Kili: The Recap

Hi all,

Friday afternoon we arrived back in Diani safe and sound. We reached the summit! It was such a thrill and a relief that neither of us got too sick, and the views from the “Roof of Africa” were amazing. I’m going to fill you in with a quick day-by-day recap of the climb, and then E will write about some interesting observations that we made during the adventure. Enjoy!

Day 1: We traveled by bus to Moshi, and were picked up by our tour company and taken to a nice little lodge at the base of Kili. The elevation was about 6,000 feet, so it was much cooler than the coast, which was nice. Our guide came to our room to see the clothes and equipment that we brought, which was a surprise, but makes a lot of sense, as he didn’t want the liability to taking poorly-outfitted clients up the mountain.

Day 2: Our guide and cook picked us up at 8 am, and we drove two hours to the Rongai gate, where we met our porters and were to begin our climb. This was quite a process, as there is a strict 20 kg limit per porter, so everything has to be weighed and put into baskets or bags, and the proper number of porters has to be determined. We ended up with 9 porters (more on that later), a cook, and a guide (Ben).
Elevation: ~9,000 ft
Hike Time: 2.5 Hours


Day 3: We woke up around 6:30, had breakfast of porridge, toast, eggs, sausage, and tea, and headed out. On this day we got our first glimpses of the mountain, as it is usually only visible for a few hours in the morning before the clouds roll in. See pic. The night here was quite a bit colder, so we ended up zipping together our sleeping bags for extra warmth (and so I could steal some of E’s room in her sleeping bag; I am owed 2/3 of the room based on size).
Elevation: ~11,000 ft
Hike Time: 3 Hours


Day 4: Later wake-up on day four, as we didn’t have too much hiking to do on the fourth day. After we arrived at camp, we decided to do an “acclimatization” hike up to about 13,600 feet helped get our bodies used to the higher altitudes.
Elevation: 12,600 ft
Hike Time: 1.5 hours

Day 5: We woke up in time for sunrise, and took so pretty amazing pictures of the mountain at first light. After pictures, we had breakfast, and headed out for another acclimatization hike since we’d be spending the night in the same camp. This time, we went all the way to Kibo Huts, which is essentially the base camp from where people make their summit attempts. The camp was about five miles away, and at 15,500 feet, it was by far the highest altitude we’ve ever been. We then headed back to camp at 12,600. We slept very well this night, likely because our bodies had started getting used to the altitude.
Elevation: 12,600 (sleeping); 15,500 (acclimatization)
Hike Time: 2:15 (up), 1:45 (back down)

Note the Mars-like landscape:


Day 6: Early hike to Kibo huts, this time by a different route. A thunderstorm rolled in overnight and it rained where we were camped, but after climbing about 1,000 feet, we came upon our first snow in Africa! I made a tiny snowball and ceremoniously threw it into E’s ear. We reached Kibo Huts by 10 am, and since our porters had not yet arrived, we decided to hike part of the way up the summit trail, just to get a taste. The rest of the day, we chilled, literally and figuratively, in our tent, as a raging snowstorm went on all afternoon. The whole time we were praying that it would clear quickly, as we were going to summit later that night. We had dinner at 5 pm, and then went to “bed”, as we had to wake up again at 11 pm to prepare to leave for the final push at midnight. We didn’t actually sleep at all, as even with our sleeping bags zipped together and wearing a ton of clothing, it was just too cold.




At 11:30, we had some porridge, chai, and cookies, and headed off, bundled to a degree that seems absurd for being three degrees south of the equator. I wore a under armour shirt, two long underwear shirts, a fleece, my waterproof shell, a warm hat, and gloves on top, and fleece pants, shorts, waterproof pants, two pairs of socks, gaitors, and boots on the bottom. The night was perfectly clear, as the storm had thankfully passed. We began the climb at what seemed to be a very slow pace with Ben leading us, and David, an assistant guide, following behind. We started at roughly the same time as a large group (about 15 people), and it soon became clear that our pace was not so slow, as they were barely within sight about 30 minutes in. The trail at this point is primarily switchbacks on steep scree (loose rocks and sand), so we had to zig and zag our way up the mountain. We passed an older German couple that left before us, and at this point, we didn’t see anyone else in front of us (not that we were competing or anything).

Because we were climbing with headlamps and could only see a few feet in front, the scenery at this point wasn’t great, but it did allow zoning out to the rhythmic “swish-swish” of rubbing ski pants. We took very short breaks every 45 or so minutes to eat a cookie or drink some water, but otherwise we were just slow and steady. After about three hours, we came to an area where the scree changed to boulders, which proved more difficult, especially for E, as height is a big advantage when trying to step up onto large rocks. However, we made it through the boulders finally to Gilman’s Point, which is on the crater rim. Almost there! The estimated time for the trip from Kibo to Gilman’s Point is 5-6 hours, but we got there in 3:45. We were pretty excited about reaching that point so quickly, but then realized that if we summit too early and don’t feel well at the top, we might have to actually leave before sunrise, which would have been a bummer. Alright, slower the rest of the way.

The rest of the climb wasn’t too difficult. Essentially, it was just a hike around the crater rim to the highest point on the volcano, which normally takes about 1.5 hours. We wanted to stretch it out a little, so we took extra breaks. At this point, we were pleased that we hadn’t experienced any significant altitude sickness symptoms, only mild headaches, and E didn’t have much of an appetite. Probably our most prominent symptom of the altitude was lack of coordination. We noticed it occasionally during the main climb, but it was especially notable on the rim. E was generally hiking in front of me, and out of nowhere, her legs would cross and she would stagger like a drunk a few steps to the right or left before catching her balance. I did this as well, and we saw our guide Ben a few times, so apparently it was normal. We were fortunate that we recognized our new deficits and walked as far away from cliffs as possible, as disinhibition is also common with altitude, and people has been known to just stop caring and not be careful.

We were about 45 minutes from the summit according to Ben, and we could see that we had company. Some of the other routes climb up in different places, so we could see their little headlamps zig-zagging up towards us. We hadn’t set out hoping to be the first to summit, but at this point, why not? Ben kept assuring us that the closest people wouldn’t pass us, but their headlamps were getting closer by the minute. We refused a final break, and when we were within about 100 yards from the sign, basically started running to stay ahead, as the two people trailing us were less than a minute behind. Finally, when we were only a few yards away, Ben turned back, flashed his headlamp to signal that we had made it, and we all let out a loud yell. Hugs all around, and then E and I posed for a few pics with the summit marker before the rest of the climbers joined. We made it to the summit by 5:20, and the sky was beginning to lighten, but sunrise wasn’t until 6:00, so we waited around for a while, talking to others as they came up, and trying to stay warm. We were ready for high winds and very frigid temps, but the wind was practically non-existent, though it was cold, probably around 10 degrees.



Elevation: 19,341
Hike Time: 5:20

Once the sun finally came up, we got a few more pictures, enjoyed the amazing views, and began our descent, as our guides were visibly shaking and ready to go. There was a glacier nearby, to which I obviously had to run down to lick. I felt mild remorse after this, as I was contributing to the melting of the snows of Kilimanjaro, but it was just a quick lick. We passed many groups ascending, including one woman whose face was as white as a sheet, and was literally being pushed up the mountain by her guide. I’m not completely sure what I’d do in her situation, but I can’t imagine that she’s going to have real fond memories of her climb.




The descent. Very steep!

We made it down in about 2 hours 45 minutes to the Kibo huts, where we rested for a few hours, had some lunch, and then laced our shoes back on to head down to lower altitudes. After another 7 miles, we were back at 12,500 feet at Horombo huts, but on the other side of the mountain, where we stayed for the night.

Total Elevation: 15,500 to 19,341 to 12,500
Total Hike Time: 5:30 (up); 2:45 (down to Kibo), 3:00 (down to Horombo huts)

Day 7: Long hike. 12 miles, descending from 12,500 feet to 6,050 at Marangu Gate, where we picked up our summit certificates (lest future employers want proof of the summit), and were taken to our hotel in Moshi.

Day 8: Long bus ride back to Mombasa, and then various forms of public transit (tuk-tuk, ferry, matatu, tuk-tuk) back to the apartment.

Overall, very, very cool experience that we would definitely recommend. Going into it, we had half expected it to be very difficult, but we both agreed that it wasn’t nearly as painful as a marathon. This is partially due to the fact that we didn’t get any real altitude sickness, which I imagine can sap one’s energy very quickly, but also probably because we’re young and in pretty good shape.