In 2019, I climbed Kilimanjaro for charity. The charity is called Dig Deep and with the money I fundraised I could help them implement the three T's in rural Kanya: Taps, Toilets and Training. To support this good cause and to try something I've never done before, I decided to join the challenge and climb Kilimanjaro, which is with its 5,895 m not only Africa's highest mountain but also the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Here I want to share this extraordinary experience with you.
We climbed the Machame route and therefore started at Machame Gate. We spent the first day climbing through a mild climate surrounded by lush rainforest. The incline was moderate and with increasing altitude the size of the trees around us begun to decrease. We reached camp in the late afternoon. Upon arrival at the camp, we were required to check in at a hut located on the camping ground. With the sun vanishing first behind clouds and eventually behind the horizon it got increasingly cold, so after check-in and dinner we headed straight to our tents and spent our first night on the mountain.
On the mountain one always gets up early. It was a sunny morning and we had a clear view of Kilimanjaro's little brother Mount Meru (4,562 m). It was now steadily going upwards and we moved with a mix of walking and scrambling up the rock. The vegetation kept changing as we moved through the heath into the moorland zone, from smaller trees to mainly bushes and the characteristic giant groundsels. In the afternoon, we reached Shira Cave Camp at 3,750 m. After arrival at the camp, a few of the guides offered to show us Shira Cave and lead us to a higher point from where we had a good overview of the camp site. There were also lots of stone stacks, which can be seen quite often on the mountain. Towards the evening the clouds disappeared and we had a clear view of Kilimanjaro. After dinner, I found myself a comfy rock and watched Mount Meru as it was slowly being engulfed in the light of the setting sun.
We left Shira Cave Camp early in the morning, again with an amazing view of Mount Meru behind us. Then it went up, up, up into the clouds, sometimes quite literally. Always pole, pole, of course - this is Swahili for slowly, slowly and pretty much the first word one learns in this language. This day was all about acclimatization of our bodies to the increasing altitude. Our first stop would therefore be Lava Tower, a massive volcanic rock tower at an altitude of 4,600 m. I was in good spirits and enjoyed the ever decreasing flora around us on our way up there. When we reached Lava Tower Camp, it was the first and luckily only time I really felt the altitude. I was feeling nauseated and barely managed to eat the lunch that had been prepared for us. The whole point of acclimatization is to give the body time to get used to the altitude. Therefore, after lunch we headed back down to lower altitudes. The path we followed allowed for some breathtaking views of the mountain and with decreasing altitude the flora again, too. In the late afternoon, we reached Barranco Camp, framed on one side by the famous Barranco Wall, which we would be tackling the next day.
Upon reaching the top of Barranco Wall, we were literally above the clouds and had a clear view of the top of Kilimanjaro including its few remaining glaciers. After a short break we continued on through the last bit of moorland and slowly crossed into the alpine desert zone. After a foggy section it cleared up again, offering us more breathtaking views that provided us with a glimpse of the sheer vastness of the mountain. In the afternoon, we reached Barafu Camp, our last stop before summit night. Since we were gonna get up and leave in the middle of the night, we didn't lose much time, had food, and went to bed early to get a few hours of sleep before the big day.
Summit night. We left at 1am to head to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. We had split into two smaller groups, a faster and a slower one; I joined the latter. It was freezing cold and the darkness swallowed everything that wasn't within range of our headlamps. The first few hours felt like an eternity. One foot in front of the other, over and over. Finally, in the early morning hours the first sunlight started to warm us and our frozen water supply. Eventually we reached the first milestone, Stella Point. I was the only one in my group who continued on from there, with two champions on my side to guide me. From Stella Point it's another 30 to 60 minutes depending on speed to the summit. The views were amazing and at one point we got close enough to peak into the crater. Finally, the summit was in sight. I had rally made it to the top of the roof of Africa! After a break and taking some pictures, the rest of the day was all about going down. We had to lose quite a bit of altitude after the summit, so it was a longer way down than up in terms of distance, was all about going down. We had to lose quite a bit of altitude after the summit, so it was a longer way down than up in terms of distance, but obviously felt a lot easier than going up. When we reached camp, we got some food and then rested our minds and bodies from this long and strenuous but highly satisfying day.
The last day. After some rest and food in our last camp on the mountain we continued our way down, now again mainly through rainforest. Shortly before we reached the exit gate, we even got to see some monkeys that curiously observed us walking by. At the bottom, we were expected and greated by the charity team and another amazing meal to celebrate our success.