The Eastcott Family Blog: Going Pole Pole – We made it to the Summit!!!

Terminology needed for this blog:

Pole Pole – Very Slowly (pronounced pole-lay, pole-lay)

MAMSL – Meters Above Mean Sea Level

So as you see, we both made it to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Uruhrru Peak, the tallest point in Africa. We summited about 6:25am on Monday June, 13 after a 7ish hour hike up 1200 M (It sits at 5,895 MASL). More about that later, first here is a day by day recap of our Kili Adventure.

Day 1: After meeting with a man named Philip around 10pm Wednesday night (we had just arrived in town), we had our 7 day Kili trek booked and were leaving the next morning at 10:30am on the Machame Route, aka the Whiskey Route. Philip arrived that morning around 10am to drop off some stuff and take us into town. We were both under the impression we would have 1 guide and about 3 porters, instead we had 8 porters so a total team of 11 including the two of us. Porters are the ones that carry all the stuff; tents, bags, food, supplies, etc. We loaded in the van with the team and supplies and hit the road for the Machame Gate, which is about 15 or so minutes out of town. Upon getting there we checked in with the gate, ate a small boxed lunch, paid our park fees, used the last “real” toilet we would see for 5 days and hit the trails. By the time we started hiking it was close to 12:30pm, we made it to our first destination, Machame Hut, at around 6:30pm. That day we went from the gate which sits at about 1,800 MAMSL to about 3,100 MAMSL. We got in to camp, ate some dinner (cucumber soup, potatoes and beef) and hit our sleeping bags.

Day 2: Today we got up around 7am, ate some breakfast, got ready and hit the trails around 8am. Our task for today was to get from Machame Hut to Shira Hut which sits at 3,840 MAMSL. The hike was short in distance but was also very steep in some parts. We made it to camp around 1ish with no problems, got into camp, had a nap and then took a short hike to Shira Cave. Dave started to cough up a little phlegm, but it was not much of an issue at this height. We could have walked longer to Shira Two but decided against it so went back to camp, rested some more, ate some dinner (carrot soup, chicken, rice and green beans) and hit our sleeping bags yet again.

Day 3: We got up again at 7am this morning, ate some breakfast and hit the trails around 8am. The task for Day 3 was to go from Shira Hut to Lava Tower (4,600 MAMSL) and then down to Barranco Hut which sits at 3,950 MAMSL. You go high this day to acclimatize better and then sleep at a lower altitude. The first part of the day was not too bad, just going up in altitude from 3,840 MAMSL to 4,600 MAMSL. This was the point that we started to get into cloud territory, which are actually pretty cold when you stand in them. We got to Lava Tower, ate some lunch and then headed back down to Barranco Hut. We got into Barranco Hut after about a two hour walk and went straight into our tent for dinner (leek soup and pasta with vegetable sauce) and sleep. The next day would be the longest two hikes.

Day 4: Today started early again around 7am and flowed into Day 5. Tasks included going from Barranco Hut to Karangra Camp and then on to Barafu Camp. Our first task was battling the Barranco Wall, the cliff opposite our camp. It took about an hour to get up the cliff face and then it was somewhat smooth sailing from there to Karagra Camp. We got into Karanga around 11am, ate some lunch (fried chicken and French fries) and then started our next part of the hike to Barafu Camp. We got into Barafu around 3pm and hit our sleeping bags. They gave us dinner (pasta with meat sauce) around 5pm and then we got as much sleep as we could since we would bewaking up to start our summit at midnight.

Day 5: Part 1 - Today's task: Make it to Uruhu Peak and back down. Our guide woke us up around 11pm (on Day 4) to get us ready to go. We got up, had some energy bars, opened some hand warmers,and bundled in warm clothes for the long 6-7 hour hike ahead of us in freezing temperatures. We went from 4,600 MAMSL to 5,892 MAMSL in one very steep climb lasting the entire night. After many stops for water, breaths and to regain energy we had made it to Stella Point which sits at 5,756 MAMSL. We got into Stella Point around 5:30am, had a short break and started hiking the last hour to get to Uruhu Peak. The hike to the peak isn’t nearly as steep, but at 5,800 MAMSL you have to go very Pole Pole. At around 6:25am we had made it to the tallest point in all of Africa! We were at Uruhu Peak. It was such an amazing feeling to know we had made it. Just at the right time too also as the sun was rising above the clouds.

Day 5: Part 2 – The next part of our day would be going back down the way we came (in the light this time) and then heading down to Mweka Camp where we would stay for the night. It should have taken about 2 ½ hours to descend the same route it just took us 7 hours to climb, however it ended up taking us about 4 hours. Dave was having horrible coughing spouts and was very short of breath as soon as we started descending. We made it to Barafu Camp (where we had stayed the night before) after about 4 hours to rest in the tent before the next part of our day. After a nap Dave was not getting any better and was still having horrible coughing spouts. We decided to go ahead and descend further to get out of the higher altitude to see if that helped any (Mwaca camp sits at 3,100 MAMSL). Since Dave was still sick it was still slow moving and we had about a 3 hour hike ahead of us walking a normal pace. After about 1 ½ hours we were still many hours away from High Camp which is a stop before Mweka Camp. At that point Dave realized that he wasn’t getting any better with the lower altitude and agreed to be rescued off the mountain. However we still needed to get to High Camp first so our guide and assistant guide got on each side of him so we could pick up the pace and get there sooner. About an hour later we made it to High Camp and got Dave registered for the “Kilimanjaro Taxi” aka a metal stretcher with a unicycle wheel on the bottom and five to six guys driving it. After Dave got strapped in, Lisa and the guide ran ahead to make it to Mweka Camp before Dave got there so we could sign in. The Kilimanjaro Taxi eventually made it to Mweka Camp and Dave was still not doing good so we continued down to the point where an emergency vehicle could meet us. The guys took off with the stretcher and Lisa ran behind with the guide again. It took about 2 hours to get to the point to meet the car and about an hour of that was in the dark after the sun went down. We eventually made it to the car around 8pm. It had been a long day as we had summited just 14 hours before. We crammed the 13 of us into one emergency vehicle and we headed to the main gate. We stopped and dropped off a few porters, Lisa signed us out of the park, we got our certificates and we were on our way once again. After a few more stops to drop off some more porters and pick up the drivers girlfriend we finally made it to the Kilimanjaro Hospital and got checked in to see a doctor. Turns out Dave had fluid on his trachea and somewhat of a lung infection (and Lisa got a huge blister from running, which Dave kindly popped for her the next day). He got some antibiotics and a few other medications and we were on our way back to the hostel. We tipped our porters and guide, caught a taxi to Twiga Home, got settled in, each had a nice long shower and went to bed. Our adventure had ended.

Overall it was an amazing experience but also something we both agree we will never do again.