19,341ft to the Top!

I’m a little late starting this blog since I’ve already done one of the 7 summits but I’d like to recap…

When I decided to take this challenge on in November 2016 I put Kilimanjaro down as the first of the 7. I immediately began training for the hike and trying to find guide companies. When I first began looking the amount of companies was overwhelming! The prices ranged from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. After emailing back and forth with a few companies and also researching about the fair treatment of porters (Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Program) I chose Ultimate Kilimanjaro. Since I was going to be traveling almost ten thousand miles away from home I decided that I had to make this trip count! I looked through the routes offered and went with the Lemosho route.

It would be an eight-day hike to the summit starting at Mti Mkubwa and ending at Mweka Camp. I had hiked some 14,000ft mountains in California but Kili is 19,341ft high! While there were shorter routes I figured giving myself a few extra days to acclimatize would be a wise choice.

Flying to Tanzania took me from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Amsterdam and finally to Arusha where I would begin my climb up Kili. I arrived in Arusha the evening before my climb would begin and of course my luggage got lost in one of the transfers. It would all arrive the next evening leaving me without my gear. For whatever reason I had the foresight to see this happening before leaving and I took my hiking boots in my carry on. This was one of the best decisions I made because there was no way I wanted to be getting blisters breaking in a new set of boots.  I was able to piece together some gear and my guide company would get my gear and bring it up on the mountain via a fire/ rescue road. Obviously I had to pay extra but at this point I was just happy it was all working out. Lessons learned… first, always pack your hiking boots in carry on and second, try to get in to your destination a day early so you can deal with issues and adjust to a new time zone/ place.

By the third day I had all my own gear and was finding myself getting into the rhythm of life on the trail. I was genuinely happy sleeping in my tent and hiking through Africa. There’s something satisfying yet sadistic about it. Nothing is easy or comfortable when you’re out that long without amenities but there’s just something amazing about it for me. After four days of hiking we were high enough to where it would begin raining or hailing every day at eleven am and last till around three or four pm.  Even with the wild weather I loved it! After six days we arrived at base camp. We slept a bit but woke up at the beginning of day 7 around midnight and began our summit hike. We camped around 15,239ft so we had 4,102ft of elevation to hike that day! My team and I managed to summit before sunrise and it was one of the most incredible things in my life. I got to sit and eat a frozen cliff bar for breakfast while watching the African sun rise over the continent. Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world so there were no other mountains or obstructions in my way. Looking out at the African plains I was able to see the curvature of the earth while the massive sun rose to its place in the sky. After thirty minutes on the summit we had taken enough pictures and were over the minus 5-degree weather. We began our descent and once at base camp took a quick nap before heading farther down the mountain. We camped one last night at a lower elevation before heading to meet our guide company at the base to pick us up.

This is a condensed version because it was six months ago but I will say that the people of Tanzania were incredible! Everyone I came across was happy and engaging. I spent some time after the climb out on safari and then flew to Zanzibar to scuba dive and everyone was amazing. I had the best time in Tanzania and felt very safe while there. If anyone is thinking of going I would most definitely recommend my guide company and would love to answer any questions!