‘One team, one dream’: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
By Tianbo Xu and Jane Tang, Environmental Safety, Crop Science, Bayer U.S.
Click here to watch a short compilation video of Tianbo and Jane’s trek.
At the beginning of 2018, we set a goal for ourselves. We enjoy being physically active, and we have found that it is easier to stick to a daily exercise plan when we are working toward an objective.
Also, we both have been working for Bayer Crop Science for about 15 years. During 2018, Bayer was going through a transition with the purchase of Monsanto. We love working for Bayer, but as a married couple both employed by the same company, work can easily impact our personal life. We did not want to spend the year speculating about coming changes.
Instead, we decided to make 2018 “the year of Kilimanjaro.” Together with our son, Jane’s sister and her husband, and Jane’s brother, we planned a trip for a safari in Africa, followed by hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.
Preparing for the summit
Arriving at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is amazing. The sunrise and the clouds are actually below you, under your feet. It was like nothing we have ever experienced before. Reaching the summit was definitely the highlight, but the whole process was enjoyable — from planning the trip, preparing our gear, and training, to challenging ourselves during each part of the hike.
Mount Kilimanjaro is among the seven highest mountains in the world. Its peak is the highest in Africa. People say that it is the only mountain of its stature that does not require a lot of technical expertise to climb, so that it is more achievable by ordinary hikers.
That said, we did a tremendous amount of preparation, and it paid off. We are avid bikers, so we continued doing a lot of biking. In the meantime, we started jogging to increase our lung capacity. We also began working out with a personal trainer in the gym at our Bayer facility during the final three months of preparation.
Two months before the trip, we took advantage of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail to hike about six or seven miles each weekend, wearing a backpack, which helped to build our endurance. We also hiked Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, which is more than 6,600 feet. That gave us a lot of confidence.
Adjusting to the altitude
Because we were prepared physically for the climb, we could focus during our trek on the bigger challenge, which was altitude sickness. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done to prepare for altitude sickness — some hikers get it, and some do not. Good physical fitness does not protect a person from altitude sickness.
When you hike to high altitudes quickly, the lower air pressure and oxygen level can cause symptoms such as headache, tiredness, nausea, dizziness, decrease of appetite, and shortness of breath. There is a medicine used to treat and prevent these symptoms, but even with that, all but one member of our group experienced some sickness.
During days 3–5 of our hike, the guides walked us up and down in the zone between about 11,500 feet and 15,000 feet so that our bodies would acclimate to the altitude.
To the top, non-stop
Tanzanian law requires all hikers on Mount Kilimanjaro to have a guide and porters (to carry camping gear/food). Our small group of six ended up being about 20 when you included the three guides, about 10 porters, and a chef. The tour company provided tents and three meals each day, which was very helpful in the high altitudes.
Spending 8 days with this group of local people made them seem like family. Throughout the trip, whether it was altitude sickness or just the challenge of the hike, our guides kept us motivated whenever we would feel a little bit down physically or emotionally.
At the higher altitudes, it is difficult to breathe well, so you have to walk very slowly. Our guides would say in Swahili, “pole pole” (pronounced polly polly), which means “slow, slow.” Other phrases that kept us going were “to the top, non-stop” and “one team, one dream.” Our guides would holler the first part, “one team,” and we would respond with “one dream.”
Through the zones
Some days the trail we hiked was quite rocky, but mostly we hiked on a level, ascending track worn down by previous hikers. We hiked through several climate zones, starting with a rain forest the first 2 days, which had a relatively comfortable temperature.
After the first 2 days, we were above 9,800 feet, and it started to get colder. When there was sunlight, we were hot, and during the mornings and evenings, it was very cold, so it was important to have layers of clothing with us in our daypacks.
On “summit day,” it was dark and cold — below minus 20 degrees. The wind seemed strong enough to blow us off of the mountain, and it felt like a knife cutting our faces. There were also snow flurries.
The final ascent
Interestingly, our final ascent to the top peak of Mount Kilimanjaro began at 11:30 p.m., on the sixth night of our trek. When we asked our guide why the summit day had to start in the middle of the night, he said “If we did it during the day, a lot of people would give up.”
The last leg of the hike to the summit is only about 3 miles; however, it is the most challenging of the journey. That’s because the altitude is changing from about 15,000 feet to 19,341 feet at the highest peak. This final piece of the trail takes 8 hours to hike. We can understand how seeing the summit in the daylight — so close, but yet so far away — could be discouraging.
When you hike at night, all you see are the headlamps of fellow hikers. You think less about the distance and more about the path in front of you. And at 5 a.m., when the sun starts to rise, your spirits are boosted and you realize you are close to the top.
On that day, we hiked 8 hours to the top, had a brief time for photos, and then quickly began the descent for about 7 hours back down to 9,800 feet. In total we hiked about 15 hours that day to avoid sleeping or staying too long at the higher altitude. The altitude sickness is extreme at the summit and causes too much suffering if you linger.
A rewarding challenge
We have many memories from our “year of Kilimanjaro.” The 5-day safari at the start of the trip was unbelievable, seeing so many wild animals. Then our hike up Mount Kilimanjaro — in addition to the breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime beauty — it was so rewarding to challenge ourselves and to achieve this huge goal.
Late in 2017, we had completed a 9-day, 600-mile bicycle trip, which was hard, but not at the level of Mount Kilimanjaro. After all, we had fancy meals and slept in nice hotels! Who knows what our next adventure might be? Since we have just returned from the trip, currently we are happy just to reflect on our trek.
Having adventures outside of work helps us to keep a good work-life balance. That is important for work too, because change at work has the possibility to distract us. Just like hiking to the summit, we don’t want to be tempted to take our eyes off the path. As employees in the Environmental Safety function, we realize the importance of staying focused on our role in Bayer’s success: ensuring our technologies meet rigorous standards to protect humans and our planet.
Today Bayer has its eyes on an incredible summit. We have a unique opportunity to take agriculture to the next level for the benefit of our customers, consumers and our world. It is a lofty goal, but these are exciting times as we work together to achieve “one team, one dream.”
