№51 & №52 — Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
I wake up. Complete darkness surrounds me. I fumble for my headlamp. I had put it somewhere close to my sleeping bag when I went to bed. I find it and switch it on. Next to me, I hear Tim rolling around in his sleeping bag. “It’s time”, I say.
Six days ago, Tim, Christoph, Matthias, Nils, Juli and I boarded Ethiopian Airlines flight ET725 from Vienna to Addis Abeba to begin our adventure of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. We have were talking about that days for quite some time now, discussing equipment and if there are mosquitoes that carry Malaria, Dengue or worse — there are hardly any of them above 1.800 meters — but now the day was finally here.
After spending three and a half hours at Addis Abeba airport and flying for another three hours, we finally emerged out of the terminal building of Kilimanjaro International Airport, unaware of what is really expecting us.
Before anyone climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro with our tour company, Kilimanjaro Brothers, there is the mandatory gear check and pre-briefing by the main guide. We were all missing a few items, from crampons to heavy sleeping bags or poles, but all in all, we were quite well equipped. Apparently, there are quite a few people who want to climb the mountain in nothing but shorts and thongs.
Four days ago we finally started our trip. Following the last shower and visiting the last proper bathroom for the next seven days, we were shipped to the main gates to pay for the national park fees before driving to our starting point — Rongai Gate. There we also met our crew for the next days. Twenty-six (26) people in total, of which we had one main guide, two vice-guides, a cook, a waiter, an IT guy (responsible for the toilet), a summit porter and 19 other guys carrying our luggage, their luggage, food and tents up the mountain. We handed our luggage over to the guys, took our day-pack and off we went.
After some discussion, we opted to try the mountain via the Rongai route. There are multiple routes up the mountain, all varying in length, comfort and steepness. Our route was a great mix of exercise and challenge but we also had plenty of time to acclimatize to the height.
From the moment we handed over our equipment, the following days always had the same schedule. Wake up with tea in your tent, water for washi (sic!) and breakfast after. Then hike for three hours, arrive right in time for lunch at the next camp. Once sufficiently strengthened, it was time for the toughest competition on earth — high-altitude Uno. After playing what felt like thirty to fifty games, it was time for dinner and briefing.
“Congrats for making it up to this point”, the guide starts, “not all clients make it up to here”. We go through his mental list: Have you had enough water? Was your pee clear? Do you have a headache? Did you eat enough? The guide was very thorough. “Maybe my brother has something to add”, he turns to his fellow vice-guides, after explaining every little detail of the day. After them struggling to telling us anything new, we were finally able to go back to our pastime of choice: playing Uno with progressively easier rules the darker it got.
This schedule and procedure went on for the first five days of the trip. On the sixth day, however, things changed. “No Uno today”, was the rule and so I went to bed, preparing my gear for the summit push that night. I even put my headlamp right next to my head, so I find it easily in the dark.
“Alright, let’s do this”, I say. Slowly, Tim and I crawl out of our sleeping bags in the bitter cold of the night. We put on layer after layer until it is hard to turn around in our tent. Fully geared up in warm underwear, base layers, heavy down-jackets, hats and gloves, we emerge from our tent and make our way to the mess tent.
After our final meal, we start walking. “Pole, pole”, our guide says, “slow, slow”. We walk for hours in complete darkness. You see nothing but sand, stone and the boots of the person walking in front of you. Every eternity, we take a break for ginger tea and water. It seems endless. In the distance, we see a group of hikers we overtook right at the camp but no idea how far to go.
We keep going, the wind is getting stronger and we are glad we listened to our guide. It’s cold, even with our equipment. We slowly inch forward, fighting a tiring battle against the mountain, slipping back a foot for every step we take on the loose gravel. When motivation, willpower and phyisical strength start to fade and the height taking a toll on us, we finally see the planks making up Gilman’s Point. We have officially climbed the crater rim and therefore, the mountain.
We take a short break before the cold and the wind put us back on our feet. We still had a long way to go but I was already struggling staying awake. We kept walking on, up and down on the crater rim for what felt like an eternity. Finally, we reach Stella Point, the next milestone on the way to the peak. There, the mountain finally takes his toll on me. I am unable to continue walking. Even with some bars, a hot drink and motivating words, I cannot continue. I turn around, roughly hundred meters below the summit.
Together with one guide, I climb down the mountain to our tents, down a paracetamol with some juice and fall asleep instantly in my tent. A few hours later, the rest of the group arrives. They made it to the summit but it took them another hour to reach it.
After a short break, we continued downwards. We walked for another three hours until we finally reach our camp for the night. We are completely exhausted but happy. We fall into our sleeping bags and sleep through the night.
Looking forward to a proper toilet a, we finally reach Marangu gate at lunch the next day. Those beers paired with one final meal by the excellent cook Spicy Doodoo tasted like heaven.
We did it. We were happy we did it. But even though I have not reached the peak, I am relatively certain, I will not try it again. It is a once in a lifetime experience and I will definitely not break the record of six hours something to reach the summit.
Do I regret not pushing further when I was so close to the summit? Not really. In retrospect, I could have taken measures on the top to keep on going but I simply did not have the mental capacity to do so. Also a big thanks to my fellow travelers for not being to hard on me for not making it all the way to the top.
If you are interested in climbing, I can recommend Kilimanjaro Brothers as a tour company. A locally owned company, they were extremely helpful and provided great service. The team was amazing and did their best so we can have a great trip.
If you are interested in financials, we paid about USD 1.800 for the tour, of which half went to the national park service. In addition to that, we had to rent a bit of gear, which added another USD 50 to USD 150 on top. Lastly, there is the general expectation of tipping the crew, which added another USD 200 to the budget. This is almost all-inclusive (except for two cheap dinners) spanning from the pick-up at Kilimanjaro Airport until dropping us off there again.
