Chronicle-1995

At the park entrance we were met by Wilson,our chief guide, his five assistant guides, and the twenty-six porters whose task it would he to carry all ourfood,and the vast majority of our equipment up and down this, the "Coca Cola" route, the easiest way to climh Kilimanjaro. Like the Sherpas of Nepal, these Chagga tribesmen are truly remarkable, and their strength and resilient cheerfulness deserves nothing hut praise and respect from the thousands of hikers who hire them. They are a lovely people - friendly and cheerful,always ready to greet anyone with a smile and the greeting "Jamho".Their response to all problems(and there can be many)is always the same -"No problem"! The hike to Mandara is easy and enjoyable. It is really a stroll through the rain forest which grows between 6 000 and 9000 feet, and at this stage the effect of altitude is barely noticeable. Days3and 4 MANDARA TO HOROMBO From Mandara we set offfor Horombo campsite,which at 12 500 feet is already 1 000 feet higher than the highest point in the Drakensherg. Most of us managed to follow the very good advice of going "pole, pole" (slowly, slowly) which helped us to acclimatise. As you climh,thoughts of getting to the summit become increasingly important.As there were many other groups of climbers from all over the world on the mountain in July, which is the peak season for the -i- 20 000 who attempt the climb each year, the business of whether you'll actually get to the top and your individual and group tactics about "conquering" Kilimanjaro becomes increasingly, even obsessively, the main topic of conversation amongst all those hiking,regardless oftheir nationality. With us there were at Horombo,Americans, two Norwegian girls, British hikers, Germans,Japanese, two South African groups,a group from Spain and so on. Climbing Kilimanjaro is really an experience and at risk of sounding sententious I would say that each climber in different ways finds himselfor herself on the mountain. No human being can remain indifferent to the experience, and I'm sure that the twenty-three members of our group all came hack both richer and slightly changed from the person who left. But, of course,each experience on the mountain differs,so that no account can really ever tell the full story. We spent two days at Horombo and a biggish group climbed up on the fourth day to Zebra Rocks where you can get spectacular views of Kibo summit with its vividly white glaciers, and of the lesser peak (a mere 16 500 feet!) Mawenzi, which is strongly reminiscent of the more rugged peaks in the Drakensherg. Day5HOROMBO to KIBO We walked very slowly from Horombo to Kiho hut, crossing the saddle between Mawenzi and the main massif of Kilimanjaro itself. The vegetation here changes from Alpine heath to Alpine desert and the W/7 ^ i I ' i 6^3'- : ■■■ I-- m .I- i landscape becomes extremely stark and harsh. By now most of us were experiencing the effects of altitude; shortness of breath, rapid heart heat and for some, headaches and nausea. At 15 500 feet Kiho hut is not a welcoming place, and by now everyone was thinking of the final challenge, the 3 000 feet climh up the scree slope that separates Kiho from Oilman's Point, the official "summit". After a supper of soup we all went to bed by 7.00 p.m. ready for our climh to the top which , as is traditional on Kilimanjaro, begins at 12.00 a.m. so that successful climbers will reach the top at sunrise. Not many of us slept well: some of us didn't sleep at all. Day6KIBO - UHURU - HOROMBO Wilson woke us at 11.10 p.m. and a sleep-dazed group of boys for the first time put on all their cold weather gear: at 12 a.m. the temperature at Kiho hut was -7° so that the ski suits, gloves,"beanies"and so on were very welcome. What followed was tragi-comic, almost surrealistic. Forming a long chain in the moonlit darkness Kearsney's expedition, kitted out in full cold weather gear, looked like a chain gang of zombies, a sort of human shongololo rather than a group of individuals. The climb was hard, and very soon some of the climbers began vomiting and retching. Although everyone wanted to reach the top, many of us didn't 74 Kearsney Chronicle 1995

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTc3MDU5Nw==