The Power of three: Mount Kilimanjaro

It was exactly 7 days after my birthday in 2014 that I decided to take on Mount Kilimanjaro. I had done almost all the wild activities on my #BucketList, from flying the Raven R44 to Skydiving. Some physical and mental challenge has got to be next on my list, I thought. A friend had mentioned Mount Kilimanjaro years earlier but the whole idea of camping for 7 nights did not appeal to me in the least. As a casual hiker I had done most local hiking trails including the Table Mountain a number of times by 2014 and all of them had become rather mundane. On 10 July I sent an email to people whom I considered a good fit to travel with and take on such a mission. The list included my brother of course, we had planned to enter the #AmazingRace since varsity and we've been waiting for SABC3 to bring the local version eversince. Anyway, I started with almost 20 people on the invitation list, friends and acquaintances from across the world. A lot of enthusiasm was shown in the beginning but with time the numbers fizzled, for a spectrum of “reasons.”

In the end, a team of three remained: The League, The Noz and The Me.

Preparation

All I did for preparation was hike, A LOT.  I did most trails in Gauteng and even travelled to the Drakensberg. Preparation became an excuse for me to be out in the outdoors, I love the outdoors. We had almost 7 months to get ready. I consulted Dream World Adventures through which I met Rose Gardner who helped us with bookings, very efficient I must say. I did a lot internet searches, especially on Altitude sickness. I knew I was taking on a big mission here, physically and mentally. This of course is the reason I chose that specific list of people. I had known most of them personally and some through sports. Physically we had prepared, but altitude No Sir. How does one prepare for altitude? Anyway I went ahead and printed tshirts that read #ChizamaGoesToKilimanjaro; #KilimanjaroHereWeCome; MyBrother & I conquered Kilimanjaro; We Conquered Kilimanjaro etc. for motivational purposes.

South Africa to Mount Kilimanjaro

We boarded our flight to Mount Kilimanjaro via Nairobi on Valentines Day 2015.

                         

 

OR Tambo Airport

       

On arrival, we got transferred to the township of Moshi. Later that day we met our guide Mr Stanley Kwayu, a very lovely fellow

Springpark hotel, Moshi Township

Let’s summit

Day 1

 We started the day with prayer and made our way to Marangu gate. In our backpacks were snacks, water, and extra clothing in case of any change in the weather before the next Camping site. We left the gate a bit after 2pm and started our ascent to Mandara hut. This is a very beautiful rain forest, very green with water streams every now and then.

FLORA 

The hike was just shy of 4hrs. We got there and supper was served. A bit afterwards we met our assistant guide Mr Thadeus Mlay, an unassuming young man with a spirit of a lion. I’ll say more about him later.  We rested for the night to prepare our further ascent to Horombo hut the next day. I was reminded of my Girl Guide days, camping and star gazing, just enjoying the outdoors, the simple life. We shared cabins, people of both genders from across the world. Some did not even speak English but those variables did not get in the way. We were all there to do one thing and one thing only: Summit Mount Kilimanjaro. My brother was rather restless all night; he complained about shivering but slept eventually.

           

Mandara Hut 

 

             Rainforest

Day 2

Early morning we were woken up with warm water for freshening up and a good breakfast. Did I mention how well they fed us? There was food at every turn. We ATE A LOT. Noz and I had to forget about our fear of weight gain for just one week and just focused on carbo-loading. Trust me, carbohydrates are very important. Climbing a mountain is no small matter, especially with other variables like altitude sickness in sight. One has to keep well fed and hydrated. My brother struggled slightly on this route. Wait, that nigga struggled an awful lot, we entertained ourselves by laughing at the poor guy. Noz & I are physically fit, that girl is a marathon runner ok? She is very well disciplined in every aspect, physically and mentally. This is precisely the reason I chose her for this trip. She’s very beautiful, cheeky too and dresses like a goddess. That’s a story for another day. Back to the summit, my brother walked behind us most of the time. I’d keep checking on him: "Usekhona #Chizama?” (Chizama is our clan name). He’d simply respond with a laugh. That’s my blood man, I was his mother, sister and Dr Phil uttering cheesy statements at times like “You can do it Chizama. We’re almost there, only a few more hours to go”

How many more hours to go, Mr Stanley?

There we are, struggling with poles in our hands. Our guide, Mr Stanley walking with hands in his pockets. What a show off!!!

We arrived in Horombo, hut No. 14 just before sunset and rested for the night. Oh altitude sickness started to catch on too, just a short pace got your heart pounding.  The temperature had dropped as well, we had our gloves on and the layers of clothing started piling up.

Day 3

This day was set aside solely for acclimatization. We took a 4km walk to Zebra rocks, reaching 4000m altitude and walked back to Horombo. It was an easy one physically but altitude was definitely winning. I had a very serious case of indigestion. My left knee started complaining too but I ain’t no punk LOL! Noz had Gaviscon sachets for my indigestion, thank goodness. They helped to a certain degree but let me tell you that I did spend the entire night in sitting position, burping and  funking  up the cabin *shrug*

       The League: Zebra Rocks 4000m

 The Power of Three

                       

            Noz. Credit the photograther abeg. Me ;)

Fooling around

    

  

My long walk to freedom

Day 4 & 5

This is the day that we made the final ascent before summit. The target was to reach 4700m (Kibo Hut) by late afternoon, take a rest and start summit by midnight of the same day. The reason for coupling Kibo and Uhuru is altitude. They do not allow trekkers to sleep over at that high altitude. Remember there’s absolute shortage of oxygen and spending a lot of time might have adverse effects on plain folk like me. I’m only a Chizama. Anyway reaching Kibo hut was a bit of a mission for this fragile soul, I could feel shortage of oxygen. I literally counted my steps and stopped for two second breaks to take a deep breath.  In case I haven’t mentioned it by now, I have only one lung that functions to full capacity ;)

Teamwork

In the fifth hour of our hike, I played a voice recording of #TheDuke. Yes I had to hear my father’s voice for motivation. This is the man who taught me everything I know about self reliance and doing my best no matter what. Growing up he always spoke about how one cannot achieve by not trying. At least if one fails they fall back to their initial position, while not trying at all leaves one with the question “what if?’’

Me at the back.  F* pictures, I was so tired

Summit night

Kibo had different cabins with large dormitory style accommodation. It was more like a transit point, with hikers from other routes meeting here for the big night. Uhuru peak awaited, we had all made it thus far. All that was left was a mere 1.1km altitude, well almost 20km distance. You will have noticed that I mention altitude more than distance. Anyone can do distance but it takes some doing to climb altitude. We shared our dormitory with almost 12 other people, all with the same mission. We were woken up at 10pm with tea and biscuits. Let me mention that every single person that night woke up and had conversation with their own thoughts. The cabins were quiet, the mood was rather gloomy. Deep down we all knew how big and how dangerous this is. In fact one Scandinavian lady laughed: Why are we doing this? We all laughed and one was left with the same question, though none communicated the same sentiment.

Different travel guides started briefing their trekkers. The atmosphere was sombre, we all ate and drank in silence. Our guide came to our table to give us a heads up on the potential horror. Very softly he spoke to us: Okay guys we are going to start our final ascent now. Please take it slowly: Pole- Pole (slowly). If you feel ANYTHING unfamiliar:

•       If you feel like vomiting, please go ahead and vomit
•     If you feel a headache, please let me know
•    If you feel disorientated, let me know
•    A light at the corner of your eye
•    Exhaustion to a point where you cannot lift your arm, let me know

I thought “Blimey, WTF?”

Well of course we knew about all the things that he mentioned but now that the time had come and we were here, man we did not want to hear it. I had read about build up of fluid in your lungs and skull that could lead to DEATH. I had read about deaths at Mount Kilimanjaro but thought that’s the kind of stuff that happens to wusses. I had chosen the best team for this, we were well prepared.

We took our trusted Diamox S3, armed ourselves with litres of water, poles, layers and layers of clothing and made our way up. Ok look, I had 2 thermal leggings, fleece pants, hiking pants and water and windproof pants; 2 thermal shirts, 2 fleece tops, my Mdantsane Native top and my avalanche jacket, 2 layers of gloves and 3 layers of TK2 & 4 socks. To protect my face, I had a balaclava and a fleece hat. #Chizama was ready.

My gear on summit night

We started our ascent a few minutes before midnight, with our guide doing a “Mandela long walk to freedom in front of us”. Try to imagine 5 overclothed people quietly walking at 1km/hr, one behind the other. We looked like zombies LOL!  I was alright for the first 3hrs. It was at almost 5000m that my body started to give in. My heart started pounding uncontrollably. I was unable to take more that 20 steps without catching my breath. I would take sporadic breaks and make small talk, which my brother noticed and knew I was only trying to buy time. Bless him.  Kwakumpontshwa, as he would say. A few hours later, the guide suggested staying with me and let Noz & The league walk ahead with the assistant. I refused to separate from my brother. Noz went ahead with the assistant guide while I continued to brave it out with my brother. At this point all we could see were lights ahead at a far distance and the mind whispered “Letu this is very steep. You’d better whip out your magic or you’re toast” or rather a snowman. The temperature had easily dropped to -15 degrees. My brother mumbled something like “We’ve come so far Noledza giving up now would not be such a shame” I responded “Man look behind you. Look how far we’ve come, we cannot give up now” I was physically drained but not even once did I think of giving up. I'm not a quitter. I was not about to get beaten by a stupid mountain. 

Mental strength is all I had by now, physically I was done. I could not breathe, I was TIRED mostly from insufficient blood flow. The heart was working overtime to compensate for lack of oxygen. I had been warned about the thinness of oxygen at this altitude but absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what I was going through. Under normal conditions, I would have climbed this mountain without any physical effort but lack of oxygen, is no small matter.

I’m not ashamed to say that My brother & I made it to Gilman’s Point at 8am. This is where we met Noz and she was on her way back.That fit beesh. My brother had had it at this point he refused to even take pictures with me LOL! I was not there to race to the top, I was there to reach Uhuru peak...at my own pace mmmhay?  

The Noz & I

The peak was a few kilometres away now and the route was not as steep as we had been climbing for 8hrs. I was energized again. We made our way, but altitude kept me in check. I tried “pole pole” but mine was more “pole pole, pole pole”I was very slow. Because we had taken so many hours to climb, we ran out of food and water and my brother started complaining about a headache.

At around 11am, we saw Uhuru Peak. With a few steps left, I started crying “we made it bro” We made it man!!! #OoChizama were at the highest peak in Africa. I could not have done this with anyone else in the world but my brother. We took out a flag with all our names and family names. God knows We could not have done this without our families.

WE WERE THERE. HIGHEST POINT IN AFRICA. MT KILIMANJARO 5895M

I’m sure our parents had been on their knees, praying from the time that we announced this trip and that entire week. It serves them right for giving birth to imbeciles like the three of us. They’ll ask for better kids in the next life.

In hindsight

I have to say that this is the second most difficult thing I have ever done in my life, the first being fighting for my life against cancer.

If you’re thinking of taking on Mount Kilimanjaro on, kindly remember this: 

"Physical fitness is key, but mental fitness is King"- Letu 18 February 2015

Highlights

1. Meeting a 9 year old European young man. That boy took the entire thing in his stride. At 9 he’s already doing things that some in their 50s still dream about.

2. Good food. Our chef, Mr Salim prepared excellent food man. There we were in the middle of nowhere eating beef stroganoff with a beautiful taste of coriander and aromatic basmati rice. For once Noz & I could not care less about calories. We ate without a care in the world.  

3. Bonding with my team. It looks like I chose an idiot to join my brother & I on this trip. Noz is one crazy woman. I did mention in the beginning that she is a girl I know from work. I like her because she reminds me of myself, cheeky and takes no prisoners. Little did I know of her silly side before the trip. Ablution facilities are a luxury out there, so we used nature most of the time. I remember this one time at Horombo huts, we went out to relieve our bladders in the middle of the night. We decided to do it at the back of our cabin. We squatted right there, urinated and dumped toilet paper under the cabin. A few hours into the night, we heard voices from a short distance. It turned out when we went to pee “behind our cabin’ it was in fact in FRONT of other the guests’ door. The cabins were designed in such a way that each structure comprised two cabins back to back. I cannot tell you all the scenarios that we then surmised upon this realisation. Imagine had those trekkers opened the door while were squatting in front of their door. I know I wouldn’t be impressed if I found people urinating in front of my door. 

All I can tell you is that we came back as sisters; her name got engraved on my heart. #WeLoveTheNoz

Our assistant guide, Mr Thadeus on the left walking with hands in his pockets

4. The extra set of footprints, the presence of God. First of all the weather was gorgeous throughout. There was snow at the top of the mountain, just the way we had envisioned it. I had read so much on Mount Kilimanjaro and all forms of illnesses, sleeplessness. Apart from slight headaches/indigestion, we remained in good health.

5. Detaching from reality. For a good 8 days, I was without a phone. I had made a decision to not even say goodbye to family & friends. I was happy not knowing what was happening in the real world. No phone; no mirror; no heels; no tv; no radio it was surreal. It also took me 10 minutes to get ready, Uhm mainly because we did not bath the entire time. Ntse re shapa half body right through!

The aftermath. Back at Marangu gate

6. My brother & I. For years I had dreamt of doing #TheAmazingRace with him and here we were, taking upon this together. We made it man. After the entire ordeal, he confessed that when he suggested turning back, he did it because he did not want the words to come out of me. He was aware of how bad the battle was for me and thought he would say the words on my behalf. He knows I'm very stubborn and very proud. To think that all that motivation about ‘how how far we’ve come’ I thought I was doing for him when in fact he was trying to relieve me of the pain of being the one to suggest giving up. Hlem uTata ka Linathi.  For a man his size, that dude is super fit. Check our tshirts out ;)

Amadela Kufa 

Lowlights

1. The Unbearable sight of young porters walking past us carrying at least 20kg per person rushing to our next campsite. I did mention earlier that all we carried as hikers were our daypacks. These comprised your 4litres of water, medication, extra clothing and snacks. We were not allowed to carry more than 8kg. The rest of our stuff, our extra clothing, avalanche jackets, extra pair of boots, sleeping bag were stored in a 100litre duffel bag, which the porters had to carry. Mind you, they also carried food and water for the entire week from the bottom yet they walked faster than we did. I shall let you calculate exactly how much food and water they must have carried for us to have 3 huge meals a day, water for bathing and 12 litres of water to drink on a daily basis. God knows we could not even bring ourselves to take pictures of this atrocity. Those young men know the definition of hard labour.

2. Poverty in the town of Kilimanjaro. This is a town whose economy is supported by thousands of tourists annually yet communities live in dire poverty.

3. Reaching Uhuru peak without Noz. As much as I would have loved all three of us to get there together, I could not dim Noz’s light by making her stick with us. We have a lifetime to do other wild things together. I’m glad to have spent all those days with that girl; she’s all that and a bag of chips

4. The last lowlight is sunburn. Maaaayne, we came back 4 shades darker. Our faces were peeling. We were ogly ahahahahahaha. Let me tell you this though, we landed on Sunday morning and on Monday Noz & I were back in our stilettos and taking the world again. The mirror was a no go zone that entire week but we did this ugliness thing in heels X_X

I’ll end this by saying nobody can ever take this experience away from us. Out of 6 billion people ín the world, we are three of the few millions would have attempted and successfully reached Uhuru Peak.

To all the people of Tanzania, Asante Sana

‘Live your life #OrDieTrying" – Chizama