Kilimanjaro -- Days 1 and 2

To those of you who follow this blog (all 7 of you??), it would seem that I fell off the face of the earth after London almost 10 days ago. Au contraire, mon amis. Quite the opposite, in fact. I've been living it up in Southwest Virginia, eating maple and discussing water with basement-dwelling, rat tail-having individuals. I promise I will get to all that in the near future, but I'm gnawing at the bit to talk about Kilimanjaro. I journaled throughout the whole trip, so my handy handwriting will help me remember the most important parts. I am going to break it up into 2-day intervals, so be sure to check back the next few days to get the whole story. I'm so excited to share this experience with you!!


I'm glossing over the hotel stay in Moshi, but just know that it was a lovely place, with palm trees and an outdoor bar. Oh, and showers! Always a good thing..

Day 1

Definition of the day: 
"Pole pole" (adverb) -- Swahili for "slowly, slowly." Said many times over by Kilimanjaro guides to remind novice mountain climbers to walk slowly and steadily. Accompanied often by "sippy, sippy," to remind said novices to keep drinking water.

We woke up at the hotel in Moshi around 6am to pack, eat breakfast, and get going by 8am. It is 45 minutes to an hour to the Machame gate, and on the drive, we could see the peak of Kilimanjaro to our right. I remember seeing it and thinking, "there is no way I'm getting to the top of that thing." It is breathtaking, its snow-capped peak commanding the landscape like a king on a throne. I wondered briefly what I had gotten myself into...

I mean...

We arrived at the gate and all (33 of us) had to sign in, and then wait in a covered picnic area while the leaders organized our porters, guides, etc. All together, we would have over 100 porters and 23 guides. While we waited, the porters set out a table cloth and provided us with tea and coffee. It was the first time we saw how accommodating our porters were going to be that week; they did not disappoint one bit. 

At around 10:55am, with cheers and smiles, we passed through the gate and officially started our climb! The group thinned out to a single-file line to make way for porters passing us on either side, but conversations continued. We had thirteen guides walking with us, and I met and talked with a few of them that first day. Most of them are from the area and have climbed Kili well over 100 times. Their abilities are so impressive...talk about being in shape!

The first few hours passed with little pomp: gradual uphill walking through a beautiful rainforest. I was out of breath many times, my heart pounding, although I still don't know if that was the hiking or first-day jitters. But "pole pole" we walked, until our hourly breaks where we refilled our water bottles, our bellies, and our well of energy. We stopped for a picnic lunch around 1:30pm, where our porters had set out tables and chairs, and served sandwiches and salad. It was nice to have a little break and literally cool our heels.

We got to camp about 4:30, where our porters welcomed us with singing and dancing. What an encouraging pick-me-up it was at the end of a long day! Our tents were already set up, our bags were in our tents, and tea and snacks were waiting for us in the two large dining tents. Talk about service. I wish I could describe how incredible our porters were. Not only were they carrying all of our stuff (bags, tents, food, camp toilets), but they rushed ahead of us every day to make sure camp was ready by the time we got there. I was already thoroughly impressed.

After dinner, Jo, our fearless leader, gave us a briefing about the next day, and then we turned in early. It took some time to get used to the hard ground under me, but I eventually drifted off into a restless sleep.

Day 2 

Definition of the day: 
Bed tea (noun)  -- the act of being brought tea or coffee in your tent in the morning by a porter; serves as a form of alarm clock. Consequently makes getting up at 5:45am much easier for Jennabeth. 

My tentmate, Monal, and I packed our tent, drank our coffee, and got dressed. Not sure if it was the excitement or the jet lag, but I felt ready to tackle day 2. We ate a delicious breakfast of porridge, toast and eggs, and sausage, and enjoyed swapping stories about our first night on the mountain. Strapping on our day packs, we left camp around 7:15, leaving the porters behind to pack up our tents.

During day 2, we left the rainforest and began our trek through the mountainous moorlands. It was much rockier and physically challenging than day 1, and my quads were burning. Although it's more difficult, scrambling up rocky terrain is much more interesting than just walking uphill, so the time passes much faster.

It was a short day of trekking, and we got into camp in time for lunch. We were greeted again by our singing and dancing porters. This time, some of our group timidly joined in, although by the end of the week, we would all be dancing and singing our favorite song, "Kilimanjaro," in Swahili.

Coming into camp!

We had climbed up to 3800 meters, or 12,500 feet, and I still felt pretty great. It bolstered me for the next few days, when we would climb even higher, but the prospect of altitude sickness still loomed over us all like an imminent fog.

An afternoon of rest did us all some good, and dinner that night was lively and full of laughs. We had a wonderful group of fun, positive men and women, and I'm glad to have met and gotten to know so many lovely people from all over the world. Being with a good group truly makes or breaks an experience, and I'm grateful that we all got along and enjoyed each other. The sunset that evening was incredible, and looking out over the clouds just below us, I made sure to remember how lucky I was to be on a trip like this.

Sunset, day 2. Of course, the photo does it no justice..

Tune in tomorrow for Days 3 and 4!!!