Last year we had the opportunity of arranging a dream itinerary for our clients – they visited Rwanda to do Gorilla trekking, then arrived into Tanzania to climb Mt Kilimanjaro at 19,341 feet, the highest free standing mountain in the world, followed by a wildlife safari in Tanzania, and ending with resting the tired body and soul on the golden sands of Zanzibar. This set my mind ticking and I asked myself, ‘why should I not climb Mt Kilimanjaro?’ – a thought that I shared with my crazy friends in Mumbai and incidentally these friends also had the same idea over a cup of coffee in Mumbai; so the journey to climb Kilimanjaro began.
By no means my friends and I are professional hikers or experienced in high altitude trekking, but that did not deter us a wee bit from going ahead with our plan and converting this dream into a reality.
On February 22, 2017, all the four crazy friends – Sunila Patil, Renuka Natu, Manu Kashyap and I – assembled at the Mumbai airport to board the Kenya Airways flight to Kilimanjaro. We boarded the flight not only with lot of excitement, but also with tingling nervousness in the heart and mind. I reached Kilimanjaro at midnight and met with our friend, guide and Kili Climb operator,, Genes Shirima of Lava Rock Adventure, then settled into a comfortable hotel for the night.
February 23 was spent with Genes to understand the route of our climb, go through our medical checkups (oxygen and pulse) with important instructions on do’s and dont’s during the climb. Also the hiking gear that we were to carry on the mountain was all inspected, checked and packed into our duffle bags and backpacks – all ready for the start next day.
February 24 – the day of reckoning. We arrived at the Machame Gate (starting point of our climbing route) full of energy and excitement. We completed our formalities of registration, filled the water bladders (had to drink atleast four litres of water daily), organised the backpacks and all four of us were ready to scale the peak.
The gang had selected Machame Route for the Mt Kili climb. This is one of the most scenic routes to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and popularly also known as the Whisky Route. However this is also one of the toughest routes to climb.
During the course of the next few days, we started gaining height on the mountain and stayed in different camp sites at different altitudes. The Machame Route gave us the super opportunity to experience Rain Forest Zone, Moor and Heather Land Zone, Rock Garden Zone (due to the huge volcanic lava rocks), Alpine Zone, and semi desert zone, till we reached the Uhuru Peak at 19,341 feet.
Every day was a revelation and presented us with vistas of immense natural beauty and local flora. Due to the sheer beauty, challenge and adrenalin rush, I will never forget the terrain of our climb/trek on Day 3 when we climbed to the Lava Tower with its majestic rock formations, and Day 4, when we climbed the Barranco Wall – the highlight of the Machame Route. Highlight of the day was crossing the “Kissing A Rock” where we had to literally scrape our cheeks on the surface of the rock and kiss the rock to be able to cross it. A fall from here would have landed us few hundred feet below on massive rocks and boulders. We were hiking and trekking on an average of six-seven hours every day. Sleeping in tents on the mountain slope and gazing at the stunning starlit sky and literally being able to count the stars – a treat in itself. It helped the tired body to sleep like a baby to be fresh the next morning for another exciting day of our life.
Genes, our angel and saviour had a good plan for us. Instead of climbing the summit at night that was planned earlier, he decided we should do a day summit climb. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise – as we avoided the biting cold of the night, which is the biggest enemy during a night climb.
What a glorious day it was on February 28, when our gang of four summited the Uhuru Peak. Of course, the glory and joy of reaching Uhuru Peak at 19,341 feet, came with its own share of pain, frustration, exhaustion, fear, breathlessness and what not; every inch of the body screamed and begged for us to stop.
As said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, at this stage the mental strength takes over the physical strength, and you push yourself to climb and trek on to the summit. “No guts, no glory” was best understood today. In all this madness and zillions of thoughts flying through your mind, I kept hearing my heart pounding in a rhythmic tune of “Yeh dil maange more.”
Reaching Stella Point at 18,885 feet gave us the renewed energy and resolve to trudge on to the summit which we could see clearly shining in all glory at this stage. The view of the massive Rebmann Glacier to the left near the summit was a joy and sight to behold; it looked like icing on a cake.
At the summit holding the Indian Flag in my hand, was one of the finest moments of my life and for all of us. Around 15-20 minutes were well spent thanking family, friends, the crazy gang of us four, Genes the lead guide, Dennis the assistant guide, and the entire crew of Lava Rock Adventures for making us experience this once-in-a-lifetime moment, which would not have been possible without them. We are indebted to them for helping us achieve this dream.
What the body sustained in endurance, the eyes could not, and it broke down allowing glistening pearls of relief in form of tears down the cheek, as I humbly dedicated the climb to the brave Jawans of the Indian Army who have sacrificed their lives protecting us and our country. The short time at that altitude and being exposed to thin air and hardly any oxygen, was enough to numb your senses and so began the descent from 19,341 feet of the summit to our Barafu camp at 15,000 feet, in a span of two hours in the biting cold. Climbing down from this height and biting cold, was actually much difficult than climbing up. Reaching the camp and removing the shoes is the only thing I remember before crashing into my sleeping bag for the night.
I did not register the enormity of the summit climb until the next morning. I woke up to bright sunshine and over a hot cup of peppermint tea – the time the feeling sunk in – ‘Yes, I did it’. The actual flow of the events of the previous day leading to summit climb was replayed in my mind. This morning I got my first chance in days to speak to my family to thank them for their unflinching support and praying for the success.
The next day was spent in climbing down to Mweka Camp (the last camp on the Machame Route). This is a melting pot of climbers from different routes of ascent, but one route of descent. The last morning in the mountain was heavy with emotions as it was time to say goodbye and thank you from the heart, to the crew of Lava Rock Adventure for being our shadow on the mountain and ensuring that we achieved what we dreamt of before boarding the flight from India, to climb Mt Kilimanjaro.
We arrived in Moshi town to pick our extra luggage from the hotel and the entire last week went by in a flashback in a split second. The peace, tranquility and serenity of the time spent on the mountain was shattered the moment we were connected to the outside world; thanks to digital technology.
The last night of the trip was well spent at the luxurious Arusha Coffee Lodge, and the joy of feeling hot water on your body for a soothing bath after a week was worth much more than the gold in Fort Knox. We were left speechless by the front office and F&B team of the Lodge, when they celebrated our summit climb success with dancing, singing, and cake cutting. It was truly a heart warming moment to uplift our spirits and broaden our smiles.
As they say – all is well that ends well. The ending could not have been better as we called off our trip to this beautiful country by enjoying a sumptuous Indian lunch at Bombay Spice Restaurant in Arusha over a glass of chilled beer, aptly named Kilimanjaro Beer, after nine days. The pleasant and cheerful company of Sangeeta Solanki from Sense of Africa added to the joy for us. The return journey on Kenya Airways flight was spent catching up on some beauty sleep before arriving at home to the comfort of family and friends and happy moments reliving our days spent on Mt Kilimanjaro.
(Vakharia is director, Pathfinders Holidays)