Kessy Brothers Tours
6 Days 5 Nights Kilimanjaro Trek
Kilimanjaro
6 day climb to the summit of the highest mountain n Africa and the tallest free standing mountain in the world was definitely the most physically demanding thing I have ever done.
Day 1: Macahme camp
After breakfast in the hostel with your picnic lunch boxes drive to Machame gate (alt. 1800m), the drive takes 30-40mins. Start the hike through the rainforest for about 5 to 6 hours to reach Machame camp(alt. 3000m) for dinner and overnight.
On day 1 we were picked up from the hostel at 9am and went to Kessy Brothers office to pick up our guides and cook . We also met a fourth person who was going to be climbing with us, a young guy from England who was on his gap year and doing some volunteer work in Moshi. We took off from the office and headed for the mountain stopping to pick up our packed lunch and to buy some supplies for the final push to the summit of the mountain.
After getting to the entrance of the Kilimanjaro national park, paying the fee’s and using the last western toilettes we would see for the foreseeable future we started our hike, day packs on our backs and poles in hand. The porters had our rug sacks, tents, food, table and chairs on their backs/ heads!!! We hiked for 6 hours through the rainforest on the first day, stopping about halfway to have our crisp burger packed lunch which two of our party quickly threw back up! Our young English friend was one and he also felt dizzy which was quite worrying considering it was day one and altitude wasn’t even a factor yet... We trudged along in the rain for the final hour or so and were very glad to finally arrive at our campsite. With our tents already erected and hot drinks being prepared in the mesh tent we quickly changed out of the wet clothes and sat down to some warm tea and a 3 course dinner. We had survived our first day, only 5 to go...
Day2: Shira/Camp
After breakfast with your packed lunch start ascend to shira camp which takes 3 to 4 hours. This is the day when you end the forest just 10 to 15 mins from machame hut thereafter you walk in the Moorland. If sky is clear you have a clear view of mount Meru, Kibo peak and also the village down the mountain. Dinner and overnight at Shira camp (alt 3840m).
Day 2 we got up ate a 3 course breakfast of porridge, fruit, eggs and toast along with tea/ coffee... We left camp 30mins late at 8.30 and started our second days hike. Day 2 was more of a rock climbing experience. It was a shorter day by half but required hands and feet at the ready to pull ourselves up over rocks, along ridges and around caves. It was a lot more demanding and enjoyable than day 1. I was behind Joe our head guide for most of the day so i could follow his footsteps but he has very long legs so it was often easier said than done.
On arrival to camp our young English friend was still struggling and went straight to the tent to lie down and sleep. We had some hot tea and lunch at the camp and rested for about 2 hours before Joe came along to ask us if we were ready to go on an acclimatization walk... 3 of us got up and headed off for an hour long stroll over to the nearby rescue team camp, took in the views and then mossied back to camp for dinner. Again a 3 course meal with plenty of good food, Joe came in after to give us our nightly briefing for the next day and then we went to our beds in preparation for the next day.
Day 3: Baranco Camp
After breakfast with your picnic lunch start the ascend to Baranco camp which takes 5 to 6 hours, but in this day its important to have an acclimitization walk, then you have to hike to Lava tower (alt. 4600m) then down to Baranco camp (alt. 3940m) for dinner and over night.Day 3 was a steady incline through alpine dessert for about 6-7 hours. The acclimitization walk was built into the track today, but we were more than a little peeved by the hike down the mountain in order to go back up and then down again to camp. It was the first day where I literally thought we would not make it to camp. Going down was actually more difficult than going up. Our English friend lagged quite a ways behind feeling sick and requiring more breaks so the group was split and Joe took us on while our second guide Paul stayed behind. This was the first evening where Joe expressed his concerns to us about the English boy and asked us to speak to him and see how he was doing. We had asked him if he thought we could make it and he said he was 98% sure we would but he was concerned for Big A(English boy). A s I was sharing the tent with him I chatted to Big A later that night, and was more than a little concerned by the fact that he didn’t seem to understand how dangerous the altitude sickness could be, and that his nausea, dizziness, tiredness etc were all symptoms of altitude sickness which is caused by the brain not getting enough oxygen... He was still persistent in wanting to keep climbing though so all i could advise him was to let the guides know exactly how he was feeling and take their advise.
Day 4: Barafu Camp
After breakfast start the ascend through the Alpine desert to Barafu camp. You will have hot lunch short break thereafter take some walk to at least 200m higher. Dinner and overnight at Barafu camp (alt.4600).Day 4 – The Breakfast Wall – so called because people usually lose their breakfast while climbing it... This was basically a vertical rock climb for a solid 2 hours... We had all been worried about it since the day before when Joe told us about it but when it came to it, it was actually quite enjoyable. We all made it to the top and were very happy with ourselves. We took some time to sit relax and enjoy the views, safe in the knowledge that the worst for today was already behind us – Oh boy were we wrong...
After the breakfast wall we had a further 5 hours of hiking to go 2.5 hours to our lunch venue, and then a further 2.5 after this to camp. And this was no easy walk in the park, we were hiking up and down and crossing streams and hiking up again. By the time we were getting to our lunch venue we met a few of the porters leaving camp to head back to Big A because Paul had called for some assistance to help him get to the camp. This was obviously very worrying. We ate lunch and waited for him to arrive and when he did he wasn’t in good shape. He was taken into another mesh tent which had heat and medical personnel. It turned out he was suffering from hypothermia, fluid in the lungs and exhaustion and had to be stretchered off the mountain immediately. We went in to see him and wish him good luck and although he was obviously not in good shape, it was clear he was in good hands and he would be alright.
We on the other hand had to continue to our next camp up and down, up and down over the mountain. Big A wasn’t far from our thoughts on this hike but we had to keep going.
Day 4 finished at approximately 9pm that night giving us approx 2 hours sleep before we had to get up at 11pm and start day 5.
Day 5: Barafu + Summit midnight/ Mweka camp
After a cup of tea / coffee with some bites around midnight start ascends to the summit which takes 5-6 hours. Pole pole (slowly slowly) is highly recommended. At the time around sunrise you will be at the summit Uhuru Peak (5895m). After a short break for summit celebrations descend to Barafu camp for lunch, short break then procede to Mweka camp (alt. 3000m) for dinner and overnight.Day 5 – left camp at 12 midnight for a night time hike to the summit, wrapped up in about 6 layers of clothes in preparation for the snow capped mountain – hot water in our drinking bottles to avoid having frozen water bottles at the top. Sweets and biscuits in our pockets to eat as we climbed to the summit to keep our sugar levels up, hats, scarves, balaclava’s, gloves all present and correct, poles in hands, head lamps on and away we went... Climbing over rocks, up gravel paths, through snowy patches, trying to avoid stopping as this would allow our body temperature to drop... Julie was quite dizzy though and needed to stop more frequently in order to regain her balance and as I was freezing every time we stopped Joe decided it was time to split the group again, so Amanda and I went ahead with Joe while Mattiss stayed with Julie and they were then free to stop as required. It was a long gruelling 8 hour hike to the summit but we made it. I think one of the things that helped was thinking I could see a tent in the distance where we would be able to go in and have a cup of tea and warm up. Unfortunetly everytime we seemed to be getting closer to these elusive tents they disappeared...We did make it to the summit for sun rise though and it was pretty spectacular, sitting above the clouds, it was like being in an aeroplane but we were on land – incredible.
Unfortunately after hiking to the summit we then had to turn around and hike right back down again which was no joke... We basically ended up skiing down the gravel mountain top, Joe in the middle with Julie and I on either side literally skiing down the mountain. It was a hell of a lot quicker but we did have a few dodgy moments and there was one point when I just had to walk away from Joe and say “no – I’m too tired!!!” He of course came along again a few mins later with Julie on one arm and we continued on down the mountain... it took us 2 hours to come down the path it had taken 8 hours to climb – we were greeted by many congratulations at camp and some juice which really hit the spot... And then we went to sleep for about 1.5 hours before we were called for lunch and thereafter had to hike a further 6 hours down to our next camp site – which again I literally thought we’d never see. It was easily the most physically challenging thing I have ever done but I did do it and while I’m not volunteering to do it again I definitely don’t regret doing it.
Day 6: Mweka gate/ Moshi
After breakfast start the descend through the rainforest to Mweka gate which takes 2 to 3 hours. There you will catch a waiting car ready to drive you back to the hostel in Moshi.
The final day was a relatively easy hike down but I did find it more difficult because my boots were not very comfortable and I did get more blisters on this day than the rest of the trip... All I could do was console my feet by thinking of the long walks I’ll be taking on the beaches of Zanzibar next week... I eventually stopped trying to keep up with Joe and just hung back with Mattiss talking about mushrooms, safari’s, and spotting the animals in the rainforest as we walked through...
Aside: On the fourth day we passed one part of the mountain which had the most perfect flat stones for skipping across water and it reminded me of being at Granny’s when we were small and skipping the slate on the canal...
I have the certificate and the photographs and a few more stories from the mountain that I’ll share with whoever wants when I get home. I am now quite accomplished in using the African toilets and finding good alternatives when toilets are not available!!!
End of Trek – I now think I might be able to run a marathon (with a little bit of training of course!!!)
