I’m not sure how Kilimanjaro got on my radar. Probably because it is a bad ass mountain, one of the most prominent in the world, and a relatively easy and gradual climb. What’s kinda funny is that I attempted this 19,000+ ft peak before I even did a California 14er. I had been rock climbing and doing some local peaks around SoCal for a while and I’m someone who likes to go big sometimes, so why not try and tackle one of the the seven summits. The cherry on top for this trip would be to get out and see some African animals on safari. Since this would be my first real experience with altitude, I had no idea how I was going to react. As a precaution I got prescribed some diamox. The trek to the summit was gonna be about six days, which would probably be plenty of time to acclimatize, but since I was going so far and spending all this money, I might as well take the precaution. It was a schlep and a half to get to Tanzania, but I eventually arrived at my hotel and my guide took a look at my kit and determined that I did not have a warm enough jacket. Woopsie! I’m still learning at this point. There are several routes to choose from and I chose a tour on the Machame route. It’s one of the more popular routes that starts in the jungle and goes through several different climatic zones: bushland/rainforest, heath/low moorland, moorland/alpine desert, alpine desert, and finally arctic summit. The approach over several days was beautiful and varied, and interesting to experience the gradual change. This was my first exposure to these types of guided climbs where there is a lot of infrastructure in place, particularly the porters who are doing the lord’s work. They do such a thankless job and you wonder how much they are actually getting paid. You start to feel bad for them after a while, but then you wonder what other kind of work is available to them. In any case, just make sure to tip well. Eventually we made it base camp. The diamox was making me tingly and needing to pee quite a bit. Then around midnight we made our ascent. I remember passing by people who were seated to the side of the trail with their head in their hands, having their personal battle with the altitude. “Pole, pole,” (slowly, slowly), was an omnipresent phrase from our guides. This simple phrase has stuck with me all these years, a mantra I repeat to myself whenever I’m at altitude. Slow and steady. All of our group eventually made it to the top right after sunrise. Such a sweet feeling. Then we had to navigate the scree skiing back down to base camp. The safari was also a special experience. I was not there long enough for the Serengeti, but I was able to spend some time at the Ngorongoro crater, which was super fascinating to look out upon from the rim, and then navigate down a windy road to the floor to drive around inside the massive crater I was eventually able to see four of the big five animals that people are generally on the lookout for (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and water buffalo). The elusive leopard did not want to come out and strut during my time there.
