Malcolm's Kilimanjaro Climb

At the end of September 2011 Dotcom Walker Malcolm set off for Kenya to fulfil a long held ambition to climb Africa's highest mountain. Below we publish his account of that epic feat.

Climbing Kilimanjaro!

Why did I do it?

The idea had been with me for quite some time. About 10 or maybe 12 years ago I was asked at work to sponsor someone who was going to climb the mountain & I wondered why I hadn't done something like that when I was younger & a good bit more fit. It sounded so different -
there was this massive mountain sitting almost on the equator surrounded by zebras & elephants & going from the tropical heat through forest savannah & moorland up to arctic snows & glaciers. I would certainly love to see it - & maybe climb it.

The classic view of Kilimanjaro.


The idea faded of course. It was an expensivetrip, there is a strong possibility of getting altitude sickness, there was the whole rest of the world to see & it would be very hard work. The idea
didn't quite die, however, & with work finished, & fitness improving (thanks to dot.com walking),&an impressive trip to southern Africa in 2009 it kept coming back. I still hesitated, I wasn't sure about the camping, even less sure about tent sharing, but some ideas refuse to go away, so still daunted I decided last autumn to go for it.

Was it the right decision? Yes, most definitely.



 

Was it difficult? No, Easier than some Thursday walks.



 

Was it comfortable?  Not always. Freezing at nights, needing to sleep in a fleece & woolly hat.



 

Was altitude a problem? No. My doctor had recommended Diamox pills & apart from feeling a bit dizzy once or twice I was fine. Pill-less companions fared much worse although the guide's oxygen cylinder didn't have to be used.



 

How was it different?
New things to think about. Do you put on sun screen before insect repellent? Did you take the malaria pill, are the strange pins & needles in my fingers a problem or a routine side effect, have I got enough water, where did I put the sun glasses?



 

How wasthe Landscape different? After the forest there are some strange plants & once over 12,000' there is no real soil & you are walking through old lava fields & on fine volcanic dust with impressive rock scenery.

 

How big was the party? 11 climbers (or tourists), 4 mountain guides, 2 cooks, 2 camp workers (1 for the toilet tent - we had a chemical loo) 32 porters. Each day porters would be passing us with all the tents food & other gear going much faster than we were, with the friendly swahilli greeting - Jambo! - or to me - Jambo Baboo! - which means Hello Grandad!

 
What about the final climb?   After a couple of hours sleep we got up at 10pm. We put on all our warm arctic gear & started to climb about 11.0 aiming to arrive at the summit for sunrise. It was very cold so the ground beneath us was firmer which was good but it was also too cold to stop for very long so the guide intended to rest only after an hour or a little longer if possible. He set off at a very slow pace but then it was a very steep slope.  First hour was no problem, I felt a little dizzy shortly after but rested, took a guide's advice & began to plod on a bit more slowly. At the next rest one lady was ill & gave up & was taken down by a guide. Others were also slowing down & not exactly enjoying it. I kept plodding on, it was still very steep, the moon which lies sideways here had gone down, but the big bulk of the mountain didn't seem much closer. Those hard Thursdays were worth it though, I was comfortable with the guide's pace & rhythm & by the next brief stop I was right behind him & stayed there until, after a five hour slog, we made it to the rim of the crater at 5.30.

From here it was level walking for about half a mile across the snowy crater to the summit - Uhuru Peak. The deep snowy crater was to our right, a high blue glacier to our left, & signs of dawn away to the east. Soon after, I realised I was going to get there, after all the doubts about the money, the altitude, the fitness & I was happy, no, elated & a little bit overcome.

Then it was time to look down at the sunrise & take some quick pictures. This is not easy as the altitude plays havoc with camera.

 
Uhuru Peak on Kibo, Kilimanjro. 5895m. 19,340'

Much too soon the guides were encouraging us to move off again & it was a little disappointing not to have more time to check out the crater. However, one of our party was far from well & began to experience double vision, so I didn't have very long at the top of Africa before we were hurried down, although I did linger long enough to get a few more pictures.



 

The descent.  It was very slow & in the daylight we got a real appreciation of the steepness of the climb & also how soft the ground was now the night time frost had gone. Each of our four guides were pre-occupied with people who were not too well & the rest of us found our way slowly back to the camp at about 10.30. We were looking forward to a long rest but soon breakfast or maybe lunch was served & then we learnt that they wanted to get us further down the mountain quickly.

 

 

An hour later we were moving again for the 8K descent to the Mweka camp, this wasn't too much fun, particularly the last hour in warm forest & it was ironic to find it less comfortable walking through the humid trees than at any point on the 6 day climb.

 

 

Kili Mal Jaro!

MMC.22.10.11