Travelling through Africa is not for the faint-hearted. With President Barrack Obama in Nairobi, co-hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit today, the airport and most of the city have been closed by his security detail. The flight from Nairobi to SA was delayed by 1 and 1/2 hours, which meant that we were late coming into Nairobi hence we missed our connecting flight to Kilimanjaro. Next flight out to Kili is scheduled for 16:15. Ouch, another long lay-off. With me is my dear friend Wole Adeniyi from Nigeria who attempted Kilimanjaro unsuccessfully a few years earlier. He joins me on this very emotional trip as I take my Mum’s ashes to the top of the Africa.
Kenya Airways put us up in a hotel called Summerdale Hotel. It certainly is not Summer Place back home 😜
I’ve always wanted to visit Kenya, well now I have the stamp in my passport. Will come back to climb Mt Kenya sometime in the future.
A few photos of the bar and its large stained glass decor for your consumption.
We catch our flight from Kenya to Kilimanjaro and for the first time in my lifetime, we fly between Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru. I sit in the left of the plane and get a perfect view of Kili’s Mt Uhuru and Mt Mawenzi. Mt Uhuru sticks out clearly through the white clouds that obscures everything else. A few pictures later and we start our descent for Kilimanjaro Airport. Wole, my friend from Lagos is with me on this trip. Wole attempted Mt Kilimanjaro a few years ago unsuccessfully. So my mission this time around was two-fold, namely; 1 – to get Wole up and down safely and 2 – to scatter my Mum’s ashes on Uhuru Peak, Mt Kibo, Kilimanjaro.
We arrive in Kilimanjaro and though passport control to our waiting transfer to the hotel. Joining Wole and me are 3 other South Africans, a husband and wife team plus the wife’s father. We arrive at the Keys Hotel in Moshi Town around 19:00 and we start our unpacking and repackaged for the 7 days on the mountain. Lessons learned from my last trip here is never pack too much as every kilo counts. Wole and I eat dinner and have a briefing with the hotel manager re: our Programme for tomorrow.
To bed and a well earned rest. Tomorrow is the start of our hike and we need to be in top form.
Day 1 – Machame Gate to Machame Hut (3000m amsl)
Duffel bags and backpacks packed and weighed, we do breakfast and grab water for the first day. Off into the transfer vehicle with our head guide and team to the Machame Gate where we lunch while the guides sort out logistics and porters. The story of how porters are sorted is very interesting. You see, Mt Kilimanjaro is a national park and only officially validated guides can lead any trek into the mountains. Secondly, to increase the employment rate in the country, the park requires the use of porters to carry the luggage over the mountain. Kili is not like other mountains, where a firm base camp is established where all luggage is brought to, set up and from where the hikers do their acclimatisation and their final ascent for the top. With Kili, you carry your camp gear from point to point, make up and break down camp daily and walk to the next camp site. It is for this reason that porterage is necessary and of course more gear you carry, the more porters you will need to carry their stuff and yours. So be careful with your needs on the mountain.
Anyway, between the 5 hikers (Wole, me and the 3 South Africans), we share a cook, butler and a camp master. These are provided for by the Hotel. Wole and me have our own head and alternate guides and there are 2 such persons for the other 3 hikers. At the park entrance, we are informed by the park officials on the number of porters who will accompany us on our hike. We are now a hiking party of 9 (5 guests and 4 guides) and need a further portage capacity provided by 7 men. Between the porters, they carry all camping and sleeping gear, kitchen, stoves, water storage drums, our duffel bags and their own clothes. A lot of these guys don’t bother with a change of clothes. They wear what they need. I presume it is less to carry. As you can imagine, in an environment where there is a lack of ablution facilities and water is scarce, not much bathing takes place and that goes for the guests as well. After a while, trust me, you can smell yourself. There is a saying on the mountain however that if you can’t smell the porters, it is time for a cleanse and a change of clothes.
We start our hike through the montaine forest weather is not as clear as when we started. Grey skies abound which is great for hiking but not good for the body as we ascend into the colder air. I take a few pictures in the forest, which with this light, the subjects offer up their true colours and I take a great shot of the trees overhead against the backdrop of the darkened sky. Note also the Impatients flower species unique to Mt Kilimanjaro; the Impatients Kilimanjari or Elephants Trunk Flower, the semi-official flower of Kilimanjaro.
We reach Machame Hut in the afternoon after a long walk. I note the difference of the track from my last time out here. It certainly has rained and track is a bit worse for wear. Camp is always a great sight. The route is busy this time around and our camp is nowhere close to the track. Finding it is a relief and a chance to put our backpacks down and rest. At dinner, Wole and I chat a bit about the day and I try to figure out how he is coping, knowing that I may have a challenge on my hands due to his previous failed attempt. My plan is to keep him talking and not allow him to withdraw, so that I have a chance to check how lucid he is and whether the affects of attitude is setting in. If it is, then I would make arrangements to walk slower, to walk high and sleep low and to ascend slowly by taking a circuitous route from camp to camp. Wole looks good and he is very fit, even fitter than me. He is a natural endurance athlete who runs everyday but as you know it is not your physical conditioning alone that will get you up and down a high mountain, it is your aptitude and attitude to altitude that will be the final arbiter. I am not feeling at my best this time around and am not sure why. I know I don’t do travel, especially airplanes, very well and I could have picked up a bug or something en-route.
We say our good nights after a great dinner and make for our tents. I feel the cold compared to my first time on the mountain and shout out to Wole to keep warm. We cannot afford to get sick now.
Day 2 – Machame Hut to Shira Plateau (3700m amsl)
We depart for Shira Plateau today ascending 700m in one day. This is a bit much but the course undulates and provides lots of opportunity to acclimatise. One such place is about half way through the journey, where we stop for a while and take lunch. We start our slow walk to assist with our acclimatisation and find that we are amongst the last ones on the route. It suits me better as I am running out of energy and have not yet started on my Diamox treatment. Reaching Shira Plateau late in the afternoon, we find that our camp is towards the centre of the camp site. Great, because the winds do reach high speeds here and some shelter, any shelter from the wind is a great help.
To further assist our acclimatisation process, we hike to Shira Caves and then onto the rocks above it. The air is clear and crisp. We get some great photos and off to camp before the night sets in and the wind rises lowering the temperature. Dinner is dispensed with and we take stock of our energy loss and reserves. I am worried about Wole today as he starts to withdraw. He did not respond to my calls en-route today and I made it clear that I am now worried enough and that it is up to him to keep talking to me so that I know where his mind space is. We agree on this and make our way to our tents to retire for the night.
The wind picks up and the temperature drops significantly. I cannot keep warm and this keeps me awake, plus the howling wind. We hear the rumbling of tent poles and noises that clearly sound like a tent was blown away. It is too cold to go outside and investigate. I stay put and get some sleep.
The next morning, I find that our dining room tent was the cause of all the noise and it blown off and lay flat against another tent. I also find a balaclava, which I presume belonged to Wole. On inquiring about his balaclava, indeed that he was not aware that he had dropped it returning from a bathroom break sometime during the night. He is lucky that it fell just outside his tent and was protected from the winds by the tent or else he would not have seen his balaclava again.
Day 3 – Shira Plateau to Barranco Wall (4200m at Lava Tower and 3200m at Barranco Wall)
Today we start our official walk high, sleep low technique. En-route to our camp site at Barranco Wall, we stop for lunch at Lava Tower which nestles at the foot of the Western Breach. The summit is so close from this point that one could easily be at the summit by the next day.
The Western Breach was created when the rocks crumbled under the sheer weight of the glacier and tumbled down the mountain, clearing a great valley called the Umbwe Valley which which also feeds the Umbwe river. This catastrophe shears the valley and created a wall called the Barranco Wall which is across from the Umbwe Valley and River.
Today, the hikers from the Shira/Londorosi route will join us just before Lava Tower. The route is getting busier now with between 70-100 hikers excluding their entourages. At Barranco, we’ll be joined by the hikers from the Umbwe route. This is not a popular route as it is extremely steep and ascends quickly and is only for serious hikers.
Reaching Lava Tower, we take lunch and start our walk through and down Lava Tower and to the top of the last hill for the day. Every step from then to Barranco is downhill. It is said that going downhill is more difficult than going uphill. Although the euphoria of increased oxygen rejuvenates the body, the momentum and impact on the knees takes its toll. We reach camp amongst the last ones again. Our camp master is doing a great job. He breaks up camp, packs everything up and leaves at least an hour after we take off. Yet somehow, they manage to pass us en-route and get to the next campsite way before us to make camp again and get the kitchen working, so that when we drag our sorry bodies to camp, they are ready for us. Tough, strong and willing, that is what these Tanzanians are.
Due to the lower altitude, I start feeling stronger. I’ve been on Diamox since day 2 and it is starting to work. My blood is thinning and I am producing more haemoglobin to carry more oxygen. Wole is neutral. I am watching and monitoring him constantly.
Day 4 – Barranco Wall to Karanga (4000m amsl)
I get up early to take photos of the sun as it rises above the mountain. Remember we are in a valley and although I see the light across the valley, the sun is not in sight as yet. I capture multiple photos of sunrise and am happy with my effort. Breakfast done, we start our hike up Barranco Wall. As I said, Barranco Wall was created by the off-spill from the Western Breach cutting its way along the mountain. We cross the Umbwe Valley and Umbwe River, which is trickle now. Barranco Valley is very steep at the beginning but gets better the higher you go. There are some parts of the earlier slopes that require handholds and assistance. Our guides get us through but there are too many people here right now. We make it up, stop for sustenance and a drink of water and finally get through to the top. From this vantage point, Uhuru Peak is but a stone throw away. We stop here and take a few pictures and then make our way towards Karanga. Karanga is still half a journey away and between this post and Karanga is a scree slope and an immense valley that we need to get across. Camp is on the other side of that valley.
Wole is taught how to use his trekking poles properly. One needs to walk naturally with the poles acting as balancing poles matching right and left gaits with left and right poles rather than a hopping motion. We make it through the scree slope and find ourselves at the valley. The weather looks threatening now and we must make haste for camp.
As I descend, I note that we are taking another path down the valley and will miss out on the rock called Turtle Rock, for obvious reasons. I check in with my head guide and he informs me that the old path crossing Turtle Rock is extremely dangerous and hence a new path was created. I asked whether we could still go past Turtle Rock as I need to get better pictures than I did the last time I was here. He advised that we needed to descend to the valley and then ascend via the old path to the feature. Wole and I agree to split up on the descent. Michael, the head guide and me will descend as quick as possible, find our way to Turtle Rock and catch them on the ascent to Karanga Camp.
As we reach the valley floor, rain starts to fall. The rain was light and there was still good light around, so we decide to continue as planned. We turned left and walked toward the old path, left our backpacks on some rock, slipped on a jacket and with camera strapped across my chest, Michael and I started the climb to Turtle Rock. Now it begins to rain hard and the path is slippery and dangerous. We push on anyway and get to Turtle Rock just as the clouds move in to obscure the rock. Disappointed, we make our way down to the valley, this time, sliding our way down. We get to our backpacks and they are wet, we are wet and we still have to get out of the valley, which on a good day is a 45 minute climb. In this weather, it takes us 60 minutes to ascend and all of this time, the rain pelts us and we are cold. What a rookie mistake.
We reach camp wet and cold, sign in and find our camp. I am so cold and wet that merely stripping out of my wet clothes, I feel warmer. After I dry myself off, I slip into my warm gear. The rain is incessant and there is no hiding from it. We need to leave the comfort of our tents to take dinner and have a debrief. I am already coughing deep from my chest and feeling the energy sapping from my body. What started out as a good day, energy wise was to end in disaster for me. Wole made it to camp and was not too affected by the rain; I am glad.
We talk at dinner and my chest is painful every time I breathe in or cough. I will assess how I feel in the morning and make a call on my summit attempt. Michael is sounding worse than me and he is also concerned about his ability to summit.
Day 5 – Karanga to Barafu (4700m amsl)
Barafu is the official base camp for the summit of Mt Kibo on our route. We will ascend to the crater rim at Stella Point and reach Uhuru Peak which is the highest point on the mountain.
Arriving at Barafu (meaning ice in Swahili), we settle into camp, which today is on the eastern side of the Barafu ridge. This is going to be the high camp for our summit tonight. I am struggling with a cold which is threatening to end my summit attempt and I am coughing seriously badly. At 4,700m above mean sea level, the air is less dense, hence every breath one takes, less oxygen than what you would have gulped at sea level is available. Your body, if it acclimatises well, will respond to this low oxygen environment by thinning the blood and producing more haemoglobin, so that you can absorb every last particle of oxygen. Drinking water, which already is rich in oxygen becomes hyper important to assist with acclimatisation. If it were not for us getting caught in the rain, reaching Barafu in good health and not feeling the 5 days effort would have been the state that I would have loved to be in, but alas. It is critical that one does not push through despite being sick.
In a recent episode, hikers ascended Mt Kilimanjaro for a Nelson Mandela Foundation (July 2016) to bring about change to your school girls in South Africa, ended in tragedy when a local hero from SA, struggled through en-route and was ushered down from the high camp on the Marangu route. Gugu Zulu was an all-round nice guy and a super fit endurance athlete who just did not recover from his illnesses. As he climbed into the higher zones, his chances of recovery diminished and he eventually succumbed while waiting for the ER team at the gate, having been carried all the way down. This is a sad reality on mountains. RIP Gugu, you will always be remembered. A South African hero who gave selflessly and in the end made the ultimate sacrifice for others.
Michael, Wole and I meet for a pre-summit meeting. I am feeling slightly better and will attempt the summit. Michael is as sick as a dog and will make the final call just prior to leaving for the summit. He trusts my judgement as I’ve been here before and am accomplished with the do’s and don’ts. He will prepare another climber to accompany Wole and me, should he not be able to summit. It is critical that we have a guide for every climber to allow maximum chance of success, in case one of the climbers need to turn around before the summit, the other may continue with the 2nd guide.
Day 5 – Barafu to Uhuru Peak (5895m amsl)
At 22:00 we meet to take final instructions and to confirm the summit party. Michael is not well at all and the little sleep that he did get was not enough for him to recover. I am feeling a lot better although still not well. We make the final arrangements to ascend. Wole and me accompanied by 2 guides. We set out at 23:00 and make great progress up the first obstacle. We reach the last flats where the last high camp nestles and start the ascent of the scree slope in earnest. I am in good spirits and am chatty along the way. We pass many hikers whom we’ve met along the way to Barafu and this keeps my spirit up as I am not lagging despite my health conditions.
We make steady progress, walking for half an hour and stopping for 5 minutes to take in water, chomp on a energy bar and urinate. It is surprisingly not cold. There is no wind and it’s off with the heavy summit jacket and balaclava as I start to heat up from the effort. My heart-rate is in the right zone and all is well.
6 hours into the ascent and we see the lights at the top. From this point we have another hour to ascend before we get to Stella Point. At Stella Point, the hikers from the Marangu route will join up and we ascend together towards Uhuru Peak. On arriving at Stella Point, we are elated. Uhuru peak is just beyond some rocky outcrop. The crater is low in front of us and will be on our right as we walk along the crater rim to Uhuru Peak. But today, the wind is howling up there. It catches me by surprise and it seems that it is coming right across the crater, hitting the crater rim and is directed upwards and over the edge. It is only when you reach the rim that you feel the power of the wind. It is biting cold and there is no chance of walking without any heavy gear here. We stop for a breather, take in some hot tea brought up by the guides and put on the heavy jacket. I pause for a photo of sunrise. It is best seen from this vantage point, as the sun lights up the eastern sky and gives the clouds an orange/red hue. Time is short. Our guides ask us to push on due to the heavy wind and they ask that we do not dwell too long at the summit. Stella Point is at 5,739m. We have only 150 odd meters to ascend over a distance of 1 kilometre but the path to Uhuru Peak takes us longer than an hour.
I’ve not seen this place as desolate as I see it today. All the climbers whom we passed on the way up were still behind us and it felt for a moment that we were the only ones here today. Arriving at Uhuru Peak, we quickly went through the rituals of photos at the marker. The officials have finally given into the demand from hikers to bring back the rustic marker that was replaced a few years ago by a metal banner. In fact there now are 2 such markers as this summit can be very busy and having 2 banners for hikers to take their summit photos on, prevents queues which allows for an earlier descent.
I planned to hike to the crater itself to dispose of my Mum’s ashes but due to the conditions and my failing health, I decided to scatter her ashes at the peak. As a Priest in his church in Nigeria, Wole said a few word befitting of a loved one who passed and I made my final plea for my Mum to be part of this mountain which gives life to all who surround her. With that done, our guides are getting nervous that we were exposed for too long at the summit to this high, cold wind. We start our descent and the guides urge us to make haste. My strength is waning and I decide to take the quickest and shortest way down, which is straight down. All heavy gear packed into the backpack, I have my trekking poles and like a downhill skier, I start the descent. with the Cook as my guide. Wole is taking it easier and in the company of the main guide, he settles into a steady pace as I leave him behind. My knees are taking a pounding but I keep up and reach the rocks that give way from the scree slope to the more easier terrain. I am famished, I’ve not kept up with my hydration and energy consumption and am now paying for my poor discipline. Another rookie mistake. I can go no further so we stop for a while. I am hoping that Wole catches up with me so that we can descend together. He is a lot slower than I expected or I pushed myself too much.
Anyway, we are close now and I see a few porters walking up to meet us. I beckon for them to go further up to find Wole and the head guide and to assist them to return. I find my strength and descend albeit slower than previously. I reach camp, open my tent and slump into it with my feet sticking out. The butler comes over, removes my boots and pushes me into the tent, brings me some water and a bite to eat. This was all that I needed. I passed out for a while until I heard Wole enter camp. Having checked up on him and finding him in good health, we slept for the next few hours until it was time to move to the lower camp. It was around 10:00 that we arrived back at camp, which means that we’ve been walking for 11 hours and it is not over.
Day 6 – Barafu to Mweka Camp (3700m amsl)
Around 14:00 on the day of our return to high camp, we pack our things and head off towards Mweka Camp. They call this camp, the camp that never comes. With the euphoria of summiting behind us, the effort to get back to the lower camp is hard. Also, one does not realise that we were at this altitude on day 2 and here we are trying to get back within a few hours with aching knees and tired bodies. The terrain is rocky and there are many banks to descend without anything to hold on to or to slow one down. So we add to our pain and for what seems like forever. We reach the flatter lands now and hope is high that we are at camp. Unfortunately, leaving Barafu as late as we did, did not give our camp master enough time to secure a good camp site. We were probably the last ones in and our camp was way down the end of the camp site, which made it even more frustrating.
Tonight, I finally take some medication for my symptoms which includes a mild tranquilliser to help me sleep.
Day 7 – Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate (1700m amsl)
After breakfast and the ritual song and dance with the big group, we depart for the gate. I’ve had enough of being sick on the mountain. I guess for me to take my Mum’s ashes to the top, I had to work hard; the mountain was to ensure that I worked hard. I am glad that both my missions for this journey were successful; Wole successfully ascended and my Mum’s ashes were spread on the mountain. I felt a sense of relief and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
Wole seemed to have recovered very well and he was leading the way out at high pace. With the new found oxygen levels and the efficiency of our bodies to consume this abundance of oxygen, we decide to run the last 4 kilometres out of the mountain. We arrive at the gate within the expected time and hang around waiting for our transfer vehicle to pick us up. Finally I get to sit down. Little did I realise how much I gave up on the mountain this time around because when I got up to take a few pictures, my left leg gave in and I had to catch my fall. I had nothing left in my left leg, no energy, no strength, nothing, I had to rely on my trekking poles to get around at this low altitude.
Getting into the transfer vehicle and arriving at Keys Hotel was heaven. I went directly to the shower, got out and just crashed. Sometime later, we met for dinner and got straight back to bed.
Day 8 – Keys Hotel to Kilimanjaro Airport
We depart the hotel and are transferred to our flights from Kilimanjaro Airport. Back in Kenya, we catch our connecting flight to Johannesburg. We are back home. Wole stays the night and has to be back on a flight to Lagos this evening. After a day together, we lunch and he packs his bags for his trip back home.
It has been a tough climb this time around but one that I’ll do again and again. Kilimanjaro was special to me and now that my Mum’s ashes are scattered there, it has sentimental meaning to me.
Sherehe rafiki yangu. Mpaka tukutane tena (Farewell my friend. Until we meet again).
Thank you, Mother of Africa
Mountain Guru 