The first day, we left TCDC at about 7:30 am. Two of our teachers had agreed to drive us 12 into Arusha National Park to Momella Gate, where you begin the hike. Somehow, however, it hadn’t been communicated that we would also be providing transport for all 7 porters and the cook. I’m still not quite sure how it worked, but we fit 11 people and all of their huge hiking packs into a 7-person mini-van! On our way through the park to Momella Gate, we got to see a family of giraffes right next to us. We were pretty excited about that since we had only spotted them from a distance while on safari.
At about 10 am, we began our trek. The first day was pretty basic; we hiked along a dirt road for most of the day with a break for lunch next to a waterfall. The scenery was very lush, green, and wet—a rainforest. We came upon a large family of baboons blocking the road. They scrambled away when we passed, leaving only a horrible stench. The babies hanging from their mothers’ stomachs were really cute though! Near the end of the 10 km, we passed through a strange region where the lava had flown out across the land thousands of years ago leaving a sparsely vegetated, rocky plain sprawling from the steep volcano suddenly jutting up in front of us. It was interesting to see that intermediate stage of post-volcanic regeneration after having learned about it in school for years.
On Sunday we set out at 8 am, climbing up an endless set of staircases through humid rainforest. About halfway through the rainforest and stairs gave way to scrub plants and dusty switchbacks. The mountainside was overrun with what looked a lot like cedar trees. We thought Day 2 was pretty hard—those switchbacks were steep!—but we had no idea what was up ahead. After lunch at Saddle Hut, we put our packs in our rooms and headed up towards Little Meru, a 3,820 m peak recommended to practice with the acclimatization. Our guide set the pace really slow, and even then my heart was pounding in my ears with every step. Being from Houston, pretty much altitude zero, I’m really glad I decided to take altitude medicine. Sure, I was having hard time breathing, but others fared a bit worse. Even the most athletic, in-shape people can be debilitated by altitude. Don’t underestimate altitude! In fact, I think being really in-shape can make it worse. The most athletic guy in our group had started out practically running up the mountain, and the fast ascension took its toll. He threw up on the way up Little Meru and suffered from chills, tingling numbness in his legs, and nausea. My hands had started tingling down at Miriakamba Hut, but that was pretty manageable. The view up on top of Little Meru was incredible. Everyone just kind of sat around staring out over the clouds, at Kilimanjaro and up to the peak we’d be summiting the next day. We went to bed early that night at Saddle Hut, in preparation for a 12:00 am wakeup call for the summit.
At 1:00 am, we started off in the dark towards the summit. Luckily we didn’t have to take any large packs. Just about 2.5 liters of water, our cameras, and some extra layers. For the summit we took along three of the porters as extra guides in case people got separated or needed to turn around. Now, we had all heard that Mt. Meru is actually considered more difficult than Kilimanjaro because it is steeper and “more technical,” and up until this point I was feeling pretty proud of myself for excelling at this supposedly technical trek. Yeahhh, well it turns out we hadn’t hit the technical parts at all yet. All of Meru’s technicality is pretty much squashed into the 966 meters between Saddle Hut and the summit. Before we knew it, we were crawling along a tiny, windy ridge that dropped steeply off on both sides, guided only by the light of our headlamps. We reached Rhino Point (3,800 m) fairly quickly though, and were all kind of thinking “Oh, okay, this isn’t too bad, I can totally do this.” So naïve. I don’t think I can go through every detail here because words and pictures just don’t do it justice, but I’ll just give you some highlights. * = high point, happy, fun. # = low point, miserable.
* We’re rock climbing!
# We’re clinging to the side of a rock face in the dark, scuttling sideways. I see metal hooks for ropes…. We don’t have ropes.
** I’ve never seen so many stars in my life. We can literally see the Milky Way, and it’s beautiful.
### We’ve been trudging up the same ridiculously steep, scrabbly ridge for over an hour. It’s so windy, and I keep getting volcanic dust in my eyes. If you look at the stars you might fall off the edge. The path is all loose rock—every step you take slides back another half a step.
* Break for Tanzanian beef jerky. It’s frozen but still tastes nice and dog-foody.
## Yaaaay more windy ridges! For you cyclers, imagine the worst, windiest ride of your life, make it 100% uphill, throw some sand in your eyes, and freeze the mouthpiece of your water bottle. Oh yeah and do it while breathing through a straw, because that’s what this altitude feels like. If you can still feel your hands, you aren’t doing it right.
* The altitude also makes you loopy, so random things are hilarious.
** Break time! It’s so warm here behind this giant rock. I’m exhausted, but we must be almost there!
# Our guide tells us congratulations; we’re halfway there! What. Only halfway. Are you serious.
** The moon has started to rise.
### My HEAD. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a real migraine, but I definitely have now.
# As we near the summit, we encounter all of these horrible false-summits. You start climbing up this jagged, rocky cliff, adrenaline rushing thinking you’re almost there, only to cross the peak and see the real summit way off in the distance, separated from you by even more jutting false-summits.
** The sun is rising over Mt. Kilimanjaro. We didn’t make it to the summit quite in time to see it from there, but luckily I was on a ridge with a nice view at that point.
*** I SEE THE FLAG! My head’s still throbbing but now I’m more determined than ever.
# Clouds roll in. Which way is up?
*** I’m there! I’ve summited at 7:00 am, six hours after I began. We sign our names in the book, eat some Lindt chocolates courtesy of Keerthigan, and take photos that make us look a lot happier than we really are.
## I can’t look at the beautiful view because the light is burning a hole through my aching head.
We took the 4 km route down after Miriakamba Hut, down down down—ow ow ow. FINALLY we reached flat ground and beelined in the direction of the gate. We passed through a herd of water buffalo (they look so much bigger when you’re on foot!) on our way out, and our ranger stood guard. At 6:15 pm, we reached the car. We had been climbing for the past 15 hours, with a few breaks in between. We smelled terrible and our bodies were ruined, but we were all so proud of ourselves. Everyone kept staring back up at the peak, wondering aloud, “Were we really all the way up there this morning?” My favorite remark was from Grace, the girl from England: “Look at that silly little hill we climbed.” In the end, I’m really glad I climbed Meru, and I feel very accomplished. But, you know what? I got the pictures, my name’s in the book, and once is enough—I wouldn’t do it again! Kilimanjaro, though, that’s another story…