CLIMBING KILIMANJARO FOR YOUNGMINDS
August 9th - August 16th 2022
DAY 1
August 9th
Today is our first day on Kilimanjaro! we took a bus to the Lemosho gate and after getting all our bags weighed and signing in at the gate we started our hike at around 3 o’clock and walked for 4 hours to the Mti Mkubwa camp which is just on the edge of the forest at an elevation of 2650m. Today was a relatively easy walk uphill however we got to see the pace we were going to walk for the rest of our trip to the summit
DAY 2
August 10th
Today we woke up early at 6.30 had a large breakfast and then set off for our next camp, Shira 1. As we walked out of the forest just before arriving at Shira camp 1 we saw Kibo the part of Kilimanjaro that has the summit we wish to reach on the morning of day 7
DAY 3
August 11th
Today was a very peaceful walk on almost flat land to Shira 2, on the way we took a quick detour for a bit of acclimatisation to the cathedral point where we were above the clouds for the first time
DAY 4
August 12th
Today was one of the toughest days as we were taking a steep route from an altitude of 3850m to 4600m for acclimatisation and then back down to 3900m to Barranco camp where on the way we could see the wall we were going to climb the next day
DAY 5
August 13th
Today we had to face our fear; the Barranco wall, this wall looked like a very steep wall with challenging corners from a distance and from videos we had seen online before the hike, however when going very slow or as you say in Swahili “Pole Pole” the wall was no trouble. After we reached the top we then had a short hike to Karanga camp. At night because there is no light pollution, we were able to see the night sky entirely filled with stars.
DAY 6
August 14th
Today was a very short hike to base camp (Barafu camp) as we would start the summit later that evening, when we arrived we saw the late summiters coming down from the mountain and many climbers very happy to have already reached base camp at 4673m
DAY 7
August 15th
The most challenging day had arrived, summit day. We got our briefing the day before and had our oxygen and pulse checked as usual, we then had an early dinner and our much-needed 2-hour nap before waking up at 10.30 to have one last snack before leaving for the top at 11. We wanted to take our time and go up slowly to avoid altitude sickness so we were one of the first groups to leave camp in the dark with our flashlights on our heads, as we were heading up we got overtaken by several groups of climbers speeding up carelessly that we would later see coming down because they had gone too fast and gotten sick, slowly as we got closer and closer to the top we could turn around and see all the little lights coming from other climbers’ headlamps also on their journey to the top, Uhuru peak. Every 100m of altitude was an immense challenge to overcome, at around 5400m Dorian began to feel the altitude kick in as he started to get a headache, one of the first signs of altitude sickness; the guide made sure he was all right, we took a quick pause to breathe and hydrate, and then we continued our journey to the top. At 6 am just before sunrise we reached the first summit, Stella Point at 5756m, this would be the last point for many as they are too sick to continue or too exhausted to walk along the ridge for another hour, Dorian's mother almost gave up but with a small break while watching the sunset we all decided to go to the top! At around 7 am we did it! we reached Uhuru peak 5895m, the highest point in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. We took our photos and then headed down all the way to 3100m with a short break at base camp to have lunch to refuel our energy.
DAY 8
August 16th
Today was a sad day, the last day on the mountain, it was an amazing journey we took facing many challenges along the way to accomplish our goal to reach the summit. We said our last goodbyes to some of the amazing porters that were with us on our journey and then set off for the final walk down through the forest to the Mweka gate. I learnt a lot of valuable life skills from this adventure; before arriving in Tanzania raising money by approaching local businesses taught me how to fundraise and overcoming all the challenges along the way up to the summit taught me that the Swahili saying "Pole Pole" is right and that if you do everything one step at a time instead of rushing, all will be end up well. Receiving all the amazing and generous support from the local community for such an important cause made all the challenges I had to overcome to get to the top worth it.
After the effort the reward! With our team we sat together to enjoy a traditional Tanzanian BBQ with Ugali (grilled lamb with a maize purée). It was very tasty!! Interestingly “ugali” is one of the very few foods added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017.
