We did it! ... we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (Aug.16-22)

Susanne reporting from Tanzania....

We did it! The 9 of us who set out to climb the almost 6000 meter mountain were all successful! But it was quite a feat.
We started August 16th with a trip back to the airport to hopefully recover the missing bags for 6 of us...but were unsuccessful. So on it went with more paperwork to fill out as apparently no one had really even started looking for our bags and had no idea where they were. At least we wanted to have them upon our return as they were quite valuable with a lot of our climbing gear...likely about half of it seemed to come from MEC. :)
I`d be lying if I said we were not ``more than disappointed``....we basically had the clothes on our back and carry-on items. We tried to put some important things in the carry-on in case this would happen (ie. we all had worn our boots and had maybe a jacket and a few thought about underwear etc) but a lot of stuff was still missing. So we were told: we have to get going, the climb was supposed to start in the morning and we did not get to the rental place in Moshi which is a little town close to Kili, until about 1pm. The rental place had lost electricity so it was quite an adventure to root through the hanging clothes in the dark, trying to figure out what one would need for the next week on a cold mountain....I spent about $176 for the essentials....jacket, pants, gaiters, some thermal stuff, some dry fit shirts, gloves, socks etc. They only took cash, so we had to dip into what we planned to be our porter money.
It was pure chaos! :)

We started the climb on August 16th at around 3 pm, walkedwell into darkness at around 7 pm, and climbed for 4 hours, starting at the Machame gate at an altitude of 6000 feet and ascending to about 10,000 feet.
This is when I have to get generic. :)

In the coming 6 days, we climbed up, down, up cliff walls like mountain goats, through rain forests and deserts. We did evertyhing from what feltl like rock climbing (super fun) to sliding in mud and dust.  I`d have to count, but I think we covered about 60 km`s and ascended from 6,000 to over 19,000 feet.

Our group of 9 was diverse. We ranged over 3 decades in age, came from different provinces and experiences and some of us only met during the Habitat trip. Now we were tent mates, climbing buddies and had no chance but to get even closer during this adventure. Our days consisted of early breakfasts in a larger tent, usually it would be freezing cold until the sun came up. Routines of brushing teeth nearby some rocks, and using the portable toilets (inside little tents, best investment ever), getting our big bags packed up for the porters and our own backpacks with a change of clothes, cameras, our daily 2.5 litres of water etc. Then came the gaiters and finally another ``must have``: our trekking poles. They helped balance, took a bit of pressure off your back, the stuck into the ground to get leverage and made life a bit easier. The pace was not fast but the steady incline is what made things challenging...and the altitude and lack of oxygen that comes with it.
After a couple of days, legs started to burn and the altitude started affecting some people, even though we were all taking Diamox. Headaches, some nausea, and general soreness from always carrying the packs, quads were feeling the exercise and we were getting burnt from the strong UV rays. Funny, when we did the Habitat trip, we complained that a lot of things were getting tanned but your hands usually don`t get a tan as you`re always wearing gloves to work. Here, it was the opposite. During the days, when the sun was up, you could climb with a long sleeved shirt , but since your hands were always exposed to the sun, we would get the tops of our hands and knuckles tanned/burnt. I guess some things do even out. :)

The nights in the tents were cold, and it was amazing how much you become aware of anything weather related: the stars are incredible at night, so clear. If you`re lucky, some moon light would help you out sometimes on late walks to the washroom (there is a story with that word actually...later), but headlamps ruled the day. Mornings were cold, we had frost on the ground the very first morning. Once the sun comes out, you could cook in it if shielded from wind etc. We climbed in t-shirts on our second day, I think. It gets dark very quickly at around 6:30 or so and with the lack of sun, the cold returns. We learned to dress in layers, fleecies were our favorite outfits and we constantly took layers off or put them back on.
Since we were still missing a lot of things that you can`t rent, there was a lot of sharing going on by the 3 (Chelsea, Carin and Steve) that had all their gear as well as some that lucked out by packing their carry-ons well: water purification tablets were regularly shared, flashlights, batteries, toothpaste...you name it, if you asked enough people, you could likely find it or something similar. The group was sooo amazing about helping each other.
We tried to take in as much of the beautiful scenery as we could: the changes with altitude brought 4 distinct ``looks`` to the mountain. From rain forest with monkeys and baboons swinging though the trees, to heather moorland where you saw very distinct Kili plants, to semi desert and finally desert...the finally two not so exciting and SUPER dusty.  But still very cool ....

Well, let`s talk about the dirt and grime for a bit. Everything had to go into the tent at night to keep it warm including boots and I hate to admit it, but those things don't smell so pretty after a few long walks. Also: we literally had to wear stuff not only once, but 2, 3, or 4 times as we only rented a certain amount of gear, so out came the baby powder to mask the smell of socks and other things. Dust starting accumulating everywhere: ears, nostrils, under finger nails and after a while, you just really didn't care anymore. You did the best you could with a little tub of water which appeared before all the meals in front of the meal tent to wash hands, and then there were sanitizers and baby wipes, but they only do so much. Dirt got into your skin in ways I have benerv seen before and since we had no mirror, we had to point out things to one another...sun screen under eye, dirt/dust on teeth from hike, sunburns...all were things we did not necessarily discover on our own as we had no mirror for a week.

Besides the 9 of us, there were lots of other important people. We had 4 guides and about 30 porters which included the cook, assistant cook, and the soooo important guys looking after the 2 portable toilets. We always had one guide ahead setting the pace, two at the end and a floater...but mostly one ahead and the others were in the back somewhere. After we would leave for the day`s hike, the porters would clean up, get our tent stuff, eating tents and the 9 chairs, all cooking supplies and everything else packed up and basically pass us on the way up (yes, that did not help the ego greatly). They carry their own pack and are allowed to carry an additional 20 kg`s which is usually done on their heads in large baskets, or in gear bags or large white bags which are balanced on their own packs. They mostly have boots, but some have shoes only and they have no poles and are like mountain goats climbing and often running up and down the hills. They are amazing!
There are obviously other climbers you see along the way and the camps are much larger than I thought with what sometimes looks like 50+ or so tents. On our last night at base camp, the tents were literally placed on the sides of cliffs in whatever even spots the porters could find. We often slept on slants and would slide in our sleeping bags, and most meals, the table was uneven so that you would strategically place yourself at he ``receiving end`` of the table (the lower part`) or the higher part, depending on preference. Often, when walking around camp sites, it reminded me of Sackville Street in Halifax and making it up the hill on cold winter nights.

Tanzania Notables:

• we were told early that we do not go to ``pee`` or use the washroom, but we ``send an email``. Number 2 is called ``sending a fax``. well, the theme carried all week with going to the Internet cafe, emptying the trash box, the fax machine being broken or having a bad connection......it went on and on :)
• Hello is Jambo ..how fun is THAT to say all the time!
• Coca Cola rules here
• Toyota is king of vehicles
• gas is close to $1.50 a litre
• unemployment rate is 70%

　
TO BE CONTINUED...HAVE TO catch ride to safari...