Cycle 5 Travelogue: Mount Kilimanjaro Day 5-7
Mount Kilimanjaro, Day 5:
Another hiking day – another short acclimatization day, we reached our next camp by lunch time. This area is a desolate alpine desert and at time strong winds rip over the camp – but it offers incredible views. Dinner and bedtime were early on this day in preparation for SUMMIT DAY.
- Overnight at Kilimanjaro – Barafu Camp. Later start to the morning. Up at 7. Breakfast at 7:30. Both of us slept pretty good.
- Camp is really quiet and chill for everybody all around. I woke up though and as soon as I did, I got a headache and felt nauseous. Just hits me so hard. Decided to take one of the altitude pills this morning to see if it could help. PL is crushing it.
- Started hiking at 8:30 AM. I was pretty loopy off and on throat a hike today, so it could’ve been the altitude, or the meds.
- I felt better though than I have the last few days, so I think I’ll continue to take it. Probably should’ve right from the start, but because we missed day one, it was tricky to know how I would react.
- Decided I couldn’t feel much worse than I was, so Paul said to go for it. Just had to drink a lot of water as it can dehydrate you. PL is still crushing it… Lol.!
- Made it to camp by 11:30 AM. Had a quick celebration and then continued up another 30 minutes to acclimate better to practice. What tomorrow will be in the dark at 1 AM.
- Came back down and felt so grateful and blessed, I played Jesus loves by Zach Williams and Zhang my way down the bottom part into camp.
- Feeling very good and grateful right now.
- PL is worried about the tent set up as his side is very close to a rock. He’ll have to maneuver himself out in the middle of the night if he has to go to the bathroom… Lol. Simple solution will be to just pee over the rocks, which I know he will do!
- Had lunch with another great soup and some chicken wraps which were delicious. Followed with some fresh fruit and some tea.
- Paul came in with Julius, Cheeme, and Dmbele , to go over the rest of today and tomorrow.
- Today’s goal is to nap as much as we can until dinner at 6 PM then we will go through our stuff to make sure we have everything ready to go for tomorrow.
- Paul was like a head coach before our final, going over all the good things and telling us what we need to think about for tomorrow.
- Washed up and are in our tent at 3 PM. Both felt we got some sleep. Dinner at six with good soup and pasta. One more final briefing from Paul and then we got ready for bed.
- One more email to be sent (bathroom break) in the helicopters (portable toilet), brushed teeth. And back to bed. PL feels a lot better after eating and I feel better after my little altitude pill. In bed and ready to sleep at 7:30 PM
5.16km / 790m / 4:07h
Mount Kilimanjaro, Day 6:
SUMMIT DAY – this day started around midnight for the bid to summit at sunrise. The trek required patience and persistence. Summiting at Uhuru Peak (5,895M) at dawn. What goes up must come down, after reaching the summit will returned to our basecamp for a change of clothes and refueling before continuing on the long hike downhill to Mweka Camp.
- Overnight at Kilimanjaro – Mweka Camp. Up at 12. Hiking out at 1:15am.
- What started out as decent turned shitty really quick. Suffer fest for me and PL crushed it. I definitely don’t do well with elevation.
- Every time my breathing elevated, it would put my right back a lot rhomboid not sure he’s a spasm.
- Had to stop and have PL pound on it for 30 seconds for it to go away. This basically happened the whole way up so it took us a lot longer than I think anticipated. Getting to the summit was extremely difficult. I broke into tears and they decided to give me oxygen. PL was in heaven! He just does so well in this environment.
- Thinking that the downhill would be an easier descent, was dumb of me. Very slippery slope, terrain, so eventually had to grab Cheema’s arm and just run down the mountain with him. It definitely was faster. Limped into camp and did my best to stay awake.
- Back at camp at 10:30 to eat pack up and continue on for another 7km to camp.
- Didn’t want to seem negative, but it was basically down the whole way. We descended from 5850 to 3100m. Hot and dusty up top, and then through the clouds into a misty rain and down a slippery rock bed.
- My knees were quite sore and PL and I both said our toes are sore from jamming into the front of our boots.
- Arrived at camp at 3:30 PM.
- Straight into the tent, blew my pillow up and got my sleeping bag. Hopefully, I can sleep.
- Warm water, so we washed up and then I got back into bed. Had a small bowl of popcorn and slept from 4:30 to 6:30 PM.
- Had dinner and had a final chat with Paul about tomorrow and about how to tip everybody. We definitely don’t have enough money to pay everybody properly, but we didn’t think we would have 14 people on this trip!
- Back in the tent at 7:30 PM to get ready for bed for a rainy night’s sleep
Mount Kilimanjaro, Day 7:
Our final day on the mountain. After breakfast we descended the rest of the way down, reaching the bottom around midday. Here we were treated to a final hearty lunch and celebration with the crew. After you we transfered back to Arusha for rest and enjoyment.
- Overnight at Arusha Planet Lodge – Double Suite
- Up at 6:05 AM too beautiful clear blue skies. Both of us slept great. Our quads are burning from all of the descending yesterday.
- Had another good breakfast and then figured out how to do the money and then got a picture altogether
- Arrived at the bottom at 10:30 AM. Got our boots washed & signed out.
- Went to a local shop that was set up for people to eat. The chefs made our last meal. We were able to have a beer and celebrate. Then we had a celebration while we received our certificates from our group. Then we said a prayer and gave them their tips. Then we were on a bus to the hotel.
- Over an hour bus ride. We are learning how traffic works on these roads. So we can have a bit of an idea once we start riding. Should be an adventure.
9.07km/ 7m / 3h11m
Stats Summary:
- Day 1: 10.6km/1,225m – 4:53 h / 2835m
- Day 2: 5.57km / 911m – 4:58 h / 3750m
- Day 3: 10.88km / 837m / 6:20h / 3900m
- Day 4: 5.63 km / 496 m / 3:48h / 3995m
- Day 5: 5.16km / 790m / 4:07h / 4673m
- Day 6: 18.01km / 1258m / 14:33h / 3100m
- Day 7: 9.07km/ 7m / 3h11m / 1640m
Total: 66.14km / 5596m / 42 h46m
Heard 7 helicopters throughout the week.
Next up?
We’ll be making a quick “Safari” pit stop, and then heading to see our amazing charity partner, Hope for Korah, in Ethiopia! Learn more about why we’re riding here.
