Our adventure almost ended before it started. On our way to the Albuquerque airport, we were almost involved in a car accident in the Taos Canyon. A classic car came halfway into our lane on a curve. Luckily, we had enough room to maneuver on our end and avoid the head on collision. We headed on to the airport without any further incidents. We were flying to LA and spending the night, before beginning an incredibly long journey to Tanzania. Ours was a 16 hour flight to Dubai and then another 5.5 to the Kilimanjaro airport. We arrived in Tanzania at 3:30 in the morning and being the only flight to arrive at that time, customs did not take long at all. We had gotten our visas online before hand and that made everything even easier.
We came out of the airport looking for our representative from Joica Tours. Well, after a few phone calls and text messages, he was there to pick us up, saying he had been stuck in traffic. Josh dropped us off at Tumani Cottages in Arusha to get some much needed sleep and a shower. We arrived in the rain and after napping awoke to a beautiful sunny day. The cottages have a very beautiful garden and a wonderful view of Mount Meru, the 5th highest mountain in Africa at 14,967 ft.
Later we transferred to the African Tulip hotel where we’d spend the next couple of days.
The decision was made to just book a private climb after trying and failing to get a couple of friends to join us. The next day was spent just hanging at the hotel trying to adjust to the time change and meeting our head guide Livingstone. Livingstone gave us the low down on what to expect on our climb and also went through our gear to ensure we were properly equipped.
We also learned Livingstone’s 5 rules –
- Listen to Livingstone
- Drink enough water, minimum 3 liters a day
- Rest
- Go Pole Pole ( Slowly, Slowly)
- Eat Enough
We started out for our hike at 8:30 the next morning. It was a long drive of about 3 hours or so. But we made it to the registration gates to check-in and get our remaining porters. Yes, believe it or not we had a team of 14 people supporting us for this climb. Sounds crazy, right? Until you start finding out the work that’s involved. Do you want to know how you still get fresh food on day 5 of the hike? That’s because a porter is sent down to the village to bring it back. Were you wondering where the water comes from at those high camps where you don’t see a water source. They are sending porters down to the river and bringing it back 10L at a time. Our team consisted of a head guide Livingstone, assistant guide Jerome, chef Ramadhani, and 11 porters Erasti, Michael, Charles, Zakayo, Alli, Barnaba, Singa, Emanuel, Joseph, Jastin, and Robert. After the official registration we drove over to the trail head where the porters needed to again get the gear weighed. Each porter is only allowed to carry 20kgs (44 lbs), yes only. The first day was a nice 5km hike through the rainforest to Mti Mkubwa Camp at 9,498 ft. We got there and in short order were napping away. All the up and down hiking through the rainforest and still suffering from jetlag had taken its toll. Rama made a delicious dinner which included cucumber soup. That was so tasty. We got our marching orders for day 2 from Livinstone and were promptly knocked out by 8:30.
We started taking our Diamox in the morning as we knew we were going to 11,800ft. (Diamox is the medicine that is supposed to your body assist adjust when going to higher altitudes.) Started out the next morning for what was listed in our original itinerary as a gradual climb to Shira Camp. Only 5 miles, but it was a rough 5 miles uphill pretty much the entire way until reaching the plateau and climbing over rocks the whole time. Whew! Another day of hiking that just wiped us out. Upon reaching the Shira Camp 11,500ft, we were promptly dusted off by one of the porters. Such royal treatment, it’s really a strange position for us to be in.
Will endured another rough night not sleeping, upset stomach, and being cold. His air mattress wasn’t holding air and the floor of the tent was just sucking the heat from him. We thought with an upset stomach that Will might have been having a bad reaction to the Diamox. So, he decided to stop taking it and just keep drinking more water. Jerome gave up his air mattress to Will so that he might sleep more comfortably. So, it was a tough day hiking for Will, but we made it to Shira Camp 2 at 12,631ft. We took many more breaks but luckily the hike was longer, but relatively flat.
Day 4 started out much better for Will. On the new air mattress he was able to sleep and seemed to be doing better without the Diamox. Today was a hard day with an 11km hike and a significant elevation gain. We got to the Lava Tower 15,190 (our high point for the day) in time for lunch. It was also the second highest elevation that will and I had ever been. We had lunch and then continued on down to Barranco Camp 13,044 for the night. A tough and tiring day, but we were surviving fairly well. The crew was great. Porters were sent back to meet us taking our day packs for us. These guys had already hauled our duffle bags to the camp, helped set up camp and came back to meet us to help with our day packs.
Day 5 was the famed Barranco Wall. Our next camp Karanga wasn’t a long hike, but the wall would take time to get through and requires the use of both hands and feet to climb. Will had a rough night and was sick again the whole night. He decided that his climb would be over as he was losing too much strength. Getting to the exit from Barranco Camp is quite difficult and Livingstone recommended that Will should continue to Karanga Camp 13,106 and hike down the next morning from there. And that also meant Will would still have to deal with the wall. He made it through although you won’t see his face in many pictures as that would require him to look down. We made it without incident to the camp although we were going pretty slowly since Will was not feeling well.
It was a beautiful starry night and we were up above the clouds. We were able to see the Milky Way as well. That night, I started not feeling that great and developing a cough. The morning came and we parted ways. Will was escorted down with the assistant guide and one of the porters. I was left with a team of 12.
I hiked on making it the Barafu Base Camp 15,331 in good time. Its nickname is stone camp as it’s extremely rocky and difficult to find flat spots for the tents. Arriving at 11:30am, I had lunch and was supposed to nap that afternoon. The sun was out and it was hot, so I really didn’t get a good nap in. Got my clothes ready for the summit climb, but really started to feel bloated and the cough was getting worse. Called for my 5pm early dinner and didn’t eat like usual. Back to the tent to rest and await my 11pm wake up call. We would be setting out at midnight. It quickly got cold and the wind picked up. So, I can’t say that I slept more than 30 minutes or so. Thoughts of Will kicking back at the hotel really started to aggravate me at that point. But the wake-up call came and I threw on the rest of my gear to hopefully make it to the top. It’s only 3 miles from the camp to the top Uhuru Peak 19,341, but it takes 6-7 hours. We were about 3 hours in and I just didn’t feel I could do it anymore. I was feeling that yes, I could make it to the summit, but was starting to be really concerned that I would then be too tired to make it down. So, I told Livingstone that I was done. Disappointed? Yes, but also happy that I could get back on my own and was safe. So, back to the tent for a couple hours rest and then I needed to get down as I would start feeling better at a lower altitude. So, down I went all the way to the gate and out of the park. That was a long way down and both my feet and my legs were beat up from the constant down-hill progress. The last 10km, Livingstone told me he called the rescue car for me. So, after walking a good 8km out of 10km a repurposed ambulance is there to provide transport for anyone going to the gate. One of my favorite quotes from Livingstone was “hurry quickly down the road Lisa for the rescue car is waiting”.
It was time for the end of the hike “party”. Will came back with Jerome for the tipping party. Will and I had decided that in addition to tipping the crew, we would give some of our hiking gear to the porters. A lot of these guys don’t have much and are very appreciative of anything given to them. It was an incredibly long journey, but one that I’m glad we both took on as it was rewarding in so many ways.
Our guide Livingstone took so many great photos of us. I was so grateful for this as I was too busy trying to put one foot in front of the other to stop and take photos.
I found Joica Tours online and began communicating with Josh a good 10 months before we started this adventure. He was very responsive and was ready and willing to structure the vacation that we wanted. We had a great time on this adventure of a lifetime and highly recommend Josh and his company Joica Tours.