Karibu Tanzania: Climbing Kili: Summit Ascent!

Moto woke us up on summit night at 11pm. After putting on an extraordinary amount of clothing, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and made sure our day bags were ready. At 12:15am we began the pole pole ascent. We joined the procession of hikers whose twinkling headlamps could be seen stretching in zigzag lines up the slopes of the mountain.

For the next six and a half hours we focused on putting one foot in front of the other. We slowly passed groups. The camaraderie among all climbers was high as people asked "Are we there yet?" to the laughter of all climbers within earshot. The endless switchbacks continued up and up, the frozen skree getting deeper the higher we climbed. Many hours later, we paused for a break. There were only a few headlamps ahead of us. Looking down the mountain into the clear night sky we could see all the lights of Moshi on the plains. On the left, a sliver of red moon was rising. Above, thousands of stars shone in the sky. Still we climbed up. For each small step forward, we breathed in and out, in and out. It was like running a long distance race for each step forward.

The skree deepened and finally Tumaini, our guide, announced that we were half an hour from Stella Point. Breathing hard, it was still dark when we reached it. The faintest lightening of the sky was visible along the horizon. After a short rest during which I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and sleep, we continued up to Uhuru Peak. At 6:30am in the morning we arrived. It was freezing and windy, and I was out of breath, but we had made it. We watched the last of the sunrise from the tallest point of Africa. Mawenzi was silhouetted, its black peaks jagged against the morning sky, and the glaciers looked foreboding and beautiful as they caught the first light. I felt on top of the world, and more awed than ever by the dangerous beauty of the natural world in which we live.

Unfortunately, what comes up, must come down. We spent the next several hours pounding our knees as we slid down the skree slopes back to camp. By the time we arrived, we had been walking for 10 hours. An hour rest and lunch later, we were packing up and walking down again. By 6pm we were at Mweka Camp, a mere 3080 meters as opposed to the 5895 meters of Uhuru Peak. The next morning, our trip ended with a surprisingly good Tanzanian cheeseburger and the presentation of our certificates which stated that we successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the Highest Mountain in Africa.