Here in Arusha, Tanzania is a landmark simply known as The Clock Tower. It’s about two kilometers from where I am staying. What’s significant about it is that it represents the midway point on the African continent between Cairo and Cape Town. Ironic that unbeknownst to me, I would use Arusha (and the Clock Tower) as the launching point for my journey to Cape Town.

My Dad will also be happy to know that Coca-Cola is the sponsor of the Clock Tower (you can see the logo on the clock face).

A number of additional thoughts in no particular order:

• The gods smiled on us as we were blessed with extraordinary weather throughout the trek. It only sprinkled once, and even then it was when we were having dinner in our dining tent on Day 6. The rain stopped before we continued on to our sleeping camp. The clear skies on our summit morning were phenomenal, providing vistas that are unmatched and breathtaking. A friend summited almost exactly a year ago, and he was greeted with a huge fog, er I mean cloud, bank.
• Proper gear and preparation is essential. A couple of items that were indispensable:Hiking boots – seems obvious, but these troopers have accompanied me on two trekking expeditions for a total of about 150 kms thus far. When buying hiking boots, ALWAYS buy them early and break them in. I have yet to have had any foot discomfort or blisters with these guys. I love them  Hiking poles – for a long time I though people who used hiking poles were old wimps. Now I’m a convert. Poles ensure your arms aren’t freeloading on the hike, pulling their weight as well. They provide extra balance and are especially important as you are descending, helping to displace some of the enormous strain on your knees.  Diamox – this stuff is magic. A high altitude med, it helps reduce or eliminate the effects of altitude sickness. A couple of folks in my party opted not to start on it early and the altitude began to get to them (nausea, headaches). This med is a godsend, and helped me focus on my hike, rather than any attendant side effects.
• For me at least, there are very few instances in life more daunting than having to get out of a warm, cozy sleeping bag in sub-freezing weather at 6:00 in the morning. Yech. Thank goodness a friend recommended that I sleep with a pee bottle, as Diamox is a diuretic, and the prospect of getting out of my sleeping bag two to three times a night to pee only compounds the misery. Worked like a charm.
• Speaking of peeing, I’m grateful our trekking company provided a toilet tent. The option was a hole in the floor of an outhouse. Life’s simple pleasures…..
• A deep debt of gratitude to my hike mates Qun Xu, Tom Hill and Andy Battman. Without your support, encouragement and advice, this trek would have been much more difficult. You made it not only bearable, but enjoyable. I look forward to long friendships ahead.
• I booked my trek with Team Kilimanjaro, and I am so very happy I did. They have the operation down to a science and their staff is wonderful. Specifically, many many thanks to Chief Kilimanjaro Guide Frank John and Assistant Guide Guido Masawe. They were with me through every step of the trek and provided very valuable support for me, especially during the tougher stages on the descent. Many thanks also to the rest of the Crew: Cook: Elisnte John, Senior Porters: Kalosi Medadi, Safiel m. Mwanga, Juliasi Lenard, Samora Matiasi, Toilet Porter: Frank F. Masawe, Crew: Kanaeli Sifael, Asante Rabi, Levis Nelson, Kizindaro Mkaka, Josephati Genadi, Mhamed Adam, Moses Kaaya & Masuze Gohoti. All of you made this the experience of a lifetime for me. Asante sana!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, January 8

Distance hiked: 9.1 km / 5.7 mi
Elevation Gained (Lost): (1,473 m / 4,833 ft); End: 1,633 m / 5,358 ft

The final day’s hike was a quiet denouement compared to the previous day’s adventures. A van waited at the trailhead, where it whisked the tired hikers to the Ranger’s Station for sign out from the park. Also received the much coveted Certificate of Achievement.

Once back at the hotel, it was time to a) celebrate the accomplishment with an appropriate libation,

and b) enjoy some “real” food again.

I’ve enjoyed more delicious pies in the past but this one was probably the best tasting one I’ve ever had. Coke & pizza as my first civilized meal in a week. Life is good.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Ascent:
Distance hiked: 6.3 km / 3.9 mi
Elevation Gained (Lost): 1,181 m / 3,875 ft; End: 5,895 m / 19,341 ft

Descent:

Distance hiked: 11.5 km / 7.1 mi
Elevation Gained (Lost): (2,789 m / 9,150 ft); End: 3,106 m / 10,190 ft

Daily Aggregate:
Distance hiked: 17.8 km / 11.1 mi

Technically speaking, Day 6 started at the end of Day 5, as we were awoken at 11:00 pm to begin our preparations for the final assault on the summit. We packed our gear, ate “breakfast” and then departed camp at about 12:15 am.

Our trail lit by headlamps, we were in a strange, cold, silent (save for our heavy breathing and the crunch of the soil underfoot), moon-like world, trudging up the mountainside one small step after another. Knowing that we would be at this for at least six hours in the dark, I had to settle my thoughts into a quiet mellow place. I kept reminding myself how nice my hotel bed would be when this was all over.

Periodically we would stop to catch our breath, and I would look up at the thick canvas of stars splashed over our heads. Others were up and at ’em also, as we could see a long string of lights slowly ascending skyward above us on the mountainside.

At this point, I knew I was going to make it to the top, barring an unfortunate accident. The risk of altitude sickness had been significantly reduced, if not eliminated, because I had started taking Diamox on Day 1. This medication helps the body acclimatize much faster. While others begin to feel the effects of the altitude (headaches, nausea) at this point in the hike, I was fortunate to not have had any of these symptoms throughout the trek. It was now just mind over matter.

We finally saw the sun rise around 6:15, and while I’m not one to make it a point to watch many sunrises, this one was the most welcome dawn I have ever experienced.

We arrived at Gilman’s Point around 7:15 and took a break. An expert on Kilimanjaro says that one in four climbers throws up here due to the altitude, which is OK – as long as you are not presenting other important altitude-induced symptoms. Four people in our group – fortunately, I didn’t toss cookies, but we kept the actuarials intact. I won’t give up who painted the Point, though.

We passed Stella Point and continued on the final leg toward Uhuru Peak (uhuru meaning “freedom” in Swahili).

Over one last final rise, and the world famous sign was in our sights. At approximately 8:30 am, we achieved our goal. What an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Our guide, Frank John, joins us in our celebration at the summit. We could not have asked for a better guide than Frank, who has summoned more than 100 times.

Our group also had the very unique privilege and honor to share Tom’s 21st birthday today. There are extremely few 21 year olds out there who can match that kind of celebration. I know I can’t. We had no champagne, just a few cans of Red Bull. Tom fully earned his celebration.

But in the age-old vernacular of TV infomercials, “But wait! There’s more!” Yes, we had conquered the mountain, but now we needed to get down. Not just down, but waaaaay down. So after enjoying ourselves for about 20 minutes, we turned around and began to make the much faster descent.

We worked our way back to Stella Point and then turned onto a new, quite steep path. All of the paths at this altitude are a grey, dusty dirt that is probably the result of thousands of years of erosion of the pumice from the volcano. On this particular path, the dirt is about three to four inches deep at a fairly steep decline, so descending is a mix of steps and slides. You just hope you are mixing the two forms agilely enough so you don’t lose your balance.

We arrived at a camp for a much needed R&R break around 12:30, where we enjoyed fresh mango juice and some Pringles potato chips. After 45 minutes, we were back on the trail for another two hours to our next stop – an early dinner. But this was not to be our final resting spot as we had another two hours after dinner to get to our final sleeping camp.

From the time we awoke at 11:00 the previous night to our arrival at our final sleeping camp, we were awake 20 hours and had covered over 11 miles with elevation changes of almost 13,123 feet. To give that last number some perspective, in ONE day we covered more vertical distance than from sea level to Denver, Colorado and back down again (OK, to be fair, a larger proportion of that distance was aided by gravity, but tell that to my sore knees ?).

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Distance hiked: 4.9 km / 3.0 mi
Elevation Gained (Lost): 781 m / 2,562 ft; End: 4,717 m / 15,476 ft

After our extremely long hike yesterday, it was nice to have a shorter jaunt. Interestingly, throughout the entire hike, we could always look back at our previous night’s camp – it just got smaller and smaller and lower and lower from us. However, the elevation gain, especially at this altitude, quickly winded us as we moved in toward the final camp before the summit. Dinner was served early so we could try to get as many uninterrupted hours of sleep as possible before our 11:00 reveille.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Distance hiked: 16.0 km / 9.9 mi

Elevation Gained (Lost): (219 m / 719 ft); End: 3,936 m / 12,193 ft

We are on what is normally an eight day hike, which has been condensed to seven for this tour package. The trekking company combines days 4 and 5. Yowza. This makes for a very long day. We had to reascend the “sunset climb” route from yesterday afternoon, but after that the charts said it would be relatively flat (see above). What made today so challenging was a) the distance, and b) the constant hiking up one lava ridge, down that lava ridge, up another and down another. Over the course of the day, we hiked the entire length of the base of the volcano from the western edge of it to the eastern, keeping Kili on our right the entire time.

And this is a BIG volcano. The largest freestanding mountain in the world. That makes for a lot of hiking. Nothing much else to note, other than I saw a lot of rocks.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Continue reading Mt. Kilimanjaro, Day 3 →

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Distance hiked: 7.9 km / 4.8 mi

Elevation Gained (Lost): 719 m / 2,359 ft; End: 3,504 m / 11,496 ft

 
This morning, the crew sang us a song to welcome us, and we took a group photo.

The porters are incredible. They haul large green bags with all the gear (tents, food, toilet tent, kitchen utensils, our main backpacks, and much more) up the mountain, passing us on the trail since they break down after we leave and set up before we arrive (rainbow bonus in photo below).

These men work for very little (by our standards) but it is a lucrative job here in Tanzania. A lot of vertical ascension today. It’s fascinating to see the changes in the vegetation as we rise higher and higher.

We started the day in rainforest and ended in low alpine bushes. Approaching the camp in the valley, we were treated to some amazing views. Our camp for night 2 is just above the green patch in the middle of the photo  if you have a hi-res screen, you may be able to make out the blue roof of the ranger’s station.

In order to help us acclimatize to the altitude, we hike to a high point and then drop down to sleep. Beautiful, clear night. The views of the light-unpolluted sky are spectacular.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Distance hiked: 5 km / 3 mi

Elevation Gained (Lost): 396 m / 1,299 ft; End: 2,785 m / 9,137 ft

We are hiking the “Alternative” Lemosho Trail, a route the follows Lemosho for the first couple of days but then branches off onto a less frequented, quieter path. After registering at the Ranger’s Station, we were well on our way.

A good first day’s hike. Approximately 5 kilometers to the first camp. The ongoing refrain today and throughout the hike is “pole pole” (pronounced “polay polay”, which Is Swahili for “slowly slowly”). Another often-used term is “hakuna matata”, which if you remember your Lion King, means “no worries”. Saw Black & White Colubus monkeys moving through the trees. Beautiful creatures.

Got to camp where dinner was waiting. The food is very good – surprising what can be done on a remote stove in the middle of nowhere. Fell asleep in the woods with the wind blowing hard through the boughs above. We had our fourth person join us (a Brit from London) this morning direct from the airport. His flight the previous night had been cancelled due to snow in Istambul, so he was significantly delayed. Within hours of landing, he was on the trail – more power to him.

Heading out to trek Kili with two new friends. I will be out of touch until January 8, but check the site at Team Kilimanjaro to see our progress.

N