My Long Walk to Freedom. . .and Back

About 200 miles south of the equator, near the Tanzania-Kenya border, lies the highest point in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.

Photo of Kilimanjaro from the Plane

In addition to being the “Roof of Africa,” Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world. Located in the Great Rift Valley, Kilimanjaro climbs 16,000 feet above the ground surrounding it.

My First Glimpse of Kilimanjaro Above the Clouds

Kilimanjaro was created by one dormant and two extinct volcanoes, these three volcanoes form the three peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro: Shira (12,998 feet), Mawenzi (16,893 feet), and Kibo (19,341 feet).

Mawenzi Peak, 16,893 ft

Kibo Peak, 19341 ft

The Kibo volcano last erupted around the year 1700 but is now covered by snow and glaciers throughout the year. 

There are three high points on Kibo peak: Gilman’s Point, Stella Point, and Uhuru Point. Uhuru point is not only the highest point on Kilimanjaro, but also the highest point in the world that can be reached without technical climbing equipment. In other words, it’s as high as one can walk. . . 

The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro was first reached in 1889 by a German named Hans Meyer. When he reached the summit, he named it “Kaiser Wilhelm Peak” in honor of the German ruler. However, in 1961, when Tanzania gained its independence, the name was changed to “Uhuru,” the Swahili word for “freedom.”

Today, more than 30,000 people attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro each year. According to Tanzania National Park records, only 41% of those who make the attempt reach Uhuru. I was determined to be among them!

Below, I’ve compiled the highs (and lows) of my five day walk to “Freedom Peak”. . .

Day One

There are six trekking routes by which to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I was heading up the “Marangu Route” on the south-eastern side of the mountain. This route has well maintained trails and permanent huts (rather than tents). Since we were climbing in the rainy season, a permanent hut sounded pretty good!

Overview of the Marangu Route

We arrived at park headquarters to register for the climb. While waiting for the paperwork and the official “okay to go,” I passed the time reading the warning signs:

Temperatures Range from -29 to 86° and the Weather Changes Fast

Nearly all climbers experience some level of altitude sickness, usually shortness of breath, hypothermia, or headaches. Extreme altitude sickness brings pulmonary or cerebral edema and possible death. Sounds fun.

Fortunately, my entrance fees include a “Rescue Fee.” The park offers rescue by wheel stretcher from three different points on the mountain.

Of course, if being wheeled 16 miles down a rocky mountain doesn’t sound fun, I’m able to arrange a private rescue helicopter – which can meet me at one of two landing pads on the mountain.

Here’s hoping I don’t need either and my rescue fee is merely a donation!

For two climbers, we have a staff of 9: two guides, a cook, and six porters. For the safety of the porters, the park regulates the weight each person can carry – 33 pounds of my things and 55 total pounds including their belongings.

After weighing our things, Day One of hiking up the mountain begins!

One of the interesting things about climbing Kili is that you cross through each of the climactic zones found on Earth (from the equator to the arctic) – in only 5 days! The first climactic zone is the “Cultivation Zone” between 800m-1800m (approximately 2600-5900 feet). This is where people live and farm on the lower slopes of the mountain. We drove through much of this part to get to the gate at 5577 feet.

The second zone is the “Montane Forest” which occurs between 1800m-2800m (approximately 5900-9200 feet). This area is rich with plant and animal life. Eighty percent of all flora and fauna on the mountain lives in this zone – including over 1000 plant species found only on Kilimanjaro. All of Day One was hiking through this lush (and wet) region.

After 3 hours of hiking we reached the Mandara Huts at 8858 feet.

Of course, once we stopped hiking, the rain stopped as well. Nice. So we decided to take a short walk to the Maundi Crater to take in some views.

My low for Day One came when I stopped on the path to check out the black moving mass on the trail. It turned out to be a huge colony of ants. I watched them for awhile, fascinated.

About five minutes later, I felt a sting on my leg. . .then another. . .then another. It seems they had crawled up my pants while I stood there and were now feasting on my legs! My guide looked concerned (or was it amused???) and quickly ran around the corner so I could take off my pants and kill the ants! Thank God no one came down the path while I stood there, pants around my ankles swatting ants off my legs!

Day Two

Day Two began without a cloud in the sky. I was much happier to walk 4-5 hours without the rain!

We didn’t walk long before we entered the third zone, the Moorland, which occurs between 2800m-4000m (9200 -13,000 feet). It was immediately apparent that the trees get shorter and the number of plants vastly decreases.

This area is dominated by fog and mist but the peak did try to make an appearance. . .

Eventually we were above the cloud line and got a clear view of our goal.

After five hours of hiking, we reached our goal, the Horombo Huts at 12,000 feet.

Today was a relatively easy hike with beautiful views. The temperatures were much warmer and the landscape was fascinating to observe.

I call these the Dr. Seuss trees.

We were greeted in camp with hot chocolate and popcorn. So far, this seems easy! Of course, that’s what they warn you about – Kilimanjaro is often underestimated because it is not a technical climb. I can’t take it for granted.

Luckily, mother nature helps me out with this. When the sun sets at 6:30, the temperatures drop to near freezing. It’s nice to have a hut to block the wind, but the huts aren’t heated. I go to bed at 7:00pm so that I can curl up in several layers of clothes and my sleeping bag!

Day Three

Today we aren’t climbing any further up the mountain. The plan is to sleep again tonight at this altitude to help acclimatize and avoid altitude sickness. One big bonus of an acclimatization day: sleeping in! The alarm went off at 8am which was quite a treat!

After breakfast, we went for a short (4 mile) hike to stay active and pass the time.

The day was foggy and a bit dreary, as is so common in the moorland climate.

Our destination was Zebra Rocks, a rock face that has been colored by water and minerals over thousands of years. Since the discoloration has made the rocks black and white, the locals named them Zebra Rocks.

We spent about 2 ½ hours wandering the mountain side and hiked to an elevation of 13,200 feet. Actually, I might have gotten as high as 13,220!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing (and trying to stay warm) back at camp. It was fun to talk to others who were on their way back down from the summit. Although some of the stories were less than encouraging. One group of 30 trekkers had only 22 people reach the summit! Out of another school group of 28, only 5 made it to Uhuru. It isn’t easy to sit in camp and remain convinced that I’ll make it to the peak. But, I believe that positive thinking makes a huge difference – so I focused getting plenty of rest and drinking plenty of water.

Watching the sunset over the clouds didn’t hurt my attitude either!

Day Four

Today began with clear skies and a clear view of Uhuru Peak. I considered it a good sign – the summit was inviting me up.

Today was a nearly six mile trek from 12,000 feet up to our next camp at 15,400 feet.

The air was getting “thinner” with every foot we walked, but the views of the peak continued to bring a smile to my face and a little spring to my steps!

We passed a small stream with a marker.

This indicates that we’re crossing the 4000 meter mark and entering the Alpine Desert (roughly 13,100 feet – 16,400 feet). Above this line, there is very little moisture – until the peak, of course, but that’s all frozen!

The landscape changed dramatically in the Alpine Desert – most plants disappear as we’re surrounded by bare stone desert.

It’s quite barren and very cold. Fortunately, between the sun and the energy created by walking, it wasn’t too cold.

As we walked on toward our final camp, we passed more hikers coming down from the summit. First we passed two young, strong American guys looking exhausted and beaten. I asked how it was and got a grunt from one guy and a few words from the second. Turns out only one of them made it to the summit. And they both looked wiped.

A few minutes later we passed three Canadian girls – all smiles and bouncing down the trail. All three made it to the summit this morning and, after a nap, were peppy and excited. I decided to focus on the smiley girls and not the beaten guys. I know I can do it! So we walked on.

After 4 ½ hours and a lunch break on the way, we made it to our final camp, Kibo Huts.

From Kibo Huts, we got our first view of our walk to the summit. It was daunting.

Note the Path in the Center of the Picture

Although the trail begins with several wide switchbacks, the last part heads straight up to the peak! We were told to expect five hours of steep, grueling walking through a seemingly endless field of scree, followed by about an hour through snow along the top of Kibo Peak to get to Uhuru Point. This six-hour adventure begins at midnight. To be honest, spending an hour looking at this path got me a bit nervous.

We had dinner at 4pm and I was wrapped up in multiple layers of clothes in my sleeping bag by 5pm in hopes of getting as much rest as possible before my 11:15pm alarm.

Day Five – Summit Day

The alarm went off at 11:15 and I hurriedly put on as many layers as possible: two pair of socks, four layers of pants, four layers of shirt, a scarf, a down jacket with another wind-proof coat on top, a balaclava, a fleece hat, and a wool hat. I felt a bit like the kid in A Christmas Story (“I Can’t Move My Arms!”). 

We had a few cookies and some hot water (not too much in the stomach to avoid nausea from the altitude) and set off at midnight in the frigid temperatures.

Around 5000 meters (roughly 16,400 feet), we entered the final climactic zone: the Ice Cap. Not a place I recommend hanging out when the sun isn’t out! Temperatures were below -5°F and the icy winds cut through all of my layers to make it feel so much colder! They say the landscape in the Ice Cap is “bleak” but it was pitch black so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I kept thinking about how no animals can survive in the Ice Cap. . .and as I got colder and more tired, I wondered if that meant me as well?

The steep walk up the face of the mountain ends at Gilman’s Point (18,638 feet). Once you get to this spot, you have an hour of walking, but only a 980 foot elevation change. In my mind, I had to get to Gilman’s Point, after that, I had essentially made it.

After walking for hours, I asked Stanley, our guide, if we were halfway. The answer was no. I gave myself a pep talk that I could make it and walked on. I’m not sure I can describe how difficult this walk was. It was so cold. Possibly the coldest I’ve ever been. And it was pitch black. So I had no idea how much progress I was making or how far I was from the top.

After another water break I asked how much longer – 2 hours was the answer. That was a defining moment for me. Two hours sounded like an eternity. I literally leaned on a rock and gave myself a pep talk – “I can do this. I can do anything for two hours. No problem.” When I started walking again, I kept repeating to myself “I can do this” over and over.

Then, about an hour later we made a sharp turn, and there was a sign:

Stanley had lied to us, (Thank you Stanley!!) and we were at Gilman’s Point! I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so much relief in my life. After an hour of telling myself I could do it, I had done it! After hugs and congrats all around, we sat down to have a cup of ginger tea to prepare for the final ascent.

If you look hard enough through the exhaustion, you can see joy in my eyes!

We had just over an hour to go to get to Uhuru Point. Much of this walk was over ice and snow but still in pitch darkness. My steps seemed so much lighter though, knowing I was on the Kibo plateau. As we got higher, the winds somehow got colder. With nothing to block them for thousands of miles in all directions, the winds were free to cut through layers of clothes, skin and muscle and freeze my bones solid.

At 5:30am, we made it. We were standing at the highest point in Africa. The highest point it is possible to walk to on Earth. Unbelievable!

The walk this morning was quite possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But the sense of accomplishment as I stood on the peak was worth it! I soaked in the moment. . .for about 5 minutes. Then I turned back around and headed down the mountain in hopes of remembering what it was like to have feeling in my hands and feet!

As we headed back down the mountain, the sun started to rise on the horizon. We had some beautiful views.

We also had some great views of the glaciers that remain on the top of Kilimanjaro – some of which are 130 feet high!

These glaciers have shrunk 80% since 1900 and scientists predict that Kilimanjaro will become ice-free by 2020. I was pleased that I was able to enjoy the beautiful “Snows of Kilimanjaro” before they are gone.

This Stanley, the guide who got me to the summit!

It took 5 ½ hours to get from Kibo Huts to the summit and only 2 ½ to get back down. After an hour nap and a hearty brunch, we started the long walk back down the mountain.

I have to give some thanks to the people whose “office” is Mount Kilimanjaro:

Me with Stanley, our Guide

Our Assistant Guide, the always-smiling Sifa

Hundreds of Porters Climb Kili Every Day

Park Employees Who Have to Clean Up After Irresponsible Littering Climbers

When we got to the bottom, I received my official certificate memorializing my accomplishment.

Then we drove out of the park. I was so happy to be back in warm climes!! 

But my journey wasn’t quite complete. . .I’ve never been a beer drinker. But we kept passing signs for the national beer of Tanzania: “After you climb it, drink it.” So I did just that!

Maisha Marefu, Kilimanjaro!

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