Hix Does Tanzania - Sure As Kilimanjaro Rises Like Olympus Above The Serengeti

Day 6 - 21st September

I awoke at about 2 am needing to have a pee. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but it was. I couldn't get the zip on the sleeping bag to open. I was pulling and jerking as best I could but it wouldn't budge. And I couldn't just crawl out of the bag, because the little area that was left open for my face wasn't big enough to get my shoulders through, let alone the rest of me. I pushed one hand out and managed to twist it round to the zip, but to no avail. This was annoying. Eventually, after about 15 minutes of struggling, it suddenly unzipped all the way without any problems. But I didn't trust that zip. When I returned I didn't zip it up at all, I just folded it over onto myself like a big blanket. And in future nights when it became really cold, I zipped it up but only three-quarters the way so I could still escape if I needed to.

Geoffrey woke us early at 06:30, and after a cup of tea we started packing. Breakfast was at 07:00 consisting of porridge, eggs, pancakes, sausages and toast. I saw some birds around camp so spent some time photographing them, in particular a few White-necked Ravens. Another camper called me over to the ranger station, I thought to see some more birds, but when I got there I saw the view of the lowlands was obscured by a sea of cloud - and we were well above it. But he turned me around to look in the opposite direction - and I got my first good look at the top of Kilimanjaro, clear with no clouds. It looked impressive and I called the others to see it too.

The majority of our gear is hauled up the hill by the porters, but each climber has a day pack which has essential items in it like wet weather gear, water, medical kit, valuables, headlamp etc. Yesterday I also carried my cameras with me, and extra three or four kilos. There hadn't been much opportunity to photograph things so I put my DSLR in my main pack and just carried a pocket camera in my pocket. And a good decision that was.

We set off at 08:00 for our first destination which was six kilometres away, but at 3600 metres (we were currently at 2600 metres). I found walking today to be much harder, and every ten metres high we walked the more exhausting it became. I lagged behind the other three and stopped to rest frequently. Ibrahim, the assistant guide, stayed with me and halfway through the journey he took my pack and carried it with his. I reached the lunch stop at about 12:30 and the mess tent had been set up for lunch. An hour later we set off again on another six kilometre hike, but thankfully we only increased our altitude by only 200 metres.

Before leaving for Africa I had done some training - walking ten kilometres around town, up and down hills, I even joined a gym so I could walk on treadmills on steep inclines. But all that was worth diddly-squat because it happened at sea level. And in the rarified atmosphere I now found myself, my lungs were struggling to get the oxygen I needed. I was breathing through my mouth, because my nose couldn't suck in enough air to keep my lungs satisfied (unless I was resting), so my mouth and tongue were drying out rapidly from the dry air. So was my lower lip, from all the air being sucked and blown over it. It was very tiring. I stumbled at one point when my foot didn't clear a rock, but I caught myself with only a mild graze to one knuckle and a torn fingernail. Very lucky that time.

Eventually arrived at our second camp at 17:30, totally exhausted. Didn't eat much for dinner as I didn't really have much of an appetite and I felt pretty miserable. Went to bed straight after dinner, cold and very tired, and feeling like sh*t. I only zipped the sleeping bag halfway tonight.

New species: Abyssinian Crimsonwing, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Tropical Boubou, White-necked Raven.



Hix

 

Sounds great but I definitely would not have envied you doing the hike. I was puffed just walking at around 4000m in the Simien mountains, Ethiopia. I would not want to be carrying a pack uphill at those altitudes.

 

I bet the struggle will be worth it Hix! We're all still very jealous!

I too have had the "unable-to-unzip" issue in the middle of the night. Unfortunately it was rather more urgent, as I had a really bad leg cramp, took ages to unzip the sleeping bag, and then the fly and canvas of the swag, all while sleeping on a gravel river bed and trying not to wake up everyone else in the surrounding swags! Not a great feeling!

 

Day 7 - 22nd September

I felt considerably better when I woke this morning, so much so that I spent some time photographing the Streaky Seedeaters and Four-striped Mouse that lived around the camp. And the White-necked Ravens.

I didn't feel like eating but knew I needed to eat so I had some porridge, and a sausage and an omelette. Then we were off again, this time on only a relatively short hike - just under 4 kms - to our next camp site at Mawenzi Tarn.

Mawenzi is one of the three spires of Kilimanjaro (the other two being Shira and Kibo), and the tarn is a small lake / large pond located nearby. Our camp was located next to the tarn. This site is at 4300 metres, an increase of around 600 metres. Once again I found it slow going and had to stop and rest periodically, although the distance between rests was increasing somewhat. And once again Ibrahim took my pack. The swahili word 'pole-pole' is a catchphrase on the mountain. Pronounced 'polypoly' (as in roly-poly) it literally means slow, and it refers to everyone climbing the mountain each day - take your time and acclimatise. For me, 'pole-pole sana' (very slowly) was the best I could do.

We arrived at the Tarn at around midday; that is, I arrived around midday, the others had arrived about 30 minutes before.

"Suck it in" said Jacob, referring to my heavy breathing.

Now I know how the athletes at the 1968 Olympics felt" I replied between breaths.

After lunch we had a little siesta until 3pm. Then Leo and Ibrahim took us on a hike up a ridge onto a spur a further 200 metres higher, and we stayed up there for around 45 minutes to an hour, to acclimatise. The clouds had blown in and the camp was obscured, plus it was cold. I was wearing my waterproof jacket which kept me relatively warm. Rob had brought up a newspaper and some other reading materials which he offered to everyone, but I hadn't brought my reading glasses, so I just sat on a rock with my hands on top of my hiking pole, and enjoyed the view whenever the clouds cleared, otherwise I just dozed.

When we returned we were in time for dinner. Still cold and exhausted, I went straight to bed after dinner to wrestle with the sleeping bag again.

New species of Mammal: Four-striped Mouse.



Hix

 

It has only just occured to me that I can add photos as attachments, which would be the logical thing for the Kilimanjaro part of the trip anyway.

Kilimanjaro Two-horned Chameleon
Entrance sign
Hiking uphill
Hiking Towards Kibo
Valley full of Giand Groundsels
First view of Kibo on second morning.

 

Hiking through the mist
Hiking through more mist/clouds
Porters on the way to Mawenzi (the peak in the background)
Mawenzi camp and tarn

 

Great stuff! Where's the snow?? There's barely anything visible in those pics.

 

The snow is on top, and not visible from the angles in the first few days.



Hix

 

Day 8 - 23rd September
Day 4 on Kilimanjaro
A bright sunny morning greeted us today, and the skies were clear all morning affording excellent views of Kibo.

Today we were hiking 8 kilometres, but it was all downhill, to a camp at 3900 metres. I was looking forward to this, as at least hiking downhill (or on a level gradient) gave me a good chance of not lagging behind. The path crossed the edge of the plateau between Mawenzi and Kibo, offering excellent photo opportunities of the alpine desert and some great views. And I saw a new bird - the Alpine (or Moorland) Chat.

At one point while looking into the distance, with Leo pointing out various features , I noticed something silvery and asked if it was a shed or hut. "No" said Leo, "that is the remains of a plane that crashed".

The other in the group wanted to go and see it, which would add an hour to our journey, but I didn't particularly want to go. Apart from the fact it was only a few pieces of wreckage (and not a whole plane), I was carrying my own daypack for the first time since day one and had kept up with the rest of the group, but to get the plane involved going uphill a little and I feared I would drop back again. Our next camp, however, was all downhill. So Ibrahim took Lisa, Jacob and Rob to the crash site, and Leo and I continued on towards our next campsite.

Half an hour later when Leo and I stopped for a minute to have a drink of water (and rehydrate my mouth and tongue) I asked Leo how we were progressing, and he said we were making "very good time". I was secretly quite happy with that, as it meant that my performance was not as disappointing as it had been. However, that lasted only a few minutes more.

We were crossing an area of rock, but still going down a gentle slope, when my right foot rolled on a stone and I felt a sudden sharp twinge in my ankle as my foot ended up on its side with my full weight on it.

"****!" I said out loud, mainly to get Leo's attention, to indicate something was wrong. Leo was five metres ahead of me.

Because we were going downhill, I had some forward momentum which was propelling me forward. My left foot was hurriedly placed down to try and stop me but my impetus was too great and I kept going.

"****!" I said again, this time for my benefit, because I couldn't see this ending well.
I couldn't get my right foot in place in time to at least keep me upright so I ended up plunging headfirst downwards towards the rocks. Luckily, I was able to get my left arm up in front of my head and it took the brunt of the impact, hitting the rocks and then receiving my whole weight crashing on top.

From the time my foot rolled to the time I ended up face first in a bush took only about three seconds. There was nothing Leo could do but watch me crash and burn.

The weight of my pack rolled me onto my side, and I took a few seconds to catch my breath and compose myself, then sat up and checked my feet and legs to make sure nothing was broken. They were all fine. However, there was a very nasty, bloody, graze on the palm of my hand, and a long one on my forearm, plus a couple of small minor ones on my wrist. And although there was no obvious injury, my thumb felt sore at the articulation point with my palm. Leo broke out the medical kit and quickly swabbed the grazes with iodine and then wrapped the hand in a bandage. Then we continued on towards camp at a much slower and more careful pace.

I was very lucky. Had I not managed to get my left arm into place I would have cracked my forehead and face on the rocks, which could have been quite serious and ended my climb then and there. I am also very lucky that there were no broken bones, either in my arm or my leg, or even a sprained ankle.

At camp the bandage was removed and the grazes cleaned with water, iodine and alcohol before some gauze pads were appli edand secured with tape. Stupidly, I forgot to take a photo of the injuries before they were bandaged. Although it wasn't obvious my wrist was swollen because my watch was feeling very tight and I had to remove it. Not long after we finished the others arrived and were duly sympathetic.

From our camp we could actually see our next camp in the distance, about 5 kilometres away and uphill. As it was getting cold at nights I put on a thermal long-sleeved tee-shirt and some glove liners, and this helped protect the bandaged areas. I also took some Ibuprofen for the pain (with little to no effect), and had an early night.

New Bird seen: Alpine Chat



Hix

 

And some photos:

Porters heading towards our 4th Camp
Lisa, Rob, Jacob and myself.
Heading across the plateau.

(you should see some snow in those Nanoboy)



Hix

 

Glad to hear that you didn't break anything! Yes, there is a touch of white in those pics like the last ones. The mountain doesn't look any closer in this photo... Is there an option to fly via helicopter to the base of the mountain? Also, what's the toilet arrangements, especially for the female in your group?

 

Really enjoying reading this. It is great that you share this adventure with us.
It reminds me of reading a Gerald Durrell story. Thanks again.

 

When you say "base of the mountain" are you referring to the boottom of what's in the last photos? Because that's just the base of Kibo, and no - helicopters can't fly up that high.

As for toilet arrangements, we have a toilet tent (as do all the other groups). It is a one man tent for this purpose, and only for the four of us - the porters have one of their own.
The toilet itself is a ten litre bucket over which is placed a wooden box with a big hole in the top, the hole being roughly the same size as the hole in a toilet seat. In the bottom of the bucket is a white powder, lime I think.



Hix

 

Day 9 - 24th September

Another clear day in the sun, and we were hiking again towards our final camp from where we would make our assault on the summit the following night. My left hand and arm felt like crap, I couldn't use my hand for very much at all as the whole palm hurt, and the thumb was very painful if I needed to do anything with it at all.

Although only a short distance it still took around 3.5 hours to get there. Along the way at a rock outcrop we stopped to check out a dead buffalo.

On occasion buffalo and eland, and sometimes elephants, are seen on the slopes of the mountain at quite high altitudes, looking for salt and mineral licks. Unfortunately for one buffalo, he got his head stuck between some rocks and died up there. Somebody removed the carcass from it's position and placed it on top of some rocks for all to see. It was thoroughly dried in the cold dry air, but still stank to high heaven, so I was glad to leave it behind.

The final camp was at the base of Kibo. Cold, barren and a little windy. And with some large boulders the size of a house. I was very surprised to see a Four-striped Mouse even up here as there didn't appear to be any food for it, but on closer investigation I found some small grasses tucked away around the rocks, and one which had been half-cropped by the mice.

We had an early dinner and went to bed while it was still light, as we would be awoken at 11pm to eat again and then depart for the summit at midnight. I still had no appetite but forced myself to eat what I could. And as it was very cold, I wore my thermals, plus tshirt and tracksuit pants and fleece jacket to bed. It was just enough to keep the chills away.



Hix

Attachments:
Heading towards Camp 5
Just before departing: Me, Lisa, Rob, Jacob and Ibrahim
Dead Buffalo
Selfie taken at Camp 5, Kibo behind me.

 

Yup, that mountain with a wisp of snow at the top that appears in all your pics with a mountain in the background. Isn't that Kilimanjaro? I did some reading about the 3 volcanic cones of Kili, and what is even more fascinating, is the story of the retreat of its glaciers and the lack of snow in the last century. I suspect that there will be no snow left in my lifetime (assuming I'm around in 20 years).

 

Oh, and interesting toilet arrangements and lovely pics in the last post. I am looking forward to the summit pics.

 

Day 10 - 25th September
Day 6 on Kilimanjaro

Geoffroy woke us at 11pm. We quickly dressed and packed our gear away before having breakfast, as the porters would be taking our gear to our lunchstop at Kibo Huts.

At midnight we started out. It was very cold, and I was wearing underwear, thermal longjohns, tracksuit pants and a pair of hiking pants, two pairs of socks, a tshirt, long-sleeved thermal, fleece jacket and a down parka. And we were all wearing head lamps.

It was uphill all the way. After an hour Ibrahim took the others and kept going, and Leo stayed with me (bringing up the rear as usual) along with another porter named Oscar who was carrying my pack. A short time later we joined the main route to the summit, and there were already a lot of other lights on the trail. And I could see them going up, up, up the mountain trail above me. It was going to be a long night.

All I could do was keep on trudging along behind Leo on the steep slope. I kept trying to think about other things - anything, in fact - to take my mind of what I was doing. One of those things was periodically trying to estimate my speed: most of the time it was around one metre every 5 seconds.

In fact the slope is so steep (greater than 60º I think) the path is a series of switchbacks across the scree, as we ascended the 1000 metres to the rim. And even though the vertical ascent is 1000 metres, with all the zig-zagging we actually walked a total of 4 kilometres. This was the most gruelling and physically exhausting thing I have ever done, and if I had actually seen it in the light of day I may have given up.

After a few hours I stopped and sat on a rock for a rest, as I had done every ten or fifteen minutes or so. But this time Leo though it was time to reveal his secret weapon - from out of his pack he produced a can of Red Bull, and he made me drink the lot. And for the next half hour I actually found the going a little bit easier.

Eventually the sun came up over the horizon and I could see how much further I still had to go. Taking some photos I realised all I could see was the mountain, the rest of Tanzania below 2500m was invisible under a layer of cloud. I returned to the climb, looking at the ground as I plodded along. And eventually I got to the rim.

Gilman's Point is the name of the place on the rim that you ascend to (on this route at least, there are a couple of other places), and it was great to stop and rest for a few minutes. But the summit itself - Uhuru Peak - was still 2 kilometres away. I had imagined the rim would be at least 20 or 30 metres wide (or more), relatively flat, and it would be a gentle walk to the peak. But this was not the case. For the most part the rim is only about 5 metres wide and drops steeply away on both sides. A narrow path , sometimes climbing through rocks, leads you to Stella Point and then to Uhuru Peak, uphill again, as we still have another 176 metres altitude to go.

I passed Rob, Jacob and Lisa on the way, they had reached the summit and were on their way back down. They were all glad to see me and were very encouraging, probably because I looked so completely exhausted.

By now I was just plodding along as best I could. I don't know where the energy reserves came from but they appeared and I reached the summit at around 9:00am. Leo took a few pictures of me standing and sitting on the rock in front of the sign, and I remember looking up at a bird that was flying overhead above the rim, in my direction. I hoped it was a Lammergeier, as I had been hoping to see one ever since we got onto the mountain, but it was only another white-necked raven. And after literally only five minutes at the summit, we started back down again (there is a risk of frostbite and hypothermia so the guides get you moving again pretty quickly and don't give you anytime to rest). I paused along the way to take some photos of the glaciers and snowfields, and other scenery.

The day was only just starting - ahead I had 5.5 kilometres to get to my next rest point, Kibo Huts. Luckily it was all downhill, some of it steep. The scree slope on which we had zigzagged all the way up could be traversed another way when heading down - you could actually slide through it by putting your foot down heel first and 'walking' your way down. I suppose it's similar to skiing in a way, but without skis (obviously). Oscar showed me how and I picked it up pretty quickly, but while he literally ran downhill, I continued to walk albeit at a very speedy pace. However, there was still 3 kilometres of it to traverse and as it was all downhill, it took its toll on my knees and lower legs which took the brunt of the strain. Eventually, around midday, I reached Kibo Hut where I could sit down and have some lunch. I was able to catch up with the others there and we all shook hands and hugged each other as congratulations on a successful summit. During this Ibrahim came in and congratulated me on the way I dealt with the scree - he had been told I was "like a machine" coming down.

But we still weren't finished. After lunch there was another ten kilometres to hike to Horombo Huts which is where we would be camping for the night. Although it was either level walking or slightly downhill it still took me several hours to get there. I was ready to flop into bed when I arrived (but I had dinner first), having walked almost 22 kilometres that day, up and down a mountain.

It had been a very full day, but not without its casualties. Jacob told me he had a mild case of Altitude Sickness and threw-up when he reached Gilman's Point; and I saw several people being taken - literally carried - down the mountain in a hurry. Most of them had glassy expressions on their faces, one girl was all but unconscious. An elderly lady from Perth was taken down wearing an oxygen cylinder and mask, and a man in a stretcher on wheels was being pushed quickly down to a lower elevation where a helicopter could evacuate him. But all up I think about 60 or 70 people summited that day. And I was one of them.

I went to sleep feeling completely exhausted, but with a very satisfied feeling knowing I had conquered Kilimanjaro, and had stood on the very top of Africa.



Hix

1. Sunrise - Mawenzi is the shadowy peak just visible
2. Me, at Uhuru Peak
3. Kibo Crater from Gilman's Point - Uhuru Peak is on the left
4. Rebman Glacier
5. View from Gilman's Point back down the scree slope. This last image does not give you any idea of how steep the slope is (unfortunately), Kibo Huts can be seen roughly centre frame (several kilometres away) and then we followed the path to the right from the huts to Horombo, about ten kms away on the other side of Mawenzi.

 

Well done Hix!

 

Looks great. That glacier is bigger than I expected.

Glaciers are the one thing I liked about mountaineering. It's exciting walking on them and jumping over crevases which look bottomless. We were always roped together, but the fear of someone else falling in and the thought of being unable to hold myself out with crampons and ice axe kept it exciting.

 

And that's a small one! The Drygalski Glacier is much larger!