We Did It!

Jambo! ("hello" in Swahili--what you would say when passing other hikers) We've just arrived back in Arusha, Tanzania, after an exhausting but exhilarating seven-day climb of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa at 5895 meters above sea level. It was an amazing trip, and the view from the top made the five and half days up worth it!

We set out last Sunday morning with a party of eleven--the two of us, a guide, an assistant guide, a cook, a "waiter," and five porters (!?!). The first two days were relatively easy. On Day 3, however, we ascended to Lava Tower (4600 meters or so above sea level) as part of the acclimatization process. We didn't acclimatize too well at first--we both felt pretty crummy that night--headaches, nausea, etc. Day 4 was also pretty grim--Sarah was feeling especially bad, but Thomas wasn't much better. Day 5 was a short hike to Barafu Camp, at about the same altitude as Lava Tower. By this point we both felt fine--it was a great day and spirits were high!

That night we had dinner at 5 and went to bed immediately after. We then awoke at 11 PM, had a light breakfast, and began the final ascent at midnight. The temperatures were below freezing and we were using headlamps to see our way up the mountain. More than six hours of ascent in the dark later we made it to Stella Point, on the rim of the Kili crater, where we literally saw the sun come over the horizon. Given Kili's location and altitude, we were among the first in Africa to see the sun rise yesterday! We lingered there a bit longer to encourage Sarah to finish the last forty minutes or so.

We finally made it to the peak around 7 AM, where we celebrated and took a few pictures. Then, since we were both feeling so-so at that point, we hightailed it for Barafu Camp. We had brunch there, and then continued our descent to 3100 meters above sea level, where we felt much better! We put in about 13 hours of hiking yesterday--whew!

We had a short hike this morning, after breakfast and a rousing musical sendoff from our group of nine Tanzanian guides/porters/cook/etc. We can't say enough about them--they were so kind and encouraging. They called me Mr. Tom the whole week, and we never knew if they knew Sarah's name until the song. During the song, they called me by name, but called Sarah "dada" (Swahili for sister)! Hilarious!

All in all, it was a fun but really challenging week. We underestimated the effect of sleeping in a tent for six days and living with "long drop" toilets (think outhouse, but with no seat. Grim.). The altitude also hit both of us, Sarah a little harder than Thomas, but a big factor for both. It was also daunting focusing on getting to one peak for five and a half days--a bit hard to stay focused! We definitely feel a strong sense of personal achievement after conquering the mountain, and feel our own personal mountain high!

[Pictures to come later--a bad connection here in lovely Arusha.]