Kilimanjaro: Introduction to Tanzania

On Thursday I had to pack my bags last minute as I just returned from another hiking trip in Luxemburg.


The first day of my journey is all about airplanes and airports.
I had to stop in 3 Airports in order get to my destination in Tanzania. First I flew from Brussel to Paris, where a sudden snowstorm was keeping up lots of plains. After a 2,5 hour wait the plain needed some de-icing, which was really necessary considering the amount of snow on the wings. Because of this delay I almost missed my flight from Ethiopia to Tanzania. I had to rush so fast to the gate that I almost didn't notice the temperature difference of 25 degrees.

Hopefully we can teleport to our vacation destinations in the near future :)


When the airplane arrived at the airport in Moshi I could mount Kilimanjaro in the distance. The first view on that I wanted to climb for many years. My hart rate raised and my hands got sweaty as I suddenly realized it finally was going to happen.


A friendly driver took me to my hotel in Moshi and he gave me a basic introduction to Tanzania. Along the way we've seen lot's of cattle that was walking freely on the highway, a sandstorm that hit us by surprise and the crazy traffic in the city.

Moshi seems to be a very busy town. 
On every inch of the side walk there is some kind of small store, or at least someone that is selling something. 
From car parts and plants to food and clothing (actually everything you can imagine). Combine this with a temperature of 35 degrees and you have a very interesting mix of smells flying around these streets.

I can’t seem to sleep on an airplane, so that means I’m already awake for 32 hours. Currently it’s 16 o’clock so I try to stay awake or a little longer so I can get into the right rhythm.

I still have 2 nights before my actual trip to the top of the Kilimanjaro starts. That should be enough to catch up on some sleep and start the journey well rested.

But first food! I’m going to explore the local food today. Wish me luck :)

Kilimanjaro: Exploring Moshi

Wow! Today was a pretty intense day!

In the morning I went for a walk inside the busy streets of Moshi to find out what they were selling in the local outdoor gear store (Gladys Adventure). It turned out that they only have second hand gear that you can hire. They get donations from people who climbed the mountain and didn't want to take their gear back home.
I have seen some really vintage stuff over here. I guess that you only hire a sleeping bag that’s 20 years old if you have no choice at all. Funny to see that there were summer models as well that they recommend to take with you on to the mountain. Seems like a bad idea to me considering the -15 degrees on the top. So always check what you rent or buy, the conditions will be harsh!

On my way back I passed by the most chaotic bus station ever. People were shouting that their tickets were cheaper than the ones from their neighbours, others tried to sell food and drinks to the ones who were waiting for their bus to arrive. 
And on the border of this bus station people were selling chickens and other small animals. 
Absolute chaos! But it was fun to watch :D

At lunch time I met with some people who were planning to help as a volunteer at a local orphanage. 
I asked if I could help and soon the 4 of us were on our way. 
We arrived at the orphanage we got a very warm welcome from the principal, teachers and the kids. 
There are 550 children living here from different ages. (even babies)

We donated some books, colour pencils, ballpoints and other stationary that we bought during the trip towards the orphanage.

Recently they received a donation of 48 I-Pads and a laptop. So they reserved a special classroom to be turned into a computer class. 
Today I helped with the cleaning of the classroom and getting it dust proof to protect all the electric equipment. There are a lot of sandstorms in the area, so extra isolation on the windows and doorstrips are a small but effective adjustments. 
They also told me that they have been trying to set up the WiFi network for all the equipment but they didn’t succeeded. They work via a satellite transmission over here, but it seemed to be the router that caused the problem. I fixed it in a half hour and everyone was very thankful.

Afterwards we had one of the kids guide us through all the buildings and than we had a chat with some of the children in a class room. 
It was very moving, they hugged us many times and they even made some drawings and wrote a letter specially for me.

After this intense day I went to a nearby bar to taste one of the local beers to cool down a bit. They had Kilimanjaro branded beer and it was super tasty and refreshing.
I met some Dutch people from my hotel that were going to follow the same route to the top and they even start on the same day. Seems like a lot of fun to travel together with these people!

Afterwards I took some time to relax because tomorrow morning the climbing will start. From the humid jungle to the rock fields all the way up to the glaciers on the top. By tomorrow evening I should already be at around 3000m. From there we still need to cover lots of kilometres in order to reach the path on the other side of the mountain that will lead us to the top of this magnificent mountain.

This means that there will be some radio silence for the next 7 days. No worries, I’ll be back soon. 
Goodnight!

Kilimanjaro: Machame village to Machame camp (1)

Today is D-day! 
My bags are packed and I’m ready to go.

This morning at 9 o'clock a small group of people (12) were waiting for the bus that would transport us to the starting point of our journey. After a while a small bus arrived to pick up the group. Our guide jumped out and greeted us with the words “Hakuna Matata”. 
This dude looked like a real Rastafarian with his dreadlocks and colourful clothing. 
We had to throw all our bags on the top of the bus and then we drove towards the starting point.

We had to drive 40 minutes towards the Machame gate. Plenty of time to get an impression of how the local people live here as we drove past many little villages.

During the ride we saw an impressive mountain dooming up in the background. Damn that’s high, and there is definitely snow at the top. 
Everyone on the bus was suddenly silent, which empowered the relaxing Bob Marley jams on the radio.

Once arrived at the Machame gate the chaos began. There are a lot of porters here that want to carry our stuff up the mountain, but only a few can join us. 
The guides select the once that they seem to find fit enough for the journey. They will be carrying food, cooking supplies and even a large tent that we can use to eat in. Too much luxury from my point of view, but it’s standard for all groups that go up the mountain. You can't start the journey without a guide and people that carry your gear. Every year people die on the mountain and the government wants to reduce the number of casualties by assisting the climbers to the top.
I’ve planned to carry my own backpack during the whole trip and I really had to discuss this for a while with the guide. I assured him that I was experienced and that I wanted to have the real experience of concurring the mountain. Everyone else didn't bring a hiking backpack. Instead they brought a standard travel bag with way too many gear inside. The porters will follow us and carry their bags towards the base camp near the top.

After al the chaos at the gate we ate a quick lunch,  filled up our drinking bottles and payed a last visit to a decent toilet. Bye bye hygiene for the next 7 days :)

The Machame gate is located at the edge of the rain forest, the first monkeys were already greeting us. Their hungry eyes were focused on the leftovers of the lunch. 
Minutes later we entered the warm and humid forest.

The guide was setting the tempo, which was pretty slow in my opinion. I really had to adapt to this slow pace and he kept repeating in Swahili “pole, pole” which means “slow, slow”. 
Well, that was maybe the best choice considering that not everyone in the group has the same energy and training level.

After a 5 hour walk the forest slowly began to change. The vegetation was less dense and the trees were getting a lot smaller. We almost reached the tree line. A half hour later we entered a new vegetation zone with low bushes and grasses. We will set up camp here for the first night. 
We have walked for almost 6 hours and gained 1200 meters in height. Pretty good for the first day.

The evening meal was absolutely delicious. We had fried fish with potatoes and mixed vegetables. The chef did an excellent work.

After diner people were looking forward towards a warm sleeping bag and it didn’t took long before I heard the first tent zippers.
When walking towards my tent I could see the top of the Kilimanjaro bathing in the light of the moon. A beautiful scene to watch. I already know what the theme of my dreams will be.

I’m now typing this when laying inside my sleeping bag but I feel that I’m not really tired yet. 
Hopefully I can catch some sleep. 
Goodnight!

Kilimanjaro: Barranco camp to Karanga (4)

I had a good night rest at the Barranco camp.

When the guide woke me up and handed me a large cup of tea I already knew that today would be a good day. The warm cup warmed up my hands.
All tents were covered in ice this morning. This night the temperature went down to -7 degrees. I'm happy that my sleeping bag is tough enough for these conditions. (My sleeping bag is filled with goose down and has a comfort rating of -13, Limit -21, extreme -42)

When I crawled out of the tent there were almost no clouds around the summit.
We are now walking at the side of the mountain and we must reach the base camp on the other side. From there a path will lead the way through the snow and glaciers towards the Uhuru peak. But that’s still two days walking away.

So first things first. When looking left from the summit I could spot the Barranco wall. A steep climb of 300m that requires some technique and agility. There isn't a fixed trail at the Barranco wall. You just try to get higher by looking for the easiest way up. It's very steep and you have to use your hands to pull yourself up or to secure yourself when you walk on the edge of a cliff. It didn't take long before the camp underneath us started to get smaller. Sometimes I took a small break to enjoy the view and to snap a quick picture. This is really a beautiful location.

The lava rocks gave me surprisingly a lot of grip because of their rough surface. This part of the journey is my favorite one so far. I had so much energy that I quickly left my group behind and started to make my own trail. “See you guys at the top!”
The guides started to call me spiderman for the rest of the day :)
I made it to the top in 45 minutes, an half hour quicker than the rest of the group.

After this section we had to cross three valleys where we always needed to ascend and descend around 250m. Some people slipped on their way down in the second valley. It's a very steep slope and the small gravel isn't providing you with grip.
From the second last top you could already spot the camp. And you could also see the road towards it. Not super motivating I must say. Again 200m down on a steep trail and 250m up on a slope with big rocks. At a height around 4000m this is an exhausting activity.

After diner I let someone check my hart rate and the oxygen saturation in my blood. The values were very good. 88% for oxygen (considering the height this is very good) and a hart rate of 68bpm. 

That means I'm fit enough to go to the base camp tomorrow also called Karanga Camp. Tomorrow evening we will be at a height of 4600m.

Headlamp out and time to close the sleeping bag, it’s starting to freeze again.

Kilimanjaro: Barafu camp to Uluru Peak (6)

At 23:00 this night: “Hello sir, want some tea before going to top of mountain?”
“yes please!”

I was already awake when the guide was waking us. I didn’t sleep well, partially because these tents are too small and my legs started to hurt during the night and also because of some stress for the climb tonight. The last time that i checked my watch it was already 9 pm. That means I slept less than 2 hours.
Still 1200m to go to reach the highest point of the Kilimanjaro.
Yesterday I could already see that most of the sections are really steep. But now I had to do it at midnight with a headlamp.

So I put on my thermal under layers and outer layers and check if my extra clothing, snacks, camera and water are stored in an easily accessible spot in my backpack.
I put on my shoes and step outside the tent into the cold air.
The whole base camp was busy. Lights were bouncing around the tents and I could already spot some lights on the steep path to the summit.
No breakfast today, luckily I saved some power bars for the last climb.

The group is ready, the guide is ready and we set off into the night, accompanied by the light of the full moon. We started on a gravel path, but his surface Changed soon into big boulders and steep lava plates.

During the climb we passed a lot of people who had difficulties with the height. It wasn't a pleasant sight. I read many articles about altitude sickness, but I didn't imagine that it could be this bad.I've seen people crying, others vomiting, people who couldn’t walk straight anymore because of disorientation. (feeling drunk and unstable is one of the symptoms of AMS) Some of them turned around very quickly and just gave up.

I must say that it was colder than aspected. During short breaks I did put all warm clothes on that I brought to this trip. The wind made it even worse. I knew it was freezing at the base camp and it would only get colder when walking up the mountain.
With all layers on I had it slightly to warm, which is ideal to regulate my body temperature by opening or closing the zippers on my outer layers.

The cold was dehydrating me more than I wanted. And I had some bad luck with my most important source of water.
After 3 hours my camelbak gave up. The tube was completely frozen. I blew back the water into the pack every time I drank, but the cold got a grip on all things inside my bag.
I assumed that this would happen, so I also brought a thermo bottle which I filled with just water.
My snacks were stored in the pockets of my pants. my body heat prevented them from freezing.

After 5 hours I reached the Stella Point sign. Marking the second highest point of the mountain.
A lot of people give up here, because they know it’s still a 2km walk to the actual summit which lays 200m higher. This is really demotivating. You now you are close, but it is at least an extra 40 minutes before you are at the wooden sign on the top.

I continued the journey towards Uhuru Peak. Still 2km to go, but as the sun was rising up, scaring away the cold night, I felt more motivated.
After 500m the first glaciers popped up. And the light of the sun made them glow deep orange. This must have been the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
Along the way there are more snowfields and glaciers. The top of the Kilimanjaro is a true wonder of nature.
The road to the top isn’t as steep as the other sections of the climb. However every step you take here consumes a lot of energy and there is only 50% of oxygen in the air.
Suddenly I saw the sign of the top popping up. My heart beat went even higher and I walked a bit faster.
I passed the famous colourfull  sign and touched it, I threw my backpack on the ground and watched the scenery. The sun was still rising and there were no clouds around.

Wow, standing on the top was intense. I felt happy that I made it and next to that I felt a thousand more impulses and feelings that I can't describe. I think that the feelings I had on the top were boosted by the overall experience of the hike towards the summit.

The glaciers are truly magnificent. Too bad that they are slowly disappearing.
After a moment of rest I took my camera and did what I had to do, take a picture together with the sign :)

I only stayed at the top for 20 minutes. That's already 10 minutes more than the guides told me to do.
So now it was time to go back to the base camp.
The road down is different from the road up to the top. Going down is actually steeper and there are more gravel sections.
At some point the walking turned into skiing on the gravel. It was a fun and quick way to descend quickly.

I came back at the base camp around 9 o'clock where I had to lunch, but I couldn’t eat. I wasn't hungry at all. I was so exhausted that I could throw up.
I could rest for an hour, but after that I needed to continue the descend towards another camp at 3100m.
My knees were not happy with that thought.

The trip to the other camp took around 4 hours. In the beginning the path was really misty and you could only see a few meters ahead.
Suddenly I saw some low vegetation popping up in between the rocks. It got larger and larger and eventually small bushes and grasses appeared.
It’s funny to see this kind of change in a short period of time.

When I arrived at the camp I threw my stuff in the tent and made some tea.
I was really hungry right now. Three portions of rice with a vegetable sauce could stop that feeling.

Finally it was time to rest. I went to sleep with a big smile on my face. Truly happy that I made it!

Kilimanjaro: Mweka camp to Mweka village (7)

Today I woke up with a big smile :D

Yesterday was a pretty though day, but it was all worth it.
Standing on the top of the Kilimanjaro was truly a very intense and wonderful feeling.

We had to wake up today at 5 am. No time to let the muscles rest.
We still had a 4 hour walk to do towards the Mweka gate. We take a different route down than the Machame route that we have been following for the past days.
At 6 am we started to walk towards the end point of the journey.

The route was leading us through a beautiful part of the rain forest. Going from rocky landscapes to the colorful rain forest is a nice experience.
As soon as we were under the treeline the whole trail turned green. We heard many birds sing and the mosquitoes were back again.

After a few hours walking we could hear monkeys shout. When we looked up there was a big group jumping through the treetops. There were at least 40 Blue monkeys.
A little further we could see the Collobus monkeys. They have enormous white tails. That makes it easy to spot them.

Suddenly the rain forest ends and we pass by a big gate. I notice that there are cars up here and there is even a bar. This was such a weird moment. I mean, after a few days in the wilderness it feels a bit weird to be thrown back into the civilization. 

We had to pass by the office of the local ranger to register our self so that they know we arrived save and sound. Soon a driver would pick us up and bring us back to the city.
After saying goodbye to the crew we took a last look at the mountain and drove again to the busy city of Moshi.

Living in the wild is always a great experience. Coming back to the civilization feels always a bit weird in the beginning.
A cold shower washed the dust from my skin that had been building up for the last days.
How does a normal toilet work again?

I can’t believe that the expedition is already over. Time has been flying by the past week.
I’ve seen the most beautiful far sights and stunning pieces of nature. Walked through the rain forest and ice fields. Seen some cool animals. Made a bunch of new friends. And stood on the top of the largest free standing mountain in the world.
Mission accomplished!

In the evening we went out for dinner and some beers to celebrate.
The next days will be about relaxing and getting some rest.
Well, relaxing…, I already planed a safari for tomorrow and have to leave at 6.30 am. Nah, no need to rest, thinking about the past week provides me with enough energy :)

So that’s it for this trip.
On to the next one!




Check out the essentials to know about a trip to the Killimanjaro on our website: Backpack on Track, Kilimajaro
And have a look on the video bellow to get a impression of the journey to the summit.