Kilimanjaro Part II: the part that is better than Part I

I’m sorry that I am a terrible blogger updater person. One would think that a 6 month gap of this trip and me writing the rest of the adventure would be a problem. However, there are just some things that are hard to forget (like the unpleasant situation of climbing a mountain for lots of days.) I now finally present to you “Kilimanjaro Part II: the part that is better than Part I”

Day 3: Shira (3840 m/ 12,598 ft)--> Lava Tower (4630 m/15,190 ft) --> Barranco Camp (3950 m/ 12,959 ft)

This day was for acclimatization. So, you climb high, sleep low. After five hours of climbing, you descend for two hours to camp. Necessary, but frustrating, especially when you are starting to struggle…. With life… in general…. Because you are climbing up a giant mountain.

Anyways—Acclimatizing!!!! So, people often get altitude sickness and it comes along with really unpleasant symptoms. Before climbing Kilimanjaro, you go to the doctor to get special meds to help you with acclimatizing faster. This is called Diamox. Chami and Kedy were quite discouraging of our taking of Diamox as Diamox comes with it’s own set of side effects. I think it probably really would have helped me not feel like a crazy person BECAUSE I would have been eating more food, and drinking more water and therefore, probably thinking a little clearer. Usually, altitude sickness symptoms include headache, nausea, and fatigue on the mild end of things, while one of the most severe is pulmonary edema.  If you do need to be assisted off the mountain, there are some very questionable “ambulances” to help you. These ambulances are actually just really fancy wheelbarrows.

We climbed for a very long time. Kedy stayed with us the entire time. Chami would fall back and then two hours later would be coming from ahead of us. I think besides OG and head guide, he is also a magician. After climbing for almost forever (4ish hours), we stopped and had lunch. At this point, the food was seeming a little tedious to eat, and we were basically force feeding ourselves. Since it was only lunch, they did not set up our toilet tent, so we went on a mini adventure to pee. It was mostly a barren landscape as we had entered the desert area at this point. Nothing like peeing behind a tiny rock with about 300 other people on all sides of you. After lunch we started the descent part of the day. It was actually kind of enjoyable, the vegetation and landscape was pretty cool, especially towards the end of the day.

We eventually arrived at Barranco camp, signed the visitor’s log with Chami, and went to eat some food. At this point I was feeling EXTREMELY fatigued.

The small rocks

The vegetation

Barranco Camp

OG Update: Chami had to tell Heather at lunch to eat her chicken, not once, but two times. Heather ate her chicken. Do not mess with Chami.

Day 4: Barranco Camp (3,950 m/ 12,959 ft) --> Barafu Base Camp (4,550 m/ 14,927 ft)

I woke up in the morning feeling like a huge pile of poo. Nauseous with a headache, such a fun way to start off the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That’s sarcasm for those of you reading who have difficulty with social cues). Within the first hour of climbing, I think I had to stop at least twice, if not more. Then the REAL climbing started, where you are actually perched on a ledge, off balance, in a crowd of porters, guides, and other people trying to get through a space made for ½ of a person with a giant pack on your back, while simultaneously feeling like you are inevitably going to vomit, and now if you are going to vomit, it will probably be on a very unfortunate person. This rock wall is called the Great Barranco Wall. Our trip itinerary described it as “an awesome looking obstacle.” LIES. At this point in time, my thinking was very negative, and really all I could think about doing was laying down on a random rock like the cute little mountain creatures, and take a nap. Just when things could not (in my mind) get much worse, it started raining while we are rock climbing the “awesome” wall. Not a cute little mist or sprinkle—LIKE REAL RAIN. We put our ponchos on and kept going. Eventually, we reached a plateau of sorts after climbing for what may or may not have been forever. I was grumpy, on the verge of tears, and hungry at this point—hangry. Such a bad, mental place to be in while you are climbing a mountain that you cannot just merrily climb down.

It was raining.

It stopped raining for the last little leg before we got to our lunch spot. We ate lunch, except for that I don’t think I ate much and I hadn’t really drank much water that day either. The sun was shining, I was hoping everything would magically dry, it did not. It was also very windy, and we were sitting on these ridiculous little stools and the tent was at a 45 degree angle, and it was taking a lot of effort to sit there. Yes, this is what I remember. This is when I remember the crazy starting.

After lunch is over, we get to rest for just long enough to get really sleepy. Then we have to get up and start climbing again. An hour into climbing it starts down pouring. We are now in the alpine desert, so when we go down little hills, it is muddy. I do a nice little slide and get mud inside of my poncho and so my hands are muddy, and I’m very angry. I’m angry at Mother Nature for kicking me when I’m already down. It just seemed really rude. I was trying to keep my mind occupied. To achieve this, I was making lists in my head. I tried to think of all the countries in the world, all of the names of the bones in the human body, etc. At this point I was also thinking about taking more naps and wondering if I could legitimately get away with taking a nap on a rock. That was my dream, alas I could not make it a reality. I was so sad.

After being miserable for a full day, we finally got to base camp. At this point it was starting to be really dang cold. Heather and I were freezing. We refused to leave our two person tent so they brought us food in the tent. When we had to go to the toilet tent, it was awful because it was sososososoooooooo windy and cold. Could I feel colder? Could I feel any more exhausted? Could I feel more crazy?

Yes, I absolutely could.

Day 5: Barafu Base Camp (4,550 m/ 14,927 ft) -->Stella Point (5685 m/ 18651 ft)--> Uhuru Peak (5895 m/ 19, 340 ft) --> Mweka Camp (3,100 m/ 10,170 ft)

The crazy feelings kept coming as we are woken up at approximately 11-11:30 pm to start our ascent to the summit. Breakfast is brought to the tent. I literally do not want to eat any of it, I might have had a piece of pancake bread? I’m not sure. I do remember Heather knocked over some of the hot water and I started flipping out because it spilled on one of my long sleeved shirts that I was going to wear. Like lunatic flipping out going “No! No! No! No! Why is this happening?” And not being able to stand up and pace and complete the picture of an actual lunatic.

Middle of the night wake up call--thrilled about climbing non stop for the next 17 hours.

The part that was cool was the full moon. However, it was pitch black because it was the middle of the night. It was very rocky, and snowy, and miserable. Miserable. Absolutely miserable. All I could think about was taking a nap in the snow. I took polé polé to a new level of moving slowly and seriously, all I could think about was taking a nap in the snow. I was stopping every 20 feet and hoping I could take a nap in the snow. Eventually Heather went on and I kept going extra polé. After forever, the sun started rising. At this point the little water I was drinking had frozen, so it was also basically impossible to drink water, even though the tube from my camebak was insulated.

Beautiful sunrise on the mountain!!

After thinking about taking a nap in various snowbanks for a solid 7 ½ hours, I made it to Stella point!  Stella Point is on the rim of the crater. Cool views of glaciers up there. I was still really miserable though. Heather was nice and jolly waiting for me at the top! After we got to Stella point, it was another hour climb to get to Uhuru Peak. At which point I thought about taking more naps, only this time on slabs of ice because we were almost to the highest point in Africa, and DAMN, IT IS COLD UP THERE.

We reached Uhuru Peak, and my thoughts temporarily changed to how great it would be to just take a sled down the glacier, but then I would have to climb back up that and I would DEFINITELY want to take a lot of naps along the way. So, at the peak I was really cold, but felt happy I had finally made it and after the burst of happiness my next thought was “Get me the &*%! off this mountain!” Repeated as many times as the thoughts of taking naps in snow banks. Anyways, we took some cutesy pictures, except you can’t even tell it was me because I was still kind of miserable and frozen and tired and refused to take off any of my gear. Good times!

At this point we were finally able to start our descent. I was still really miserable because then we had to climb down for three hours. My legs were jello-y and it was still difficult for me to climb down, directly attributed to me probably eating and drinking less than a Holocaust victim because that altitude sickness had me crazy. We eventually get back down to Barafu Base Camp, eat lunch (I didn’t eat any lunch because I was crazy) and then began another three hour descent. I started feeling much better during our descent, and my brain started working and I started chugging water and eating snacks. We passed a lady who was about to pass out, and later passed an ambulance on the way to get her. It started sprinkling, but I didn’t even care because I was basically a filthy wild rabies infested animal who just wanted to get the &*%! off of the mountain.

Eventually, we made it to our base camp for the night, signed the log, had some yucky dinner, and went to bed. Heather forced me to spoon her because it was still really cold. I’m glad we are still friends post-trip.

OG Update: Between Stella Point and Uhuru Peak, Chami saw a guide he knew, stopped for a minute and shook hands. Before the shaking hands took place, he grabbed a cute little pill and handed it over during the handshake. I see your sly moves, Chami. 

Views from the top

Glaciers/ Uhuru Peak views

Uhuru Peak

Done and climbed Africa's tallest mountain!

Kedy, me, Heather, and Chami

Stella Point

Us with the porters, Kilimanjaro in the background

Us with Kilimanjaro in the background

Us with Chami and Kedy

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy we are almost off the mountain!

These are the ambulances I was speaking of earlier.

Peace out!

Day 6: Dreaming of showers and that is the only thing

We wake up, the porters sing us some Kilimanjaro camp songs, and then we start our final descent, and are really close to getting the &*%! off the mountain. My nap urges at this point have subsided significantly, and I think I’m starting to act like a human sans crazy. After about three hours through the forest, we reach Mweka Gate. We paid people 2 USD to scrub our filthy boots and we used a toilet that we could flush. It was magical.

We then joined the long, long line of people signing out of the park, and received our summit certificates. We reached Uhuru Peak, so we got gold certificates (obviously). We drive out of the park, and start heading back to Arusha where a shower awaits. They (our guides) keep trying to make us stop and eat lunch, but we don’t want anything, we just want a shower. There was also a huge finagle with tipping the guides and porters, which was really uncomfortable, but we really didn’t know what else to do. At this point they take us to a tourist shop (no, seriously take us back to the resort), and they very clearly got commission from shop owners. I ended up buying a really crap painting of Kilimanjaro, but I knew there was nothing else I would have besides pictures of the trip. Also, I was definitely going to burn or throw away most of the belongings from the trip—so filthy.

Eventually, a million and a half hours later, we made it to the resort. I let Heather take a shower first, because I’m an incredibly kind and generous person. She then repaid my kindness by using all the hot water. I had to quadruple wash my hair (in cold water), because climbing Kilimanjaro is filthy work. I had clean clothes (so fresh, so clean clean), and then we went for a drink and ate some dinner at the resort. This was really an exciting time—electricity, running water, and edible food. So great.

OG Update: While we were waiting in line for our certificates, Chami opened up the First Aid Kit he carried with him the entire trip (like held it in his hands the ENTIRE climb). Aside from all of the typical things one would find in a first aid kit, this was evidently where he also kept his burner phone. Chami gets the burner phone out, then an extra SIM card out, changes the SIM card in the burner phone and starts calling people. Classic OG.

Day 7: Back to the homeland

By homeland, I mean Dubai. Not without a stop in Nairobi via propeller plane (which Heather loves), but it wasn’t a very long layover, and there was electricity, running water, and our favorite dive bar in the corner. We arrived in Dubai, with our things, and were happy and clean and have lived happily ever after since.

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro (Part 1)

Day 1: Fly Dubaià Mt. Kilimanjaro

After getting 2 hours of sleep, we went to the airport and hopped on a plane. The air time was about 5 hours so I got enough sleep. I must say, Kenya Airways may not have been the best choice, alas, I’m still here to tell my story. Kenya Airways issue #1: I had a cherished window seat on this five hour long flight. It was an early morning flight so the sun was rising, also nice. However, when you’re trying to sleep, it is really annoying to have the morning sunshine blazing your retinas. Oh! I’m sure you’re thinking, “put down the window shade, idiot.” Well, obviously I would have if there had been one. Kenya Airways issue #2: Having the pleasure of the window seat sitting directly over the wing, I was able to look at the wing whenever I wanted to, and even when I didn’t want to (see issue #1). I decided not to tell Heather this until we were off the flight, but I could visibly see screws missing from the plane wing. Comforting? NOPE NOPE NOPE. Kenya Airways issue #3: This issue directly affected Heather, and that is the passenger that was sitting next to her. There was a woman (who initially tried to steal my window seat…. Oh hell, no you crazy lady!!), who had the aisle seat next to Heather. This woman made for some awkward plane moments. Like when she refused to get out of her seat so I could go to the bathroom. We’ve all ridden in coach, there is not excess leg room to pass by someone. This woman made me straddle her to get out of my seat and also to get back into my seat. (Then which way do you face during the awkward straddle….) Also, she smelled. Also, she kept flipping her dreads in Heather’s poor face.

So, we have a nice comfortable 7.5 hour layover in the Nairobi airport. The Nairobi airport is nothing special, but when you have been to the airport in Addis Ababa, this airport could be made of gold. (Okay, hyperbole). So we find this little restaurant/bar in the corner of the airport. We sit at the same booth for over 5 hours, ordering food and drinks, playing cards, and generally being obnoxious to the general population. This was quite fun. Heather made comments about there being a fence surrounding the airport, “It is because the lions like to watch the planes land.”

The cards and drinks

There were also possible sightings of Big Foot.

Big Foot. No joke.

Other notable moments in Nairobi airport:

-Heather continues to call the hotel we will stay in that night a “resort” hahahahahahhahaha

-Someone complimented Heather’s dirty Hawkeye shirt (gross)

-Our plane from Nairobi to Mt. Kilimanjaro was a &*%#! Propeller plane (I wish I was joking)

-While Heather was filling out her “Dear diary” about the day, she said ...

“I’m going to lie and make up shit you said.” So, don’t believe anything she says about our trip, clearly it is lies.

Somehow we made it alive in our propeller plane to the Kilimanjaro Airport, filled out papers that essentially said we don’t have Ebola or Ebola symptoms, and had a sign that said our names on it. I was pleasantly surprised/impressed at the efficiency and security of entering the country, their official visas, and fingerprinting before we left the airport. From there, it was about an hour drive to Arusha, where our hotel accommodations were. To my shock, we were legitimately put up in a resort, called SG Resort. It was quite nice. We ate some food, got ready for the next day, took our last cherished shower, and of course, as our vacations happen to go, only had one bed to share. It was the most space we had sleeping for the next five days. Yep. You read that right.

In the morning we ate breakfast, and met our trip coordinator, guides, and cook. We then drove with them for around an hour and a half to get to the Machame Trailhead where we would start our trek.

OG update: For our trip we had a lead guide (Chami), assistant guide (Kedy), cook, waiter, toilet guy, and a handful of porters. On the drive to the trailhead, the first signs of Chami being a real OG came to light. Now, for those of you reading who don’t know what a real OG is, OG stands for “original gangster.” These are people who are true gangsters such as Tupac or Dr. Dre —they protect what is theirs, they have connections, they work ladies, they do deals, and you do not cross them. So, on our way to the mountain we stop 3-4 times. Now, Chami already has one phone, we stop on the side of the road, a woman comes up to the van window, and hands him a second “burner” looking phone. A few more minutes down the road, and we stop again. This time Chami tells us to get out and stretch our legs. So, we do, he disappears, presumably to do some deals. Then a little while later, we pull on the side of the road again, this time to pick up a female, who we later find out is a porter, but she clearly has a thing for Chami. She was not happy to see two young women in the van.

Once we enter the park, we wait in a “tourist” area where we are given lunch, and use a flush toilet for the last time (okay, for 5 days).

Flushing toilets and running water <3

Don't be fooled. These monkeys are assholes.

We wait there for over an hour, where we take pictures at the trailhead signs, relax, and watch the monkeys that surround the area be complete assholes. Seriously, you must hold your food at all times or the monkeys run through and snatch it, then run away and climb up a tree as you watch in despair. We had to sign into the park before we started the trek. The reason we had to wait so long, is that the porters also have to be “weighed” to make sure they are not carrying too much.

We went to Uhuru Peak. Yep.

Clean clothes, clean people.

We then FINALLY start our trek!!!! We start the day at 1490 meters (4900 feet) and end the day at Machame Camp 2980 meters (9700 feet). On Kilimanjaro, there are 5 vegetation zones, the entry into the park is a cultivation zone, and the first day we hike through most of the Montane forest (rainforest). The forest is beautiful with the trees, hanging moss, and flowers. Kedy, our assistant guide, is very knowledgeable on the vegetation and animals. On this day, the climb is very gradual and smooth, but we also learn the meaning of “polé polé,” which will be used countless times throughout the hours and days of the trek. It mean slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, which is the only way to make it up the mountain, although I must say I took the term to a whole new level.

After several hours of hiking, we reach Machame camp. Once we get to the camp (and each camp after) we sign in with our names, occupation, date, company we are hiking with, guide name, age, and gender. We then settle our things into our two person tent and get ready to eat dinner. At this point we are tired, but happy to eat. There is a special tent set up for us to eat in with a table (mess tent). The first few days this tent was fine, but I definitely learned to hate it. After drinking warm beverages and eating, Chami came in and gave us a briefing on the next day. We both got ready for bed, used our special toilet in the toilet tent, and went to bed. We quickly learned that nighttime is cold. Really cold.

Camp

OG update: Chami tells us that under no circumstances is anyone allowed to enter our tent (besides us). If anyone does or tries to, yell for him and he will “take care of it.” Also his tent is right next to ours in case we need him. Question of the day: Is the lady porter sleeping in Chami’s tent? She is very giggly. Chami also knows everyone along the trail and is buddy buddy. He seems very respected (feared because he is an OG).

Day 2: Machame Camp à Shira Camp

The day started off with breakfast and warm beverages in the mess tent. 

Similar breakfast every morning: pancake bread, omlet, toast, hot beverages, fresh veggies, oatmeal

The porters had boiled water the night before and filled our drinking bladders and water bottles with water for the day. Thank God for water flavoring. My stuff was already jumbled around and messed up. My boots started rubbing, so I put athletic tape over them so it wouldn’t rub and make them worse. I also put athletic tape over spots that were sore so it wouldn’t blister. So I had bright yellow athletic tape on both heels, side of my big toes, and covering the tops of my middle two toes. Not that it mattered, my feet were encapsulated in 3 pairs of wool socks at all times.

Hiking started off quite steep and the day got warm quickly. Several hours of steep hiking were exhausting, but the terrain eventually leveled off and we made it to the camp. I think we were supposed to hike more that day to help with acclimatization, but it had started raining and they didn’t make us. Heather and I spent the afternoon huddled in our sleeping bags, napping and reading. We got up again to eat dinner, then had an early night.. This is also the day I noticed I had started drinking less water. We started the day at 2980 meters (9700 feet) and ascended to Shira camp at 3840 meters (12,600 feet).

Fun facts:

- The zipper on the toilet tent was broken, so I peed with it open. Sorry world.

-Kedy said there are now a few lady porters, “You know, because equal rights and stuff.”

-And NIGHTMARE: I discovered quite possibly the creepiest bird I have ever seen-- a white necked raven. If “The Birds” ever happens, it will be with those birds. SERIOUSLY. THE. WORST.

Awful birds. Every where. Awful.

Our guides have told us some basic Swahili words besides polé polé:

Jambo- Hello, Mambo- What’s up?/How are you?, Poa- cool/good, Asante- thank you, Karibu- welcome

 I think this picture is actually Day 3, but whatever. 

 Just trying to advertise that power gel in my hand. Kidding! Power gels are gross. The more you know.

Still feeling good :-)

OG Update: Nothing to report, although Heather and I listened intently to figure out if the lady porter was in Chami’s tent. We seriously did not have anything better to do.

All of the 2014 things (January to March)

Someone asked me today about my trip to Ethiopia, and then I remembered that I had a blog, and that I am supposed to give life updates on this blog. 

Anywho....

This month was full of great fun and friends. I went back home to Iowa over our winter break, and I'm so happy I did (despite the frigid and miserable temperature while I was home). Also, the 3???? blizzards over my 11 days. Honestly, the highest temperature was probably 11 degrees. Gross.

Anyways... I had a drink or two with friends, ate an astronomical amount of food with family, and had very long lunch dates. I also got to drive a car!!!!!!!! First time in months. 

The look on my little munchkin's face when she first saw me was priceless! I think she was momentarily in shock. It was really adorable.

Return to Dubai...

Getting back here was a royal pain. My flights got cancelled 2 or 3 times, mostly without notice. My dad and Gavin (my nephew) dropped me off at the airport. Gavin was so excited to see the airplanes at the airport. I'm pretty sure I didn't cry when I left this time.... pretty sure....

10 K

I did a 10K. If anyone knows me, I freaking hate running. It was to support a friend, and we had to leave the apartment at 4:30 am. *whines like a 3 year old* This picture was taken at 6 am, still non-functioning. I walked the whole 10 K and made reasonable time for walking it. I got a medal and a purple dri fit work t-shirt. They say "Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon." Actual real life marathon? No thank you. 

Could I please get an IV of coffee?

Shenanigans 

Shenanigans include house parties, going out to 360 at midnight, my first 2 brunches ever, and a desert safari.

The house part was at a friend's house. It was her birthday. We sang happy birthday, ate food, rapped some songs (oh wait, that was just me), drank, and all had a lovely time. 

360 is a nightclub in Dubai on the water. Beautiful views of the Burj al Arab, and very expensive drinks. However, the drinks are only expensive if you pay for them, and in Dubai there are a lot of dudes willing to pay for your drinks.

Brunch in Dubai is a very interesting thing. The closest thing I can compare it to at home is tailgating. Booze and food.... like so so so so sooooo much of it. You pay a set price, and get lots of booze and food for 3+ hours. It is magical. The magic gets questionable after the brunch around 4 pm, when everyone thinks it is a great idea to then go bar hopping until 1 am. That is when there is magic no mo.'

Desert safaris are overrated, but a "must do" thing (one time thing) when you are in the middle of the desert. These safaris include a short bout of off roading through a few dunes to the location, a 2 minute camel ride from a temperamental camel, Middle Eastern food buffet, henna tattoos, a place to try on traditional dress, a show of bellydancing, and the opportunity to go sandboarding. Sandboarding is absolutely not worth the effort it takes to climb up the dune! It is kind of like trying to go sledding after a snow flurry, not a whole lot happens. 

What you see above is a photo of a professional sandboarder (me).

Desert Camping

A whole entire novel could be made about our desert camping extravaganza. It is really difficult trying to leave out any details because it is the culmination of events that made camping so magical. Was it the complete absurdity of trying to get to our destination? Was it when we had to basically set up tent in the dark? Was it the amount of drinks we consumed? Was it the nice strangers who surrounded me? Was it when the tame friend puked? Was it when my friend's boyfriend (who is a giant person... I'm talking 7 feet tall and not scrawny) decided to roll down a dune and completely plow over some tents? Was it when he did this for the 3rd time? Was it when .... wait....  Was it when I woke up in the morning to a sandstorm and inhaled enough sand to make a sandcastle? Shall I go on? 

The charming bonfire that was the center of it all...

The Rav 4

My newest baby baby baby baby baby is my new car. It is a 2014 Toyota Rav 4 and I love it and the new car smell with all my heart. I love it because it is mine and I can drive it. And I also love it because I love it I love it I love it and I love it so much I can't even make any real sense. Now I feel like a real grown up again.

Love love love and more love <3

Yacht

Some lovely friends and myself rented a yacht for 4 hours. There were about 10 of us and it cost us roughly $35 USD each. Insanity. Also, it was great fun. 

Livin' the good life :-)