour hike down the mountain to the park gate where we did a tipping ceremony with the porters and said goodbye to our guides. It was an odd experience after being surrounded by this team of people for 8 days whose purpose was to support us to reach the top of the mountain while also remaining safe.
After the departure, we grabbed lunch in Moshi before heading back to the hotel as it was about a 2 hour drive from the gate to the hotel. In my short trip to Tanzania, this was the only meal that I had outside of a tent other than a small hotel breakfast the 1st day of our hike; none of us ventured too far from comfort food and ordered burgers, fries, and beer.
Once arriving at the hotel, I quickly had to unpack my camping bag and repack my bag to fly; this was a fast process as it involved putting all of my clothes directly into a trash bag then into a suitcase given the volume of dust in my clothes from camping. I did have time to shower, which was amazing and I could not have been more thankful! Immediately following the shower, I needed to go to the airport as I had a same day red eye flight back to Geneva as I needed to be home quickly to then board another flight in GVA within 24 hours to from home to the US. During our hiking, my body became accustomed to sleeping at 8pm each night, which is even further than the the time difference from GVA to the US so that will make the adjustment home even more fun.
All-in-all this was an amazing trip that I will never forget; I was thankful for the help from our tour group and the new friendships that I made on the trip. We definitely underestimated the effects of the altitude sickness that we all experienced in different ways during the trip, but in retrospect I'm not sure what we would have done different in our training. I was lucky enough were my first time using my hiking boots was 8 straight days of hiking in Africa and had no problems with blisters.
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| Completion Gate |
- During Vitals (Me) - "I'm Mike Nitz, I'm 10.5."
- End of Day 5 (Me) - "I feel stronger as we go higher."
- Summit Hike (Another Group's Guide) - "Eat the cheese and don't ruin this for me." This guide was yelling at his group and we had a good laugh; I was quite thankful for our guide keeping a slow, consistent pace and knowing the mountain.
- Summit Hike (Mandy/Mathew) - "We're almost there only 100m to go." / "How long?" / "About 1.5 hours." / "**** You Matt". Last portion of ascent climb.
I land in Geneva at 11:10a and fly out to the US the following day for 3 weeks at 10:30p for a friend's wedding so could be a while before my next update. Working in Europe is tough in the summer ;):
June 24 - July 10 - France Road Trip
July 14 - July 18 - Poland
July 24 - Aug 2 - Kilimanjaro
