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The Roof of Africa - Mt. Kilimanjaro - Part 1 or 2

© Geoffrey G. Klein

Unlike some, climbing mountains has never been a preoccupation of mine. As an avid and curious traveler I do consider myself open to a variety of adventures and activities. I have enjoyed active travel such as parasailing, scuba diving, caving, or white water rafting as much, if not more, than the usual visits to tourists attractions of any given destination.

When my two most reliable traveling partners, Bill and Ed, got the idea to trek up the highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro, I was just a bit hesitant. My traveling spirit, however, stirred inside and we began to investigate this intriguing possibility of reaching the “Roof of Africa.”

Let me state upfront, that hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro is NOT hiking Everest! Or even one of the other serious trekking challenges. An average person with moderate fitness should be able to hike the Marangu Route (the less technical of the two paths up the mountain) without any special training or equipment. That being said, this was certainly no walk in the park. My small, short hikes in the Santa Monica mountains in Los Angeles were insignificant in comparison.

The week long excursion started as we drove from the small town of Arusha, Tanzania toward the imposing mountain. As we drove closer, Mt. Kili (as it was often called) seemed immense. It seemed to go up and up and up. The clouds playfully hid the mountaintop. The peaks of this intimidating mountain were left to our imagination…for the moment.

From the time we began packing up the van to leave for the base camp through the days of climbing there were many times of quiet self-reflection. Bill, Ed and myself all seem to share the same unspoken mixed emotions – fear, excitement, uncertainty. We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was one of the most intense and challenging experiences of my life. For five days we climbed up and up and up and up, the mountain never ceasing to have more vertical slopes to conquer. The changing landscapes were impressive as we traveled up through the rain forest mists into the arid moorland and to the rocky hills and alpine desert. Climbing an average of four to six hours a day and ascending about 3300 feet (1000 meters) each trek, the physical rigors were matched equally by the mental strain from the monotony of step after step after step.

A day of acclimatization (to help avoid possible altitude sickness) at about 12 450 feet at Hirombo Hut provided some of the more picturesque sunsets. In the afternoon, I ventured up about six hundred feet to Zebra Rock, a natural rock formation that has curved vertical black and white stripes (hence the name).