Full moon on Kilimanjaro

Port Moresby to Brisbane to Singapore to Dubai to Nairobi to Kilimanjaro airport = 41.75 hours, including layovers.

Africa proper, opposed to Egypt who considers themselves neither Africa or Mid-East, has always been high on the list of vacations for me. Kudos to my travel partner Mike for queueing this trip up for us and being flexible to accommodate my schedule.

On the layover in Brisbane I actually stored my bags and left the airport to buy hiking boots (hah, I know!) and grab a bite to eat with a mate in the city. Back on the plane around midnight... On the layover in Dubai I bought a Canon Eos 60D DLSR camera for the trip. I'd heard rumors that Dubai duty free was good deal, so I did no price research beforehand. It's not a good deal. Duty free's all over the world are not good deals. They now all pocket the money saved on duty for themselves based on the common belief that it's a good deal. How is saving $1 on 1L bottle of booze and then having to cart it around for 8 hours a good deal. Thumbs down.

On the layover in Nairobi I charged the camera battery.

We chose to book a tour in advance for both the Kilimanjaro climb and the safari bit afterwards... Neither Mike nor I had the time to put in the research beforehand, plus we didn't want to waste any days booking crap once we got there as we only had 18 days once you take out the travel. So that meant for all our airports rides and transfers there was someone there with a piece of paper with our names on it, which was nice if not adventurous.

The Springlands Hotel where we were supposed to stay had no power when I landed so instead I was taken to hotel in central Moshi, which actually worked out better for me because I could explore town for a day before Mike got there (instead of at the Springlands which is a bit out of town and all I would have done is laid by the pool). We did do enough chilling poolside once Mike arrived anyways, no worries.

Wandering around town I partook in the local java (excellent), breakfast joints, "art" galleries (re: tourist stuff for sale), dodging traffic, attracting stares, and avoiding being ripped off ("no thanks, already have 10 of those, cheers!).

Now on to Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro is the world's tallest free standing mountain (not part of a range) and Africa's highest peak. Africa actually has quite a few mountains and big hills as opposed to the rolling plains of Africa I was expecting. Maybe that's just Tanzania though, not sure about the rest. There are several routes up the mountain... apparently we took the second hardest called the Machame/Mwaka route, or the Whiskey route. The easiest route is dubbed "Coca-Cola", while the hardest is "Double-Whiskey".

Day 1:
Started off at the Machame Gate, at 1800m above sea level. The first day we walked 12km and climbed 1300m to end up at the Machame encampment at 3100m asl over the course of about 5 hours. We started out in plantation vegetation, through rain forest, and ending in the mist at the start of the moorland. Arriving at camp at just after 4pm we fell in to a routine that was common for the rest of the climb (except summit day). While we took 5 hours to make it up the porters made it in 3 or 4 giving them time to set-up camp and start preparing dinner. Whenever we arrived in camp they'd have hot water for washing your face and the dinner tent set up with ample instant coffee, tea, and popcorn. Dinner around 6'ish which was also typically soup, bread, stew, rice, fruit/dessert, and more tea/coffee.

The only downside to the day was as I was getting used to my day pack and camera I dropped the camera (luckily still in its case) twice. One of those times I've smashed the display on the back of the camera. While the camera still appeared to be working I couldn't access any of the advanced functions or review any photos. No big deal as long as it was still actually taking photos.

Swahili learned: Poa kichizi kama ndizi = Cool, crazy like a banana.

Day 2:
An easy day climbing wise. Only 7 km and a 740m vertical to end up at Shira encampment at 3840m asl. It took us 4.5 days to get to the summit and only 1.5 days down. The reason they take you the "long way" up is to get acclimatized to the altitude to avoid altitude sickness. I did zero research into this beforehand, but luckily Mike did and brought us drugs to cheat. Some people train for months to climb Kili, chose not to use Diamox for altitude sickness, and then they get sick 800m from the top and are forced down all the way. We didn't risk it and don't feel guilty, and as a result had no issues the whole way up.

The cooks nearly killed Mike by cooking fish for me and chicken for him. But he's deathly allergic (evolution I told him) so that was not worth the risk of eating in case they cooked the chicken in the same pan as the fish. Veggie night for him.

We were joined afterwards by Michelle and George, whom we met earlier that day. They both work in Tanzania doing morally satisfying things like teaching kids and working with orphans. My hiatus from oil/gas construction seems empty after meeting people like this... Good on 'em I say. They did have a friendly competition amongst themselves on who was more local in Moshi. The jury is still out.

Swahili: Pole pole = Slowly slowly. The guides and porters are always saying this. I'm sure if we walked at full speed we'd get this thing done in 3 days, and a 3 day trip doesn't earn as much tip for them as a 6 day!

Day 3:
A long day today (full 8 hours) travelling 13km, going up 750m to the Lava Tower (looks like it sounds) and then down 690m to Barranco camp ending up at 3900m. The downhill bit was hard on the knees. We didn't know it at the time but this was a sore lesson to be learned for the last 1.5 days when we'd have to go all the way down.

Swahili: Mambo? = How are you? Reply: Poa = Cool.

Day 4:
Another 13km day from Barranco camp to Barafu camp. 700m vertical ending at 4650m. Well and truly into alpine desert now which means intense radiation, high evaporation, huge daily temperature fluctuations with nights well below 0 and daytime over 35C. Not a lot of plants anymore as there's less soil, mostly flowers and moss. Lots of lava flows, valleys, and lava caves to look at... We arrive at camp just before 4, have a wash, tea, rest, quick dinner, and then to bed just after 6pm to get rest. We need to get up at 11pm in order to start climbing at midnight for the final push to the summit.

Swahili: Twende = Let's go!

Day 5:
Up and on the trail at 12:12am! Today is the final push up 1300m of vertical to the summit, which is 5895m above sea level.

To be expected, spectacular! Though we weren't first to leave camp at midnight we were the first ones to the top that morning, arriving just before sunrise at 5:30am. There was a full moon to guide us the whole way, which was nice since I didn't have a flashlight! Some other people had way more gear with them. Not saying it wouldn't have come in handy, but I coped. After taking a few pics at the summit with the sign we made our way down a little ways to wait for the sunrise. The scenes revealed themselves under the moonlight and then grew to awesome with the rising sun. The glaciers were especially captivating under the growing light, changing shades and colour with every minute. The views to the other peak of Kilimanjaro were also clarified under the new sun, presenting many many photo ops. You can imagine how much I was hoping at this point that my camera was actually taking pictures after being dropped!!

After many pictures we started our decent. As we passed people who were filing up the trail on our way down we offered words of encouragement as some of the groups looks truly beaten. Probably looked how we looked at that point coming up... It was truly gruelling and exhausting, only the view from the top gives you energy to make your way down.

And then the hell starts with the 2.5 hour hike down to Barafu camp. Now it's 8am. The boys prepared a snack, and then luckily we had a couple hours to nap before continuing down the hill at 10am'ish.

All in all it was a 22km walk that day, with 1300m up and another -2795m down to Mweka camp.

Swahili: Amani ne penda = Peace and love

Day 6:
1300m more to descend to the original 1800m asl, and a final 10km hike down. The most painful 10km of my life. The ol' right knee did not likey. But we managed... It was a fairly low key day given the accomplishment the previous day. We were back at the hotel by 4pm or so in order to sort out our tips for the guides, cook, and porters. Clearly their favourite part of the trip, especially with generous Canadians doing the tipping versus tip-ignorant Aussies or Germans. I said it, tip-ignorant! Aussies don't get that not every country has a $15/hour plus a mandatory 9% retirement contribution by their employers. But enough about that, I've learned there's no convincing them otherwise! haha. That out of the way we enjoyed a couple beers before heading to the room to shower, the first time in 6 days.

That evening we met Michelle, George, and Christine at a restaurant/bar in Moshi. Being a Monday the town was a little slow but we had fun regardless! When the bar closed we headed back to Michelle's house for some red wine grog, and then back to bed for a proper rest.

And that was Kilimanjaro. Again the pics are here. Those are 35 out of 255, and the 255 is after I deleted the repeats and bad ones. Over the whole trip I took 1200 photos with the new camera, which thankfully WAS and IS still working despite having a smashed display.

Swahili: Ushindi = Success!

Oh, here's one pic that's not on FB. It's my full moon pic at the summit.