It started with an inquiry. John asked me via telephone as he was in Austin and I in Tahoe at the time. He asked, “Hey, would you be interested in climbing Kilimanjaro?” This caught me off guard as I was usually the one offering up ideas on our next outdoor adventure and travel opportunity. I said, “This is interesting,” as I never had climbing Kilimanjaro on my radar nor had as an opportunity to manifest. I asked, “Where is this coming from?” John added, “I received a marketing email from REI with trip information on Kilimanjaro. Let’s do it. Check into it with Adventure Life and see if they can put something together for us.” #adventurelife is a travel adventure company that we have used in the past for multi-sport trips to Peru and Belize. I decided to let this sit for a couple of days to see if John would ask again and then I would gauge his level of seriousness. A few days later, he asked if I had reached out to Adventure Life. It was then I knew to proceed, and it was game on. The very next day I made the call and Emily from Adventure Life was on her way in creating the perfect trip to Kilimanjaro. We provided our best scenario dates and asked for her to add a few days on the front end to include Safari excursions as I had never had this opportunity nor had I ever been to Africa, with the exception of Morocco. We waited with anticipation and a few days later we were looking at a full itinerary to climb Kilimanjaro including 3 Safari days prior to being on the mountain. We were ecstatic and quite frankly in a little disbelief that we were going to actually attempt to summit Kilimanjaro.
We knew it was absolutely possible and that other people have done this. We weren’t the only crazy people wanting to accomplish this.
The planning began. After receiving the final itinerary, both John and I went into daily research mode. What did we need to know about climbing Kilimanjaro? My thoughts went to assessing the equipment needed and compiling a list of the equipment we currently owned and from there, the shopping list was created. We were 4 months out, so I knew we had plenty of time to take advantage of sales on said equipment needed as the holidays were coming up and I monitored my email daily for offers and made purchases with 20% off, etc. An example of what was needed was a sleeping bag that could keep the body warm in temperatures below 0 degrees. Another was finding the perfect hiking/climbing boot for this adventure. One more example would be 90L waterproof duffels that would hold all of our equipment and would be the bag that the crew would carry all the way up to Base camp and back down. Over the next few months, we prepared mentally and physically. We also shared with our family and friends that we would be climbing Kilimanjaro 4 days after Christmas 2019. It was received with a curious response and then with a, Wow! and then with a Really!?! What was said outside of our presence, I am not sure. I do know that our family and friends are accustomed to John and I’s random and different ideas about travel and outdoor activities. However, this was a big deal and a little over the top for even John and I. Over the next couple of months, we got ourselves out on hikes, in the gym and putting on our boots for early morning walks to properly break them in. I continued to do yoga and energy work to add to my training.
We also received the proper vaccinations, travel insurance, visas and locked in our air travel.
We were set to go. We celebrated Christmas in Tahoe and 3 days later we were on our way to San Francisco to begin our journey. Our air travel itinerary included San Francisco➡️Frankfurt➡️Ethiopia➡️Tanzania.
After our arrival to Tanzania, we enjoyed 3 days in the Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Manyara reserves for safari game drives and on the afternoon of the 3rd day, we were dropped off at the Kili Wonders Hotel where we began packing up our gear to enter the Kilimanjaro Park the very next morning for 7 days. Our guide came to the hotel at 7:00 pm that night to do introductions, discuss details and conduct a gear check. We came down to the lobby to see a well-dressed man with a wool wide brimmed hat waiting for us. His name is Regie. Regie is a 60-year-old African man who has been guiding folks on the mountain for 27 years. He began communicating what the next 7 days would look like. After he was done, he said, “do you have any questions?” John and I looked at each other and at the same time said, “Nope.” We were eager and ready to get this party started. Ha! Little did we know what we signed up for. Regie then concluded with a request to come up to our room to do a gear check. John and I scrambled up and pulled out all of our little travel bags that contained all of our gear and clothing and began spreading all over the bed. John had one side and I had the other. Regie assessed with a careful eye both of our gear. We got a sense he knew exactly what he was looking at and exactly what items he needed to see in our gear. After 5-10 minutes, we both received a thumbs up. Both John and I smiled as if not having what we needed was an option. We knew we were prepared and now it was time to get a good night sleep and be ready for an 8:30 a.m. pick up. The driver came, threw in our bags, we got in the car and drove about an hour to the Machame Route gate, which is where it all began.
Day 1, Kilimanjaro Entrance Gate to Machame Camp
The trek began in the rainforest. It would be the one day that the trail would seem maintained. It included wooden stairs to accommodate the uphill climb that led the way to the Machame Camp which is where we would sleep for the night.
Back at the gate, Regie obtained the permit for our entrance to the mountain. It was then, we met our crew. It was also then; we were in shock that 16 crew members would be supporting us all the way up to the top of Kilimanjaro. This included Regie, the guide, Jonas, the assistant guide, Joffrey, the chef (cook), Hagi, the waiter, Robert, the toilet tender and 11 Porters that would carry food, water, tents, and other equipment up to every camp for 7 days. We were shocked. In all of the reading material, we were expecting 6-10. With the previous trips we had taken with Adventure Life, they had always provided us with a beautiful experience and we soon learned this trip would be no different. We knew this would be a top-notch experience based on the 16 crew members we were looking at in the parking lot that day. We were delighted by them on a daily basis and owe our summit success to all 16 of the crew that provided everything we needed to land ourselves on the Roof of Africa.
We entered the gates. The uphill climb never stopped. John and I started out at our usual pace like we were hiking in Tahoe. We soon figured out that this was going to be a different experience where we would learn to pace ourselves. My heart was racing 10 minutes in and I began my yoga breath work to manage my heart rate. John and I both have Garmin watches that would reveal our heart rate, time, calories burned, ascent, etc. and with that, I paid close attention to the number on my Garmin indicating an elevation in heart rate. The trail led up and more up and did not give us a reprieve. The wood stairs were in place to manage the steepness. To add to the vertical steepness, it was hot and humid which had us sweating 5 minutes in and required us to take in water constantly. Both John and I had 2-liter bladders and a 1-liter Nalgene bottle with electrolytes that we brought to add to our bottles daily. This is where the dialogue, “sippy sippy” came in and would be a constant phrase for the next 7 days. Our guide would stop and say, “sippy sippy”. It proved to be a necessary reminder as the days got cooler. The first day we learned another phrase and that was, “Pole Pole” which means in Swahili, “slowly slowly”. We soon called it the Kili Shuffle. The Kili shuffle was one foot in front of the other, slowly slowly. This worked for me as I am a “enjoy the journey” kind of hiker. My trail name is Steady Betty. I like to take it all in, reflect and feel the environment I am in. I want to leave a little of myself in the mountains. I am always looking for the wisdom in the trees and in the mountains. John, however, is a “Destination” kind of hiker, runner, etc. He sees the finish line and his pace is much faster. At this point, John would have to create a new agreement with his body and mental state to adhere to this new Kili shuffle, “pole pole” technique. This would be critical in the days coming as this pole pole technique allows the body to acclimate by going at a much slower pace. This has been proven that this is the key to success to reach the top. We arrived at our first night’s camp and our camp was already set up. This included a large tent for John and I with cots, pads and pillows which was totally unexpected as we thought we would be sleeping on the ground for the next 7 days. What a delightful surprise this was for us. Also, a dining tent with a camp table and chairs, a tent for Regie and Jonas, our guide and assistant guide, a toilet tent (more on this later), a cooking tent and a tent for the Porters. We learned our crew was accustomed to getting up to our camps quickly and securing the best spot on the mountain in camp with the best views, etc. Walking up to camp we witnessed the entire crew starting to come together and as we entered and removed our packs and put our poles down, they began singing the Kilimanjaro Welcome song. John and I’s eyes filled with tears as it was a hard day, our first day was complete and we were feeling what the mountain was going to offer us for the next 6 days. The singing and dancing were a beautiful way to celebrate our arrival and the journey we came so far to experience. After the song ceremony was finished, we were given a warm cloth to wash our hands and anything else that needed cleaning. John washed the sweat off of his head. Then we were invited to enjoy popcorn and tea in the dining tent. Again, we were delighted. We also had a metal jug of hot water and soap dispensers available to use to keep clean at our camps. This too was an unexpected delight. It sat right outside of our tent and with that, made it easy to keep ourselves clean, considering we were without a shower for 7 days. We then got ourselves sorted in our tent by opening our bags and pulling out our sleeping bags for the night. In addition, we pulled out what we needed for the night. Shortly after this, we were called to the dining tent for dinner. For the first night, we had Butternut soup, Tilapia in a sauce and for dessert, an avocado with a chocolate-sugar mixture in the middle. We knew at this point, we would be well fed and proved to have us look forward to every meal. The food was abundant and Regie began an evening lecture about eating all that was there. He became concerned that I wasn’t eating enough. I was and my belly was full every night and every meal. I just couldn’t be forced to eat more than my stomach would allow and I knew at this point, Regie and I would have to come to a shared understanding around this as I just couldn’t have this “eat more” conversation at every meal. I soon learned that he and his wisdom about climbing this mountain knew I would need the fuel to get me to the top. He then offered, that when there is food left on the table, it offends Joffrey, our Chef. He also offered that he was not serving me, I was serving myself. This meant to only take what I was going to eat. I was filling up my plate with everything from the platters on the table and then not cleaning my plate and leaving food uneaten. It would all work out and Regie and Joffrey would learn how much food John and I would eat at every meal and everyone was happy.
After every meal the table was cleaned and the debrief began. The debrief began with questions of how the day went, how we were feeling, and how was the pace? We were also given information about what to pack in our pack the next day, what to wear, what to expect, etc. and we agreed to a time to hit the trail. Lastly, the debrief included the use of an Oximeter which tested the oxygen in our blood. Regie assessed and monitored us every evening. Before retiring to our tent, Regie called in Joffrey, the Chef, Jonas, the assistant guide and Hagi, the waiter. We were asked if we were happy with the food, information from Jonas about the next day and lastly, asked for feedback on Hagi. This was an evening exercise to keep everyone in open communication and on the same page and was welcomed as it created a bond between all of us.
John and I retreated to the tent to clean up, sort and pack for the next day where camp was to be dismantled and brought to the next camp for set up prior to our arrival.
I woke up in the middle of the night having to go to the bathroom. I predicted this would happen due to the amount of water we were drinking and knew this nightly wakeup call would continue through the week and this thought frustrated me as waking up in the middle of the night in a tent having to go outside in the dark and cold is not high on my list of fun things to do. Knowing this, I purchased a “She Pee” which is a personal urinary device and accordion bottle. This device would allow me to pee in the woods standing up and the accordion bottle was for those nights, I woke in the middle of the night and didn’t want to make my way to the Toilet Tent. John had his very own accordion bottle and used one night and proved to be useful. The camp toilets which are called “Tourists Toilets” is a hole in the ground which is really quite unpleasant. The She Pee PUD proved useful in these cases not only for hygiene purposes and also to spare the legs after a long vertical climb by not having to squat over a hole to go to the bathroom. After the third day, I was managing my water/pee ratio and enjoyed the Toilet Tent at camp whenever I needed it. More on the She Pee PUD and Toilet Tent below.
First day was a success. John and I were anxious about Day 2 and what would be revealed in ourselves and on the trail.
Day 2, Machame Camp to Shira Camp
Today we left the rain forest and transitioned to Moorland. Today is when we realized that the only way was “up” and that the one constant about the mountain is that there is nothing predictable about this mountain. I mean nothing. Which led to a constant need to be prepared and open to all that was available for us to experience.
The entire climb was an exercise of taking on and off layers efficiently. The weather, the conditions, the body’s climate would change in an instant. At this point, we were beginning to go inside and recognize our thoughts. I began to do what I call a “body scan” which is where I start from the toes and work my way up. My feet were hot, and I could feel the hot spots on my heals from the constant incline which over the days created some impressive blisters. These blistered barked at me every step of the way. I dressed in blister band aids that evening but the burn continued. I used them as a metaphor to create an awareness regarding the life of a Porter. I called this the ”bark” which was the feeling when my heal moved up in my boot and back down. It became my daily awareness about what we were witnessing with the Porters. The Porters carry 20 kg (44 lbs.) of camp equipment, water, and food plus their own packs up the mountain and I had a blister barking at me! Ha! This was my cue to thank God for the life I was given. Day 4 they began to subside. I believe my level of gratitude and empathy had increased to a level that allowed the pain to minimize to a tolerable level with little barking. I felt the gratitude and empathy deep in my bones.
The packs on our back were beginning to feel heavy and my trapezius muscle in my back was cramping. I kept trying to position the pack differently so the pain would minimize and the more we climbed the pack became something I just wanted off my back. John had shared that he too was experiencing the same pain and discomfort in his back. I started hearing my mind chatter about how the Porters are carrying 20 kg plus their own packs which looked at capacity and full of what was needed for the 7 days. I kept telling myself to toughen up buttercup, this pack will be a fixture on your back until the end. By the second day, it was getting heavier with all that was needed due to unpredictable weather which required us to carry more items including a raincoat, rain pants, gloves, lunch that the Chef made for us and another layer like a fleece to accommodate the weather. I feel mine was at capacity and quite possibly not a good fit for my back which was not helpful information as I needed it and would have to make peace with it one way or another.
Day 3, Shira Camp to Baranco Camp via the Lava Tower
The day started at 6:00 a.m. with Ginger tea brought to our tent. Breakfast was served in the dining tent at 7:00 a.m. and then we were off at 7:30 a.m. Today proved to be the hardest and longest day yet. I would take my eye off the path and look up to see a ridge and say, "o.k., one more push" and we would get there and see we were not near done. After many more pushes, we landed at Lava Tower Camp, which is where folks who had signed up for an 8-day climb stay the night. We signed up for 7 days and that meant a quick lunch stop and then we were off to Baranco Camp, which is where we would lay our weary heads for the night.
This was the first time we had any significant "descent". This descent lasted for 2 hours as we climbed over 2600 feet and then gave 2000 feet back by descending back down. This was called the "hike high and sleep low" strategy for acclimation purposes. This did not play well with our mental state, as you can imagine. The landscape was rocky and wet, as the rain steadily poured down the entire descent, which required us to pay close attention so that we remained upright and intact. The vegetation was beautiful amongst the clouds and rain, however, the body wanted this to be done. John and I were quite emotional today and had personal silent breakdowns throughout the day. Our thoughts about family, what being out here on this mountain meant and what we wanted to take away from the experience and the future...all fleeting thoughts coming and going and eventually we landed at our camp for the night and the memory of the day, the climb, the descent, was behind us leaving us with an aliveness that we had made it and tomorrow would come another day.
Day 4, Baranco Camp to Karanga Valley Camp
Starting on day 3, John began to state that we were having a climb for breakfast, well, he was spot on this day, as we started with a climb up the Baranco wall, which is 972 ft straight up. As we took each step, we focused on our hand and foot hold, and soon witnessed the Porters climbing right past us with their own pack plus 20 kg of our gear or camp gear on their shoulders, head or wherever it made sense for them to hold it. After 1 hour of climbing to the top, we took a short break before heading off on the "rolling hills" as Regie our guide called them. For the most part it did feel like rolling hills, right up until we got to a place we could spot our next camp. We looked out across the landscape and saw the camp sitting on this beautiful ridge, what we failed to notice at that moment was the ravine between us, where we would drop down 800 ft, in order to climb another 1100 ft to reach camp. This was another one of those moments where our mental strength was needed to kick-in in order to finish this day.
Day 5, Karanga Valley Camp to Barafu Camp (Base Camp)
We woke up to, yet another beautiful cup of ginger tea brought to us by our waiter, Hagi, along with a warm cloth to be used for cleaning.
Today would be the shortest of our hikes as it was just over 3 hours on the trail due to the fact, we would rest that afternoon and get up at 11:00 pm that night and head out for the summit.
The hike itself was another climb for breakfast, as we had to move from 13,100 ft to 15,300 ft in just over 3 hours. We cut across a ridge and were able to see the other peaks on Mt. Kilimanjaro, but as we came into a clearing, we spotted the beast, Uhuru peak (the summit), and on this day, the sun was shining, and it looked glorious. Unfortunately for us, it did not stay this way, and on our summit day, mother nature had other plans for us.
I had trouble sleeping this night as I had a hard time telling my body to go to sleep for 3 hours and then wake up to climb to the top. I tossed and turned and 11:00 p.m. arrived. 11:00 p.m. was the scheduled time to rise and shine for the big moment, the big push.
Day, 6, Uhura Peak, The Summit
We headed out around midnight with headlights on, insulated pants, down parkas, numerous layers, hats, gloves, etc. The moment we came for, to summit Kilimanjaro. I don’t think John and I had really grasped this thought as it seemed to be another day, we were headed out to climb up, up the mountain. There were, however, a few more elements we would be dealing with. It was significantly colder with high winds that nearly swept me off the mountain (literally). It took everything I had to keep my two feet on the ground. The high altitude would be affecting us and the oxygen in our lungs would be around 50%. One foot in front of the other, pole pole. I kept hearing my son's voice in my head as I had the opportunity to talk to him via phone two days before, and he said, "get to the top, mom". This played over and over as I was following the footsteps in front of me headed to the top. I also created a mantra that I said over and over again for hours. I said, "every step, is a promise to take another." I was feeling cold and shivering. I couldn't feel the tips of my fingers and my toes were numb and I knew there was no escaping all of this as we climbed higher and higher in the dark with our headlamps on.
After hours and hours in the dark where the sight in front of you is headlamps and the feet of another person, the sun rose above the clouds and welcomed us to Stella Point. This point is named after a woman named Stella who made it to this point and turned around. For us, there was too much effort made to get to this point, and the fire in both John and I kicked in, as turning around for us was not an option. We had 1 km to go to the summit, with another 800 ft of climbing, and John whispered to me, "this is like going from our house on Mayberry to Walden's coffee shop, we got this." With that, we pushed off now knowing we would be standing on the Roof of Africa soon. It was all snow and glaciers from here, and a narrow path that was icy in parts, and we could see the summit, and nothing would stop us. John and Jonas, our assistant guide, were ahead of me and Regie, and that also kept me moving forward. As we got closer to the summit, I saw John come to a halt, turn around and head back towards me. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but then he grabbed my hand and said, "We started this together and we will finish it together". That's all I needed to take these final steps and arrive at the highest point in Africa, 19,341 ft above sea level. We did it!
Day 6, The Descent
When we signed up to climb the beast, the only thoughts/concerns we had were around reaching the top, getting to the Summit. We learned that the descent was equally as important as the ascent. What goes up must come down. It was grueling as there is no maintained trail. It was rock, sand, mud and boulders. This is true for going up as well.
The hike back to base camp was challenging both mentally and physically, but as we got within an hour of camp, we saw a few of our porters show up. They grabbed our back packs and lead us back to camp. It was all of these little things the crew did that not only made our summit push a success, but also left us with full and grateful hearts for the love they showered us with every day.
As we arrived back at camp, the crew welcomed us, took our boots off, provided us with juice, and showered us with another song, both welcoming and congratulating us for our achievement.
The day was not over as, after a couple of hours, we had to pack up and head down to Middle Camp, which was our camp for the night.
The picture on the far right is what they use for emergencies and getting people down the mountain. The other alternative is a helicopter.
Day 7, Middle Camp to Mweka Gate
This morning we said goodbye to the mountain and to the crew. After breakfast, we took a moment to acknowledge each crew member and then retreated back to our tent to pack up and get ready for the last haul out, which was 7.8 miles and is where we completed our journey. We were presented with lunch and a beautiful glass of wine to capture the moment and celebrate what we came here to do. That was to achieve the extraordinary, go beyond our limits and escape our comfort zones.
The Crew
This would not have been possible without all these amazing men that supported us all the way up to the top. Our guide, Regie, who is a 60-year-old African man with 27 years of experience of guiding folks to the top made us feel we were in good hands. He observed us daily, monitored our water intake and insisted we adhere to the pole pole (slowly) strategy every day. All these things led to a successful acclimation and arrival to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Jonas, his assistant guide, danced quite nicely with Regie to take the lead or hang in the rears. Jofrey, our chef, ensured that we were fed beautifully, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with daily popcorn and tea. Popcorn, you ask. Yes, I heard the popcorn popping every day in the tent next door😊. Haji, the camp leader, brought energy and positivity every day. All the while, making sure all of the camp details were taken care of. Robert, the Toilet tender, was appreciated more than he will ever know. He packed a porta potty and tent up to every camp for John and I and made life just a little grander for us on this adventure. The other 11 Porters did not go unnoticed or under appreciated. We witnessed them pack all that was needed (and more) up to each camp on their head and/or back. John and I were committed to tip them all well and donate an item or items of gear to each crew member. Let’s just say, we came home a lot lighter than when we came. We were filled with so much gratitude and joy to have each and every one of them as our crew and felt blessed to spend 7 days on the mountain with them.
Toilet Affairs
This is worth talking about. While planning for this endeavor, I did a lot of research on this topic. Could one just do their business on the mountain? Were there huts? And what did one do in the middle of the night? It was recommended to look into a personal urinary devise (PUD). It was called a She Pee. This allows a female to pee while standing up and relieving oneself while in your tent for nightly duties. I also purchased accordion bottles which would allow me and my husband to pee at night without leaving our tent. To our delight, our toilet tent with a porta potty was just right outside our tent. This made us very happy and the accordion bottles were only used one night. The picture on the far bottom right is the toilet hut at one of the camps so as you can see, we were very grateful to have our own toilet tent.
Summary
The mental tenacity needed for this climb was undeniable. To get up every day for 6 days and know it was the same as the day before and all there was, was “up “took total grit and trust in the universe. To stop the mind chatter and move one foot in front of the other (pole pole, pronounced poley, which means slowly, slowly) required us to surrender daily and release all of our burdens to the mountain.
We came prepared. Our bodies performed. Our spirits left with a deep awaking and our hearts deeply humbled. We are celebrating and acknowledging what it took to get here. Many people asked me, “Why would you do this?” “To see what we are made of,” I replied.
John and I learned more about the mountain every day. The one constant: There is nothing predictable about this mountain. I mean nothing which led to the thought, is this going to break us today? Not today, I concluded. Pole Pole😊
When you thought the end was coming, it wasn’t. Another incline to climb. Again, you thought the end was near. It wasn’t. Another incline to climb. “Up” was the only way. And just when you thought you might consider another option, your camp for the night was in view (after a couple more pushes up).
We left the mountain unscathed. We both suffered a minor headache one night which was remedied with food and water. Our faces left with wind/sunburn and blisters on our lips and lastly, we have the gift of two blisters on our feet to remind us what the heck we just did and that was climb 16,778 feet to the Roof of Africa🙌🏼. The Summit is 19341 and we started at 5905. A couple of days we ascended up and descended back down (hike high and sleep slow) for acclimatization. We have no soreness in our legs or bodies😳 and are in excellent condition as we left the mountain. Our lives will be forever impacted by our experience and the people that unconditionally loved us all the way up to The Roof of Africa.
I read a lot of information when preparing for this journey. Specifically, how to prepare for the Kilimanjaro trip. It said that you didn’t need to be fit, just not unfit as it is a non-technical climb. I am calling 100% BS. One needs to be mentally and physically fit. The mental toughness is critical for Summit success and being physically fit is imperative to do the climb.
This adventure will not define you, however, it will fuel your fire for reaching new heights and more adventures.
Stay tuned for what's next. Humbly yours,
Lorrie
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