Mount KILIMANJARO

After Abraham picked us up he escorted us to the bank first thing...I guess he was a little anxious to get his money. We then headed to the hotel where he tried to squeeze more money out of us for rentals and all sorts of shit. He even tried to change the exchange rate so that he could take more money from Glen and Rihannon. We had to fight to make sure that he didn't and when he left for the evening we were pretty pissed off and all very nervous. Kate and I both felt really bad too because we had talked Abraham up so much to Glen and Rihannon and then he goes and pulls the shit he did and acts like a complete crooked stranger to us.


The morning was worse because we still really had no idea what to expect because Abraham didn't really seem to have a clue about our climb and what we should expect...this became a lot more evident once we had left Arusha and were preparing for our climb. At breakfast Abraham almost destroyed our last string of respect when he found a random person in the lobby who wanted to come along with us. Instead of coming to talk to us he sent the newbie over to ask if it was okay . As you can imagine, it would have been very difficult to have said no to him. Katie made sure to ask him the price he was paying before he left and it turned out he was paying a small amount higher than us but he also had more equipment rental – WTF??? I think everyone was ready to kill Abraham and when we had the chance we pulled him over and reamed him out and demanded a discount. It was like pulling teeth and after getting told off by both Katie and myself (neither of us knew the other had said something). He agreed to pay for our transport costs to Dar es Salaam but Katie insisted on more. He then told us he would take off 50,000 Tsh from our fee only (which is ~$40 US). Katie argued with him until he relented and agreed to pay back the money to Glen and Rihannon as well. We couldn't waste any more time as we had already waited for Glen and Rihannon to reorganize their bags for about the fourth time in 24 hours and needed to get on our way.


The guides were super nice and the other 8 guys that were in our 'bus' were friendly to us too. We were still a little confused about what was going on and were even more confused as we continued to pick up more people on the side of the road as we headed towards Machame, the starting point of our climb. More often than not, when we picked up people along the road, we would barely slow down and the bus door would just open and someone would jump in. After a few stops for groceries and the passing of half an hour we had 4 times more people in the truck than there was of us...this definitely added to the confusion!! We later learnt that this was our team of cooks, porters and guides.


At the base of the mountain our guide Issa told us to gather what we needed to have on us in a small bag and give our big bag to our porter. Well this is where we first started to realize how poorly Abraham had misinformed us. He had told us that our porter would be with us the entire hike and so we could give him our day to day stuff and therefore, we left our two knapsacks behind. Not to mention we would not have anyone to carry our water and it turns out the only water they would have for us would have to be boiled at night. We had bought some water bottles when we had stopped but that was supposed to be for the drive not to be our bottles for the next week!! So now we had no knapsack and not enough water and we were seriously second guessing why we came to this mountain. Issa managed to find somebody to loan us a knapsack but they wouldn't do so unless we bought it for a ridiculous price or rented it for the price of a new one in town.


After realizing that there wasn't much we could do, we grabbed our rented knapsack and headed on our way – it was now 1:30pm (Day 26) and Katie was really starting to panic about the late hour and the six hours of climbing that lay ahead. After registering with the park Issa told us to get climbing and that they would be right behind us after they loaded up all of the stuff. As we were climbing, majority of the men from our bus started passing us carrying the largest loads on either their head, back or neck. Although, it was impressive, we didn't really think twice about it because the climb itself was fairly easy with nice defined paths and smooth terrain.


It was nice to see Rhiannon so excited because we had figured that she wasn't really that excited to come and was just doing so for Glen's sake. We did the first part of the days journey in under half the time we should have. Once Issa had caught us he purposely slowed us because he said that if we did not we would be tired the next day. This was the first of many times that we were told to go 'Pole Pole' (slowly slowly in Swahili) and the first of many times that we would hear it. We started to ask Issa a million questions about the trek. This is where we really started to realize how many lies Abraham had told us. First of all rather than hiking for 6, 5, 3 and 2 hours to make it to the top of the mountain as promised by Abraham we were going to be hiking for 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7 and 6.5 hours respectively – WTF??? Not only would be hiking for about four times the amount of hours that we had been told but the last day 7 and 6.5 hours would be within an 18 hour time period. Secondly there would be no showers so the whole idea to leave behind our knapsacks in exchange for shampoo, conditioner and towels was stupid. And last but certainly not least, there would be no fires allowed on the mountain to warm ourselves which is what Abraham had told us. When we asked Issa about the fire and how we could keep warm, he laughed nervously and then said... “tent” - we were in for a real treat!


The first days trek was through a thick jungle type area and at the end of the day of hiking we had reached the clouds – it was both beautiful and stunning scenery! When we reached camp, it was surprisingly very cold and so we decided that to keep warm during the night, it would be better to sleep with both couples in the same tent (in a three man tent). Unfortunately for the straggler Simon, he would have to bunk it on his own. Luckily, he had borrowed a sleeping bag from Abraham which was much better than our own personal ones we had brought along with us so although he was cold, he managed to get through the night. Our last disappointment of the day was that at the end of the hike, we went to change into warmer clothes only to find out that our porters carrying our personal bags had not reached camp yet. So...Katie, Glen and Rihannon huddled close in a tent having what I can only presume as a major bitch session while I visited with the porters and cooks.

Once we had changed into warmer clothes our spirits perked up a bit. Then was supper and it was almost identical to the setup we had received while doing the safari with Abraham months before. After a little popcorn and hot drinks we were all a little more impressed and although we still hated Abraham for his lack of information, it was hard not to love the cooks, guides and porter...they were fantastic and it is sad to think that it is them who get screwed out of the deal when they do all of the work while Abraham, who lies and steals, makes all of the profit.


With the exception of Katie (who encouraged me to bring one of my own books) the remainder of us soon realized that when you are climbing a mountain you should bring books! So much of our time was spent in the tent trying to stay out of the cold when we were not climbing. Not only do you get cold, but after a good hike you just need somewhere to lie down and rest your sore aching body. The first day hadn't been too bad but it wasn't warm enough outside for us to hang out there so we headed to bed. Although it was a little tight in the tent with all four of us sleeping, it got nice and warm quite quickly. We all had a pretty good sleep the first night even though we were sleeping on thin little mats rather than the nice mats which we had been promised by our lovely friend Abraham.


On the morning of the second day (Day 27) of our hike we awoke to clear skies. The temperature was still cold but all that changed when the sun came out. Once the sun came over the peak of Mt Kili, things got hot...and quick. We all could not help but comment on how close the Mountain looked. We were laughed and mocked by the guides who were probably thinking “stupid mzungu's”. Days and hours of climbing later, we looked back at hat moment and laughed at our naivety.


After another delicious meal we headed out for the days climb. Before we left we glanced at the size of our team – five climbers and 15 support staff (guides, cooks and porters). Until then, we hadn't really grasped the enormity of our group. As we ventured onwards, we noticed that the slope of the terrain had increased quite a bit from the previous day. The scenery was just as beautiful as before only now we were climbing throughout the clouds. It was really hard to complain about the difficulty after seeing all of the guides, cooks, and porters, walk with us or run ahead of us carrying at least 25 kg each. Some were carrying bags with their own belongings and our bags at the same time. Some people, who worked for the park, were passing us carrying parts of buildings. They would pass us then come back empty handed and twenty minutes later they would pass again carrying another section of the building.


Rihannon and Glen were still in great spirits along with the rest of the group all throughout the hike. We made it to our next camp in 4.5 hours and by the time we had got there had picked up another straggler, this time an American girl named Becky. We were so grateful to have Glen and Rihannon with us because they were great company on a hike that could have been monotonous when the beautiful views were covered by the clouds. We jokingly called ourselves the 'Mzungu's in the Mist' after the movie, 'Gorilla's in the Mist'.


Our second camp was much warmer although we were now nearly a thousand meters higher than what we had been the day before (4000m vs 3100m ASL). It was quite cloudy when we reached our second camp but within twenty minutes the temperature and skies had changed 4 times with it remaining quite sunny in the end. Issa figured it would be good for all of us if we hiked for an hour and a half in a slightly upward direction before dinner to help us acclimatize. We all agreed quite readily but were a little concerned about our decision once the American's guide said she was not allowed to tag along with us in case it started to rain. There was also another trio of American tourists who we had ran into along the way who were interested in coming with us as well. They also were told that they could not come with us??? The hike turned out to be fine with sunny conditions all the way.


We spent the rest of the evening before dinner outside of the tent enjoying the sun, the view and not sitting in a cramped space eating. After dinner we once again tried to fit all four of us in the tent but this time we were not successful. Glen had originally fallen asleep in five minutes after jumping in the tent but when one of us awoke to go the bathroom he decided that he was not comfy and stormed out of the tent to go sleep in the other one. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about it because he told Rihannon that he did not want her to come so I volunteered to go. It was an unwise decision because Glen was probably the only one with a really good sleeping bag. The loss of me in the girls tent made them cold and being in the other tent with only Glen and I made me cold.


I did manage to fall asleep but it was obviously not enough sleep when we awoke in the morning. Katie told me she tossed and turned and finally at 4:30, started to read. The morning (Day 28) was bright, clear and beautiful and again, we had a great view of our Mountain.


We had been told that the third day was going to be easier but longer than the previous day. It was definitely a longer hike and we felt it didn't seem much easier. It was on this day that we ran into the Scottish man named Steven. When we first met him he seemed okay but when we ran into him later in the day he wasn't feeling too hot. Halfway through the hike the American girl, who was now part of our extended group, also began to get quite ill. At about 4200 meters both of them started to get ill. Steven was losing his lunch on the slopes as we hiked and had lost all of his energy but was determined to keep going. We soon lost him because he had to walk at a turtle's pace. When we were nearing the end of the day, Issa guided us on to a higher route than what was necessary to help with the acclimatization Becky had to sit this one out as she got really ill and had to take the shortcut. The hike we took wasn't much more difficult but after a long days hike and the changing altitude you could see things were going to keep getting worse.


We managed to make it to our camp without any sickness in our group. However, after a quick biscuit and hot drink, Katie began to get sick. Issa made up a hot cup of lemon and tea and gave her some pills for her head. After about thirty minutes Katie was feeling better, but still not her perky happy self.


We were now are the hardest leg of our trek and it was obviously so as there was no straight paths to be seen. Jimmy, who was one of the porters and could speak only very little English, was always filling us in on what we had done and what we were to do. He had described the last couple of hikes as quite tame slopes but when we mentioned the next morning's hike his arm went vertical and he laughed. We were now becoming a bit weary again about what was in store for us and why we chose this over retutrnng to the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar.


That night, although best we tried, we could not convince Glen that four to a tent would be a good idea. But, because Katie was not feeling great, they offered to swap one of their really good sleeping bags (down filled) for one of ours (definitely not down filled). Although we had had another horrible and cold sleep, we were both grateful and appreciative for their gesture of kindness.


I think I had begun to feel the altitude sickness but in a different way. When I would fall asleep it was as though I would begin to suffocate. I would jolt awake and try and catch my breath back. This greatly affected my sleeping pattern and as a result, I would never get more than an hour of solid uninterrupted sleep. This only added to the exhaustion and fatigue that I was already feeling from the climb.



The next morning (Day 29) we found out that both Becky and Steven had spent the remainder of their day and night puking. But, sick or not, there was nothing keeping them from reaching that mountain top and so they started hiking with us in the morning. Just as Jimmy had mentioned, we were walking, or should I say scaling, straight up the face of the mountain. It was steep but not too physically demanding because of our 'Pole Pole' pace. In some areas it didn't seem that the porters should be able to make it so easily but without sticks or help they would leap up spots that we would need help on.


After seven hours of climbing, we finally reached camp. It was hard to imagine that we were going to rest for only eight hours before we would start on the last leg of the trip, the mountain, and then start hiking again at midnight – WTF were we thinking doing this??? Although, Katie had felt okay during the day shortly after tea she began to get ill. This time the medicine and lemon did nothing to soothe her stomach and it was not long before she was puking. I managed to get her to bed but was taken from dinner a couple of times to help her out of the tent. In total, she had puked 6 times in a 4 hour time frame...which meant she got no sleep before the summit– poor girl!


Needless to say we didn't need much food before we started (now the morning of Day 30). Although, I hadn't thrown up I felt like I had. It was pitch black when we started hiking and this time we only had our one additional friend Becky with us (Steven was too ill and would wait until morning to start the climb). The hike started off good and it was almost comical how slow we were walking. However, even at this really slow pace we had managed to lap the American trio yet again (this made Katie feel really good – haha!)


At 5200m, things started to change and no longer was the majority of the group fine. Actually the only ones who didn't feel bad were Rihannon and Simon (our fifth member). Every time we walked it felt like I was going to puke and Glen said he felt the same. Katie felt like someone was scrunching up her stomach. It didn't feel like I was going to be able to make it and at around 5600 meters I had to bend over and just empty my stomach. At one point our guide had to give Katie and I a gentle push, literally, because we didn't think we could force ourselves to go on. It just never seemed to end. We would meet one check point and then we would be told there was another hour and a half and then once we got to the next one it would seem the same way. However, despite our cries and pain we finally made it. At roughly 6:30 am we made it to the top. It could not have been any more of a perfect day. Issa had told us that during the rainy season it was never certain to have a cloud free day...but here we were, at the top of Kili, above the clouds, watching the sun rise into a beautiful and brilliant clear sky.


The view of the other mountain tops, surrounding glaciers and constantly changing colors was breathtaking. Everyone snapped as many pictures as possible as we knew we had a 20 minute time frame before our guides (Issa and Henry) insisted that we head back down to more normal altitudes. We made sure to also get a couple of phone calls in to both of our mom's saying WE DID IT!!! However, the climb down wasn't going to be that easy as we would have to hike for 3.5, take a 2 hour rest and get ready for 3.5 more hours of fun! By the end of the day I think we were all ready to cry or at least collapse and when we finally reached our camp for the day we all passed out by about 8 pm or earlier (we calculated that in a 27 hour window frame, we climbed for 19 hours of it – crazy-crazy-crazy!!!). Our last day was much easier but we were so tired that it felt like it was never going to end.


Once we managed to reach the bottom and hiked to our car (Day 31) we were so happy. It wasn't just us whom were happy as most of the porters were happy to be off the mountain. In town it was almost impossible to think straight and it was almost painful trying to figure out how much we were going to tip all 16 members of the group. To give us a bit of time we stopped and bought the guys all a beer. When we did finally give everyone their tip they applauded for each other. When all was done they sang for us a local Kili song, although, it could have been about how these stupid Mzungu want to climb high mountains...well at least we were thinking we had been pretty stupid to do it. I think they were all just very happy that we had made it to the top and honestly we couldn't have and wouldn't have wanted to do it without all of them!


Katie and I can both honestly say that climbing Kili was one of the hardest things we have ever done in our lives. It was not that it was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done but it was also mentally exhausting and I have never tried so hard not to puke while doing something physical for a period of about 8 hours. I think everyone felt the same about the climb and felt the same about the shower...best ever!!! That night we managed to find an awesome Indo-Italiono restaurant where we gorged on good food and liquor to try and repair some damage.


The next day (Day 32) was perfect because we got a lot of rest on the bus ride from Moshi to Dar es Salaam. It was by far the nicest bus we have been on so far in Africa with free beverages and really comfy seats. The only thing that didn't make sense was how the bus drivers would just take the garbage bin and dump it outside the truck whenever we stopped for a bush toilet.


We arrived painlessly in the evening to a great welcome from the entire group that we had left behind 7 days earlier. Not only did we get a great welcome back, but within a minute they were all singing Happy Birthday to me. It was great to be back not to mention the cake that had been prepared for me. Katie had also managed to sneak in a few minutes along our travels in Moshi and got me a Birthday present...an awesome water bottle with Kili on it and a coffee cup. She somehow also managed to sneak in a birthday cake under my nose as well. I think everyone had had a little too much fun on Zanzibar because almost everyone was asleep by 10 oclock despite wanting to have a Birthday celebration for me. I am so glad because all I wanted to do was go to sleep – I wonder...is this a sign of maturing or a sign of growing old???


The next morning (Day 33) we were up and gone way too early for everyone but we had to leave early because we had a hell of driving day ahead of us. It was probably okay that everyone was so tired because most people slept away the morning of the drive. By noon we had covered 6 hours of our drive but were still no where near we were supposed to be. It was getting hot and people were restless. When we stopped in the valley of the Baobob trees barely anyone even got out of the truck to take pictures. At roughly six in the evening we arrived at the camp at Iringa. Again we had climbed into the mountains and the humidity we had felt the night before was gone. Although, most people had thought it was cold, to me it felt warm after having to sleep on Kili and I had another great sleep. Iringa was a nice campsite with some of the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted. I will be bringing this recipe home to share with all the folks of cold Saskatchewan.


The next morning (Day 34) was a painful one for everyone. I think most people were still reeling from too many hard days of partying on Zanzibar. Katie and I couldn't wait for the next day to be over so we would have some time to do our 70 L bag of laundry so we could have a shower and change into something clean!! Goodbye Tanzania and thank god that we were able to make it to the top of Mt. Kili...but better yet thank god it is over!!!!