Day 1: Trek to Simba Camp
Day 2: Trek to Third Cave
Day 2: Trek to Third Camp
Day 2: Trek to Third Cave
Day 3: Acclimatisation Day
Day 3: Acclimatisation Day
Day 4: Trek to Kibo (Base Camp)
Day 4: Trek to Kibo (Base Camp)
Day 4: At Kibo (Base Camp)
Day 4: At Kibo (Base Camp)
Day 5: Summit
Day 5: Summit
Day 6: Descend
Hi Everyone!
I can't believe how long it's taken to me to write this post but I'm so excited that I finally did because climbing Mount Kilimanjaro has to be one of the most amazing experiences I've had till date. There were moments where I was worried that I wouldn't make it all the way to the top or get altitude sickness but the team we climbed with made sure to get rid of all that anxiety. Out of all the companies we looked at, we decided to go on this climb with Tro-Peaks Adventures and I thought they did an incredible job. I highly recommend them to whoever is planning on climbing. The team they sent with us was absolutely fantastic. The camp site was always set up before we came, the food was excellent and the guides were extremely experienced. Im general, they all made us feel so comfortable that I sometimes forgot that I was on the middle of a mountain.
We went in July which is the dry season and the route we decided to take was the Rongai Route. I was glad we didn't end up taking the Marangu Route since there you back down the same way you climb up the mountain. The Rongai Route in my opinion was a much better climb as there weren't as many rocks and boulders everywhere. It took us 4 days to get up to the base camp out of which we used one of days to acclimatise to the altitude as none of had ever trekked up that high before. The entire climb, they make you ascend slowly or as they say "pole-pole" so that you're continuously adapting to the altitude. With the pace that you walk at and the help of diamox, you almost don't realise how high up you really are. I didn't find the climb till basecamp difficult the next two days however, we're the complete opposite.
Usually for the summit, you start around midnight so that you could be at the peak to watch the sunrise. We however, decided to start at 4AM to make sure that we were only going to be in the cold for 2 hours. There were a lot of people that actually didn't make it to the top because they found it too cold to be out for so long until sunrise. It was between -15 and -20 degrees celsius and therefore had to wear about 4-5 layers of clothes while climbing. The climb to Giliman's Point was the hardest part about the summit. It's the steepest till there and it involves climbing up a bunch of boulders towards the top. From Giliman's Point to Uhuru Peak, it's relatively easier. There were moments in between I almost gave up cause I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it back down but after getting a lot of motivation, I finally made it to the peak and I was honestly so glad I did. I don't think I would've been able to live with myself if I hadn't made it. Coming down, I actually did a feel a bit light headed and had mild altitude sickness so had to be rushed down to base camp as fast as possible. Since we summited so late in the day, we weren't able to make it down to the camps we were initially supposed to. We ended up staying another night at base camp which really isn't the healthiest thing to do but we had no other choice as we wouldn't have been able to descend after sunset.
Completely exhausted after the summit, we fell asleep as soon as we were back to the tents. The next day we had to descend all the way down to the bottom which was probably the least fun day. We thought going downhill would be much easier than climbing up, which it was but walking over 25 km in distance got a bit annoying towards the end. Once we reached the gate, we received our certificates and celebrated with the entire team. We then drove back to our hotel in Moshi where without fail, I took the best shower of my life! Overall, it was one of the most amazing things that I've accomplished and it's an experience that I will never forget. x
