Journey to Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro TAKE TWO!

Written by Tina Sibley in February 2023

As I was sick the first time around, I decided that I wanted to do it again - minus the tummy bug or whatever it was that made me so sick. I knew that if I wasn't sick I would enjoy it so much more - and I was right!

Having kept in touch with James and a couple of the guides, they told me August is a great month to climb, so I booked another trip.

I also wanted to do some volunteering so planned on a couple of weeks first in Arusha to acclimatise to the climate, the food and the water - hopefully keeping any tummy problems at bay this time.

I also decided on acclimatising to the altitude by taking on Mount Meru at the middle weekend of my volunteer experience.

Mount Meru was totally amazing - but a real challenge. I will write separately about that!

Video Overview Take Two - Coming Soon

Video Overview of Take One in a minute

First time around

Introduction

As I slogged from base camp to the summit in February 2022, I thought to myself “Never again! This is a once-in-a-lifetime, bucket list ticked kind of thing” and, at the time, I meant it!

2 days after coming off the mountain, all I could think was “I want to do it again!”

Having been so sick the first time, although it was still one of the best experiences of my life, I knew that I missed so much and would enjoy it so much more without the tummy bug that I had to battle the whole time.

I knew that I would especially enjoy the Barranco Wall if I didn’t have to contend with the nausea that I suffered with the first time.

This desire to do it again never left me, and I found myself booking another trip for August 2022. I knew that I had to go with the same team of guides so I booked again through G-Adventures making a special request for James and his team.

Then I got to work to build my strength and fitness once more.

Pre-Climb Briefing: 18th August

It was so lovely arriving back at the Stella Maris Lodge and meeting up with the fabulous staff there – it was like being back in a home from home.

It was also totally amazing meeting up with the amazing Kajeli who took me to the summit the first time around. Kajeli was giving our briefing, which was great, but I was disappointed to learn that he wasn’t part of the mountain team as his job role had changed.

I was also disappointed to learn that James was the only one of the original team taking us. I would especially miss Adolf on the Barranco Wall.

Our hiking group this time around was also 8 people – this time 6 guys and 2
girls. Father and daughter Owen and Robyn from the UK, Andrew from New York, Sunny from New York, Dan from Isle of Man, Jack from Ireland and Rameez from Pakistan.

They were all really nice and a lot of fun.

Starting Out

Day 1: 19th August – Lemosho Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp

After breakfast, we were taken to Moshi to the rental store and Kajeli made it his personal mission to ensure I was well kitted out this time, overseeing my rental of a huge down jacket, massive, thick ski pants and a huge, quilted wind-proof and waterproof jacket plus good quality mittens to go over my thermal inner gloves. He wasn’t risking anyone having to give up their coat for me this time!

Then we were taken to the Lemosho hut where we had lunch. This time, the weather was lovely – no torrential rain to deal with.

The hike itself I remembered from before and it was even more beautiful in nicer weather.

We were led today by Hashim, who was really nice – I walked right at the front with him and got a chance to chat with him, which was lovely.

At camp, we had the usual medical tests and my oxygen levels were good at 92 and my pulse was 71 which was great. After dinner we all played cards and got to know each other better and we had really good fun. In fact, we were having too much fun and were eventually told to go to bed as we were making too much noise.

The card games would become a feature of this trek and helped us bond together as a team.

As I went to bed, I couldn’t help remember the last time, when I passed out and
became sick but fortunately, there was no repeat of that this time, I slept OK
and was feeling great.

Day 2: 20th August - Mti Mkubwa to Shira 1 Camp

I woke up feeling relieved that there was no repeat performance of my sickness like last time.

I was confident and in high spirits at breakfast and my appetite was
great.

Today, we were led by Fredy who was quiet but another really nice guy. Once again, I was put at the front and stayed with him all the way. The morning’s hike was through the same beautiful rainforest and then I remembered the extremely steep section before lunch.

Knowing that the break was coming helped me get up the huge climb.

After lunch, we crossed from the rainforest into the heather and moorland zone and I remembered the beautiful view and the Shira Plateau which is huge.

Kibo peak seemed so far away at this point and it feels like you’re still walking towards Kilimanjaro rather than being actually on it.

I was feeling great and at dinner my oxygen was 90 and my pulse was 69, winning
me the most relaxed person of the group.

Day 3: 21st August – Shira 1 to Shira 2 Camp

Once again, I had a fairly good night, although by now it was much, much colder than last time.

When visiting the toilet tent during the night, I noticed ice crystals on the outside of the tent fabric. The morning’s hike across the plateau was led by Lucas and I was once again instructed to fall in right at the front with him.

This became the norm and it was a different experience from being at the back or left behind. Lucas was so interesting to talk to and I was teaching him Spanish while he taught me some Swahili. The hike was beautiful and we reached Shira 2 in time for lunch.

After lunch, we had the opportunity to rest and reorganise and then had an
acclimatisation hike. Last time, I was too poorly to do this with the group and just got a small hike in with James. This time, I was with the group and got to an amazing point where we took loads of photos.

I was feeling so good at this point. Then it was time for the presentations and this time I managed to capture the guys singing to me when I introduced myself. I especially remembered Lemunge, the Maasai guy who led a lot of the singing.

At dinner, my oxygen levels and heart rate were great again – oxygen 92 and pulse 70, I still had a good appetite and felt strong.

My song from the G-Adventures team

Day 4: 22nd August – Shira 2 to Barranco Camp

Today was a long and very tough day. It began well and the hike was led by Hashim again.

However, just before lunch I got my first symptoms of altitude sickness.

As we approached Lava Tower at 4.600m we had one last climb of about 100m and I got an attack of nausea, lagged behind and needed to stop and dry heave.

James was on the case immediately, relieving me of my backpack which I had managed to carry by myself all the way so far. Having learned not to be too independent, I gratefully handed it over and accepted his help up the last climb to camp for lunch.

I ate OK at lunch but still felt a bit weak, so Fredy carried my backpack for me the rest of the day. I did rally and began to feel better during the afternoon. This was the opposite of last time, when I was OK during the morning, ate well at lunch and then went downhill during the afternoon.

I remembered the crazy descent after lunch from before, but handled it much
better this time.

Looking at the Barranco Wall, I desperately hoped I would have a better time of
it during this trip but I wouldn’t know that until the next morning.

At camp, I was feeling much happier than last time with oxygen levels at 92 and pulse at 68. Having oxygen still up in the 90s was brilliant!

Day 5: 23rd August – Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

I fortunately felt good on waking this morning, despite not sleeping brilliantly and despite not having a great appetite. I did manage to eat though and when we began hiking, I was put at the front right behind Fredy who was leading us
today.

This was exactly what I had come a second time for.

An opportunity to take on the Barranco Wall and enjoy it. And enjoy it is exactly
what I did.

I felt great and had such good fun scrambling up the rocks.

No nausea, no other symptoms of altitude and I absolutely LOVED it. I stayed at the front with Fredy all the way. And I got my video of me kissing the kissing stone, which I failed to get last time.

The Kissing Stone on the Barranco Wall

When we reached the top of the Barranco Wall, much to my surprise, we were
greeted by Elisha, our waiter, who had set up a table with refreshments for us. If they did that last time, it had gone by the time I got there!

It was brilliant to have ginger tea and biscuits and celebrate and other groups
were looking at us enviously as we were the only group with a refreshment table. I did have a few symptoms of altitude, a slight headache and slight nausea, but nothing to worry about.

Then we began the insane descent down to Karanga camp. It was bonkers but I fared better than the previous occasion.

We got to Karanga camp before lunch and after lunch were able to just chill out
and organise ourselves. I was SO happy at this point. I reported having intermittent headaches and a few symptoms of altitude such as unsettled tummy and occasional nausea but nothing like before. I felt strong and in very high spirits.

At dinner, my oxygen measured 93 and my pulse was 69 – once again, really amazing and encouraging.

Day 6 Part 1: 24th August morning – Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp & The start of Summit Night

We set off – I can’t remember who led us today but it was most likely Lucas. I was at the front, kept up and it was totally different to last time. Last time, I was not with the group at all and it was just Kajeli and I although I do remember enjoying that morning.

This time, the hike went well and we reached Barafu Camp by lunch time and then, for me, things started to go downhill.

I lost my appetite and didn’t feel up to eating and began to get bad headaches. I gave up on food and went to my tent to rest and my head felt like it was about to explode – I had a sharp, stabbing pain in the back of my head and I felt pins and needles at the front of my head. I assumed this was due to the altitude. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was actually developing shingles!!

At dinner, I complained about my headache and Jack gave me half a diamox to help with the altitude symptoms and I continued taking ibuprofen for the pain. I felt so bad, I had to excuse myself and just managed to exit the mess tent before having to dry heave. James heard me and came out and told me to rest. I was worried I was going to have a repeat of last time and struggle, so we decided I would leave early once again, at 10pm. I went to my tent, took some anti-sickness medication, more ibuprofen and tried to rest.

I made no videos today as I felt so dreadful I could barely think let alone speak!

Day 6 Part 2: 24th August late evening – Summit Night Begins

I went to the mess tent at 9.30 and was beginning to feel more human and able to drink some ginger tea and eat a biscuit. I found that my summit companions would be Fredy and Lemunge. I was surprised Mustafa wasn’t with me, as he had been my personal porter all week again, but Lemunge was amazing.

The three of us set out at 10pm exactly and I had rallied and felt so much better than setting out last time.

Lemunge led the way and set the pace, with Fredy taking care of me from behind.

Day 7 Part 1: 25th August – Summit Night

Lemunge continued to set the pace and I was determined to keep up and do better than last time. I hoped to maybe shave an hour or a bit more off my previous time and was told that the plan was to get to Stella Point by sunrise at around 06am.

After an hour or a bit more passed, we were still walking through tents and I asked when we would be leaving Barafu camp – I knew that it was huge but lost my bearings. I was told we had left camp ages ago and were now walking through Kosovo camp. I was gobsmacked by this, as last time it took more than twice as long to get to Kosovo and the others had caught me up and overtaken.

I looked behind me and there were no signs of anyone yet. We continued.

Every hour or so, we stopped for a short rest and to have a drink and eat something.

Learning about the frozen water and food from last time, this time I ensured my snacks were well insulated and I took two bottles of Fanta which didn’t freeze, so I shared some of my Fanta with the guys, who were very grateful. I was doing so much better than last time.

I kept looking behind expecting people to start catching me up and overtaking me and eventually, could see a line of torch lights but they seemed a long way behind.

Lemunge kept pushing the pace and the two of them kept showering me with praise and motivating me and giving me lots of hugs.

They got me chanting in Swahili “Nina nguvu kama simba” which means “I am strong like a lion”. I also got lots of encouragement from James as he asked to speak to me when he kept in touch with Fredy on the radio.

I do remember at one point scrambling up some big rocks which was different to
last time. I was aware of blackness and that there was a drop and I was grateful that it was dark and I couldn’t see beyond the blackness.

At around 03.30 I was surprised that I still hadn’t been caught by anyone and
even more surprised when Fredy told me that we would reach Stella Point in
about an hour.

I was almost horrified as I knew it would still be dark and I didn’t want to have to sit and wait in the cold and dark for sunrise.

I have to say though, that this time around, the weather was very kind to us.

Last time it was brutal.

This time, we barely had any wind and I didn’t need to put on my windproof jacket until we got to Stella Point.

Sure enough, we reached Stella Point at 04.20 and, to my astonishment, I had
still not yet been caught up. It was pitch black so none of my photos came out at that point but the guys gave me lots of hugs and we celebrated that I was the first person on the mountain to reach Stella Point.

I rested on a rock, had something to eat and drink and spoke to James again on the radio, who told me they weren’t too far behind me.

I expected that we would wait at Stella Point for the others, but Lemunge was
keen to get going again. I think he secretly hoped that we would be first to Uhuru Peak, but by now I had been caught up by some others who arrived at Stella Point while we were resting.

I knew there was no chance of me staying ahead of them as I was beginning to flag by now. Sure enough, not long after setting off, we were overtaken but I was so happy that I was doing so well although I started to slow down drastically.

In fact, this time around, it took me a little longer to get between Stella Point and Uhuru Peak.

About halfway along the crater rim, James and the main part of our group caught
up with us. Owen and Robyn weren’t with them as they had set out an hour after the others which was two hours after I began.

As I was running out of steam, the group went ahead with Fredy and Lemunge and
James kept me company.

I got to Uhuru Peak about 10 minutes or so after them at 05.58 – just 2 minutes short of 8 hours and 3 hours faster than last time. Owen and Robyn arrived about 5 minutes later.

I was so happy, I cried like a baby!

And this time round, I had the energy to hug everyone and celebrate. Dawn was
breaking, so it was now light enough to see everything, enjoy the spectacular
views of the glaciers and take loads of photos.

Considering we all left at different times, 10pm, 11pm and midnight, it is
testament to the skill of the guides that we all arrived at Uhuru Peak within
15 minutes of each other, so we could have our group photo taken together.

That was really special as we never got that last time.

I felt amazing – no nasty symptoms of altitude now, just incredibly tired by
now. It was absolutely freezing though, so it wasn’t long before James called
us together to begin our descent.

As we walked back along the crater rim, the sun rose above the clouds, creating a
kind of rainbow over them. It was truly beautiful and I felt on top of the world.

Day 7 Part 2: 25th August – Descent & Onto Mweka Camp

The descent, once again, was horrible!

I was so tired and had to take it really slowly but at least this time, I made it on my own two legs and didn’t have to be practically carried down. I couldn’t wait to see
Kajeli and knew he would be delighted to hear how well I had done. I wished that both he and Adolf could have seen the difference in me.

As we descended, and the sun came up, the layers had to come off as it began to get warm but the dust that was getting kicked up was hideous!

Even though I kept my buff over my mouth, the dust got into my lungs and I had a cough for a day or two afterwards. We finally reached base camp at 10am – exactly 12 hours since I left and I was so thankful for the opportunity to crash out in my tent for a while.

Once again, I was too exhausted to make a video.

After a rest and freshen up with wet wipes (No washing water at base camp) I
managed to meet up with Adolf which made me so happy. Adolf was with another group and they had arrived at Barafu camp ready to summit that night.

It was so nice to be able to chat to him, tell him how I did on the Barranco Wall and give him huge hugs. I also gave him the extra tip I had taken for him to say thank you for last time. He came to say goodbye as we were leaving camp as well – such a lovely guy.

While we were having lunch, the wind picked up and was threatening to blow the
mess tent away. In the end, we were forced to cut lunch short, allowing the porters to dismantle everything and we set off for camp.

After much discussion, as half the group wanted to aim for High camp while the other half wanted to push on to Mweka camp, we decided to head for Mweka.

By the time we reached High camp, I was wishing we had chosen to stop there but
I knew we would be thankful in the morning. I struggled to keep up with the others this time and arrived at camp after them. I was exhausted and my head was
pounding again.

Similar to my previous experience, we were all too tired and a bit subdued for
massive celebrations at dinner. We couldn’t wait to get to our beds – although we were all incredibly pleased and proud of ourselves.

During the night, I started to feel really unwell – first of all I felt incredibly hot and then I felt the need to be upright rather than lying down in my tent. I got up and went to the mess tent to sit in a chair. To my surprise, Elisha and Mugafu, the waiters were there and they welcomed me in and offered me a hot drink.

After about half an hour I began to feel a little better and went back to my tent.

Summit Night Recap

Day 8: 26th August – Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

Compared to last time, I struggled with this day. Last time, we had further to go as we had to go from High Camp but I remember being quite happy and doing well with it. This time, even though the distance was shorter, I seemed to struggle more.

The ground is quite uneven and tricky and I was so happy when we were finally on the track that’s even enough and wide enough for vehicles.

We finally got to Mweka Gate and then it was time to go to the restaurant for our celebration lunch and to buy more souvenirs from the amazing gift shop there.

After we got back to the Stella Maris, we had our fabulous first hot shower, then assembled for our de-briefing from Kajeli. It was so great to be able to tell him how much better I did this time compared to how I did when he took me to the summit. He was very proud of me!

James and the team of guides then held our certificate ceremony and I very proudly collected my second certificate from Fredy, since he was my summit guide this time.

Presentation of Certificate

Becoming Sick: 27th August – 28th August

The morning of the 27th when it was time to leave Stella Maris for a couple of relaxing days in Moshi, I started to feel really unwell again.

My head was still pounding and during that night, I had to move to a quieter hotel than the one I was in as it was next to a nightclub and my head couldn’t take the noise.

I had sent a message to Israel, the amazing guide that took me to Mt Meru, for advice on a hotel and he recommended the Parkview Inn, which was great.

When I woke up on 28th, I knew I needed to see a doctor and was concerned that I was becoming too sick to fly home on 29th.

I contacted Israel and he was amazing and kindly picked me up and took me to the medical centre, where I was given tests and diagnosed with shingles plus a bladder infection.

The doctor gave me a medical report confirming that I was unfit to fly and I ended
up spending an extra ten days at the Parkview Inn.

The hotel staff together with Israel were incredible at helping me sort out things like a visa extension, extra phone data and getting things for me from the shop.

I was very sick for several days, and I lost the vision in my left eye. Then I started to recover sufficiently to eventually fly home on 8th September. After landing at the airport in Malaga, I was very kindly collected by Lloyd and Sharon who took me straight to hospital, where I was immediately given anti-viral medication and began opthalmology.

To this day, I haven't recovered the sight in my left eye although I did finally recover my health after several months.

Conclusion

I am so happy that I made the trip onto the mountain for a second time. Even though I became very sick with shingles after coming down, I really enjoyed my time on the mountain. I achieved everything I wanted, which was to enjoy the hiking, have fun on the Barranco Wall, enjoy the experience and feeling of getting to the summit and take in more of the views of the glaciers and surrounding landscape.

Being on the Roof of Africa is an experience to be savoured – and I was finally able to savour every moment.