Summit Day

We moved from Karanga camp to Barafu Camp which is also known as basecamp. It is a short hike and the day was spent resting in anticipation for our summit hike at midnight.

At 11pm we rolled out of bed and dressed warmly. We doubled up on the thermal underwear and layered up. At midnight we started the hike up Mt Kilimanjaro under the spectacular night sky. We could see a stream of headlamps making their way up the mountain. Jeff found the lack of sleep difficult but aside from that he did ok. I had a tough time. Once we hit a certain elevation I felt an overwhelming sense of sleepiness and a headache coming on. I popped 2 ibuprofen and that helped. Unfortunately I remained sleepy and was essentially in a drowsy state and closing my eyes whenever I can. At times I would lose my balance and Jeff would have to catch me and prop me up. If someone left me on a rock I would have fallen asleep. I was a zombie making my way up to the world’s free-standing mountain.

After a gruelling 7.5hr hike we reached Stella Point. Stella Point unfortunately is not the highest point on the mountain, it is another 1 hour hike to Uhuru Peak. Imagine, you push yourself to reach a summit only to find out that the real summit is another 1 hour away – you are fatigued and not getting as much oxygen as you should. You have to push yourself physically and mentally for another 1 hour.

Finally at 8:20am we reached Uhuru Peak! Success! We all posed for the obligatory photo on the summit. Everyone was so exhausted.

Now the hike back to basecamp! Ugh. I had perked up enough to make my way down without wanting to sleep.. when we reached Stella Point again we saw how high we had climbed up and now how much lower we had to hike down. Fortunately… if you can even say fortunately given the circumstances, but anyways, fortunately the trail was scree and loose rocks and we were able to ski-slide our way down the mountain. The hike back is under 3 hours and I had to be somewhat held by Danny (our guide) for the last bit back to camp as I kept on slipping and sliding on the loose rocks on the trail. When we finally reached our tent I was so tired that Danny had to undo my boot laces. I literally fell asleep. And how did Jeff do? Well, he did awesome! The man is strong..

To make things interesting, the day was not over. After lunch we packed up and hiked 4 hours down to another camp. It was during this hike that we experienced the first bad weather. It started to rain and hail. Our trail turned into a stream of muddy water. After the rain, we continued downhill along a trail that is a dry creek bed. It was very hard on our knees. Meanwhile the porters were just flying downhill with the heavy load on their backs! How do they do it?!

That night everyone slept right through. Not one single person woke up to send a message at the Internet cafe.

The next morning we said goodbye to all and hiked 10kms out to the gate.

When we arrived at the final sign it was surreal. It’s over. We did it.

We headed back to the hotel for a much deserved shower. Later in the afternoon we were awarded the official certificate for reaching Uhuru Peak.

As part one of this adventure ends, we eagerly await the start of the safari!