We left Arusha at 1:05am on Sunday, February 3 (Tanzania time) and got to Denver around 11:45pm Sunday, February 3. It was a long trip home that included a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam and an unexpected 6 hour layover in Chicago. We were impressed with KLM's in-flight entertainment - kudos to them for keeping us entertained for two long flight legs!
We could both talk for hours about our trip. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime. We had so much fun, attained a goal we had talked about for years, made great friends with our guides, and soundly determined that no matter how much we stink after not showering for 7 days, we are very happy to be married to each other. :)
If you want to see more pictures of our trip, please visit the Shutterfly website Kristin set up. It has pictures and videos of the climb and the safari from all of us!
http://happinessadventures.shutterfly.com/
Please email one of us for the password.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tanzania - Lake Manyara
On our way from the Ngorogoro Crater to Lake Manyara we stopped by a road side stand to pick up some souvenirs. We all picked up some knickknacks...and maybe a spear or two. All were handmade and beautifully crafted.
We got to Lake Manyara around noon and had lunch at the Serene Lodge while overlooking the Manyara Conservation area. Since we had been going non-stop of hiking and tourning, we decided to take the afternoon to nap and relax and do a shorter evening game drive.
The evening game drive was amazing, even though we were only out for about 2 hours and only made it probably 3 miles into the Conservation area. After registering, we drove for a short while and came upon a huge troupe of baboons. There were more than 30 of them - ranging from practically newborn to quite old. They were so amusing and we sat there for over 30 minutes just watching them interact with each other. There was the old baboon who watched over everyone, the young siblings who like to wrestle with each other and whoever else they could goad into it, and the young one who just ran around poking people trying to get someone to play with them. At one point, 3 or 4 climbed on the vehicle in front of us, which prompted the driver to start and rev the engine to scare them away. Baboons are cute, but you don't want to get too up close and personal with them! Along with the baboons, we saw some monkeys, but they were more shy and didn't come as close to the road.
After watching the baboons, we drove a little bit further in and came upon an elephant having dinner. We parked along the side of the road and watched the elephant. He started out about 20-25 feet from us, but then kept getting closer and closer as he found food to eat. At one point, he had an itch and scratched his back against a tree, which was interesting to see and hear! He ended up chewing on some grass that was about 5-8 feet from our Land Cruiser. The 4 of us were standing up and looking out the top and we probably looked hilarious when his tusks swung toward us because we all backed up a bit. Malisa assured us that the elephant was harmless as long as he was eating. We were comforted by the fact Malisa never took his eyes off the elephant and would have gotten us out of there quickly if the elephant started showing any signs of aggression!
After the game drive, we went back to the Lodge for another relaxing evening. We had a beer with Malisa and all decided to sleep in the next morning - 10am start time!
In the morning we had breakfast and went back to the Conservation area for our last game drive. We saw more baboons, a family of elephants, a tower of giraffes, a lot of cape buffalo, more hippos, zebra, and monkeys. We had a boxed lunch at a nice picnic spot and then started to head toward Arusha.
On our way to Arusha we stopped at a road side stop so Kristin and Jeff could pick up some tanzanite (a gem found in Tanzania) and we also stopped at the Cultural Center for some shopping. After picking up our climb bags at the Arusha Hotel and having our last conversation with Tillya, we had our last African meal in Arusha and headed to the airport for the long trip home.
We got to Lake Manyara around noon and had lunch at the Serene Lodge while overlooking the Manyara Conservation area. Since we had been going non-stop of hiking and tourning, we decided to take the afternoon to nap and relax and do a shorter evening game drive.
The evening game drive was amazing, even though we were only out for about 2 hours and only made it probably 3 miles into the Conservation area. After registering, we drove for a short while and came upon a huge troupe of baboons. There were more than 30 of them - ranging from practically newborn to quite old. They were so amusing and we sat there for over 30 minutes just watching them interact with each other. There was the old baboon who watched over everyone, the young siblings who like to wrestle with each other and whoever else they could goad into it, and the young one who just ran around poking people trying to get someone to play with them. At one point, 3 or 4 climbed on the vehicle in front of us, which prompted the driver to start and rev the engine to scare them away. Baboons are cute, but you don't want to get too up close and personal with them! Along with the baboons, we saw some monkeys, but they were more shy and didn't come as close to the road.
After watching the baboons, we drove a little bit further in and came upon an elephant having dinner. We parked along the side of the road and watched the elephant. He started out about 20-25 feet from us, but then kept getting closer and closer as he found food to eat. At one point, he had an itch and scratched his back against a tree, which was interesting to see and hear! He ended up chewing on some grass that was about 5-8 feet from our Land Cruiser. The 4 of us were standing up and looking out the top and we probably looked hilarious when his tusks swung toward us because we all backed up a bit. Malisa assured us that the elephant was harmless as long as he was eating. We were comforted by the fact Malisa never took his eyes off the elephant and would have gotten us out of there quickly if the elephant started showing any signs of aggression!
After the game drive, we went back to the Lodge for another relaxing evening. We had a beer with Malisa and all decided to sleep in the next morning - 10am start time!
In the morning we had breakfast and went back to the Conservation area for our last game drive. We saw more baboons, a family of elephants, a tower of giraffes, a lot of cape buffalo, more hippos, zebra, and monkeys. We had a boxed lunch at a nice picnic spot and then started to head toward Arusha.
On our way to Arusha we stopped at a road side stop so Kristin and Jeff could pick up some tanzanite (a gem found in Tanzania) and we also stopped at the Cultural Center for some shopping. After picking up our climb bags at the Arusha Hotel and having our last conversation with Tillya, we had our last African meal in Arusha and headed to the airport for the long trip home.
Tanzania - Ngorogoro Crater
After doing a game drive in Ndutu and riding 2.5 hours, we were excited for a nice, relaxing night in a hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel we thought we were staying at (Serena Lodge) misplaced our reservation and wanted to move us to a hotel a good 45 minutes away. Um, NO! Malisa immediately contacted Tillya who was able to sort the whole mess out. We ended up at the Ngorogoro Wildlife Lodge which was only a 10 minute drive and were guaranteed a room at the Serena for the following night. We were actually supposed to be at the Wildlife Lodge the following night, so it ended up we just switched nights for the hotel.
We arrived at the Wildlife Lodge a little before sunset, so had some time to unpack and chill before meeting for a drink and watching the sunset. The Wildlife Lodge is set right on the rim of the crater and has a big patio so we had an uninhibited view of the crater and the sunset, which made us huge fans of this lodge! The sunset looked like a painting. It really felt like if you put your hand over the side of the patio, you'd touch canvas. Simply breathtaking.
The morning came early since we wanted to get to the crater for sunrise - so we were on the road (with a boxed breakfast and boxed lunch in the Land Cruiser) by 6:15am. We made it to the gate to the crater for sunrise, which was amazing. When we got to the crater, Malisa immediately spotted three elephants. We figured that was a good sign for the rest of the day!
The crater (which we learned is actually caldera, a collapsed volcano) is an amazing place. There are so many animals is a small-ish place. We saw, in no particular order, wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, flamingos, ostriches, hippos, hyenas, elephants, lions, a rhino (from a distance), warthogs, elands, and multiple types of birds. A highlight was getting pretty close to a hippo pool. We discovered that hippos are pretty disgusting animals - we saw a lot of bubbles coming up from the hippos back ends and, when they were out of the water, they fan their tails when pooping and look like living manure spreaders.
On our way to lunch, we saw some grassland with some elephants in it. Malisa told us that the area was basically an elephant graveyard. As elephants age, their teeth get older and the elephant can't chew tough items, so they move to areas with softer food. Since the grass is soft, elephants there are quite old.
Lunch was at a picnic area with a pond. The pond had hippos in it (of course). We were told to eat in the Land Cruiser otherwise birds would go after our food. We witnessed this first-hand when another group decided to eat outside and birds started to dive bomb them!
After having such an early start, we decided to start our trip back to the hotel at 2pm. It was an hour and half drive to the hotel because we exited the crater at the complete opposite side and then had to drive along the crater. We checked into the Serena Lodge and had a great evening of relaxation - including drinks with Malisa, some acrobatic entertainment provided by the lodge, and a good dinner.
We slept in a bit the next morning and left around 9am to head to Lake Manyara.
We arrived at the Wildlife Lodge a little before sunset, so had some time to unpack and chill before meeting for a drink and watching the sunset. The Wildlife Lodge is set right on the rim of the crater and has a big patio so we had an uninhibited view of the crater and the sunset, which made us huge fans of this lodge! The sunset looked like a painting. It really felt like if you put your hand over the side of the patio, you'd touch canvas. Simply breathtaking.
 |
| View from our hotel room |
The crater (which we learned is actually caldera, a collapsed volcano) is an amazing place. There are so many animals is a small-ish place. We saw, in no particular order, wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, flamingos, ostriches, hippos, hyenas, elephants, lions, a rhino (from a distance), warthogs, elands, and multiple types of birds. A highlight was getting pretty close to a hippo pool. We discovered that hippos are pretty disgusting animals - we saw a lot of bubbles coming up from the hippos back ends and, when they were out of the water, they fan their tails when pooping and look like living manure spreaders.
On our way to lunch, we saw some grassland with some elephants in it. Malisa told us that the area was basically an elephant graveyard. As elephants age, their teeth get older and the elephant can't chew tough items, so they move to areas with softer food. Since the grass is soft, elephants there are quite old.
Lunch was at a picnic area with a pond. The pond had hippos in it (of course). We were told to eat in the Land Cruiser otherwise birds would go after our food. We witnessed this first-hand when another group decided to eat outside and birds started to dive bomb them!
After having such an early start, we decided to start our trip back to the hotel at 2pm. It was an hour and half drive to the hotel because we exited the crater at the complete opposite side and then had to drive along the crater. We checked into the Serena Lodge and had a great evening of relaxation - including drinks with Malisa, some acrobatic entertainment provided by the lodge, and a good dinner.
We slept in a bit the next morning and left around 9am to head to Lake Manyara.
Tanzania - Ndutu
Quick note: Instead of organizing our safari posts by day, we are doing them by area. We made it to three areas - Ndutu, which was part of the Ngorogoro Crater Conservation Area (bordered by the Serengeti), the actual Ngorogoro Crater, and Lake Manyara.
We had an early morning wake up call since Tillya was coming to pick us up at 7:15am. We made our way to the Arusha airport. If you think rush hour in your city is bad, try Arusha. The amount of cars is the same, but it's the chaos that sets Arusha apart. At times there were 5 lanes of traffic where 2 usually are and we only saw two traffic signals in 30 minutes. It was quite the sight to see!
At the Arusha airport, Tillya checked us in and we got our handwritten boarding passes. A little different than our typical airports in the States! We did have to go to security, but then walked to our single prop plane. The plane sat 12 people, so it was pretty small. Matt was pretty psyched to be able to set in the co-pilot's seat. The pilot was from Kentucky so we were able to ask him questions throughout the flight.
We flew from Arusha to Lake Manyara, where we picked up two people. The Lake Manyara airport had a gravel runway and was located near the edge of a cliff. Quite an exciting takeoff when you know a cliff edge isn't too far away! :) The Ndutu airport really isn't an airport. It's a gravel landing strip in the middle of the African plains. We didn't have zebras on the runway, but it's been known to happen.
Malisa had driven to Ndutu the night before so was there to pick us up. We did a short game drive before lunch and saw bat eared fox, some cheetahs, a lone wildebeest, some zebras, lots of birds, and dik diks. We checked into our hotel, the Ndutu Safari Lodge, and had lunch there. While sitting at lunch, a genet was running around up in the rafters. It was awesome - the lodge didn't have any fences so you could encounter an animal at any time. Jeff heard a lion roar at 5am and woke up to zebras not too far from his room.
Our cottage at the Lodge
During the afternoon game drive we saw lions (even saw a male and female trying to reproduce - it's not awkward, it's nature), giraffes (we learned a group of giraffes is called a "tower"), more zebras, and drove by a wildebeest graveyard. We quickly learned that Malisa has way better eyesight than any of us - he can spot an animal with his bare eyes when the rest of us require binoculars!
The evening at the Safari Lodge was great. They have an outdoor area with a firepit and a covered area with big couches where we just sat back and enjoyed a beer. We just had to remember to bring our flashlight for our walk back to our cottage since it was dark when we walked back!
The next morning we did a 4 hour game drive around Ndutu. Some highlights were a tower of giraffes (including a younger one) crossing the road about 50 yards in front of our Land Cruiser. None of us were quick enough to get a picture or video, but it was definitely a memorable experience! All of us wanted to see part of the migration we had heard so much about, but were afraid it had left the Ndutu area. Fortunately, Malisa knew where to look so we sat in our vehicle, which was surrounded by wildebeest and zebras, and had our boxed lunch among the migration.
After lunch we started to head toward the Ngorogoro Crater. It was about a 2.5 hour drive on a rough road - so we received a 2.5 hour free Africa massage!!
We had an early morning wake up call since Tillya was coming to pick us up at 7:15am. We made our way to the Arusha airport. If you think rush hour in your city is bad, try Arusha. The amount of cars is the same, but it's the chaos that sets Arusha apart. At times there were 5 lanes of traffic where 2 usually are and we only saw two traffic signals in 30 minutes. It was quite the sight to see!
At the Arusha airport, Tillya checked us in and we got our handwritten boarding passes. A little different than our typical airports in the States! We did have to go to security, but then walked to our single prop plane. The plane sat 12 people, so it was pretty small. Matt was pretty psyched to be able to set in the co-pilot's seat. The pilot was from Kentucky so we were able to ask him questions throughout the flight.
We flew from Arusha to Lake Manyara, where we picked up two people. The Lake Manyara airport had a gravel runway and was located near the edge of a cliff. Quite an exciting takeoff when you know a cliff edge isn't too far away! :) The Ndutu airport really isn't an airport. It's a gravel landing strip in the middle of the African plains. We didn't have zebras on the runway, but it's been known to happen.
Malisa had driven to Ndutu the night before so was there to pick us up. We did a short game drive before lunch and saw bat eared fox, some cheetahs, a lone wildebeest, some zebras, lots of birds, and dik diks. We checked into our hotel, the Ndutu Safari Lodge, and had lunch there. While sitting at lunch, a genet was running around up in the rafters. It was awesome - the lodge didn't have any fences so you could encounter an animal at any time. Jeff heard a lion roar at 5am and woke up to zebras not too far from his room.
Our cottage at the Lodge
During the afternoon game drive we saw lions (even saw a male and female trying to reproduce - it's not awkward, it's nature), giraffes (we learned a group of giraffes is called a "tower"), more zebras, and drove by a wildebeest graveyard. We quickly learned that Malisa has way better eyesight than any of us - he can spot an animal with his bare eyes when the rest of us require binoculars!
The evening at the Safari Lodge was great. They have an outdoor area with a firepit and a covered area with big couches where we just sat back and enjoyed a beer. We just had to remember to bring our flashlight for our walk back to our cottage since it was dark when we walked back!
The next morning we did a 4 hour game drive around Ndutu. Some highlights were a tower of giraffes (including a younger one) crossing the road about 50 yards in front of our Land Cruiser. None of us were quick enough to get a picture or video, but it was definitely a memorable experience! All of us wanted to see part of the migration we had heard so much about, but were afraid it had left the Ndutu area. Fortunately, Malisa knew where to look so we sat in our vehicle, which was surrounded by wildebeest and zebras, and had our boxed lunch among the migration.
After lunch we started to head toward the Ngorogoro Crater. It was about a 2.5 hour drive on a rough road - so we received a 2.5 hour free Africa massage!!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tanzania - Day 7 of Kili Hike
Mweka Camp (10,190 ft) to Mweka Gate (5,358 ft) Distance: ~5.5 miles
Our last day on the mountain. After breakfast, the guides and porters sang us a song. We call it the "Kilimanjaro Song", but it's really a song that almost everyone in Tanzania knows. You can adapt the lyrics to wherever you are. It was great to see everyone singing and dancing. A great treat for the last day.
The trail to the Mweka Gate was the nicest one of the entire trip. The last 30 minutes were basically on a gravel road. Matt and Karla walked most of it with Patrick. He was curious if we'd be ambassadors (his phrasing) for Tanzania once we got back home. We both told him we'd be great ambassadors for the country - which he was happy to hear. This is a picture of our group and all of our amazing guides...which are a big reason we love Tanzania. The guides - from left to right - Issa, Abdulla, Nass, Iddy, and Patrick.
Through the entire hike, there had been little need for all of the med kits (we had 3 among our group). Until about 25 minutes from camp when Karla got a little too caught up in her conversation with Patrick, slipped, and hit her knee on a rock. Well, at least the med kits got used...and she'll have a little scar to remember her trip by.
Once we got down to the Gate, we signed out and waited for Iddy to get our certificates. Little did we know that Tillya, Malisa, and Iddy had a surprise for us. We were told to go behind a row of shrubs...where Adam had set up our table and chairs from the mess tent and had 2 bottles of champagne waiting for us!! It was so cool! We're still not sure if that is a standard for Calabash if all of the hikers summit, but we didn't care. It was so unexpected and so generous - we were ecstatic at being able to share one last moment (or so we thought), a champagne toast, with our guides.
We said our goodbyes and got in the Land Cruiser to head back to Arusha. On our first day with Malisa, he mentioned to us that a local favorite brew was a banana beer. None of us had the nerve to try it before the climb, so said we'd try it after the climb. Malisa remembered that and asked if we wanted to stop for banana beer on the way back. Although we were really tired (and really wanted a shower), we hesitantly agreed. He drove us about 5 minutes to Kibosho (yes, the same village we were at the first day - we didn't know how close we were to the ending gate!) and took us to the bar...where our guides were!
We all tried the banana beer. It felt like college because it was served in huge plastic cups that you passed around and everyone sipped out of. The banana beer was, um, an acquired taste, so we let the locals drink the majority of it while we drank our Kilimanjaro and Serengeti beer. One of the best moments was when Adam came by. He was going to order, but we insisted he sit down so we could serve him. Jeff got him a Coke, set it front of Adam, and opened it for him. He loved it!! After him serving us for 7 days, getting him a Coke was no big deal. He was up before us, asleep after us, and had to deal with us never going to sleep when he told us.
So, our one last moment with our guides was actually in a bar in Kibosho having a celebratory beer. Perfect ending to a great hike.
On the drive back to Arusha, Malisa commented on the fact that we were all smiling and laughing. Apparently some of the groups he picks up are the complete opposite - miserable, grumpy, tired, etc. Yes, we were tired, but we were having the time of our lives.
When we got to the Arusha Hotel, we all took really long showers and rested for a bit. Tillya came by to congratulate us and tell us the plans for the rest of the trip. Then we met at the hotel restaurant for our celebratory dinner and drinks.
Our last day on the mountain. After breakfast, the guides and porters sang us a song. We call it the "Kilimanjaro Song", but it's really a song that almost everyone in Tanzania knows. You can adapt the lyrics to wherever you are. It was great to see everyone singing and dancing. A great treat for the last day.
The trail to the Mweka Gate was the nicest one of the entire trip. The last 30 minutes were basically on a gravel road. Matt and Karla walked most of it with Patrick. He was curious if we'd be ambassadors (his phrasing) for Tanzania once we got back home. We both told him we'd be great ambassadors for the country - which he was happy to hear. This is a picture of our group and all of our amazing guides...which are a big reason we love Tanzania. The guides - from left to right - Issa, Abdulla, Nass, Iddy, and Patrick.
Through the entire hike, there had been little need for all of the med kits (we had 3 among our group). Until about 25 minutes from camp when Karla got a little too caught up in her conversation with Patrick, slipped, and hit her knee on a rock. Well, at least the med kits got used...and she'll have a little scar to remember her trip by.
Once we got down to the Gate, we signed out and waited for Iddy to get our certificates. Little did we know that Tillya, Malisa, and Iddy had a surprise for us. We were told to go behind a row of shrubs...where Adam had set up our table and chairs from the mess tent and had 2 bottles of champagne waiting for us!! It was so cool! We're still not sure if that is a standard for Calabash if all of the hikers summit, but we didn't care. It was so unexpected and so generous - we were ecstatic at being able to share one last moment (or so we thought), a champagne toast, with our guides.
We said our goodbyes and got in the Land Cruiser to head back to Arusha. On our first day with Malisa, he mentioned to us that a local favorite brew was a banana beer. None of us had the nerve to try it before the climb, so said we'd try it after the climb. Malisa remembered that and asked if we wanted to stop for banana beer on the way back. Although we were really tired (and really wanted a shower), we hesitantly agreed. He drove us about 5 minutes to Kibosho (yes, the same village we were at the first day - we didn't know how close we were to the ending gate!) and took us to the bar...where our guides were!
We all tried the banana beer. It felt like college because it was served in huge plastic cups that you passed around and everyone sipped out of. The banana beer was, um, an acquired taste, so we let the locals drink the majority of it while we drank our Kilimanjaro and Serengeti beer. One of the best moments was when Adam came by. He was going to order, but we insisted he sit down so we could serve him. Jeff got him a Coke, set it front of Adam, and opened it for him. He loved it!! After him serving us for 7 days, getting him a Coke was no big deal. He was up before us, asleep after us, and had to deal with us never going to sleep when he told us.
So, our one last moment with our guides was actually in a bar in Kibosho having a celebratory beer. Perfect ending to a great hike.
On the drive back to Arusha, Malisa commented on the fact that we were all smiling and laughing. Apparently some of the groups he picks up are the complete opposite - miserable, grumpy, tired, etc. Yes, we were tired, but we were having the time of our lives.
When we got to the Arusha Hotel, we all took really long showers and rested for a bit. Tillya came by to congratulate us and tell us the plans for the rest of the trip. Then we met at the hotel restaurant for our celebratory dinner and drinks.
Tanzania - Day 6 of Kili Hike
Barafu Camp (15,295 ft) to Uhuru Peak (19,341 ft) Distance: ~3 miles
Uhuru Peak (19,341 ft) to Mweka Camp (10,190 ft) Distance: ~7 miles
Adam woke us all up at 11pm. After having hot tea and biscuits, we had a gear check and were on our way. We had a one-to-one guide/hiker ratio - Iddy, Issa, Nass, Abdulla and Patrick were all with us. Patrick was the only one carrying a backpack - which contained the guides gear, a thermos with hot tea, and glasses. We assumed the rest didn't carry anything in case they had to take one of our backpacks.
We started out almost right at midnight. It was a full moon and a clear night, so we could see almost the whole way up at any time, but really we had our heads down and focused on the feet in front of us. The first part was the steepest - having to use our hands at some points. Other than that, it was just us, our headlamps, and staring at the feet in front of you. There was a little chatter, but mostly everyone was just concentrating on their breathing. As the air thinned out, it was really easy to get out of breath and getting harder and harder to catch your breath.
Although it seemed like we were going really slow (maybe 0.5 mph), we caught up to and passed quite a few groups. We were one of the fastest turtles on the mountain! During rests, Patrick would hand out hot tea, which tasted good. We weren't allowed to stop for very long though because you got cold really fast if you weren't moving.
About an hour into the hike (it might have been three hours, time was hard tell during the first 5 hours), Karla gave her backpack to Issa. All she had in it was water, but 4 liters of water is heavy! She felt much better and was able to stabilize her breathing easier carrying less weight. Issa didn't seem to mind a backpack - he's a rockstar and probably the reason Karla made the summit! (She might have made it carrying the backpack, but definitely not as fast and would have been miserable.)
Matt really started to feel the altitude after about 4.5 hours. He had a headache and was nauseous. Once we got to Stella Point (18,848 ft) around 5:30am, Nass told him to take a longer rest than the others. Karla wasn't excited about leaving Matt behind, but we made a pact beforehand that if one person couldn't make it, the other one was supposed to go on. Karla and the other 3 started out for Uhuru Peak while Matt took a longer breather with Nass.
With the hardest part behind them, the stretch from Stella Point to Uhuru seemed to go by fast even though it was probably an hour. When the big sign at Uhuru Peak came into view, the guides started dancing and singing. It was quite inspirational and made the last 5 minutes go by fast!
Once at the peak (around 6:30am), we all took a moment to take in the view...the sun rising over the clouds...the glaciers...it was all breathtaking. Everyone was taking pictures and hugging and high fiving. All had scattered about the peak to take pictures and were getting together to get a picture taken in front of the sign when Matt appeared - woo hoo! He was only 10 minutes behind everyone else. At Stella Point, Nass had Matt tell him his symptoms. Nass determined that while Matt wasn't feeling well, it wasn't bad enough to send him down, so they started toward the peak together. It does flatten out so Matt didn't lose much time and was able to join everyone at the peak. We got our group picture taken at the peak - all 5 of us - just as it was meant to be.
After getting a group picture, the guides wanted to get us off the peak as soon as possible. Especially Matt. The best cure for altitude sickness is to descend. The descent trail from Uhuru to Barafu was interesting. It was a lot of scree, so you sort of walk/slide down it. Issa held Karla's hand and helped her glide down. It reminded her for roller skating growing up, so she kept calling it a couple's skate.
The descent to Barafu took about 2.5 to 3 hours -with all of us getting there by 9am. Once there, we crawled into our tents and had a good two hour nap. Adam then woke us up and asked us to get packed up. After packing, we had lunch and then were hiking again down to Mweka Camp. Matt's altitude sickness went away once we got under 13,500 feet or so.
Our knees and hamstrings were complaining quite loudly by the time we got to Mweka Camp. 9,000 feet is a long way to descend in one day! The camp itself helped us forget the tiredness because it was so pretty. We were back in the rainforest, so lots of trees, thicker air, and a joyous feeling since we all had made it to the summit! Oh, and we had our toilet tent back - it's the little things like a toilet tent that make you happy while on the mountain.
Uhuru Peak (19,341 ft) to Mweka Camp (10,190 ft) Distance: ~7 miles
Adam woke us all up at 11pm. After having hot tea and biscuits, we had a gear check and were on our way. We had a one-to-one guide/hiker ratio - Iddy, Issa, Nass, Abdulla and Patrick were all with us. Patrick was the only one carrying a backpack - which contained the guides gear, a thermos with hot tea, and glasses. We assumed the rest didn't carry anything in case they had to take one of our backpacks.
We started out almost right at midnight. It was a full moon and a clear night, so we could see almost the whole way up at any time, but really we had our heads down and focused on the feet in front of us. The first part was the steepest - having to use our hands at some points. Other than that, it was just us, our headlamps, and staring at the feet in front of you. There was a little chatter, but mostly everyone was just concentrating on their breathing. As the air thinned out, it was really easy to get out of breath and getting harder and harder to catch your breath.
Although it seemed like we were going really slow (maybe 0.5 mph), we caught up to and passed quite a few groups. We were one of the fastest turtles on the mountain! During rests, Patrick would hand out hot tea, which tasted good. We weren't allowed to stop for very long though because you got cold really fast if you weren't moving.
About an hour into the hike (it might have been three hours, time was hard tell during the first 5 hours), Karla gave her backpack to Issa. All she had in it was water, but 4 liters of water is heavy! She felt much better and was able to stabilize her breathing easier carrying less weight. Issa didn't seem to mind a backpack - he's a rockstar and probably the reason Karla made the summit! (She might have made it carrying the backpack, but definitely not as fast and would have been miserable.)
Matt really started to feel the altitude after about 4.5 hours. He had a headache and was nauseous. Once we got to Stella Point (18,848 ft) around 5:30am, Nass told him to take a longer rest than the others. Karla wasn't excited about leaving Matt behind, but we made a pact beforehand that if one person couldn't make it, the other one was supposed to go on. Karla and the other 3 started out for Uhuru Peak while Matt took a longer breather with Nass.
With the hardest part behind them, the stretch from Stella Point to Uhuru seemed to go by fast even though it was probably an hour. When the big sign at Uhuru Peak came into view, the guides started dancing and singing. It was quite inspirational and made the last 5 minutes go by fast!
Once at the peak (around 6:30am), we all took a moment to take in the view...the sun rising over the clouds...the glaciers...it was all breathtaking. Everyone was taking pictures and hugging and high fiving. All had scattered about the peak to take pictures and were getting together to get a picture taken in front of the sign when Matt appeared - woo hoo! He was only 10 minutes behind everyone else. At Stella Point, Nass had Matt tell him his symptoms. Nass determined that while Matt wasn't feeling well, it wasn't bad enough to send him down, so they started toward the peak together. It does flatten out so Matt didn't lose much time and was able to join everyone at the peak. We got our group picture taken at the peak - all 5 of us - just as it was meant to be.
After getting a group picture, the guides wanted to get us off the peak as soon as possible. Especially Matt. The best cure for altitude sickness is to descend. The descent trail from Uhuru to Barafu was interesting. It was a lot of scree, so you sort of walk/slide down it. Issa held Karla's hand and helped her glide down. It reminded her for roller skating growing up, so she kept calling it a couple's skate.
The descent to Barafu took about 2.5 to 3 hours -with all of us getting there by 9am. Once there, we crawled into our tents and had a good two hour nap. Adam then woke us up and asked us to get packed up. After packing, we had lunch and then were hiking again down to Mweka Camp. Matt's altitude sickness went away once we got under 13,500 feet or so.
Our knees and hamstrings were complaining quite loudly by the time we got to Mweka Camp. 9,000 feet is a long way to descend in one day! The camp itself helped us forget the tiredness because it was so pretty. We were back in the rainforest, so lots of trees, thicker air, and a joyous feeling since we all had made it to the summit! Oh, and we had our toilet tent back - it's the little things like a toilet tent that make you happy while on the mountain.
Tanzania - Day 5 of Kili Hike
Karanga Valley Camp (13,235 ft) to Barafu Camp (15,295 ft) Distance: ~2 miles
This was the shortest day of them all, which was good because that night is when we being our summit attempt. The landscape of the hike is barren. Sort of like a rocky desert at an altitude of 15,000 feet. As we walk into camp, we see people descending and none of them are smiling. It would worry us, but we decided that no matter what, we'll smile if only to encourage the people who are coming up. :)
We had another hot lunch and then were told by Adam to take a nap. You're at 15,000 feet, you're excited about summit night, it's broad daylight, and there is a flurry of activity going on around you as tents are getting taken down by people coming off the summit and replace right away by people just arriving at camp. None of us really got any napping done. Maybe closed our eyes and rested, but it's hard to sleep in those conditions.
After dinner, we got our gear ready for summit night and watched an amazing sunset. With knowing we were going to have Adam waking us up at 11pm, we tried to sleep as best we could.
(if you're squeamish about toilet activites, skip this paragraph)
Since this camp isn't near a water source, our toilet tent is skipping this camp and going straight to the Mweka Camp. Yes, we missed the toilet tent. Although the Barafu camp apparently got new toilets not too long ago, they are still pit toilets and smelled like you were sitting in the pit instead of hovering above it. They were, in a word, disgusting. Our tents were luckily on the edge of camp, right by a cliff. Needless to say, all of us at some point in the evening/night used an outside toilet with a great view. You just had to make sure you didn't step too far and go over the cliff.
This was the shortest day of them all, which was good because that night is when we being our summit attempt. The landscape of the hike is barren. Sort of like a rocky desert at an altitude of 15,000 feet. As we walk into camp, we see people descending and none of them are smiling. It would worry us, but we decided that no matter what, we'll smile if only to encourage the people who are coming up. :)
We had another hot lunch and then were told by Adam to take a nap. You're at 15,000 feet, you're excited about summit night, it's broad daylight, and there is a flurry of activity going on around you as tents are getting taken down by people coming off the summit and replace right away by people just arriving at camp. None of us really got any napping done. Maybe closed our eyes and rested, but it's hard to sleep in those conditions.
After dinner, we got our gear ready for summit night and watched an amazing sunset. With knowing we were going to have Adam waking us up at 11pm, we tried to sleep as best we could.
Since this camp isn't near a water source, our toilet tent is skipping this camp and going straight to the Mweka Camp. Yes, we missed the toilet tent. Although the Barafu camp apparently got new toilets not too long ago, they are still pit toilets and smelled like you were sitting in the pit instead of hovering above it. They were, in a word, disgusting. Our tents were luckily on the edge of camp, right by a cliff. Needless to say, all of us at some point in the evening/night used an outside toilet with a great view. You just had to make sure you didn't step too far and go over the cliff.
Tanzania - Day 4 of Kili Hike
Barranco Huts (13,077 ft) to Karanga Valley Camp (13,235 ft) Distance: ~3 miles
If we had to do another part of the hike over (other than the thrill of summit night), both Matt and I would climb the Barranco Wall again and again. We needed our hands and feet to navigate part of the wall, but since we both like rock climbing, it made the hike that much more fun. The craziest part of it all was seeing the line of hikers, porter, and guides making their way up the wall.
We had all hands on deck of this part of the hike for the simple fact they needed to direct traffic! Issa and Patrick were acting like traffic cops while Iddy, Nass, and Abdulla made sure our group stayed together. The porters always walk faster than the hikers so they can get to camp first and set everything up, so if we didn't have our traffic cops, the line of porters (not just ours, everyone who camped that morning) would have lasted forever. Issa and Patrick would stop the porters and let us hikers break in so we could get moving too.
There are parts of the wall where you are slipping between rocks or pulling yourself up to the next rock. I'm not sure how the porters do that with 30 pounds of gear on their shoulders! They really are the hardest working people on the mountain.
It took us about an hour and a half to get to the top of the wall. That includes about 10-15 minutes of just waiting while everyone made their way through the bottleneck portions. It was such a great view from the top - sunny and clear so you could see the farm fields at the base of Kili.
The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. Although, it was determined that the Karanga Valley Camp is misnamed. It's not in the valley. It's on the other side of the valley so you have to go down one side and up the other to get to the camp.
This was the first time we had a short enough hike that we got to have a warm lunch in the mess tent (as opposed to a box lunch on the trail). The cook made fried chicken (a staple - we had that almost every meal) and french fries. We haven't commented much on food, but we destroyed the french fries. Finally, a taste that was familiar!! Overall, we had no complaints about the food. Well, Matt wasn't a fan of the porridge in the morning, but if that's the biggest complaint, we'll call the food a success.
After lunch, we had time to just hang out, nap, write in journals, chat with the guides/porters, etc. After a few hours, Nass and Patrick took us on a acclimatization hike. We went about 500 feet up the next day's trail. Once there, we took 15 minutes to build a structure out of the rocks (sort of like a cairn). We named ours Corner Tower after Nas. If you ever asked Nas how far it was to the next camp, he'd say something about it being just around the corner. But we never knew what corner he was talking about - there are a lot of corners, we didn't know which was THE corner. This is how we learned that guides lie (in a funny way, not a dishonest way). They don't want to discourage you, so their estimates of how far something is can be pretty far off to the actual distance. It became a running joke the entire hike.
This is Issa and Corner Tower
If we had to do another part of the hike over (other than the thrill of summit night), both Matt and I would climb the Barranco Wall again and again. We needed our hands and feet to navigate part of the wall, but since we both like rock climbing, it made the hike that much more fun. The craziest part of it all was seeing the line of hikers, porter, and guides making their way up the wall.
There are parts of the wall where you are slipping between rocks or pulling yourself up to the next rock. I'm not sure how the porters do that with 30 pounds of gear on their shoulders! They really are the hardest working people on the mountain.
The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. Although, it was determined that the Karanga Valley Camp is misnamed. It's not in the valley. It's on the other side of the valley so you have to go down one side and up the other to get to the camp.
This was the first time we had a short enough hike that we got to have a warm lunch in the mess tent (as opposed to a box lunch on the trail). The cook made fried chicken (a staple - we had that almost every meal) and french fries. We haven't commented much on food, but we destroyed the french fries. Finally, a taste that was familiar!! Overall, we had no complaints about the food. Well, Matt wasn't a fan of the porridge in the morning, but if that's the biggest complaint, we'll call the food a success.
After lunch, we had time to just hang out, nap, write in journals, chat with the guides/porters, etc. After a few hours, Nass and Patrick took us on a acclimatization hike. We went about 500 feet up the next day's trail. Once there, we took 15 minutes to build a structure out of the rocks (sort of like a cairn). We named ours Corner Tower after Nas. If you ever asked Nas how far it was to the next camp, he'd say something about it being just around the corner. But we never knew what corner he was talking about - there are a lot of corners, we didn't know which was THE corner. This is how we learned that guides lie (in a funny way, not a dishonest way). They don't want to discourage you, so their estimates of how far something is can be pretty far off to the actual distance. It became a running joke the entire hike.
This is Issa and Corner Tower
Tanzania - Day 3 of Kili Hike
Shira II (12,779 ft) to Barranco Huts (13,077 ft) via Lava Tower (15,180 ft) Distance: ~6 miles
Today was a fun day - good weather, great scenery, great conversation with our guides. When we woke up in the morning we got great views of the Shira Cathedra, a ridge of the mountain with Mt. Meru in the background, and on the other side a great sunrise view of the Kili peak. We hiked from the Shira II to Lava Tower, where we had lunch. Then down to the Barranco Camp. It was a good acclimatization day because we hiked high and slept low. It was also the day where we hiked higher than any of us have ever hiked before. We have all done 14ers in Colorado, but none were as high as Lava Tower.
We didn't get to actually climb Lava Tower. They used to let people go, but then deemed it unsafe. You can still climb if you sign a form acknowledging the risks, but our guides said that it was a really bad idea so we all deferred. Actually, it really wasn't a decision because no one was willing to risk getting injured!
On the way down to the camp we passed some great vegetation in the form of really tall cactus things. When it started to mist we got some great shots.
This is where our route (Lemosho) met up with a few other routes, including the most popular ones. From here on out, we knew the trails would be more crowded. It was fun having the trails basically to ourselves for a few days!
The campsite is at the base of the Barranco wall. It looked a little intimidating - 800 feet almost straight up! However, it was fun to camp there and have a clear idea of what to expect the next day.
We didn't get to actually climb Lava Tower. They used to let people go, but then deemed it unsafe. You can still climb if you sign a form acknowledging the risks, but our guides said that it was a really bad idea so we all deferred. Actually, it really wasn't a decision because no one was willing to risk getting injured!
On the way down to the camp we passed some great vegetation in the form of really tall cactus things. When it started to mist we got some great shots.
This is where our route (Lemosho) met up with a few other routes, including the most popular ones. From here on out, we knew the trails would be more crowded. It was fun having the trails basically to ourselves for a few days!
The campsite is at the base of the Barranco wall. It looked a little intimidating - 800 feet almost straight up! However, it was fun to camp there and have a clear idea of what to expect the next day.
Tanzania - Day 2 of Kili Hike
Mti Mkubwa/Big Tree camp (9,137 ft) to Shira II (12,779 ft) Distance: ~9 miles
Today was a long day, but one that kept us interested because of the changing landscape. We started out in the rainforest, then emerged onto the Shira plateau which sort of looked like the landscape of Arizona.
Since we had 9 miles of quality time together, it was also a great day to really get to know our guides. Iddy was the head guide. Issa and Nass were the two assistant guides we spent the most time with. Abdulla was another assistant guide, but didn't talk much and seemed to be handling the porters most of the time. (Although, when he was needed - Barranco Wall, summit night, he was there for us!) Patrick is a porter/guide. He has the responsibility of a porter (although I think he was carrying food because as the days went on, his load was lighter), but had gone through guide school so spent a good amount of time with us too.
Issa is a soccer fan so talked a lot of soccer with Matt. Nas is a rap fan so we nicknamed him Long Legs Nass (shortened to LL Cool Nass) because he is really tall and Karla took two steps to his one. Patrick was really friendly and was very interested to know what we thought of Tanzania. We learned a lot about Tanzanian history from all of our guides - they were all very excited to share their backgrounds with us and were also very curious about our experiences in the US.
We stopped at Shira 1 for lunch. Karla would have loved to stay there since today was a hard day of hiking for her. She hadn't slept well since arriving in Africa and another 3 hours of hiking after lunch did not sound like fun. However, that obviously wasn't an options since our tents were at Shira 2, so we all powered on. It was also important to point out that our guides said it was only an hour and a half to 2 hours from shira 1 to shira 2.
About an hour from camp, it started to rain so we all got to try out our rain gear. Luckily, it all worked and we kept dry. :) We arrived and camp and were thankful the porters got everything set up in time to throw our bags in the tents so they were kept dry too.
We were all exhausted from a long day, so it was dinner and then bedtime. Although, one thing happened at dinner that lightened our exhausted spirits. There was a tent beside our mess tent from another group/company. We were chatting during dinner and suddenly heard odd sounds coming from that other tent. The people in it were watching an, um, adult movie (if you get our drift). Really? How does that factor into your packing? Hiking books? Check. Sleeping bag? Check. Rain gear? Check. Loading adult movies onto your ipad??? Seriously?? We got a really good laugh out of that one!
Today was a long day, but one that kept us interested because of the changing landscape. We started out in the rainforest, then emerged onto the Shira plateau which sort of looked like the landscape of Arizona.
Issa is a soccer fan so talked a lot of soccer with Matt. Nas is a rap fan so we nicknamed him Long Legs Nass (shortened to LL Cool Nass) because he is really tall and Karla took two steps to his one. Patrick was really friendly and was very interested to know what we thought of Tanzania. We learned a lot about Tanzanian history from all of our guides - they were all very excited to share their backgrounds with us and were also very curious about our experiences in the US.
About an hour from camp, it started to rain so we all got to try out our rain gear. Luckily, it all worked and we kept dry. :) We arrived and camp and were thankful the porters got everything set up in time to throw our bags in the tents so they were kept dry too.
We were all exhausted from a long day, so it was dinner and then bedtime. Although, one thing happened at dinner that lightened our exhausted spirits. There was a tent beside our mess tent from another group/company. We were chatting during dinner and suddenly heard odd sounds coming from that other tent. The people in it were watching an, um, adult movie (if you get our drift). Really? How does that factor into your packing? Hiking books? Check. Sleeping bag? Check. Rain gear? Check. Loading adult movies onto your ipad??? Seriously?? We got a really good laugh out of that one!
Tanzania - Day 1 of Kili Hike
Londorossi Gate (7,838 ft) to Mkubwa/Big Tree Camp (9,137 ft) Distance: ~3 miles
Malisa picked us up at the hotel at 8am to head to the Londorossi Gate where we met with our entire group of guides and porters (23 in all). There is a limit on how much each porter can carry so everything we brought on the trip was carefully weighed. We also signed in for the first time - it made the start of the climb official!
From the Londorossi Gate, we actually drove to the trailhead. The last 10 minutes of the drive might have been the most exciting part of the day. It had rained the night before so the road was muddy and really just made up of two ruts that Malisa kept the tires in. The small van with the porters made it as far as it could, but had to stop a good 20-30 minutes behind us. Once they were done, Iddy jumped in with us to try to get us as close to the trailhead as possible. The rest of the guides and porters would have to walk the remaining distance. We later learned that after Malisa dropped us off, he went back and helped shuttle gear and porters up to where we stopped. Iddy commented that not every company/driver would do that - so bonus points to Calabash and Malisa for taking care of our porters!
Every once in a while, the tires would slip and the Land Cruiser would be rammed into the side of the road. Apparently this wasn't an issue because Malisa just kept on driving. There was one point where we all thought we were done - after three tries on the left side of the road, we just couldn't get through. Malisa and Iddy got out and assessed the right side. Malisa got back in, told us to close the windows (so we didn't get mud splattered everywhere), and drove through an enormous mud puddle. It was so fun - we were all cheering him on!
We eventually made it to a mud puddle we couldn't get through, so that designated the start of our hike! We had a boxed lunch at our makeshift trailhead while waiting for some of the assistant guides to catch up since Iddy needed to stay behind to get the porters and gear organized. Nass and Issa were the two assistant guides that led us on the first day.
Once we got underway, we discovered that we were only a 5 minute walk from the real trailhead, so there wasn't much distance added to our hike. This hike took us just under 3 hours. We stopped a lot to take pictures and even saw a monkey! There were parts of the trail that was quite steep, so we were able to make sure all of our limbs were in working order and ready to take on Mt. Kilimanjaro. :)
Once we got to camp, we found our tents and met Adam. He was our server for the week - responsible for getting us up in the morning, bringing us a bowl of hot water every morning and night, served our food, telling us when we should go to bed, etc. After a long hike, a bowl of hot water to wash your hands and face feels like quite a luxury!
Another luxury we must mention is our toilet tent. It was a tent, maybe 4' x 4', with a toilet in it. The best way we've figured to describe the toilet is an adult sized training potty (like what you'd use to potty train a toddler). It was equipped with a small reservoir of water so you could "flush". Yes, we paid extra to have it so we didn't have to use the public pit toilets. Yes, it was totally worth the money (read about the one night we didn't have it in Barafu...oh, we missed our toilet tent that night!). And, yes, the porter responsible for the toilet tent and emptying out the toilet every morning got a bigger tip.
We talked to Iddy about our next day. Initially we were supposed to go to the Shira I camp, which made Day 2 a shorter day, but made Day 5 long. We discussed the idea of skipping Shira I, going straight to Shira II, and adding an overnight at the Karanga Valley. Iddy was all for this idea - he thought we were nuts to want to stop at Shira I! Having the two days before summit be shorter was a much better idea. So, we went to sleep knowing that the next day was going to be a long one.
Malisa picked us up at the hotel at 8am to head to the Londorossi Gate where we met with our entire group of guides and porters (23 in all). There is a limit on how much each porter can carry so everything we brought on the trip was carefully weighed. We also signed in for the first time - it made the start of the climb official!
From the Londorossi Gate, we actually drove to the trailhead. The last 10 minutes of the drive might have been the most exciting part of the day. It had rained the night before so the road was muddy and really just made up of two ruts that Malisa kept the tires in. The small van with the porters made it as far as it could, but had to stop a good 20-30 minutes behind us. Once they were done, Iddy jumped in with us to try to get us as close to the trailhead as possible. The rest of the guides and porters would have to walk the remaining distance. We later learned that after Malisa dropped us off, he went back and helped shuttle gear and porters up to where we stopped. Iddy commented that not every company/driver would do that - so bonus points to Calabash and Malisa for taking care of our porters!
We eventually made it to a mud puddle we couldn't get through, so that designated the start of our hike! We had a boxed lunch at our makeshift trailhead while waiting for some of the assistant guides to catch up since Iddy needed to stay behind to get the porters and gear organized. Nass and Issa were the two assistant guides that led us on the first day.
Once we got underway, we discovered that we were only a 5 minute walk from the real trailhead, so there wasn't much distance added to our hike. This hike took us just under 3 hours. We stopped a lot to take pictures and even saw a monkey! There were parts of the trail that was quite steep, so we were able to make sure all of our limbs were in working order and ready to take on Mt. Kilimanjaro. :)
Once we got to camp, we found our tents and met Adam. He was our server for the week - responsible for getting us up in the morning, bringing us a bowl of hot water every morning and night, served our food, telling us when we should go to bed, etc. After a long hike, a bowl of hot water to wash your hands and face feels like quite a luxury!
We talked to Iddy about our next day. Initially we were supposed to go to the Shira I camp, which made Day 2 a shorter day, but made Day 5 long. We discussed the idea of skipping Shira I, going straight to Shira II, and adding an overnight at the Karanga Valley. Iddy was all for this idea - he thought we were nuts to want to stop at Shira I! Having the two days before summit be shorter was a much better idea. So, we went to sleep knowing that the next day was going to be a long one.
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