Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro Heroes

2007-09-02T20:07:00.000-04:00

The true heroes of the mountain. These men made it possible for us and for 20,000 tourists each year, to climb the mountain. Thanks!

Day#1: Machame Gate(5,914 ft) to Machame Camp(9,274 ft)

2007-09-02T19:58:00.001-04:00

Leaving the guest house in Arusha

First time we see the mountain

The contenders, from the left, Brian, Kirsten, Liz, Cosmin and Mark

The Rules:

Started the climb through the tropical forest

…and there is the rain. It will not stop for the next three days

Day#2: Machame Camp (9,274 ft) to Shira Camp(12,461 ft)

2007-09-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

It rained solid for the day
Nice ponchos! Where is Shira Camp? Up the hill!...

Lunch under Rock

Much happier faces in the dining room tent

Since, at the end of the day, almost everyone in our group is soaked wet, including the porters and guides, we decide to stay an extra night at Shira Camp to dry out. According to Julius (chief guide), we need a dry day before climbing to higher altitudes. Good call, Julius!

Next day, we learn that two porters from a different company, Zara, have died b/c they did not have proper gear to cope with the rain and cold temperatures; one porter died at Barranco Camp and another porter died at Karanga Valley. Very sad news.
At the end of the trip, we also learn that due to those two deaths, the park entrance regulations for porters have changed; every porter will be checked from now on to make sure he has proper gear to climb the mountain. Also, another regulation that was already in effect is that every porter’s bag is weighted to make sure is less than the max weight allowed to carry on the mountain.

Day#3: Shira Camp (12, 461 ft)

2007-09-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

Finally, we are able to see Kibo

Happy to see the sun after couple days of rain Mount Meru is behind us.

Acclimatization climb to just a bit over 14,000 ft. Rain is on the way…

…and the rain caught up with us

Julius sounds retreat back to Shira Camp…

Godfree presenting us the plan for tomorrow

How about that rain?...

After dinner, we get to meet every member of our crew. Thanks Julius!

Day#4: Shira Camp to Barranco Camp

2007-09-01T12:04:00.000-04:00

Finally, leaving Shira Camp (12,461 ft)

I understand you guys are a bit circumspect, but we are moving up from Shira Plateau…

…we just need to climb faster than the clouds below us…

Getting closer to the fork that separates the trail to Lava Tower (15,140 ft) from the trail that leads directly to Barranco Camp (13,066 ft)

Keep smiling…it seems we beat the clouds

Hi Kirsten!

Keeping an eye on the clouds gathering up on the Kibo…

Getting very close to Lava Tower (15,140 ft). At this point I had to cut short all conversations and concentrate on breathing...

Liz, I still don’t understand how you were able to sing Piano Man and in the same time you continued to breathe normally at that respectable altitude (15,560 feet)

Descending from Lava Tower after a short lunch break...

Sometimes is good to have long legs, it helped me descend quickly and I had time to take all these pictures below:

Traffic on your left!

Hi Liz!

...clouds caught up with us…

“Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right”, …and the smiles are back too...

Barranco Camp just below us

Good job, Godfree! We are almost there

Day#5: Barranco to Barafu

2007-09-01T07:48:00.000-04:00

Barranco Camp (13,066 ft) via Karanga Valley Camp (13,158 ft) to Barafu Camp (15,027 ft).

Climbing Barranco wall

From Kilimanjaro 2007

A plateau between Barranco Camp and Karanga Valley

The man and the mountain.
Tonight we will start our ascent on Kibo, the mountain behind Julius

A bit more descending before climbing up again to Karanga Valley Camp.

Lunch @Karanga Valley(13,147 feet)

Mount Meru in the background

More folks arriving at Karanga Valley Camp

We have no idea yet how brutal would be tonight when we start our ascent of Kibo Summit

The shadow of Kibo.

Day#6: Summit Night

2007-09-01T07:41:00.000-04:00

Barafu Camp, 11:00 PM (15,027 ft) via Stella Point, 6:05 AM (18,696 ft) to the Summit, Uhuru Peak , 7:15 AM (19,340 ft). The song of the night was Amazing Grace.

Short rest stop at Stella Point

The sun rising over Mawensi

I only made it a bit pass Stella Point, my turn around time was 6:30 AM, approx. 18,700 ft. At that point I was physically-impaired, not able to walk on my own any longer. Thanks to the assistant guide, Godfree, for helping me descend to a safer altitude; around 17,000 ft I was able again to walk on my own.

My fellow trekkers have to help me here and post some of their pictures. They all reached Uhuru Peak (19,340 ft) at 7:15 AM.

In near future I will be going back to complete this last segment and bring some pictures from the summit night/early morning. Can’t have a better excuse than this to go back and see Julius and his team, and those amazing places.

After everyone descended safely back to Barafu Camp and after couple hours of rest, around 3:00 PM we all headed down to Mweeka Camp (10,106 ft).

Day#7

2007-09-01T06:21:00.000-04:00

Day#7: Descending through tropical forest from Mweka Camp (10,106 feet) to Mweeka Gate (5,297 feet).

2007-09-01T05:38:00.000-04:00

I find these two videos, which should be merged together, the most amazing moment of the entire trip. As we were driving away from the mountain our crew is singing for us a traditional Kilimanjaro song.

Julius, did you get everyone’s name? ;-)

Hopefully, Mark has a better video that captures this moment. Mark, can you please post here the video you shot?

Kirsten, I think you have the words for this song; would you please be able to add them to this post? Thx.

Goodbye!

2007-09-01T05:28:00.000-04:00

It was hard to say goodbye to my fellow trekkers and to the mountain.

Well done! Hope to see you soon, guys!