We arrived at the Machame Trail gate pumped and ready to go.
But…we waited over an hour to register with the park authorities while our chief guide, Richard, selected porters and packed the supplies needed for our trek. Fully stocked, we finally started out, walking through lush forestland. I was immediately struck by the trail being clearly marked and maintained, and wondered if this would be the case the entire way up the mountain.
After 4 hours of hiking through this terrain, much of it groomed into steps in an attempt to ease the steepness (it didn’t help), we arrived at Machame camp, with a great view of Kili’s peak.
Day 2
Leaving camp the next morning, we quickly left the forest behind and the trail became rockier. In fact we hiked for an hour up a steep rock face. But the reward at the top was an inspiring view looking down on the low clouds we had walked beneath the previous day.
Continuing on the trail, we saw several groups that we would repeatedly encounter during our trek: two British guys named Trevor and Ben who occasionally hiked with us, a German group with a girl who enjoyed wearing a short skirt while hiking, a U.S. group from Atlanta, and a university group from England. We also had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the trail on our own.
After hiking 4.5 hours, we reached Shira Camp at lunchtime, and then had the afternoon to explore our surroundings, which included a cave and a helicopter pad for emergency evacuations (not a comforting sight). We also enjoyed a great sunset prior to having dinner and playing a few rounds of Uno before bed.
Day 3
Although we were pushing our bodies every day, we still made time for some fun along the way. This day’s trail was gravelly, with fields of rocks surrounding us. The guys practiced throwing pebbles at the boulder-size targets all around us, and we laughed at how bad their aim was. We also paused to take pictures displaying our amazing feats of agility and strength amidst the boulders.
After climbing up all morning and stopping for a lunch break, we descended through a rocky valley dotted with beautiful trees, streams, and even a small waterfall. We also received an intimidating preview of the next day’s challenge. Behind me in the picture below is Barranco Wall, and if you look closely, you can see the winding trail up the wall that awaited us.
After 6 hours on the trail, we reached Barranco Camp and were able to rest before tackling the imposing wall the next day. Barranco Camp offered another awesome view of the peak of Kili, plus we had crepes for dinner!
Day 4
We woke to find that some groups had already started up Barranco Wall at sunrise. Viewing the wall from camp, it seemed an insurmountable obstacle.
But as we got closer, we could see that there was a clear path up with Wall, with plenty of foot and hand holds. In fact I actually had a lot of fun on the Wall, scrambling up the rocks and sliding around outcroppings.
At the top, we paused for another excellent photo op of Kili’s peak. Of course, the guys had to take off their shirts and turn it into a real Kodak moment. I call this picture “Jeremy embracing Kili.”
We continued on the trail and hiked through another valley of pretty flora and streams. Our guide told us that these streams were the last fresh water on the way to the summit; the porters had to gather it from here and carry all the water we would need for the next 48 hours. In the final stretch to Karanga Camp, we encountered a steady flow of porters coming to the streams with empty jerry cans and returning with full ones on their heads.
Having hiked for 4 hours, we arrived at Karanga Camp around lunchtime and again had the afternoon to rest and relax.
Day 5
As Day 5 dawned, we were excited to get trekking and reach base camp.
The trail was not very interesting, so we passed the time with memory games like naming all the NFL teams and naming all of Brad Pitt’s movies…then Tom Hanks…then Julia Roberts.
After 4 hours, we reached base camp, Barafu Camp. We ate lunch and I immediately crawled into my sleeping bag and fell asleep. We ate an early dinner and retired to our tents, supposedly to sleep before getting up at the crack of midnight to hike to the summit. But sleep was hard to come by, knowing the summit was so close...
Day 6
We roused ourselves around 11pm, dressed, drank some tea, and set off into the night.
We hiked up and up and up for what seemed like forever until we finally took a short break. We started off again but I soon noticed my pace slackening. We continued to slog on, but other groups were moving faster and passing us. After 3 hours of hiking, I was exhausted and was focusing all my attention on keeping my eyes open. I was worried that I would literally fall asleep walking. I stopped and turned to my guide and asked him if I was gonna make it. I knew that we were only about a third of the way up and I was already struggling. Jeremy, who had been walking behind me, noted that my steps were weaving like a drunk’s, plus I was stumbling every 5th step. With that comment, my guide handed me off to different guide who was heading down with another hiker. Disappointed, but knowing I was making the right decision, I headed back down and was ecstatic to climb into my sleeping bag 2 hours later.
Jeremy continues to describe his climb to the summit:
As upset as I was that Erica had to turn back, I was determined to make it. We were 3 hours into what would be a 6.5-hour assent. The time seemed to go by quickly or at least I didn’t notice it go by. All I could think about was my next step, my next breath. Every step was a challenge and every breath was a struggle. I was walking at about 1 step every 2-3 seconds...really slow.
There were two points to the summit, Stella Point and the true summit, Uhuru Peak. When I made it to Stella, it was still dark but I could see the sun starting to come over the horizon. There was still a 45-minute hike ahead of me to reach the Uhuru Peak. I timed it just right to see the sunrise over the clouds as I reached the top.
By far, summiting Kilimanjaro was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I was physically and emotionally drained (and still upset that Erica couldn’t make it with me). I would have loved to stay at the top, but as soon as you get to the peak, your body is telling you to get down ASAP. Your lungs are tired, your legs feel like jello, you are freezing cold, and your head is pounding. After 5 minutes and a few photos, I was on my way down.
The good thing is I started to feel better instantly once I started down. I had already spent 6 hours going up and still had a 3-hour hike to get back to camp. As happy as I was to be going down, it proved to be harder then going up. Three hours later (8am) I was back in camp and instantly crashed.
Unfortunately, we were only allowed a few hours of sleep before we had to get up, eat lunch, pack up, and hike ANOTHER 4 hours down to the next camp, Mweka camp.
Day 7
We woke up the next day excited about the pending completion of our adventure and especially about getting back to our hotel for our first shower in 7 days! But as Jeremy said, going down wasn’t easy. For the first time during our hike, my knees started to ache and my feet started to hurt. Plus I took a tumble on the steep trial, which was slick from an overnight rain shower.
After 3 hours, we finally reached the bottom, and hopped onto a bus for the ride to the hotel, where we toasted our success with our guides.
