Adventure Kilimanjaro (5895 m) ♥♥♥

Out of our group, only very few people had no/little altitude trouble. Most had problems to varying degrees, and with every day, the problems got more obvious. The father, who was travelling with his daughter and her boyfriend, was the first to show signs of altitude sickness - to my surprise already at around 3500 m, which didn't seem very high to me. But in fact, "high altitude" starts at 2500 m for some. He started to cough and he was out of breath and rather pale... While we went on our acclimatisation hike up to 4000 m, he stayed in the camp and rested. But at night, his symptoms got worse. He had developed a so-called high altitude pulmonary edema. Not wanting to bother anybody, he waited until the morning, before he informed our guide about his increasing problems... He was sent down immediately. Accompanied by a local guide, he started his descent with wishing his daughter and us luck to take the summit for him. So we continued.

During our acclimatisation hike (4500 m), we had a rare moment of cell phone reception, and our Norwegian guide happily informed us, that the father had reached the first campsite already, and that he would feel already much better, could walk faster, had some colour again, and made jokes with the locals. All was well! Until the next morning... We were woken up and ordered to come quickly and quietly to the main tent. And then we were told that the father had died. Very suddenly, from one moment to another. Somewhere on the way between the campsite and the pick up point to go back to the hotel.

Now that was a shock! I hadn't even considered the possibility of someone dying during this trip! Feeling bad? Sure, happens commonly. But actually dying? No way! I had been under the impression that climbing Kilimanjaro had become something even a little too popular, because it was such an easy high-altitude-mountain - easily accessible for everyone without having to be an extreme athlete...

Oh, his poor daughter! Quite understandably so, she stayed away from the rest of us, and our Norwegian guide went down with her and her boyfriend, so that she could go to the hospital and see her dad...

And the rest of us? Not feeling good. Some were very afraid and didn't want to continue the hike with the local guides only. Some said it wouldn't be ethical to continue our holiday; instead we should all return to the hotel and fly back home immediately. That is when I started to be afraid. I did feel very sorry for what had happened - especially for the daughter - but what good does it do to her and her family, if I quit my holiday? A holiday that was very special for me, because I have rarely been on a vacation this far away and this expensive (like ever). It might have been selfish, but it would have been a disaster for me, if I had needed to fly back home...

Another point of discussion was about informing relatives or not. I was immediately shouting that I don't want my family to be informed - because it would only worry everybody. But there was another man in the group being the same age as the deceased, and when the tragedy hit the Norwegian newspapers a few days later, he and his wife got many worried calls and e-mails - because he was the "54 year old man tragically dying on Kilimanjaro"....

Ah, it is really difficult to handle such an event. :-(

In the end, we all agreed on continuing the hike. But things were not the same anymore. People were more afraid, more observing themselves and their altitude symptoms. And also the local guides had an extra eye on us. That was especially the case during the summit night...

Until this point, the hike hadn't been too difficult. With every day we got more tired, but it wasn't anything bad. But the summit night, that's when it got really tough.

The last basecamp is at 4714 m. Gilman's point - at the edge of the plateau of Kilimanjaro (if you so wish) - lies at 5685 m. Uhuru peak - the highest point of Kilimanjaro - is 5895 m above sea level. I always wondered, why on earth the last base camp wouldn't be any closer to the summit, simply to shorten the last, most difficult part of the hike (due to the high altitude)?! I am not sure, whether this is truly the reason, but somebody said that the reason would be that beyond 5000 m, the body doesn't fully recover anymore. So you can rest as much as you want, you just get more and more tired and oxygen-deprived etc. This is why the time above 5000 m should be limited. When you climb Mt. Everest, you obviously have to spend some time above 5000 m, but then the athletes accept that their physical (and mental) condition is worsening every day. This probably only applies for people, who do not live in high altitude... But as I said, I am not entirely sure, whether that is correct information.

Anyways, on summit night we had 1181 m of altitude difference to cover! Holy Moly! That is a lot at this height. After only a short rest, we were woken up at 23:00 in the night. At 23:30, we were being served porridge, tea, coffee, and a light breakfast. That surely wasn't my time for eating, but I forced myself to eat something. Others were already fighting diarrhoea and nausea and couldn't eat anything. At midnight sharp, we then started the summit walk. Oh boy, I was so excited! I had a lot of respect for what was laying ahead of us.... it sounded terrible in theory already.

We were accompanied by our main local guide and 4 helper guides. All of them had emphasised that we were to reach Gilman's point the latest after 6 h. If it would take us more time than that, then we wouldn't be fit enough and we would need to descent immediately. That kind of put a lot of pressure on us.... 
Generally, the summit walk was very tensed.

When you leave the camp, the trail goes uphill right away - steeper than before on this trip. And it ascends and ascends and ascends... It never stops to ascend - in never-ending zick-zack lines. In combination with the time of the day/night, the high altitude, the darkness and the misty weather (all you could see were the feet in front of you), it was a rather exhausting endeavour. And it was kinda nerve-wrecking, only being able to walk in slow motion - barely moving an inch forward - while still grasping for air as if you'd run a marathon (or sth. the like).

In addition, I could see my fellow hikers becoming victims of the altitude: more and more of them had to stop and vomit. Some didn't walk all that straight anymore... It is quite common that people feel bad on this summit walk - simply because it is very challenging for the (sea level accustomed) body. And it is not dangerous to have a headache, to feel a little nauseous, or even to vomit. In fact, it probably is what commonly happens to most people up there. (As I said, I am incredibly lucky that I haven't had any symptoms!!!!) But considering the death of our hiking companion, the guides were extra cautious with us. So one after another was examined, oxygen levels were measured from the fingertips, questions were asked... And all of these procedures made us stop and take breaks, many times, interrupting the zombie-walk-mode that really helps you to move on.

One after another was sent down. First the kids (they had vomited a lot) with their parents. Then the sporty father-in-law. Then Å., the grumpy old dude. ;) And during this never ending ascend, they kept cheerfully informing us about the current altitude: "Hey, we are now at 5000 m!! You've never been this high up before! Woohooo!!!" But all I could think of in response was "W T F???? 5000 m only??? We are walking for hours already... will we ever reach Gilman's point before 6:00????? Nooooooo...." And then I had to force myself to re-focus on my zombie-walking style, reminding (and checking) myself that I had no problems - other than exhaustion. ;-)

All in all it was... nerve-wrecking. A bit of a psychological war actually. ;-) In the end, there were only 4 of us reaching Gilman's point (accompanied by 2 guides): my tent mate L., the third single guy and the sporty woman, who had traveled with her father-in-law. It was 6:45 already, and I was afraid of what that would mean for us... We were almost one hour behind schedule!

L. and I were more out of breath than the other two, when we reached Gilman's point. And admittedly, I was quite at the edge with my strength... If the trail would have continued the same way as it had been up to this point, I would have gladly just turned around and descended. I was quite finished...

BUT something wonderful had happened! Just before we reached Gilman's point, we broke through the cloud cover just as the sun was rising with ice-blue sky above us!! You cannot imagine the burst of endorphines I experienced! I was hyped! It was so, so beautiful! Seeing sunlight after a long walk in the dark is something empowering even at sea level (been there, done that ;-) ), but after all that rain and the mist and the exhaustion... it was extra magical! In addition, I was looking over the snow-covered plateau of Kibo with all its glaciers. The clouds just below our feet... Gosh, it was amazing!

And then another kind of psychological war started. The sporty single dude and the sporty woman were telling me and L. that we could only continue our hike, if we were 100 % certain, that we would make it until Uhuru peak (which was another 1,5 h of up-and-downhill hiking away)!!! Otherwise we should descent right here, right now.

L. wasn't 100 % sure. She was exhausted, of course (as was the rest of us). And being a humble, friendly human being, she said that she wouldn't be a 100 % sure, so she would descend with one guide (you cannot be on your own at any point up there).

That left me and the sporty people and one last guide. Meaning, that if I wouldn't make it to the summit, the other 2 would need to turn around with me and the guide. This was explained to me in length. And while I understood their argument, I didn't like the attitude. At all. And because I am not a humble human being, I got really upset about this kind of anti-team work-behaviour! I was so pissed that I just said that I wouldn't be certain at all, but that I surely would not go back into the mist again, now that I am (literally) in heaven. I wanted to walk around up there! I wanted to enjoy it! Quite frankly, the summit was only secondary to me. I loved being up there on Kibo!!

I am sure they hated me a little... But what could they do? ;-) So the 4 of us continued, while L. descended. Our guide was walking quite fast (considering...), pushing us forward. He told us not to take any photos and to just keep walking, keep walking... I was dead after 5 minutes already. But of course pride forbid me to give up!! :-D Pride and the beauty around me!!! :-) At some point, I just decided that I would walk my own (slow) speed. And that I would take photos, because that's what makes me happy and keeps me motivated, up and running! :-)

And see? Then also our guide slowed down! ;-) He offered to carry my backpack, and I was gladly accepting. It did make walking a little easier. And after around 1,5 h we all reached Uhuru peak! It was 8:30, when we took the infamous photos of us in front of the signpost! :-)

I was very high. :-D I wasn't even mad anymore, because everything was just so damn beautiful. :-D And I would have loved to stay a while, take pictures, enjoy the view... But our guide was in a hurry again. We had to descend quickly. The words pole, pole I heard no more! ;-)

Funnily after only 30 min (!), we were back at Gilman's point! And even funnier, 2 of our porters were waiting there for us already! They had decided to climb up in order to carry the backpacks of the 2 sporty people, when they had heard that we were 3 people with only one guide left... Can you even imagine how fast they had ascended what had taken us so many hours before??? Altitude is a bitch! ;-)

And according to the new motto "no pole, pole no more" we were encouraged to not walk down, but to sand-dive/slide downhill. :-D First it was fun. Finally some movement, and we quickly made some distance! But then it got tiring. My legs were not accustomed to use these kinds of muscles for that long... And then it got really tiring! I had the feeling this hill will never ever end... the camp was nowhere in sight, and we had to slide and to slide.... Phew. 

And just when it almost got painful, 2 more porters were meeting us! With juice! They had thought that we must be thirsty, so they climbed up to bring us refreshments! I loved them all!!! :-) After the short break, we continued our slide-ride... and at 10:45 we reached the Kibo Huts camp again.

At 10:45 !!!!!

10:45 !

When I checked the time, I couldn't believe it! The day was only just beginning, and we had climbed Kilimanjaro already! :-D But why all this rush??? Why were we told that we have to be at Gilman's point no later than 6:00??? Why, oh why??

I still don't understand it! And I think, things could have been more pleasant, if we were just given more time. Less stress for everyone! Probably we wouldn't have (almost) killed each other at Gilman's Point. ;-) And surely also L. would have reached the summit!

Instead we were back at an empty camp. At 10:45. The others had left already. In fact, the family had been brought back to the hotel with an ambulance. The daughter had suddenly been drained of all energy, and she wasn't able to walk anymore. 4 porters had to carry her down to the next campsite, from where an ambulance took her out of the national park and back to the hotel. There she was fine again!

But yes, we were not done with the hiking for the day! We still had to walk another 3-4 h down to the next campsite (Horombo Hut at 3690 m)! It was raining, and the perspective of walking a couple of more hours wasn't very appealing.

In addition, I have a little confession to make: I did have a tiny bit of a problem. :) When we reached Gilman's Point on the way back, I had that sudden nausea hitting me out of nowhere.... and I had to vomit as well. Right next to the signpost. Awesome. ;)
Our guide said that I had probably been drinking too much (can you believe it?? ;) ) - and it's true: because I couldn't eat and I hated those artificial sugar paste thingies that we were advised to eat (a lot) during the ascend, I told myself to at least sip water regularly... I had no idea that you can in fact also drink too much. Well, well. Nausea was my friend from that moment on. Whenever my stomach was empty, I was fine. But any liquid or food was eliminated from my body immediately (like the juice that was kindly carried up the mountain...). So all this weakened me a little as well. But I was still able to walk! Just not very enthusiastically... ;-)

The other 2 ate lunch - I declined for obvious reasons - and then we started our hike to the next campsite. It was of course easier now, because it was downhill and no sliding was involved. Only walking. But still... my body was pretty drained. We came across 2 soft uphills, and every time I had to breathe only a little bit harder, I immediately had to vomit again. I guess this is how it feels like, when you push your body near its limits. ;-) Nevertheless, I could walk just fine and I had a nice chat with the guide along the way. So, it wasn't only painful. ;-)

In the afternoon, we reached the camp in light drizzle. I was very, very much looking forward to my tent!! All I wanted was to lie down! But as soon as we reached the campsite, the others were welcoming us with the words "We've got to talk..."

The original plan had been to hike around 6 h to Marangu Gate the next day. And from there, a bus would have brought us back to the hotel. But there were only 6 of us left... That, together with the exhaustion and the moist weather, readily destroyed the hiking spirit in our small group. And so they had discussed the possibility to abort our hike at this point.

I was a bit torn... because I actually like hiking (especially downhill). But the idea of having a hot shower and sleeping in a real bed that same night, was rather appealing as well...

To cut an already very long story shorter: We decided to abort the hike at this point. Our Norwegian guide organised transportation for us, and so we left the camp with the ambulance car (which was overcrowded and had to be stopped for occasional diarrhea attacks :-D ). We were then picked up at the gates of the National park by a bus. I cannot say how long all of this took... 2-3 h maybe. But I was actually just happy to sit and look out of the window.

Back at the hotel, we met the family, and I finally had a cold shower (didn't know there was a hot water button that needed to be switched on first), but it was great anyways. And then we had dinner together - which my body gladly accepted again. Hallelujah for the second time this day already! ;-)

All in all, it had been one long day. But the next day promised to be a lazy hotel day - due to the extra day we had earned. But what can I say? While the others enjoyed sunbathing at the pool (as soon as you are not close to Kilimanjaro, the weather is nice and warm and sunny!), I was already missing the hiking... :-) But I did enjoy strolling through Moshi's streets and shopping for souvenirs! There wouldn't have been time for this with our original schedule. And oh, how much I love everything "African"! :-D I had to force myself to not spend too much money.... :)

On our last evening in Moshi, our Norwegian guide then invited us all for dinner. That was really nice! We met some of the local guides, we got our certificates for making it to Uhuru Peak, and we discussed what had happened... It was a nice evening, and it was a nice ending for such a turbulent hike.

breaking through the cloud cover while the sun rises :)

Now that there was some daylight, I could also see the hill we had just climbed up

- doesn't look too bad, but somehow it was...

Mawenzi summit shortly showing itself, a little, too. 

And then we reached Gilman's Point! Hallelujah!! :-D

I think it is easy to understand my excitement - considering previous fog & mist pictures. ;-)

There are multiple glaciers up there on Kibo.

But I they are melting fast...

 Here's looking at you, sun! :-D

 We were all tired at Gilman's Point...

Leaving for the summit

 There are a lot of photos of clouds and glaciers and blue sky... but I just loved it so much! :)

Sometimes you get the idea of walking on the rim of a volcanic crater... sometimes.

The summit in sight! (on the right)

official photographic proof: I was there!

(Btw, I carried my camel bag inside my layers of underwear and the tubing in my sleeves, so the water wouldn't freeze. It was -10°C up there.)

But I actually liked the temperature; it wasn't too cold. Just right! :)

But as always that depends on who you ask: the first person we asked to take a group picture refused, because he didn't want to take his hands out of the pocket... too freezin' cold, man! :-D

And heading straight back...

 Our main local guide - and the last man standing with us. ;-)

(carrying my daypack...)

It was unbelievably bright up there!

Rather challenging to take photos, especially when you have to rush...

Stella Point lies between Gilman's Point and Uhuru Peak.

Depending on which route you take to the summit, you may also reach the "Kibo plateau" at this point.

Almost back at Gilman's Point - the weather was about to change again. Shortly after, the blue sky was gone...

But I couldn't take any more photos anyways. I was busy sliding down a hill... ;)

Amazing, how fast the scenery can change! On the way from Kibo Huts to Horombo Camp.

In the evening, driving back to the hotel with the bus.

Seeing Kibo... I couldn't believe that I had been up there just a few hours earlier that day...

CRAZY! :-D

And even a little bit later that hell of a day: I enjoyed drinking a Kilimanjaro beer in the hotel!

It was the best beer ever!!! :-D

View from our hotel room the next morning! A little bit of Kibo. :-)

With all this sunshine and heat around us, it was difficult to imagine how much rain we've had on the mountain. From below, it always look rather dry up there... ;-)

Kilimanjaro seen from the plane when we left Tanzania ♥

 And yeah... it is certified! With age and all...!!! :-D