The story, Part 1

It is amazing. I am actually posting. Sorry about the blog absence... I think the prospect of trying to summarize the events of Kilimanjaro seemed almost as daunting as the mountain itself before we hiked it so I kept putting it off. But after constant chastisement from someone (*cough*mom*cough*) I figured it was about time to make this happen. So, without further ado, I present the details of Kilimanjaro, in parts. 

Sunrise on Kilimanjaro

It took quite a while to fly from Salt Lake to Chicago to Amsterdam to Arusha. 36 hours of traveling is too many hours, I assure you. By the time our HUGE plane rolled into the TINY Kilimanjaro airport (which was essentially a garage) we were exhausted and I at least was extremely nervous. I'll write another post about what hiking Kilimanjaro actually meant to me but suffice it to say that it was something I really wanted to accomplish for numerous reasons. I was pretty scared that something would happen that would prevent the ascent and it caused a fair amount of stress. 

The following are excerpts from my journal, which explains things far better than I could right now.

Sitting here in Arusha, Tanzania. All is dark outside my mosquito net, Dad is still asleep. Our plane got in last night around 9:00 PM local time and the jet lag had me confused and drowsy. But I knew this trip was going to be a success the minute I looked out the window and saw them wheeling a flight of stairs up to the plane's door. I don't know why but I've always wanted to walk down stairs to get off a plane. The Kilimanjaro airport is SMALL. We waited in a line to get our passports and entry forms approved. My shoes squeaked with every move on the bright orange floor. I watched the woman reviewing my Dad's passport. She is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen- large dark wide-set eyes with dark curled lashes, hair braided neatly into tiny ropes, clear skin the color of dark chocolate- stunning. Everyone here reminds me of my Nigerian friends in Italy. The airport smelled like bananas.

Stephen picked us up from the airport. He's a quiet African man with a shy smile. He turned on some Matisyahu and rolled down the windows. We wove through the streets of Arusha, cold air blowing on my face. It smelled exotic and different. I was exhausted yet excited as I looked out the window and saw my first glimpses of Africa. Small steel buildings, old cars and vans filled to capacity, people smiling and calling to each other as they stood in the middle of the street listening to music on old radios, no street lamps on, no moonlight- just standing in the dark. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck and near my temples begin to curl as the damp humid air blew in the car. 

Our hotel is quaint to say the least. Colorful, but quaint. Dad calls it a dive but says "we didn't come all the way to Africa for the accommodations." I'm sure it'll seem like a palace once we get off of the mountain after a week of hard-core camping. The showers are hot-ish and the beds are somewhat comfortable so I'm not complaining. It's 4:30 in the morning and I am wide awake. I hope this lasts- we typically need to go to bed early and wake up early to hike throughout the hike. I hear roosters crowing. This early? Man, African roosters aren't kidding around. 

Just got back from the Arusha markets. We needed to get some shillings, Tanzanian money. Our money had old dead presidents on it... theirs has lions and tigers on it. Africa is way cooler than America. Walking around the streets was pretty thrilling. We were the only white people in sight. Everyone greeted us warmly with "Jambo!" (hello) and "Karibu!" (welcome) and I just loved all of them. Most of them wanted us to come into their shops to see what they were selling. "Please, my friend! Come my sista' friend! Pretty girl, come with me! Come see what I have for you! Come to look, not to buy, it's ooookaaaay!"Hilarious. I bought a beautiful nativity set, some scarves for friends back home, and other trinkets. I just walk around with a goofy smile on my face. 

Tomorrow we begin the hike. I am extremely nervous.

Night before the hike. You can see the anxiety on my face, can't you?

Banana trees.

By the markets of Arusha in the outskirts of the city. 

 

 

 

Day 1 on the Mountain

Last night we met out Guide- Sifuel- a small wiry man with a big smile. He speaks English pretty well. He says he's been to the top over 100 times and has guided thousands up the mountain. We got up this morning at 5:00 AM and I was a mess of emotion- nervous, exited, hungry... 

I took one last shower and got dressed then we went down to meet our team, including our other guide Frank. We also met General (he introduced himself as a stomach-engineer, which is a fancy way of saying he'd be helping to cook our food properly) and also Nixon, Thomas, Eludi, Good News (Gordie) and a few others that would be helping us get to the top. We crammed into this hilarious 70's style bus and started driving to the Machame gate. 

The drive to Machame gate on the first day of the hike.

 Looking out the window was incredible. I was captivated by what I saw- little boys on bicycles pulling heavy loads behind them or sometimes a huge hand cart loaded up with bananas, women with impossibly large bundles of sticks or buckets of water balanced perfectly on their heads dressed in the beautiful and traditional African wear, children playing with rocks, babies strapped to their mothers' back as she works, shacks nd shanties made of aluminum or wear mortar, some houses of sticks, bright colors painted on cement buildings- teals, bright yellows, oranges, reds, etc. with the green lush jungle in the background with coconut, banana and avacado trees everywhere you look. We listened to Sean Kingston and Rihanna as we drove. 

Drive to Machame

 Then was saw her- Kilimanjaro in all her glory. I couldn't quite see the top due to cloud cover but the sight was still impressive (and intimidating) enough. Truly a huge free-standing mountain that looks as if it popped out of nowhere. There isn't any mountain nearby- Kili stands on her own in the middle of the moorland. Absolutely majestic.

First view of the mountain.

We stopped for some supplies and then made our way through the foothills and the mountain city of Moshi, which lies is Kili's shadow. Many of our team are from this rustic town. We left the jungle and began our ride through the African rain forest, which is unlike anything I have ever seen. Incredibly green and thick with wide wild vines falling this way and that and crazy sounds emitting from the trees. Finally we pulled through Machame gate and got out to register and obtain permits. I studied the signs with numerous warnings and kept thinking to myself "what the heck have I gotten myself into?!"

Warnings.

 We waited for everything to get organized and I felt a little nauseous because we were actually attempting a climb up Kilimanjaro. It all seemed to foolish all of a sudden. We decided to climb the mountain on a whim back in February. I was upset about a recent break-up and my Dad wanted to think of something I could work for and look forward to... and somehow Kilimanjaro was thrown on the table. But standing at the gate and looking at the trail, it suddenly seemed like the stupidest idea in the world. I was nervous and apprehensive, but there was no turning back. No giving up. We'd come all this way and I was going to get up that mountain, no matter what.

Nervous to start.

More to come later!!