We did it! And what an amazing experience it was. An extremely difficult mental and physical battle on the summit night, hiking through the dark for 6 hours in the cold, wind, and snow on the ground, but we successfully summited Uhuru Peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro of 5895m / 19,341ft at 06:25 am on October 25th. 7 days and 40+ miles of hiking, but completely worth it and an experience we will never forget

If you are interested in the day by day journal we each kept feel free to continue below (but note it is a bit lengthy!) – or just scroll ahead and enjoy the beautiful pictures.

Day 1 – Lemosho Gate (2385m) to Big Tree Camp (2780m)

Christina

Today was the first day of our trek. Excited but nervous they picked us up from our hotel at 8 am and after a short stop at the office to pick up trekking poles we set off for the 2.5 hour drive to the Landorosso gate. Finally on the way we had our first glance toward the top of the (snow covered !) mountain – but it only lasted for a minute as the clouds shifted to cover it again. Halfway there we stopped at a grocery store to pick up any last minute supplies, so we bought a few more things including plantain chips and peanuts to add to the granola bars and gummy snacks we had brought with. The drive was similar to when we came from the airport. It’s Sunday and it looked like there were lots of people headed to church that we passed on the way. We continued the drive passing more roadside stands selling vegetables, shops along the way, men sitting on their motorbikes chatting and watching us pass, and lots of people along the road. As we got closer to the mountain we turned off of the main road and on to red dirt roads. We had about an hour of a bumpy drive before we reached the gate. One there we were taken to the official registry book – we had to sign in with our name, passport number, information about our guide and tour company, and other details such as our occupation, age, gender, and citizenship. We were officially in the record of starting the climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

We sat and had a boxed lunch which included chicken wings, small sandwiches, an apple, fruit juice, peanuts, and other snacks to get us ready for the first day of hiking. We chatted with a few people in other groups who would also be taking the same route (some 8 days and some 7) and rested for about an hour before heading off toward the Lemosho gate and our official starting point. We continued along dirt roads and saw to the sides of us the local mountain tribes people harvesting crops such as greens and carrots as well as timber which is a big industry in this area. We had a bit of rain during lunch but as we continued the weather continued to take a turn and we drove through rains and now muddy roads to reach the start of the gate. We arrived and got prepared in our rain gear – gaiters, rain coats, backpack covers, and rain pants. When you see the pictures keep in mind our rain pants were rented… and why we both ended up with bright colored parachute pants.

Geared up and ready to go and after a taking a picture at the start with our guides, we set off with our guide Bariki in the pouring rain to start off the Lemosho and our hike to the golden roof of Africa. We hiked for about 2 hours through heavy rain and lots of mud until we finally had a break in the skies and even a little bit of sun for the last bit of a hike. The distance covered was not too long today but in the rain and mud it was challenging since the ground was very slippery. We went through the Mountain rainforest zone today (rain was heavily emphasized). Bariki set the pace for us and we went ‘pole pole’ as they say in Swahili or slow, slow. The key to making it to the top is to take your time and acclimatizing slowly and not rushing it.

Despite the rain our hike today was enjoyable. It was exciting to finally start our journey to the top. We learned a lot about our guide Bariki today – who also told us he goes by Imma. We learned he is from Moshi originally and his family comes from the Chagga tribe – which is one of the hundreds of tribes in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. He told us that Tanzania is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa because all the tribes get along and there is no fighting. Tanzania is also unique in that even though there are so many different tribes with their own languages and customs, they all share the same common tongue of Swahili. We learned about Imma’s three children and he told us how when he wanted to marry his wife he had to first bring his future in laws a sheep (or he had the choice of cow as is also the custom here) a local beer and local juices and hope they gave him permission to marry. Imma hiked Kilimanjaro for the first time at age 18 and first started as a porter and became a guide almost 8 years ago. To become a guide you have to go to a special school and pass an examination and then do tests to renew your license every three years. He hasn’t kept count but he thinks he’s hiked to the summit more than 100 times since he currently typically leads hikes usually twice a month during the hiking season (which does not include all months of the year since there are not typically hiked during the rainy season) plus the time he spent as a porter. He loves his job though because he really enjoys meeting people from all over the world and helping them make it to the top. He even spoke some German with us – Geh’ma (dialect for ‘let’s go’) and langsam langsam (or pole pole / slow slow) !

When we got to the camp, which is called ‘big tree’ camp since it is surrounded by big trees, we had to sign in again to state where we were coming from and then we were taken to our groups camp site and shown to our tent which will be our home for the next few days. Everyone keeps telling us to make it our home and we are. We have a small area for sleeping and next to it an area with a little table and chairs for us to have our meals and relax – and hang out our wet clothes to dry. We also decided to spring for the luxury of our own private toilet rather than using the public ones at the camps – the biggest perk of which it is very near to our tent and saves us the walk across the campsite in the cold and in the night.

After settling in, they brought us warm water to wash up followed by tea and snacks of popcorn and biscuits. After a bit of taking it easy the guides came over to tell us we would have a briefing for the next day, a health check, and then dinner. Mtae and Imma told us about what to expect for the hike for the next day, and about how long they thought it would take for each of the morning and afternoon parts as tomorrow is our longest distance hike. They also told us what to expect with the weather (as much as you can expect given it is changing all the time on the mountain), what to wear, and what we should bring in our day pack. After that we had the medical check which we will do at the end of each day. We first go through a list of symptoms of altitude sickness and have to note if we have had any today: headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. Then we give ourselves a rating from 1-10 for how we were feeling that day (we were 9.5 and 10 for the first day). After that we put our finger in a small machine which takes a reading of our oxygen level and our pulse. The further we go up in altitude, the lower our oxygen levels will get and the higher our pulses will rise. We are both at 95 % oxygen tonight – it will be interesting to see how that changes over the next days.

After our medical check it was dinner time, which was served in the little attachment to the sleeping portion of our tent. Our waiter Denice brings our food right to the tent, cooked by Saidi who is our ‘stomach engineer’ for the week. We had fish with pasta and a hearty vegetable sauce as well as some deliciously ripe avocado. We learned earlier that day Tanzania is a big producer of avocados. After dinner it was time to climb into our warm sleeping bags and said good night, or as you say in Swahili – lala salama. Day one done.

Fred

We were picked up at 8am after our last hotel meal of scrambled eggs and assorted breads and fruits (and some sort of potato banana thing?). We checked our non-hiking clothes at the hotel and paid our tab for the meals of the previous few days (pizza, cheeseburger, and some indian foods). A 2.5 hr drive to Lemosho gate awaited with a final supermarket stop for last minute essentials and snacks. Hope we are geared up enough for the adventure….

After about 2 hrs, we arrived at Londerosso gate to register and have a boxed lunch. We realized pretty quickly that we weren’t the only idiots to register for a 7 day rain storm into the sky. There were a few groups of very similar style tour companies ranging from 2-10 people or so. The strangest was the group of 4 people in their 40s or so who apparently had the high class service. They received the works – a nice table cloth, tossed salad, freshly baked quiche of some sort and some fried chicken. This dwarfed our boxed lunch (which was, however, quite plentiful). We learned a little later that this group had 40 porters (including an individual porter for each person). 40? Curious if they opted for the piggy back ride package. This sounds more to me like a gentle uphill walk with five star accommodations.

Anyway, an hour later we were back in the van and on our way to Lemosho gate to kick things off. This is also the time the rain decided to kick things off. After arrival at Lemosho gate, we huddled under a tent to prepare for the short day 1 hike. With the nasty downpours continuing to worsen, we were forced to gear up pre-hike/ rain pants, rain jacket, gaiters, etc. With our rented Ronald McDonald clown pants (we chose not to bring rain pants and this had to rent from the little supply of rain pants they had), Christina and I were not walking down any runway looking like that, but we were protected. The hike itself was not bad. They had told us it was the easiest of days and it was. Some steeper parts came up here and there but it was mostly a slow (remember “pole, pole”), gradual 7k climb through the rain forest and torrential downpours to Big Tree Camp.

Our guide for the day was Bariki, Or Imma, ad he likes to be called. We had a pretty straight-forward hike but we learned a lot about the guide and the Chagga tribe around the hills of Kilimanjaro that he comes from. We learned about Swahili as the main language throughout Tanzania and peacefulness between tribes. As was evident to us, they are welcoming to outsiders and this is the same between tribes within Tanzania. We also learned how a man must donate a cow or sheep (and beer and juice) to the parents of the woman he wishes to marry. Interesting stuff.

As for the hike, fortunately for us, the rain subsided over the last half hour, the sun peaked through and we were able to naturally dry off a little before entering the camp. One of the most interesting parts of the hike was the porters ripping through the rainforest carrying kilos of all sorts of bags, tents, food, etc…and our private toilet (our 1 luxury upgrade at a no brainer $70) balanced on their heads. It was quite impressive, especially in the muddy conditions.

After about 2.5 hrs, we arrived at Big Tree Camp (after the porters arrived and setup the camp) and first experienced our private tent and sleeping quarters, had some hot tea, washed with hot water delivered to us, and ate some popcorn before being briefed by our guides.

Prior to dinner, we received our briefing and discussed the day behind us (7km) and the day to come (17km and much steeper terrain). We passed our health assessment and it was time for dinner of hot cucumber soup, fried fish, pasta and vegetable sauce with fresh avocados. Day 1 done. On to the next one.

Day 2 – Big Tree Camp (2780m) to Shira 2 Camp (3900m)

Christina

What a day today was. Our longest day of the trek with 17k‘s total covered. But we were rewarded with an incredible surprise at the end.

We were woken up at 6 am this morning with a cup of hot tea handed to us in our tent. In the cool air of the morning this was a great way to wake up and ease ourselves out of our warm sleeping bags. We both slept pretty well – a little too full from tea and water and had to venture out of the tents in the middle of the night and were very greatful for our nearby toilet. During the night we could hear the monkeys and birds in the forest around us, but otherwise slept soundly. We were even more excited to step out of our tents and see clear blue skies and sun. After the rain yesterday and with many of our clothes still wet this was a welcome sight because we could hang some things from our bags as we walked and let them dry along the way.

After our tea and washing with warm water we packed up our bags for the day and were treated to breakfast in the eating compartment of our tent of millet porridge, melon, omelette, hot dog, and bread. A lot of food to energize us for the long hike ahead. We set off just before 8 am and spent around an hour walking through the mountain rainforest – but this time under sunny skies and no rain. The path was a bit of up and down and muddy at times. We were led today by Mtey , who told us he hasn’t been keeping an official count but thinks its over 180 times. He climbed for the first time at age 16 and like Imma he was a porter before becoming a guide 8 years ago.

After an hour in the rain forest we emerged into the lower moorland climate zone, which is very different to the rain forest in that there are no longer big tall trees and you are able to see far in all directions. Our guides pointed out lots of different plants to us and explained about the vegetation along the way. We did a little up and down for a while until about an hour and a half up of a steady climb with a few steep points along the way. Just as we were getting close to the Shira I camp, where we would be having our lunch, it started to rain so we switched into rain gear and hiked for about 15 minutes in the rain, until a little sun popped out, and then back to a few more drizzles at the end. We arrived to Shira I and after some tea to warm up had a delicious lunch of spaghetti with a fish sauce and bananas for dessert.

After lunch we set off for Shira II Camp, where we would be spending the night. This part of the trail was only a 200m increase in elevation compared to the 800m increase we experienced during the morning. The trail was flat in some areas with gradual inclines and still had a few steeper spots with rocks. We were still in the moorlands on this part of the hike. The first hour we had heavy rains again, but when we were about 30 minutes from the camp the clouds opened up and we had our first view of the top (the peak is around the other side so we technically had not yet seen that). It was both incredible and intimidating to think we would be there in just a short few days. As the guides said, she is a shy mountain and doesn’t come out from the clouds for you to see all the time. But today we were lucky.

We were even more fortunate when we got to the Shira II camp. After signing in at the camp, hanging our wet clothes to dry, and relaxing for a bit with a hot cup of tea, we were rewarded after our long day of hiking with one of the most spectacular sunsets we have ever seen. Far above the clouds we watched the sun descend in front of us behind the Shira peaks we were looking out from. It was truly one of the most spectacular things we had seen and it was the perfect way to cap off our day – high above the clouds with a colorful sky and beautiful sunset.

We had a dinner of zucchini soup, beef kebabs, and fried potatoes and cucumber and then had our briefing for the next day. Since the weather was not looking good for the afternoon the next day, our guides decided that since we had been walking well so far, instead of making the normal stop at the Lava Tower (which was our high point for the day at 4690m) for lunch, we would leave a little earlier, push through and do the whole 6 hour hike at once and have our lunch when we would arrive to camp around 1 pm. We agreed this made sense, did our health checks (oxygen levels were both at 85% this time – lower than the previous day but this was normal given we were at higher altitude and our only other symptoms were minor headaches – which is also normal) and headed to bed for our early wake up.

Lala salama – day 2 done.

Fred

Day 2 began with a 6am wake up call with a special delivery of tea in bed…not the worst way to wake up in the world. We finished our tea around 6:20 in time for breakfast in our tent of millet porridge, eggs and a sausage hot dog type thing. We were also provided fresh melon of some sort, bread and peanut butter. We had a pretty good spread and packed our bags with full stomachs getting ready for the 7:30AM departure, but this time, led by Mtey. Our clothes did not do much drying in the dark overnight so we tied the wet jacket and rain pants on the outside of our bags to dry during the hike. Fortunately – this time – the weather looked fantastic.

First part of hike before lunch was 7km and a lot of uphill climbing. We started the day at 2780m in our way to Shira I camp (3610m) and fairly quickly began the uphill climb through the beautiful sun and clear skies. We quickly dropped layers and began the hike with another hour of rain forest to start the day followed by entrance to the Morelands, where the plant life starts to dissipate. There was sun in the sky all morning, so we quickly dropped layers and enjoyed a reasonably warm hike while our rain gear dried while tied to our day packs. Today was also our first use of the trekking poles and this was 100% the right move. There was a lot of mud from the previous day’s downpours in addition to difficult uphill rock terrain for a good bit of the hike. The views however, were outstanding and many a picture were taken. After gaining good ground, we arrived at Shira I camp around 1pm behind our porters who had the tents already set for lunch. (This is the one key difference between our 7 day Lemosho and the somewhat more popular 8 day Lemosho hike – the 7 day has another 10km of hiking after lunch to Shira II camp, whereas the 8 day group stays the day/night at Shira I). This made for a long day for us.

Lunch at Shira I camp consisted of spaghetti with fish sauce, some toast and some fruit. They really like to fill you up for these hikes apparently. After the 1.5 hr break or so, we were on our way to Shira II camp, another 10k. This was a bit of a gentler hike than the morning with only 200m of altitude gained. However, the rain started and parachute pants were back on for about an 1.5-2 hrs of rain before the sun came back out. Mtey taught us about some of the local plants and some more Swahili which I unfortunately forgot pretty quickly. At around 5:30pm, we arrived to Shira II camp at 3960m where we would post up for the night.

We arrived to a bowl of hot water for cleansing and hot tea and would eat around 6:30pm. Prior to dinner, we witnessed one of the most stunning sunsets over the Shira peaks in front of us as the clouds dropped with the cold air coming in. We were on top of the clouds with incredible views in all directions – behind us the snow capped peaks looking breathtaking but intimidating. What a way to end the day. Dinner later that night was a start of tasty Zucchini soup followed by some sort of spiced beef kabobs with side of potatoes and cucumbers and a nice plate of melon. Soon after dinner, we had our briefing and passed our health assessment with slightly higher heart rate and lower oxygen levels – normal for the gains in altitude. Day 2 done. Time for 8pm bed time with another long one ahead…

Day 3 – Shira 2 Camp (3900m) to Barranco Camp (3960m)

Christina

Today was our first acclimatization hike. We woke up at 545 this morning and after a breakfast of omelette and crepes we headed out for the day. Since the weather was supposed to turn rainy in the afternoon, we decided with the guides last night to power through the usual lunchtime stop and do the entire hike at once, so we loaded up with lots of snacks for the route.

The morning was spent making slow gradual climbs with a few steep areas, mostly walking along gravel and rocky paths. After about 3 hours climbing we came to the spot where our Lemosho Route and the Machame Route meet. From now on we will also be journeying along with people coming from that route as well. From there we made it to the base of the Lava Tower, which was our high point for the day at 4640m. We were both felt relatively good at this point but were beginning to experience some of the altitude with headaches. Mtey commandeered us some ginger tea from another camp and the headaches subsided. We also stopped to refuel with some snacks and water and then made our decent which was mostly all downhill to the Baranco Camp where we would be spending the next night.

We arrived at the camp where our porters greeted us and we started to get ready for lunch. Although I had been feeling fine the entire hike (with the exception of the headache at Lava Tower), as I was starting to take off some of my hiking gear and unpack I started noticing that I was feeling a little nauseous and did not have much of an appetite, two things which commonly happen at altitude. Fred was feeling fine aside from the headache at the high point and on the way down. I hadn’t felt this way until we got back to the camp, but I sat down for a little and rested and hoped it would pass. They brought us what looked like a delicious lunch of banana stew, chicken, and thick crepes to eat them with. I could only get myself to eat one of the crepes at the time and I tried to drink some cups of tea and hot water. I ran out of water for the hike and we had to wait a bit for them to treat the new supply but once they brought some more water over I drank a lot of that and started to feel like I was improving, but still didn’t have much of an appetite.

A little bit later, still not at 100%, the guides asked if we could do a formal introduction with the team. Since we had long days leading up to this one we only had the chance to meet a few of the porters up until this point. We came out of the tent and joined them in song and dance welcoming us, and tried our best to join in with the call and repeat portions of the song in Swahili (we did pretty well with ‘hakuna matata’ and ‘Kilimanjaro’ parts). After singing together, they all introduced themselves to us and we intoduced ourselves to them. This definitely helped to bring my mood up from feeling sick earlier. It was really nice to meet everyone who was working so hard to help us get to the top.

After falling in and out of sleep for a few hours it was time for dinner. I had a little bit of an appetite and was able to get myself to have two bowls of leek soup and a plate of plain rice. It was an improvement over the afternoon. We then did the briefing and medical checks with our guides. Tomorrow we only had about 4 hours of hiking ahead but it would be very quick inclines and steep – especially in the beginning. I had to mark a few extra symptoms today on my medical sheet (nausea and loss of appetite) which my guides assured me is very common and nothing to be concerned about and I would likely feel better in the morning. I still had oxygen levels around 85% so this was a promising sign. I went to bed feeling a little down but hoping in the morning I would feel better and ready to continue the journey. Either way we had accomplished a lot at this point.

Lala salama – day three done.

Fred

Day 3 is another long one. During our previous night’s briefing with Mtey and Imma, we all agreed on starting extra early (7am) and skipping the hot lunch and long break at the top of Lava Tower with poor weather in the forecast. This means that we have the same hike but take a quick 15-30 min break at Lava Tower before ripping downhill to Barranco Camp.

We had a good pace today. This time, Imma led the way with Mtey tailing. It was a long way, expected to be about 4 hrs or so. On the way, we had some incredible views again of the snow capped peaks ahead of us and Shira Peak behind us (in addition to the impressive Mount Meru in the distance). About 2 hours in and a mile or so out of Lava Tower, we could see quite a few hikers in the distance up on a ridge converging towards us. This is apparently the point where the Machame Route and a few other routes meet up with us, so the camp will be busy tonight as we are told. These are the groups we will be summitting with.

About an hour later, we made it to the top at Lava Tower (4640 m) in a total of about 3 hrs as it started to rain. We high fived, took some pics, and then quick break time for some snack eats and bathroom break, or “happy time” as they like to call it. At this point, both Christina and I started to feel the altitude in some pretty nasty headaches. We got some ginger tea from one of the other groups from our company which seemed to do the trick and we were ready to blast down. Christina does not like the downhills and there were some slippery parts, but we were cooking pretty good and made it down to Barranco Camp (3900m) in about 1.5 hrs at about 2pm or so. I was feeling pretty decent with adrenaline pumping a bit and crushed the lunch (crepes, chicken thighs, and banana stew). Unfortunately, this is the point where Christina started to get some of the more painful side effects of the altitude, likely due to the long day and not as much water as previous day. Every person seems to handle it differently but she experienced a bad headache, nausea and complete loss of appetite. She tried to force down a crepe without much luck to get some energy back. The water, however, seemed to help. No worries. “Hakuna Mattata” as they say in Swahili (not just a made up Lion King phrase).

After attempting lunch, Mtey and Imma called us out of our tent for formal introductions to the team. You would think this would happen earlier but with long days and exhausting nights, we had not yet had the chance. The two guides, cook, and 8 porters awaited in a circle inviting us to join. Mtey led the group off with some Kilimanjaro songs and dance in Swahili and we tried our best to join in. It was truly a welcoming experience and made us feel at home with the group. The only words I picked up on were the random English words thrown in when they were pointing at us and perhaps indicating that when we conquer and arrive back from the Golden Roof we get “shower, beer and whiskey”. I’ll tell you what – those sound pretty good to me right about now. The last chant was all in English and got me pretty amped up. “Non stop” “to the top”…”to the top” “non stop”…”non stop” “to the top!!!” After the dancing and singing, the team introduced themselves. We had met most of them informally but was nice to hear their names and tasks. Mtey and Imma the guides. Said the cook, Denice our waiter, Abel our ‘helicopter pilot’ aka the man in charge of carrying and cleaning toilet (but one of the happiest people we met) and then the rest (Alex, Apolo, Papai, Hendry, Elia, Venance) carrying bags, essentials, tents, foods etc. You name it, they have it. We could not do this without them and that is a massive understatement.

After the intro, we had a good bit of rehydrating after filling our waters. Christina took a nap to try to recover. The water/nap combo seemed to do the trick. We basically woke up from nap, ate dinner of rice and veggie sauce and got ready for bed with not much more to the night. Christina was still not 100% but the rice was able to go down at least to boost her energy some. After our dinner, we had our health assessment passing both the oxygen and heart rate thresholds, meaning we get to move on to the next day. The night was ugly with a brutal rain storm coming in and the outside looking like a scene from Mad Max with all of the tents, desert like scenery and sideways clouds and wind blowing everything.

Day 3 done – we are exhausted. On to the next one, a much shorter day…

Day 4 – Barranco Camp (3960m) to Karanga Camp (3963m)

Christina

We woke up a bit later today after sleeping through a night full of rain and sometimes sleet. We were almost sleeping in the clouds since whenever we left the tent for ‘happy time’ (as our guide Imma likes to call it when we need a break along the trail) in the middle of the night, a mist and fog was in the beam of our headlamps. Today was another acclimatization day, hiking to 4200 meters and then back to around 3800 to sleep. I woke up feeling much much better this morning and ate a big breakfast of millet porridge, eggs, toast, hot dogs , and oranges. I was glad to have my appetite fully back and set off for the day feeling good and well rested. Especially because the first half of today was going to be the most technical part of the trek – as we scaled the Barranco wall. We put our trekking poles in our bags for the morning because we would have to do more of a scramble at times to get to the top.

We set off and for the first hour climbed directly up. Although it’s called the Barranco Wall, there is a bit of a trail along the edges that you follow as you wind your way to the top with a few spots such as the ‘kissing rock’ where you have to hug yourself close to the wall and carefully cross the rocks to pass by. We had to climb with our hands a few other places and eventually made our way to the top of the wall. It’s incredible as well that the porters do this same climb carrying all of our gear and passing us some of the time. We were in the clouds but a few times they would break and we would have views of the peak and the valley below us that we just climbed up from. Our guide Mtey has also become our official hike photographer and got some great shots of us climbing and throughout the day today.

Once we reached the top of the wall we took a short break to refuel with some snacks, rest our legs, and enjoy the views (when the clouds passed). We then made our descent to the next camp through a bunch of ups and downs on a path that was very gravely with lots of rocks. We passed through really interesting terrain today, including one area that made us understand where this climate zone is called alpine desert – it really looked like a desert in the mountains. Finally we came to a point where our guide pointed out the camp to us, and while it didn’t look far we would have to hike down into the valley and then back up again to reach it. Once we arrived at Karanga camp, we signed in and we were greeted by our team of porters who welcomed us to the already set up campsite. We are once again sleeping below the top of the mountain, which we were able to see and enjoy some sun when we first arrived before the rains set in in the afternoon. We had a lunch of chicken and fries, with two delicious vegetable salads and watermelon. After the steep climbs today we were ready to eat. We rested after for a few hours before dinner time to the sound of rain and wind hitting our tent with periods of sun and being very warm in the tent in between. The mountain weather is constantly changing and we go from being hot to cold all the time.

After our rest we had evening tea and Fred and I played a game in my notebook of boxes (and old favorite of my Oma’s) to pass the time before dinner. We then had really delicious chicken and potatoes for dinner with a pumpkin soup and some banana for dessert. After that we had our briefing. Tomorrow is a short day – we only have about three hours of hiking over 4km to reach the base camp at 4640m. We will be getting a late start tomorrow (wake up call at 6:45) in order to give us more time to rest at the lower elevation since sometimes it’s harder to do at the higher one and we would also be setting off for the summit at midnight the following night. Our health checks went well – I was at 85 percent oxygen and only had a small headache when I first woke up and Fred at 90 percent oxygen with not really any headache. Hopefully this means we are acclimatizing a bit better now. I am feeling much better today then yesterday and much more confident of making it to the top. They are right when they say a lot of this journey and your success is dependent on your mental state and ability to stay positive – although I was feeling a little frustrated and concerned yesterday with how I was feeling I know it can be common and I just have to take it day by day.

Lala salama – day four done.

Fred

After a very rainy, windy night, the morning turned out to be gorgeous. We again woke to tea but had a much easier relaxing start to the morning not needing to venture off until 8 or so. Breakfast was Miller porridge again with little Omelettes, hard boiled eggs, sausages and toasted bread. (I will reiterate that they really try to fuel you up as much as possible). We have the Barranco wall ahead of us which looks pretty much straight up into the sky in the distance. Mtey assures us it looks worse than it is but we will need our hands for climbing so we strap the hiking polls to the bags and are ready to rock n roll. Christina is clearly back to 100% and I am feeling good.

The first part of the hike was a small downhill and crossing of a stream prior to the Barranco Wall. We can see several groups ahead of us meandering back and forth slowly crawling up the wall. How the porters do this while carrying the gear on their heads I have no idea. The wall should take us about 1 hour and put us from 3900 to 4100m. We then will have another much more gradual and easy 100m up to 4200m to again help acclimatize before descending to the camp 2 miles in the distance.

But how did we do on the wall? No problemo. I would say it was as expected based on Mtey’s assurances. It was slow and steep and the legs took a beating but nowhere did we feel unsafe. It wasn’t a technical climb requiring equipment but it was indeed a climb requiring patience, strength and stamina. The entire time it was a single file line of porters, hikers, and guides scaling the Wall with some dicier parts like the “kissing rock” where you had to swing around closely hugging a large rock to get across and up to the other side. We conquered the wall and were happy to have a descent ahead of us to relieve the calf and quad soreness.

Mtey also played personal photographer today and took my phone early on. He got some sweet time lapses and several action shots that were much appreciated. We had a fantastic view on the way down to camp with the snow capped peaks again appearing, seemingly taunting us saying “not today”. It will have to wait. We had one last steep downhill followed by steep uphill to camp – would have been nice to have a zip line to avoid all of that, but we will again use the legs to push us to the top. We arrived early around 11:45am, wash up, enjoy tea and readied for the lunch of fried chicken and French fries with sides of watermelon and cucumber salad. We have the rest of the day for much needed rest before dinner.

After a 2 hour nap (Christina was not able to but rested), we exited the tent for afternoon tea at 4:30PM. We had some rain during the nap but awoke to sun and beautiful skies with views again in all directions. We relaxed with our tea, played some games on a sheet of paper and awaited dinner. Dinner came around 6:15 and consisted of pumpkin soup, chicken pita/quiche concoction with veggies and potatoes and a side of bananas. It was a nice meal to close our the day.

Soon after dinner, Imma and Mtey came in for the day’s briefing. We past the health assessment with flying colors. Christina came in with an 85 oxygen level and I upped mine to 90 after trying my best to stay hydrated. We were both feeling pretty solid all things considered. Imma and Mtey complimented our pace, attitude and strength so far and were feeling confident about the next day’s hike to base camp in the AM. Prior to bed, we got an impressive glimpse of Moshi town lights in the background and Kilimanjaro Intl airport far in the distance.

Day 4 done. Lala Salama. To say we have been fortunate with the weather is a huge understatement. We are very fortunate to be able to head into the final days with dry clothes. Day 5 and 6 sandwich to come…

Day 5 – Karanga Camp (3963) to Barafu Camp (4640m)

Christina

Well we made it to base camp. After a night of somewhat restless sleep with wind gusts whipping our tent throughout the night we were woken up at 645 with our morning bed tea, which as always is a great way to wake up in the cold. Warmed inside we washed up and had breakfast of oat porridge, eggs, Hot Dogs and toast before setting off for the day.

Today’s hike was not long but it was nearly all uphill. We climbed for the first hour and every time I looked up it seemed like the distance to the top had not changed. After a short break we continued further up – going pole pole the whole time but still keeping a good pace. We came to the point where we could see the base camp and similar to yesterday we had to descend first into the valley before going to the top of the ridge where the base camp is. As we made the last incline some snow started to fall on us.

We arrived and signed in and took the obligatory picture with the camp sign before heading to our tent. The base camp is kind of interesting to see in that it’s all along the ridge there are tents and campsites set up everywhere. We had a lunch of potatoes, corn, grilled cheese sandwiches and pineapple. Then it was time for the health check and briefing to prepare for the big day. Oxygen levels were much lower than yesterday as expected and my pulse was still somewhat high but the guides didn’t seem too worried. I also was having a bit of a headache since we arrived at the base camp but hoping some water and sleep would push that away. We would be waking up at 11pm and leaving for the summit around midnight. It will take us 6-7 hours to get to the summit. They told us the path will be mostly gradual with some switchbacks as we get closer to the top. Our first goal will be to reach Stella Point which we will have a bit of a steep incline just before and is 5-6 hours into the hike. From there we will hopefully have clear skies as we make our way along the edge of the crater to Uhuru peak. Once we reach the peak we will decide on the rest of the day – if we first make the trek to base camp for some lunch or we try to make the push to even lower elevation for eating. Tomorrow we will dress very warm – 3 base layers, a fleece, a down jacket and a ski jacket on top plus lots of lawyers on the head hands legs and feet.

I was feeling really nervous during the briefing as we talked about the trek for the next day. It’s going to be a long day and require a lot of mental and physical strength. With the added variable of the altitude which is hard to predict what the impact will be. The good thing is our guides have reassured us they are there for us every step of the way – whether it’s to carry out bag for a few hundred meters if we are feeling weak or to zip our coats if our hands are too cold to come out of our gloves. One of the porters will also be making the trek to the summit with us – so we will have three people there looking out for us along the way.

We’ve just had dinner after little bits of sleep here and there in the afternoon. They told us to eat a lot because when we wake up in the middle of the night we are only going to have a tea and some biscuits before we head off to hopefully keep us from feeling too nauseous in the altitude. I am definitely feeling nervous but I also feel like we can get there – I am just going to have to push myself harder than I probably have ever had to and take it all step by step, pole pole. With that, I hope I will be able to get some sleep tonight and I hope that the next time I write I will be able to say I touched the golden roof of Africa.

Lala salama – day 5 done, summit day here we come!

Fred

Today was a bit of a later wake up. The sleep was interesting as the winds were howling hardcore to the point where we were smacked in the head by the flailing tent a few times throughout the night. I am surprised the tent didn’t take off. The sleep was otherwise okay despite several happy times during the night after drinking 200 liters of water during the day.

The hike itself is a gradual incline from 3963m to 4640m at Barafu Base Camp. The goal was to let us get more sleep and be able to digest our food before departure at 8:30. The hike is expected to be 2 miles and about 4 hours. To ready ourselves, we had another breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast and oat porridge, relaxed a little and then got ready to set off. The weather looked nice although the wind continued to howl.

We departed at 8:35am just about on time and Imma led the way. Sun was in the sky and felt hot but the nasty winds made the air feel much colder. We set off and the camp behind us slowly disappeared…very slowly. It did not feel like we were moving much, but we were supposedly on a good pace according to Imma. We stopped first about an hour in for a quick rest and then continued on. The vegetation on this route was non-existent as we treked through the alpine desert. It was a strange feeling and a ton of rocks. It almost felt like we were walking through some sort of bone graveyard out of the lion king. 2 hours in, the camp was already in sight although on the top of a fairly steep incline ahead that we’d have to slowly climb. At the point, the clouds rolled in so we decided to add a layer plus gloves and hat. This added the necessary warmth and we were comfortable coming in. An hour later and a last steep incline behind us, we arrived at Barafu base camp at about 11:15. Amazing! We were both feeling good but Christina had a minor headache. We checked in, got a few snapshots in front of the sign, and made our way to our camp as the porters were setting up our tent.

The remainder of the day was expected to be like this: 1) hot tea, 2) lunch, 3) briefing and health assessment at around 1pm and then..4) back to sleep. We would then have to wake up at 5:30 for dinner and more tea before…back to sleep. The plan was to get as much food in us and keep us rested for the 11pm wake up and midnight departure to the summit (expected 6 hours up and 2.5 down).

The day went as planned. We had a dinner of pasta and veggie sauce. They really tried to carbo load us for this one. We then passed the health assessments and received words of encouragement from our guides. The rest of the day and night was going to be a mental game. Dress code for the summit would be pretty much everything in our bags. We are nervous and a bit colder than previous days being another 1200 meters up, but alas…here we go….

Day 5 done! Day 6, summit day/night begins in 6 hours…

Day 6 – Barafu Camp (4640m) to UHURU PEAK (5895m) & down to Mweka Camp (3100m)

Christina

What a day. We reached the peak! At 6:25 am we officially reached the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro at Uhuru Peak at 5895m. Today was absolutely one of the most challenging physical and mental things I have ever done, but it was worth it for the beautiful sights and the feelings and emotions at reaching the top after the journey we made to get there.

Sleep was tough last night because of extremely high winds whipping our tent all night – to the point where we were being hit in the head at times by the sides of the tent. We went to bed at 7pm and I had on and off sleep for the few hours until we were woken at 11pm but Fred didn’t have much at all. Luckily he had napped in the afternoon. Denice came to wake us at 11pm and we started to layer up. We slept in our base layers so we just had to add the various shells on top in the morning. We kept everything we were going to wear warm by keeping them in our sleeping bags at night, as we had been doing on several of the prior days with colder nights. To put into perspective the weather we would be facing ahead, I wore two pairs of socks on my feet; two pairs of leggings, my thickest hiking pants, and gaiters on my legs; three base tshirt / long sleeve shirts, one athletic jacket, a fleece, a down jacket, and a ski jacket on my upper body; thin gloves and thick ski gloves on my hands; and a buff, hat liner, and warm hat on my head. This night was the one that was toughest to pack for in our carry on for three months of travel, but luckily we could rent a ski jacket and ski gloves from our tour company – and after today I can say we were very grateful for the extra warmth.

Half an hour later Denice came back with popcorn and crackers and some tea for us. We nervously ate as we made sure we had all of our gear ready to go. Our guides came to the tent around 1215am to see if we were ready and we threw on the top ski jacket layer and went out in the windy cold night to meet them. Denice was going to also be coming with us as the porter assistant, carrying supplies such as warm tea and emergency oxygen for the journey. Before we set off our guide Imma brought the five of us together and we placed our hands together and he said a prayer in Swahili for a safe journey.

Then it was time and we set off just before 12:30am. Since it was the middle of the night we would be treking by headlamp for nearly the entire journey to the top. This turned out to be maybe a good thing because you couldn’t see exactly what elevation was in front of you but you also could see the headlamps of hikers ahead of you that seemed to be high in the sky no matter how long you hiked. We had to travel from 4673m at base camp to 5895m at the peak. 1222m of elevation gain over the course of about 3 miles in the dark, cold and wind, and after a few days of acclimatization hikes, but still unsure of how you body would react at the even higher level of altitude, and on top of this with less oxygen in the air to breathe. You can see why you need not only physical endurance but mental for this as well.

And so we started. Mtey in front with Fred following and then me, followed by Imma and Denice in the back. We moved very slowly, pole pole, up the massive rocks at the back of the campsite. Shortly into the hike Fred wasn’t feeling well and we stopped to have a little water which helped him. Not much later I was starting to feel tired and weak, and a quick stop to pop a piece of chocolate did the trick. We never stopped for long when we did because we didn’t want to get too cold. The thing keeping us the most warm was our body heat generated from our physical exertion. The wind was so strong whipping all around and because there is no vegetation, there is only the occasional rock to block the wind a bit.

So we continued, slow and steady with stops few and far in between. We tried to sip as much water as we could from our camel backs before the water would freeze, blowing back into the tube to make sure they were clear and water couldn’t freeze in there. Our guides checked in often, asking how we were doing, and kept our spirits up by singing and doing all of the little things to help us keep our energy – putting gloves on us, opening our snacks, massaging legs to keep them fresh while stopped, giving us a cup of ginger tea along the way to help with the altitude impacts and warm us up inside. At one point in the second half of the hike Mtey even took my bag from me so I could be sure to have enough energy and Imma did the same for Fred on the way down. Our guides were really encouraging and a big reason we were able to reach our goal.

The hike was really tough to begin and made tougher by the elements. We made our way up mostly on loose rock and soil until it was all covered by snow starting around an hour in. There were some areas with switchbacks and others with rocks to climb. You could definitely feel the impacts of the altitude on your breathing and had to work extra hard with every step you took. The only thing to do was keep moving. I had no idea what time it was the whole time or how much of a dent we had made into the hike for most of it. And I think in retrospect it was better not to know, all I had to focus on was taking the next step and following our guide. At a quick stop to refuel with some granola bars I was surprised when Mtey said we were about halfway. That was certainly a boost to our mental state. It happened again when he said ‘remember that hard part I told you about before Stella Point, you just did that’.

The real boost came when we started to see the colors of the sun starting to form on the horizon, because we knew we should be at Stella Point (which is 30-45 minutes from the peak) at around sunrise. And what a sunrise it was. High above the clouds, trying to take it all in but also tired, struggling to breathe, and trying to convince ourselves to just keep taking one more step, one more step. Mtey once again played photographer for us and captured beautiful images of the sunrise.

That sunrise meant we were close and from Stella Point we could see the peak on the other side of the crater. So close but so far. We continued through the snow toward the peak. Freezing cold and tired but knowing we were almost there. There was so much beautiful nature to look at all around- glacier walls, snow filled craters, beautiful cloud formations blanketed in sun. Being above the clouds is truly a magical feeling. After each turn we kept thinking, this has to be the last one, and then finally at 6:25 am, after 6 hours of hiking up – there it was. The sign marking that we at Uhuru peak.

I was filled with so much happiness, excitement, and pride (and relief!) standing there on the peak. Still freezing and in high winds, none of that mattered in that moment because we had made it. We pushed ourselves mentally and physically over the last six hours and finally we were here. On top of Africa. Trying to take it all in. Mtey captured some amazing videos and photos for us which will be wonderful memories. This whole journey and the images and views standing there at the highest freestanding mountain in the world, and knowing everything we had to do to get there is something I will remember forever.

Since the winds were strong and clouds were starting to roll in we only spent about ten minutes at the peak. After we quickly descended to lower elevation since there are also risks with staying at the high elevation for so long. My legs were tired as we almost ran down the trail back to base camp. Something that took us 6 hours to get to the top of we were back at the bottom of in just under two hours. As agreed with our guides, since we were feeling good we passed base camp and continued to High Camp which was another two hours of hiking downhill, arriving around 10 am. As we walked into camp our team of porters was there to greet us – singing songs and giving us high fives and congratulations for making it to the top.

After a rest and lunch at High Camp we agreed to do another 1.5 hour decent to Mweka Camp which is at 3100 meters. That’s 2795m of downhill today, if anyone is counting By the end of this my knees were in pain but it was good to know we had cut into some of the hiking we have to do tomorrow and hopefully means we can get back to the hotel and a hot shower sooner tomorrow -by now we are really ready for one!

What a day it was. We keep saying to each other – can you believe we did that!? One of the toughest things I have ever done for sure but an experience I know I will never forget. Now time for dinner and a well earned night of sleep.

Lala salama – day 6 and summit trek done!

Fred

The nerves… This was a tough 11pm wake up call to depart for the summit at midnight and I slept approximately 15 minutes – not great. Christina faired a little better with maybe 2 hours. It didn’t help that the wind was insanely howling all night. We slept in all of our base layers – smart wool socks, 2 pairs of pants each, two long sleeves, a fleece, and a synthetic down Patagonia. We added the outer layers of the hiking pants, an additional our of socks, and a ski jacket at wake up and readied our bags. We emptied the day pack of any non essentials, meaning that we included only snacks, water and additional clothes, gloves, etc. for warmth. We removed the camera and the GoPro and went cell phones only, fully expecting that we’d be too cold and tired to operate those devices. This turned out to be the right move.

For “breakfast”, they again tried to carbo load us with popcorn and biscuit cookies. This was probably not necessary as we had about a whole box of pasta a few hours earlier but we indulged to hopefully add some last minute boosters. We had some technical difficulties with my camelback because I apparently bit a slight hole in the spout so the thing was leaking everywhere. As you can imagine, I was not amused and stress is the last thing you need on summit night. After figuring out how to make it work despite the hole, we double checked our bags, popped the head lamps on and headed out with Mtey, Imma, and Denice (our waiter/porter).

On to the hike – oh boy, this was a tough one. We headed out at approximately 12:20 and could already see the headlamps ascending up the trail in the distance. About a half hour in, we realized that “up”is an understatement. During the entire hike, anytime you looked up, you saw headlamps on top of you in the distance. It felt like walking up a black diamond ski trail for 6 hours straight although via switchback after switchback. Christina seemed in good spirits but I had some issues early on with what seemed like dehydration and I began to panic a bit. With all of the shenanigans surrounding my camelback, I did not hydrate nearly enough and I could feel it. Being at 4800m without much water in the system is a recipe for disaster, so I asked the team to take a quick pause and I drank a bit of water and took some deep breaths and relaxed. About 5 minutes later, I felt near 100% and we moved on to the real thing.

This hike was slow and tough!!!! It didn’t take long for the snow to appear on the ground and we still had 5 hours going straight up into the sky. We started at 4600 and would be going to 5895m in 3.1 miles of distance traveled. The low oxygen levels are really difficult to hike in and something I’ve never experienced. It is a brutal physical battle, but a more important, strenuous mental battle. Panicking or losing hope can jack up your heart rate and cause breathing problems so it is extremely important to stay positive and try not to panic. Singing to yourself, focusing on the next pole to the ground, and focusing on left/right/left can help keep a calm mind. Our lead guide Mtey did his best to sing and get us motivated with more “non stop” “to the top” and “one team” “one dream”. He was a magician and helped keep us going when things seemed the roughest. I don’t think there was ever a point where Christina or I thought about turning back but there were certainly thoughts of “how can I do this for 4 more hours”, “what if I can’t make it”, “what if I really start to feel the dangerous symptoms of altitude sickness”. We kept on and motivated each other throughout the hike. We made a good pace and had periodic stops for calming breaths, happy time, and refueling with snacks and water. We both had one or two stops where it wasn’t looking great but a snack and water combo always seemed to help and get us back to a good pace.

The summit hike was longgg and you never felt like you were making much progress. Th first taste of good news was about 3 hours in when Mtey said – “halfway guys”. At this point, you felt like it was doable. About 2 hours of slow pole, pole later, around 5:20am we finished up the last difficult incline and arrived at Stella Point. Off in the distance the sun was coming up at the perfect time. The sunrise was incredible and helped boost the spirits. We could see it – the summit at Uhuru Peak. We only had an hour to go of a somewhat easier trek around the crater rim in snow covered terrain surrounded by incredible glaciers. It really was the most breathtaking sight I’d experienced in my life and made the last hour a breeze compared to the previous 5 hours of misery. This is also the point where you realize that everything up to this point was completely worth it. Fortunately for the struggling duo of Fred and Christina, Mtey was in fantastic spirits and again snagged my phone for pictures which he held for the next 4 hours or so. The man has talent with the photo game and the results are incredible. He didn’t want us to forget any of this and the pictures and videos he took are truly memorable and much appreciated.

After getting to the peak, we took a bunch of additional photos including a few in front of the sign. The weather was not great for oxygen so we stayed there only for 10 minutes or so before descending. What an incredible experience and making it to the top was exhilarating and made us both extremely proud to have tackled the “Golden Roof” of Africa. Unfortunately, we couldn’t just ski down so the hike continued to return to camp. Mtey and Imma wanted to get us to low altitude as quickly as possible to help the recovery so we flew downhill. We skipped base camp to get to lower altitudes and arrived at Millennium Camp at 3900m for lunch and rest. 10 straight hours of hiking. After lunch we would be descending to 3100m. At 2pm, we arrived at Mweka Camp. 12 hours of hiking. We were exhausted but extremely happy to have made it to the top of the infamous Mount Kilimanjaro. Tomorrow we have a 3 hour hike and then we get that much needed shower…can’t wait.

Day 7 – Mweka Camp (3100m) to Mweka Gate (1630m)

After an excellent last night of sleep on the mountain (12 hours of hiking and no longer at high altitude with strong winds will help that) we woke up to our final breakfast in our tent. Then it was time to say our goodbyes to the team before hiking down the last few hours to Mweka Gate where our journey would end. We sang and danced together again – just as we did the first day, and the guides and a few of the porters said some kind words to us about the last week and then it was our turn. We thanked everyone for all that they did to get us to the top. We couldn’t have done it without our ‘mountain warriors’ who would zip past us as we were going ‘pole pole’ so they could get to the next campsite ahead of us and have everything ready when we arrived, who would cheer for us when we got there and take our trekking poles and backpacks from us and carry them the last few feet, and who always seemed to be laughing and joking around with one another despite their tough job. We gave a specially thank you to our summit night porter and waiter, Denice, and our cook, Said, we were certainly never hungry during our trek. Finally it was time to say a special thank you to the guides, who took us from bottom to the very top, encouraged us along the way, and did anything and everything they could to get us to the peak on that last night. They were an important and memorable part of our journey and we had a great time chatting with them and learning about their lives and their country along the way.

After our goodbyes we set off for the last 10k of the trek – with guide Fred this time leading. After about 2.5 hours, with the rains staring to pick up we reached Mweka gate and the end of the journey. We were greeted by Denice who put leis around our necks and handed us each a Kilimanjaro beer to celebrate (the popular brand as you can imagine). We officially signed out of the register, noting we reached the summit at 6:25 am and then piled back into the van on our way back to the Top Climbers office. We were met again with congratulations from the office staff, returned our rental gear, said goodbye for the last time to our guides, and finally went back to the hotel for that long awaited, well deserved shower. That afternoon we met with someone from the office for some feedback, ran out to buy some trash bags to pack our smelly clothes until we could hopefully wash them at our next stop, and relaxed and celebrated what we had achieved.

While one of the toughest mental and physically challenges we have faced – it was also one of the most rewarding. We were unsure if we were capable of doing it, if our bodies would physically hold up after the miles of walking each day, or if the altitude would impact us in ways we couldn’t predict or control. But making it to the top on that summit morning – We were both so proud. That we kept moving that night, that we didn’t feel like giving up do it and that we trusted we could make it, despite the challenges. Standing on the edge of the crater rim, seeing the sun start to come up from behind the clouds, and finally taking those last steps to make it to the peak, is something we will never forget. The sights, the sounds, and the feelings inside are all something that will stay with us forever. And the fact that we were able to accomplish this together and experience the feeling of being on top of the world and standing at the roof of Africa made it even more special.

Now – time for some relaxation on the beaches of Zanzibar!