Kilimanjaro Days 6-11

Day 6: Move from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp (Thurs Oct 11th)

Today’s guide was Joseph. I was awake since around 5am that morning. Today’s challenge was the Barranco Wall. I was very much looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint.

This pic is one of my favourites. It’s of Martin who was in the group that evening, a fantastic guy with a great sense of humour. This picture had Martin looking how we all felt – a bit tired. But absolutely no one was complaining!

Breakfast consisted of:

1.       Porridge with coco powder and sugar stirred in
2.       Sausages (sausages in general are not like Irish sausages and taste “Hot doggy” in flavour)
3.       Fried toast
4.       Pancakes
5.       Cake (like a donut, kinda sweet)

To The Wall

We left for the wall at 8am, we didn’t have a dance from the porters this mountain, we started a little earlier so as to beat the rush from other groups up the wall. The route in general was ok. There is a short walk to start of the wall, then the first third was a bit of scramble and it got much easier after that, you have to pull yourself up in places, very zig zaggy in nature.

The terrain along the wall path itself could be described as stiff and exposed, the weather was cracking, very hot. You pass what’s called the Kissing stone on the way up, kiss it for good luck. I more or less shifted it (very Irish expression). The view from the top of the wall was breath-taking.

The path to the top of the wall can be narrow in places and hard to overtake in general.

Barranco wall (bar summit night) was my easily my favourite experience (remembering that I’m not great with heights), a little bit challenging and what stunning views. I would have gone back down and up it again if they would have let me!

We had tea and nuts and raisins at the top and everyone was in great spirits.

Karanga Camp

The trek to Karanga camp was undulating, lots of up and downs, quite gravely and a little slippy – walking poles are essential.

We had lunch at Karanga at approx. 2pm. It consisted of:

1.       Spicy zucchini soup
2.       Chips – I know, W.F.T. – really tasted like homemade chips – unreal – could have done with Vinegar!!
3.       Salad, chicken on the bone with some like sweet and sour sauce
4.       Mango /avocado/cucumber salad
5.       Pineapple slices and coffee

For the afternoon, I played 45 in cards with Eoin and Archie (and we tried to tech Dave how to play) – very cool. I noticed myself while playing cards, feeling a little bit disorientated. I felt like I had drank 4/5 pints and the other lads were the same. We were kind of forgetful but still felt great. 

The weather was hot, and the views were spectacular. It was an incredible unique experience! The views were an ocean of clouds to the front of us and a crystal-clear image of Kilimanjaro to the back of us! We were informed that the sunset after 6pm at Karanga camp was world class. it did not disappoint, and we literally waited for it with anticipation.

Dinner was about 7pm:

1.       Brown rice
2.       Beef stew with veg
3.       Mixed veg and string beans – nice and crunchy
4.       Spinach
5.       Fruit – plenty of it – I had second portions as usual
6.       Carrot soup with bread

The chefs came in again after dinner and we thanked them, in particular for the chips we had earlier in the day – they sang a song in Swahili for us and then Steven sang a Dublin northside/southside rap. Where else would ya get it but the top of Kilimanjaro!

Day 7 – Move from Karanga Camp to Kosovo Camp – Friday Oct 12th

Summit Day – the day we have been building toward all week. We rose early, after 5am, had breakfast which consisted of:

1.       Porridge with strawberry jam
2.       Pancakes
3.       Donuts
4.       Sausages
5.       Omelettes with cheese and herbs
6.       Mango
7.       Coffee

You could see the lights of Moshi town after the clouds had cleared and pre-the sunrise.  There was also a spectacular view of Kilimanjaro once daylight began. We left Karanga at 8.30am and made our way to Kosovo camp to rest up at an elevation of 4,800 metres and quietly began to contemplate that our summit prep would begin at midnight that night.

The drunk sensation we experienced on Thurs eve had gone, we were acclimatized. It was very warm during the morning hike – must have been close to 30 degrees! Distance wise is approx. 5km to travel from Karanga to Kosovo with a pit stop at Barafu which was approx. 4km along the way for a whizz – Barranco seems like a very busy camp. We arrived at Kosovo approx. 2.30pm. The trek there was very slow – pole pole, about 1km per hr, slow and steady wins the day. It started snowing lightly between Barafu and Kosovo. This was the only time in the trek where we put on wet pants and jacket!

Terrain was mountainy and barren, everyone was a little tired. Not many tour operators use Kosovo as their camp pre the summit attempt, as you need a special licence and a group larger than 10. Earths Edge use Kosovo Camp. Benefits are that its quieter and you have 1km less to travel on summit night, it makes excellent sense (also, the 1km from Barafu to Kosovo is hilly and could be slippy in wet weather, we didn’t fancy doing this in darkness setting off at midnight!). The views from Kosovo camp are also excellent, similar in that you can see Moshi city in one direction and Kilimanjaro in the other!

Lunch at Kosovo camp consisted of:

1.       The now infamous tuna and peanut butter toasted sandwich!
2.       Celery soup
3.       Cake (kind of )
4.       Chicken pieces
5.       Egg
6.       Banana Fritter (delicious – I had 3!)
7.       Potato fritter
8.       Diced Veg
9.       Fruit

I rested after lunch, I had a couple of killer headaches (like tension headaches at the crown of my head) which I got rid of with extra water, 2 Panadol and 2 nurofen. Headache then passed in a couple of hrs. I didn’t sleep before dinner.

Dinner was at 6.30pm:

1.       Zucchini soup
2.       Spaghetti pasta and beef and veg stew
3.       Sweet banana bread – delicious, had seconds
4.       Fruit – pineapple and melon

It was cold in Kosovo camp that evening –approx. minus 6 degrees approaching midnight. I got up just before 11pm, had some coffee and biscuits and chocolate in the mess tent and started to mentally prepare myself for the night that would lay ahead. As temperatures can drop fairly low, you need to insulate the bladder line (of course no one had insulating tape) – so on the advice of the porters, we used our trekking socks and tape!! Did the trick……more or less!

Everyone was looking for the correct formula of what to wear that night and you could sense people felt a little unsure or tentative – For a finish and after discussing with a few of the guys, I wore the following on Summit night:

1.       Liner socks with merino socks over them
2.       Hiking Boots
3.       Thermal long pants
4.       Lined trekking pants over that
5.       2 x long sleeve thermal tops
6.       Mid weight fleece over that
7.       Large down jacket over that
8.       Liner gloves
9.       Thicker heavy gloves over that
10.   Thicker buff for neck
11.   Warm outside winter hat (fleece lined and woolly outside)
12.   Packed 3 litres of water and snacks that I had readily available, jellies mainly
13.   Tunes ready on my music yoke and got ready to jack myself in – fully focused!

With regard music, I think it’s a good idea for summit night. I remember when I turned it on before I left – the song that played first was Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s Wings which the main tune consists of the lyrics  “ this was the “best day of my life” – link here. I thought this was a good omen. I was prepped and ready to go!

Day 8 – The BIG one – Go from Kosovo Camp to the Summit Uhuru Peak to Millennium Camp –Sat Oct 13th (Midnight start)

Day 7 melted in to Day 8 as we transitioned past midnight. As I mentioned above, we went to the mess tent and had a final coffee, chocolate and some biscuits before departing. We then left at approx. midnight.

Setting off for the Summit

It was weird starting hiking in the dark. There was nothing to be seen other than the lights of the head lamps for our motley crew and at least a couple of hundred other daredevils all eager to summit in their respective groups.

The night was clean, it was a bit cold but not excessively so. The pace was pole pole with breaks, must have equated to less than 1 km per hour. We were concentrating on our pace ….one foot in front of the other methodically. I felt great. Tunes in my ear, bit of a hop in my step, I couldn’t wait to get to the top.

A few of the guys were not feeling 100% and literally everyone who was feeling ok helped each other, it really was a team effort. The porters were looking out for us all and Josie and James were 110% alert and looking to assist and motivate when required. They were vital on summit night, always alert and helping anyone who needed it. The porters also took the back packs from anyone who was feeling any ill effects!

I remember thinking, we WILL all make it to the top – my confidence was high.  My water bladder line to the main fill water supply froze a bit at times (trick is to blow back in to it also to clear ice in main tube and then suck hard!) so it was like drinking a flavourless slushy at some points. The sun started to rise around 6am and it was spectacular. We began to feel the warmth of the rising sun take away the chill of the dark night. 

Sunrise approaching Stella Point

We arrived at Stella point (which is only about 100m from top) around 7am, everyone was elated and hugging, we knew were nearly there, the hard part was over. We had ginger tea and there were raisins as well for a bit of energy. We left Stella and made the move to Uhuru peak, it took over 35 mins (mad time to cover such a small distance as 100m)– pole pole. Sun was very warm- I took off my outer gloves, down jacket and wet pants and stowed them in my day pack–it’s important to have your sun glasses on at this point as it can be blindingly bright and the UV effect at this altitude would affect you more than it would at normal altitude.

Reaching the Peak

We all trickled our way to the top in groups (myself Eoin and Eimear were in a subgroup) and touched the famous sign. We had made it. People were emotional, hugging, we had all just realised that we had made it. All those months of training, the long week’s trekking…. this was it, we were on top of the world (well Africa at least).  We took group and individual pics.

We left Uhuru point around 8.30am. There were loads of porters and they offered a normal way down or a “fast” way down. I went with Benjamin and I was feeling “fanbloodytastic”! so I asked for a fast way down. So we ran/slid from Uhuru Peak for 5kms to Kosovo camp. It was exhilarating and took 57 mins exactly. The slopes were like ski slopes, Benjamin showed me how to dig in my heels, angle feet slightly and then “trust my boots”. Such good fun, like skiing without skis! Happy enough with my Uhuru peak to Kosovo camp time of 57 mins. It was very dusty, so I just put buff over my nose and belted on. Made camp at 9.27am and enjoyed a mug of OJ on a seat looking at the peaks around me. 

Bonus Picture – as we were getting ready to leave the summit – there was a streaker who wanted to take a little bit of a “different Picture” 😊  – made us all laugh:

Most people had a quick nap once back at camp, I slept for about 30 mins. We got up for lunch around 2pm and it consisted of:

1.       Veg soup
2.       Pancakes
3.       Veg Pie (kind of like those Findus pancake thingies most Irish people of my age grew up with)
4.       Pineapple and lemons
5.       Toasted peanut butter and tuna sambo!
6.       Coffee

We were all feeling tired, we then left after lunch for Millennium camp (Jordan Led us down) – arrived approx. 6pm and had dinner soon after:

1.       Carrot soup
2.       Rice and Beef stew
3.       Popcorn
4.       Melon and Oranges

Note: Millennium camp is very very dusty, it’s literally everywhere. A Buff is very handy here.

Day 9 – Move from Millennium to Mweka Gate and then drive to Arusha – Sun Oct14th

We woke early. It was just sinking in that we had achieved something special. The sunrise and backdrop of Kilimanjaro were unbelievable. We gave some gifts to the porters – I gave away my thermarest/hiking poles/gaiters to Fuso/Barack/Benjamin and the rest of the guys gave away various items also. We also gave the tip which would be distributed in a hierarchical system among the porters.

We had our final breakfast on the mountain:

1.       Porridge
2.       Pancakes
3.       Yam
4.       Orange segments

The porters sang for us one last time and then Steven produced the now social media viral rendition of the Rattlin Bog (link here – I’m the chap with the red hat which I subsequently gave to Fuso) and Jimmy produced the catchiest mis mash of Singing in the Rain and aminated motions much to our delight and that of the porters. We thanked everyone for their support.

We left Millennium camp at 8.30am and as we knew there was beer waiting at Mweka gate, we set off at a ferocious pace. It normally takes 5-6 hrs to get down but myself and Eoin and our guide Joseph made it there by 12 noon, so it took like 3.5 hrs! The first half of the distance (which is 10km in total from Millennium to Mweka gate) was downhill and rocky, bit sore on the knees, and then the second half more trail based and through rainforest).

The sight of the gate was too good to be true. 

We walked outside the gate to a cool place to eat which also had a gift shop, we ate and a few of the guys used a guitar to play tunes and sing songs. The atmosphere was electric and everyone was on a high. We finished with a dance with the porters.

Lunch consisted of:

1.       Potatoes
2.       Chicken
3.       Veg
4.       Melon
5.       Beer..beer….beer….beeeeeer

We then drove back to outpost lodge. The craic was 90 on the bus, we stopped at the shop for a few essentials (Deodorant/razors) and snacks.

The shower at the Outpost lodge was the best thing ever, you have to remember that we didn’t have a shower in like a week. It made the difference to everyone!

We then had a fantastic celebratory dinner (buffet) which consisted of beef/chicken/chips/spicy Indian style curry and it was outstanding. The food in the outpost is general was very good! I like a good pint of Guinness at home, they do an African brew of the stout @ 6.5% strength – I had 2 and they well and truly went to my head and tasted like mother’s milk! We drank til around midnight, just chatting and having a laugh.

Day 10 – Safari & Maasi Village – Mon Oct 15th

Work up early (5am)- showered again (wow). Went down for breakfast which consisted of:

1.       Freshly fried eggs (you order them from the chef at the hot bar)
2.       Sausages
3.       Fruit
4.       Mango juice
5.       Beans
6.       Coffee
7.       Toast

We left for safari at 8am. It was a cool open top jeep which took 7 people plus driver. Our driver John was excellent, very knowledgeable. He lived for the wildlife, he is a second-generation ranger with his dad doing it before him. Before the safari, we stopped at a maasai village where we dressed up and danced with the tribe. Some interesting facts:

1.       Chief in residence in village
2.       Women do a lot of the jobs
3.       Chief could have 10 wives’ and 2/3 kids with each of them
4.       The reside in huts composed of Dung (hardened)
5.       Have no religion
6.       Women give birth at home
7.       Life expectancy is 95-100 yrs. old
8.       They eat beef, eggs, milk and some tree roots (veg roots)

The safari (Tarangire National Park) was excellent – we saw Zebra/Wilder beast/Cheetah/Jackles/Giraffes/Elephants. Pics of the village and safari are below:

We got back to the Outpost about 5.30pm. I had another quick shower and went to bar for pre-dinner drinks. We went to a local hotel bar and restaurant and while the food was good, the table service was at a snail’s pace we all got back home around midnight. We were presented with our certificates of achievement for climbing Kilimanjaro and it was cool to receive in front of everyone – Josie did a great job as the compere for the “ceremony”.

Day 11 – Leave for home – Tues Oct 16th

Woke early, packed. Went for breakfast, was really hungry so ate my fill of:

1.       Fresh Omelette
2.       Beans
3.       Sausage
4.       Toast
5.       Coffee
6.       OJ
7.       Fruit

We then went to the local market and bought some memorabilia with Good Luck, haggling is king here – stand firm and you can get a good price – go low and meet them somewhere in the median! Aisles of the markets are similar to cork city indoor market opposite grand parade.

We left the Outpost lodge @ approx. 1pm, went to Kilimanjaro Airport, went through security and took our first flight approx. 5pm. We got to Addis Ababa a few hrs later and had approx. 3 hrs to kill, we had a snack and some pints and chatted about the trip and recalled some funny stories.

The Addis Ababa to Stockholm flight was over 7 hrs. I snoozed for most of it. We had a 3-hr layover in Stockholm and then a 3-hr flight back to Dublin. Arrived just before noon in Dublin. Drove home and made it there just after 2pm.

Spent Wednesday eating junk and snoozing. Slept 10 hrs that night, spent Thurs snoozing and did a 15km jog (still have that small matter of the Dublin City Marathon on the 28th Oct) followed by a good night’s sleep. Back to normality and work on the Friday! Ran again Sat and the Sunday. What an adventure!!!!