Though I had done all the prep I could, had all the right gear, read and listened to numerous stories and advice from other people who had gone before me, I only got to fathom the magnitude of climbing Kilimanjaro when I summited it myself! We were 10 ladies in total (in our 30s or 40s) and each one of us made it to the top! We took the 6 day Marangu route with the whole expedition taking 8 days (1 day flying to Tanzania, 6 days on the mountain and another 1 day flying back). 2 things I liked about the Marangu route were:
- It has log cabins and dormitories with bunk beds and mattresses. Although basic, never have I ever appreciated such facilities over tents. Given how chilly the nights were, I really pitied those who had to spend the freezing nights in the tents! Cleaning up (more of wiping oneself) and getting dressed and undressed was also much easier in the cabins/dormitories.
Some of the cabins…
- This route also has toilets and/or pit latrines. Whereas we did pee behind many stones and bushes along the way, having toilets and/or pit latrines at some of the stop points came in handy! That also meant that we didn’t have to incur the extra cost of hiring a portable toilet to use at the camps.
For me, days 1 to 4 were ok. They entailed lots of fun hours of walking with a bunch of fun ladies. We kept laughing almost the entire way and were in no rush at all! “Pole pole” (slow) was our pace.
Consequently we took much longer than the duration outlined in the itinerary below:
| Day | Start Point | Finishing Point | Altimeter | Duration |
| 1 | Marangu Gate | Mandara Hut | 1,840-2,720m | 3-4h |
| 2 | Mandara Hut | Horombo Hut | 2,720m-3,720m | 5-6h |
| 3 | Day for acclimatization | 3,720m | 3h | |
| 4 | Horombo Hut | Kibo Hut | 3,720m-4,703m | 5-6h |
| 5 | Kibo Hut | Uhuru Peak Horombo Hut |
4,703m-5,895m- 3,720m |
12-14h |
| 6 | Horombo Hut | Marangu Gate | 3,720m-1,840m | 6-7h |
The tough day was day 5. It was tough because on day 4, after hiking from morning to afternoon, we only got to sleep for about 3 hours in the early evening before waking up at 11 p.m. to get ready to head out for the final summit at 12 midnight. I recall that evening very vividly! I was dressed up in layers upon layers, 3 pairs of gloves and 3 pairs of socks – I even had pocket warmers in between my gloves and toe warmers in between my socks – but my fingers and toes were still freezing cold! While the pocket and toe warmers helped by adding extra warmth, the heat just didn’t get to my fingers and toes. At some point, my fingers were so frozen and numb that I couldn’t feel some of them anymore. I was terrified that no blood was circulating in them that I had remove one of the gloves to improve my blood circulation.
We walked for hours and hours in the dark with headlamps on our heads. Each time I looked up, all I could see were little lights like stars going up to the sky. These little lights were headlamps from other groups of people who had started summiting before us. I kept reminding myself not to look up at those little lights because all they did was remind me that we still had a long way to go! Our guides were awesome. They sang cheer songs to us from the moment we left the camp. Some of the songs were so hilarious that they lifted our spirits! Every now and then, we stopped for a sip of hot tea or hot water. Given that we were in ‘desert land’, there weren’t really any bushes to hide behind while peeing. There were some occasional large stones but at times, one was so pressed that they couldn’t be bothered to wait to get to the next large stone! The air was so cold that the thought of removing our layers upon layers of trousers was not enticing at all. I was thankful that Chief (who had climbed Mt. Kenya a few years before) had convinced me to buy loose as opposed to fitting trousers as I found removing and wearing them back in the freezing cold much easier. They were also more comfortable to walk in and layer up.
Along the way, we encountered several people being brought down by their guides – probably because the altitude got to them. I kept praying that none of us would get sick and that we would all make it to the top in one piece. We hiked and hiked! Our guides told us that once we got to Gillman’s point, getting to Stella Point and finally Uhuru point (the very top) would be easy.
We therefore pressed on! Sunrise came and we still hadn’t reached Gillman’s point! We however took the time to soak in the beauty of the sunrise where we were. Eventually, after many hours, we finally got to this much talked about Gillman’s point! Joy and relief was an understatement!!! It was if my body got filled up with extra adrenaline rush because after that, I increased my speed to the summit point. Have you ever seen those athletes who find energy from nowhere when they are close to the finish line? I think I exhibit such behaviours! Anyway, I finally made it to the Uhuru peak at about 10.30am. This was after commencing our journey at 12.30am. I was so excited that I had the energy in me to do a jump!
This photo was captured by a stranger while I waited for the rest of my group to join me at the top. I ended up spending almost an hour there. Staying that long at Uhuru Peak is not encouraged at all due to the risk of altitude sickness. I however honestly don’t remember that 1 hour passing. We left the peak at around 11.30am. It was a steep journey back down. It was fun going down the sandy terrain (almost like skiing) but the steepness puts a strain on one’s legs. We finally got back to Kibo Camp (where our journey commenced the previous night) at 3.30pm. This meant we had been walking for 15.5 hours. We were then told that we weren’t going to be spending the night there as it was still in high altitude and that we had to pack our bags and to walk down to the next camp (Horombo) which was more than 6 hours away! We didn’t even get the chance to rest. We quickly changed into dry clothes, packed our duffle bags, ate some few snacks and headed out for our journey back to Horombo Camp. This journey was in the dark. At some point, it felt tougher than the journey to Gillman’s point! I was so sleepy and tired that my eyes felt like they had scales in them! Because I wanted to get to the next camp and just sleep, I walked as fast as I could. We finally got to Horombo Camp at about 11.30 p.m. This meant we had walked for almost 24 hours on day 5!!!!!!!!!!!! How we did it, I do not know! As if that wasn’t enough, upon our arrival, the “watchman” at Horombo Camp told us that the camp was full and there were no rooms for us! It sounded like a really bad dream! After trying to plead with the guy, it turned out there had been some misunderstanding and that our rooms had already been reserved for us. All I wanted to do after that was sleep. I quickly ate my dinner and sleep I did!
The following day (day 6) we set off for our final stretch down the mountain which took a couple of hours. Our pace was certainly faster than our pace going up. In total we took 4 days going up and 2 days coming down. We had a celebratory dinner with our amazing guides when we got back to the the hotel and received our certificates for successfully summiting up to Uhuru peak! Below is our celebratory cake with all the team members in it:-)
When I look back, I am filled with wonderful memories! I enjoyed it all! Would I ever climb Kili again? I don’t think so. I however look forward to doing more hikes in the future. So long as we won’t be sleeping in tents, count me in! Who knows, maybe our next hike will be at the Amalfi Coast in Italy where we’ll be hiking by day and sleeping in luxury cabins by night. Or perhaps, it will be at Mt. Kenya. All I know is: this won’t be the last of my hiking – Watch this space!
Watch out also for my next post titled “Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro – (Part 2 of 2: The Tips)” where I summarize how I trained, the right gear to carry, the altitude medication that helped us, the excellent guides we used etc.
Until next time,
Dee
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