Temporary Rest Stop: To the Roof of Africa (Days 1 through 4)

"There, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun, was the top of Kilimanjaro."

-- Ernest Hemingway

Kilimanjaro rises above Africa at an impressive 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea-level. It ranks as one of the easiest of the Seven Summits to climb, requiring no technical skill or special equipment to complete. Because of this, over 35,000 people annually make the trek to attempt to summit Kilimanjaro - about 65% having success of same. Why? Well, calling this an easy trek is a great disservice to both the mountain and the people who attempt to climb it. It's dangerous to assume that anyone can climb this without any training - the climb requires long hours at high elevations, and some routes include some rock scrambling that can take you by surprise if you're not prepared for them. An estimated 7-10 tourists die making this attempt each year, including an Irish woman about my age who passed away just before my own summit. This isn't a day hike, folks.

Your success on the mountain greatly depends on the route and crew you choose for your trek. I booked my Kilimanjaro adventure with WHOA Travel, a female-based travel agency that partners with Trek2Kili for their porters and guides. WHOA Travel combines adventure travel with philanthropy, with our trip including visits to Treasures of Africa orphanage and to Shirikisha, a restaurant slash textile business empowering the deaf and disadvantaged to provide for themselves and their families. Our travel fees also helped WHOA sponsor two local ladies to accompany our climb - both of whom became good friends of mine on the mountain. When WHOA selected Trek2Kili as our crew, it couldn't have been a better choice. Not only is Trek2Kili a registered KPAP member (you can read the importance of this here), but they were professional and well prepared for our trek. The above picture was taken at the gate, and we were stoked to start our journey!

Our travel company selected the Machame Route for our 7 day hike. Also known as the Whiskey Route, Machame is well-known for its beautiful views, steep terrain, good acclimatization, and high summit success rates. While the 7-day success rate for all routes hovers around 65%, the summit rate for Machame is closer to 85%. Keep in mind that "summit" at Kilimanjaro refers to reaching the crater rim, and not Uhuru itself. I read somewhere that the actual summit rate (at Uhuru) is closer to 78% for Machame, but that's still pretty impressive.

Day 1 was scheduled to be a nearly 4,000' climb through the rainforest to Machame camp. "Pole, pole" (meaning "slowly, slowly") was the name of the game, but for some reason I really struggled here. As part of my training, I had completed nearly a dozen hikes with similar elevation gains in the 5 months leading up to this hike. Yet here I was... finally in Africa... struggling to keep up. Not wanting to admit my defeat, I pushed on and didn't even try to hike at my own pace... leading to an asthma attack around two hours in. I was so embarrassed! I had trained for this. I had hiked with most of these girls before! Why was I failing on Day 1? It was a humbling moment, for sure, but my guide Aboo noticed I was in danger and quickly rushed me into taking a break. He took my pack from me, assisted me with my inhaler, and forced me to slow down. I was lucky to have two other girls (Isher and Melody) accompany me on the final hours into camp, which helped me feel a little less lonely through the ordeal. Did I tell you how much I loved these people? :)

On the morning of Day 2, I woke up early to take some pictures around camp. I was too embarrassed to do that the night before, and it was nice to spend the morning on my own exploring. Machame was very crowded, with our tents stacked nearly on top of each other. After breakfast, one of the WHOA leaders asked me if I would be willing to leave early with a guide and another hiker to make sure I could hike at my own pace. I was embarrassed, but I agreed. I didn't want to be the last person at camp again, and I figured I might as well get an early start in case I did struggle like I did on Day 1.

Shortly after agreeing to leave early with the other girl and our guide, I found out that the other girl decided to climb with the rest of the group. I was disappointed to be hiking without the other girls, but quickly bonded with my guide, PJ. We talked about our families, the mountains, the porters... He taught me Swahili, while I explained American slang. When I told him about my reasons for wanting to do this climb, he was happy to encourage me and assure me that I'd make it to the top. Day 2 was a steep, rocky climb with lots of unexpected scrambling, but it was my favorite by far. We arrived to Shira Cave Camp about 30 minutes before the rest of the group, which meant I had hiked as fast as (if not slightly faster than) they did that day. It helped restore my confidence, and I ended the day very happy.

After dinner that night, my friend Marissa asked if I would mind if she joined me and PJ for the early climb on Day 3. I was happy to have her join me! Sadly, I layered improperly and quickly overheated. So much for that early start advantage! Day 3 was all about acclimating as we climbed from Shira Cave Camp to Lava Tower. This was a long, steady climb but the altitude and poor choice of clothing made it feel much harder than it should have. We did finally catch up to the main group about 2km from Lava Tower Camp, but it was a battle getting there.

We reached Lava Tower Camp just in time for lunch. You can see our tents and the Lava Tower that gives the camp its name in the background. This camp sits high at just over 15K feet in elevation (4,600 meters), and it was the first place that many in our group started showing the symptoms of altitude sickness. I thankfully avoided same, although I did take the best nap of my life in the mess tent after lunch :) This was the highest elevation I had ever hiked to at this point, and I decided right there that this was no longer about summiting... I couldn't believe what I had already achieved!

Following lunch and my brief siesta, my friend and I rejoined the larger group as we made our way down to Baranco Camp, where we would sleep for the night. I loved this part of the hike. It was rocky, but not terribly slippery, and we passed by these really cool trees that looked like they were pulled out of a Dr Seuss book. We made it to camp first, only because I didn't want to take a break. Throughout this trek, it was one thing I almost insisted on... if I was going to be hiking at my own pace anyway, I didn't want the extra breaks to slow me down. It's always so much harder to get started again if I stop. Sadly, Baranco camp was shrouded with clouds so we didn't get a preview of the great Baranco wall that we'd be tackling the next morning.

The biggest challenge for Day 4 is supposedly the Baranco Wall. Rising over 800 feet above Baranco camp, this steep rock wall ascent challenges most hikers. Truthfully, it was the day I was least looking forward to because of my fear of heights. There were only three parts that truly scared me ("Just swing your leg and jump across this gap... don't mind the 50 foot fall!"), and somewhat surprisingly this became my second favorite day. I have never thought of myself as a rock climber or skilled scrambler, but I surprised myself a lot that day. It was fun, and I wouldn't hesitate to hike that section again if I attempted Kili in the future.

All of that said, there's no way I could have climbed up that wall without the aid of our guides Langeni and PJ. While I was shaking with fear at the dramatic drops in a couple of sections, one or the other was always there to grab my hand and lead me safely to the next section. The only bummer of this day was the "descent into camp." One thing I will tell you about this hike is to trust no one - an hour usually means two, short usually means steep, and descent often hides two ascents that must be made to complete the hike. Haha.

The "descent" to Karranga Camp after completing the Baranco Wall wasn't challenging, but was more of a down-up-down-up than a true descent. The clouds had moved in again by this point, so we were fighting both the cold and fatigue. At least two of our girls were showing signs of sickness, and it showed in the slowing of our hike. Alas, we arrived safely to Karranga about 45 minutes after the big group, so we were cold but happy to settle in for the night. This was the one camp that I never saw the sign for, but I was too cold to care. Tomorrow would be the final hike up to base camp before submitting, and I knew I needed to save my energy!