Posts in the Mt. Kilimanjaro Category

March 13, 2008

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Day 7– The Summit

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11:40pm

It is freezing. The wind is howling. We are waiting on some of our group to get up out of bed. Somehow Marv and I are awake, changed, and ready to go in ten minutes. Most of our group is here. What could possibly be taking Isaac so long? We are currently at 4600 meters high. By sunrise we need to get close Uhuru Peak. The highest point in Africa is 5825 meters high. That is a long way up.

Marv and I are layered up like a pair of 4 year olds going outside to play in the snow. 3 pairs of socks. Long johns. 2 pairs of pants. 2 sets of gloves. T-shirt. Undershirt. Fleece. Ski Jacket. Hat. Face-mask. It could get as cold as 20 below tonight. I hope we are prepared.

Most importantly, we need to be ready mentally. Minds can play tricks at this altitude. Sub zero wind chill does not help either.

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March 13, 2008

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro- Day 5

I just turned  the big 3-0 while hiking the largest mountain in Africa. On top of that, my birthday has been the best day of the 8 day trek. Today we banged out the Barranco wall, a sprawling plateau smack dab on the side of Kilimanjaro rumored to be the hardest obstacle in our way. The kissing rock– the one place where you could easily fall and lose your life–was executed with ease by everyone in our group. Obote, our head guide, made sure to remind us all that the porters hike the Barranco wall with heavy objects balanced on their heads.

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March 11, 2008

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro- Lunchtime Day 3

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjar0- Day 3 on the Mountain

I wrote this in my journal on the mountain:

I am sitting on the edge of camp watching the clouds draw nearer. Like clockwork, they are beginning their daily assault on us between 10:30 and 11:30 am. The sun vanishes and a cold breeze causes us to put on another layer. In an hour we will be taking the layer off. We play a game of take it off, put it on, put it on, take it off everyday. The weather is unpredictable and does whatever it wants. It does not seem to care that we are getting annoyed.

The landscape is littered with volcanic rocks. The brownish hue is not entirely from the dirt and dust, it is also due to the moss that grows everywhere on everything. Every few feet there are pretty yellow flowers emerging from the dreary surroundings. Scott the NASA guy from Houston picks the flowers and presses them in a book– a thoughtful present to take home to his girlfriend. Marvin and I instantly begin to make fun of him.

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March 10, 2008

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro- Morning of Day 2

Kilimanjaro Day 2: 6am

This entry is from my journal:
Last night was downright freezing. We were under the impression that we would at least be comfortable for a few days before the cold would set in. So much for escaping the Northeast winter. Tonight I am most definitely pulling out the long johns.

Yesterday was our first day on the trek. It was a short day. I think we walked for about two hours. So far the altitude has not been much of a factor. Before we are done this trek we will reach 5825 meters high. We walk at a snails pace! Our guides yell, “Pole”, “Pole”–which means slowly, slowly– whenever someone gets the urge to push a little harder. It is clear that  they want us to get to the top of this thing. Over exertion is one of the biggest causes of altitude sickness.

Guiding our way up the hill are four guides, all from Tanzania working for African Walking Company. Obote, Wilfred, Daniel, and Hans run the show. In addition we have our cook and 40 porters carrying everything: Our mess tent, chairs, food, sleeping tents, mats, pots, pans, our toilet tent, and our large personal bags. Largely, we carry only our day packs. The team of porters carry everything else.

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February 20, 2008

Why Mt.Kilimanjaro?

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In less then 24 hours my dearest of dear friends Mark (aka Marvin) and I will be 30,000 feet in the air heading to Tanzania via Detroit and Amsterdam. Yes, you heard it correctly, we have a layover in Mo-town. Maybe Diana Ross will be there to greet us?

Regardless, the question remains, how in the hell did all of this all happen? Why in God’s name are we setting off on a three week journey to Northern Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro? Would it not have been dramatically cheaper to take a relaxing Caribbean Cruise?

The root of the answer to that question lies in a book I read 5 years ago. “Travels” is a book full of short travel stories written by Michael Crichton–of Jurassic Park fame– in 1988. When he was 33, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on a whim and absolutely got his ass kicked. After I read the 20 page account of his adventure sometime in 2003, I decided that I was going to do it as well. I simply made it a goal.

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