Notes from the travel journal - December 27, 2008

December 27th, 2008: A 7am wake up call from Solo, our waiter and ‘favourite’, beckoned, so we arose to begin the final descent. Our guides, assistant guides, porters, and cook gathered together at the camp and sang a wild song, their voices and dancing carrying through the forest and providing us with energy for the final leg of the trek.

It took 3 hours to reach the final gate, where we celebrated with some more photos, before collapsing into the bus that would take us back to the hotel.

Kerri and Ryann would like to thank all of you for your support of our endeavour, whether financially in support of Artumas Africa Foundation or through your kind words and thoughts. It was an experience we will cherish forever and it was made richer by your having been a part of it.

Salama,
Ryann and Kerri

Notes from the travel journal - December 26, 2008

December 26th, 2008: After several hours of late afternoon slumber, Kerri and Ryann were awoken at 11pm, drank some tea, got dressed in 7 layers of clothing, and off we went. Watching the single file progression of headlamps wind their silent way upwards towards the summit was exhilarating! This ascent was incredibly steep, our feet giving way underneath us, as gravel was dislodged. We wound our way up, in a zig zag pattern, back and forth across the top half of the mountain, being careful of our footing in the pitch black night.

The lack of oxygen as we climbed was felt by all in our group, making it difficult to catch one’s breath and causing a feeling of slight nausea in some. Deep, strong inhalations and forced, exaggerated exhalations helped to assuage the nausea and ensure enough air was entering the lungs. We continued to creep forward and upward, one small footstep after another, led by our supportive guide Nteze and followed by his assistant Matthew.

Never have we experienced such a battle of will with ourselves; wanting desperately to summit and being too stubborn not to, and yet not quite knowing where the strength was going to come from to continue to propel ourselves forward.

Somehow, after 6 hours or so, navigating in the dark, guided solely by the light of our headlamps, we reached Stella Point, some 45 minutes from Uhuru! The sun started to rise over the countryside, starting first as a horizontal orange sliver, and growing slowly, to illuminate the surrounding glaciers. What a breath-taking sight! We both had individual ‘moments’ where the tears overcame us as we looked around at the top of Africa.

We continued on to Uhuru Peak, looping arms together for strength and warmth and began the last bit of uphill on our journey. At 6:25am on Dec 26th, we officially reached the summit, and the highest point in all of Africa! What a rush….but it wasn’t to be savoured for too long as weather patterns on the peak can change in the blink of an eye. We snapped our pictures, gloated momentarily, and immediately began the 3.5 hour descent back to the base camp at 4600 metres. Back at the camp, we were able to sleep for about 1.5 hours, at which point we rose, ate, packed our bags and continued the day with another 4 hour downhill hike to our final camp on the trek. That night, we slept more soundly than we had all week; paying no mind to the hard ground or cold temperatures: we had accomplished what we had set out to do!

Notes from the travel journal - December 25, 2008

December 25th: Christmas Day! We arose, wished everyone Merry Christmas (Krisimasi Njema!), ate breakfast, and began the trek to Barrafu Camp, or the Kili base camp at 4600 metres. As we climbed above 4200 metres, the altitude headaches set in again, but the constant reminder to one another to drink water, aided in the reduction of pounding temples. The landscape on this day was barren and resembled broken and cracked shale. Due to the incredibly pole pole pace, it took us 3 hours to climb the 600 metres to camp, which is nestled atop the open, exposed side of a cliff.

Kerri and Ryann awaited the remaining group members, ate lunch, and then retired to our tents for a few hours of rest before dinner. The sun came out today, heating our tent and alowing for 1.5 hours of warm sleep before our next meal was served and the last 4 hours of sleep were to be had before the biggest of all climbs.

Notes from the travel journal - December 24, 2008

December 24th: Christmas Eve has arrived and our trek today is shorter than yesterday’s, but mostly steep, uphill terrain. We climbed out of the valley we had camped in, pulling ourselves up over a steep rock face, the guides and porters at the ready, should a foothold or hand grip loosen.
Much of the day is passed climbing up craggy rocks with sheer drops until we eventually arrive at a breath-taking lookout point; the rain clearing momentarily to allow us to see Mount Meru (second highest peak in Africa) and the surrounding mountainside.
Down in to a valley we slid on wet scree, which gave way under our feet until we came to another big ascent, and a view of our camp for the night. This was to be our final night of acclimatization before the next morning’s 3 hour ascent to the Kili base camp and subsequent final ascent, hours later.

The rain cleared for us briefly again at this camp, enbaling us to look out one way over much of Tanzania, and the other way to..gulp…the summit of Kili, still appearing quite daunting and cold!
The only wildlife we have seen are creatures we call chip-mice (small mice-like creatures with chipmunk stripes and colouring) and gargantuan birds, resembling crows in colour and shrill caws, yet the size of an eagle.

Notes from the travel journal - December 23, 2008

Dec 23rd, 2008: We awoke today at the Shira Camp, ate breakfast, and began our 6.5 hour trek for the day. We began to feel the effects of the altitude on this steady upward climb; shortness of breath and, in Ryann’s case a light headedness, as though living in a dream. The climb continued to 4600 metres at the Lava Towers, where we snapped a few photos through the mist, and progressed back down, through beautiful cactii-like forests, to 3900 metres for sleeping.

This climbing and descending to sleep is part of the process to help us acclimatize to the altitude; every several hundred metres higher that we climb will help us cope with the final summit day.We were caught in the rain again today, for about the last hour of our hike, and were shivering upon arrival to our next camp.

Kerri and I invited (or rather pleaded with) Carmen to join us in our tent for the evening; the hope being that a third person’s body heat would enable us all to remain warmer throughout the night. Nonetheless, the bundling of clothes in our sleeping bags was necessary, and what a sight we were the next morning: Carmen in a fleece tuque, Kerri in her lopsided wool hat, and Ryann in a Santa Claus hat, given to her and Kerri as a parting gift from Canada, to help celebrate Christmas away from our loved ones. Who knew it would be so useful?!

Notes from the travel journal - December 22, 2008

Dec 22, 2008: The night was blistering cold, with both Kerri and Ryann awaking throughout the night, to make airholes in the tops of their sleeping bags which were tied around their heads. Despite the sporadic sleep, we both felt pretty well-rested and raring to go on today’s hike.
After dining on mysterously murky gruel, bananas, muffins, plums, eggs, fried tomatoes, cucumbers and toast, we set out around 9am and began the very steep climb to Shira Camp. We stopped for lunch after several hours (notice the trend here?), where we dined on toasted white bread, green pepper, and tomato sandwiches and hot tea. The afternoon continued through the rain forest, entering in to more scruff-like areas as we continued and terminated on a moon-like surface, at a camp with many other trekking groups.

Our group of 7 had our afternoon tea and popcorn and then walked for another hour to see the Shira Caves, the purpose of which was to help us acclimatize by ascending to 3900 metres, before descending again to our camp. Upon return, we ‘bathed’ again, changed, and went for dinner. The sun came out briefly tonight, and we had a spectacular view of the top of Mount Kilimanjaro above the clouds. How far away it still looks!

It is exceedingly cold all the time and we are having a hard time staying warm enough, despite our many layers. We have taken to drinking hot water to stay warm, and now ask Solo, our waiter, to boil water for us at night, which we store in 1.5 litre plastic containers, and use as bed-warmers, bringing them in to our sleeping bags and hoping the tops don’t leak. Sleep is important tonight as tomorrow, we begin the toughest day (summit day excluded) of our hike, climbing to 4600 metres.

Notes from the travel journal - December 21, 2008

Hot off the (internet) press, here is a note from Kerri and Ryann! They have promised to send pictures of their hike very soon -

Blood, sweat, tears, and a summit!

Well, that was a little bit challenging!

As you are aware, we set out for Mount Kilimanjaro on December 21st in an attempt to summit to Uhuru Peak; the highest point in Africa….and we DID IT!!

The exact duration of each day’s trek, as well as the daily altitudes reached can be read on the Fundraising page of our website. For a more personal account of our climb, keep reading for excerpts from the travel journal!

Dec 21st: The day started with breakfast in the garden restaurant at the Springlands Hotel just outside of Moshi , followed by our final showers for 7 days; if the solitary trickle of water, backed drain and ensuing flooded room can justifiably be called a shower!

Our guide, Hamisi Nteze, arrived and we, and our belongings were loaded into a ramshackle bus, along with several other trekkers, guides, porters and cooks, stopping several times along the way for groceries and last minute items. Turning off on the final road to Machame Gate, we passed by lush vegetation and private homes, all the while being coated in a thin film of red dust, as it seeped in through the crevices of the bus, filling our nostrils and lungs.

We were fed a box lunch consisting of white buns, cakes, bananas, oranges, and fruit juice and, with this fortification in our bellies, set out around noon, for the start of the big climb! We were supposed to have had a private climb, but were grouped with Carmen from Toronto, Matt, James, and Crystal from New Zealand, and Hannah from England; all engaging and quite comical. We couldn’t have asked for a better group with whom to summit.

We climbed for about 6 hours through intense heat and under cover of the rain forest, arriving at our camp, amidst the rain, which was to become our constant companion. Our tents had been set up, as well as a dining tent, in which we were treated to hot tea and Milo (a cocoa-like vitamin-rich powder) and popcorn. Kerri and Ryann took advantage of the plethora of baby wipes bestowed on them by Ryann’s good friend, in order to have their first of many ‘showers’ along the way.

About an hour later, we were called back to the dining tent, where we were served cucumber soup, the ubiquitous white bread, followed by fried fish, potatoes, and a vegetable sauce. We drank some more hot water, hydration being the number one saviour when coping with altitude sickness, chatted with our new friends, got the briefing about what awaited us the following day, and then headed to our tent for bed, where we bundled up in several layers of clothing, and encasesd ourselves in our sleeping bags, attempting to stave off the cold.

We couldn’t get over quite how ‘pole pole’ (slowly) we were forced to walk all day, but obviously the experts know best! Nteze, our guide, has summited more than 25 times! The porters were incredible to watch. They are veritable workhorses, each carrying approximately 25 kilos on their heads and backs, going to great lengths to take everything up the mountain that will ensure our utmost comfort while at the daily camps.

As we looked out from our little clearing at camp, we all marvelled at the sky tonight, so rife with stars it resembled a planetarium.