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Kilimanjaro Climb 2006

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My son Graham (age 18), a coworker’s grandson Kyle (age 15) and I realized a long-held dream of climbing Kilimanjaro in July of 2006. What I offer here is not the traditional travelogue, but rather some practical advice and the “real scoop” about the mountain, some of which you don’t easily find in the guidebooks. It will be obvious that I was more interested in really experiencing the mountain, not just saying I climbed it. The flora and fauna, as well as photography, were my special interests.

Altitude: For hikers venturing above around 12000 feet for the first time, the bottom line is that you cannot predict how your body will react to the decreased oxygen levels. Age and fitness have nothing to do with tolerance of high altitudes. The best way to avoid mountain sickness is to spend some time at relatively high elevation before beginning the hike. Even spending a day or two in the Arusha/Moshi area before hiking may be of benefit. Other strategies could include spending a week in Colorado or a similar location at 10,000 feet or more immediately before flying to Africa; climbing Mt. Meru or Mt. Kenya before Kilimanjaro; taking your safari before, rather than after Kilimanjaro. In our case we flew directly from Seattle (sea level) to Arusha, arriving in the evening, and started hiking the very next day. Not the best strategy! Use of Diamox (acetozolomide), a diuretic, to prevent high altitude pulmonary edema seems a little controversial. It is commonly used, but the controversy is in regards to exactly how effective it is. Also, there can be side effects, such as peripheral neuropathy. The body naturally produces more urine at higher altitudes in order to concentrate the blood and thus increase oxygen carrying capacity. We ended up not taking Diamox, although we had it in our medicinal arsenal. Those who do recommend it say it should be started before reaching high altitudes, not after symptoms begin.

We had no serious problems with altitude sickness. All three of us had the expected anorexia and fatigue. Kyle and Graham had headache and nausea. As a general rule, a headache that goes away with ibuprofen or an overnight rest is not dangerous. A headache that persists can be a sign of serious cerebral edema. More obvious signs of high altitude cerebral edema are ataxia (loss of coordination) and confusion. These signs should prompt immediate descent. An excellent book on mountain sickness is “Altitude Illness: Prevention & Treatment”, by Stephen Bezruchka.

Photography: Porters are cheap, so there is really no limit on what the serious photographer can bring. That said, it is generally best to bring only what you are willing to carry, because the porters do not hike with you. They leave after the tourists in the morning, hike much faster, pass the tourists shortly, and have camp prepared at the end of the day. The guide is primarily a guide, not a porter, but Douglas did carry some of my equipment from time to time. I did not bring my tripod, but one of my trekking poles (purchased at REI) had a removable top, and could be used as a monopod. I used it from time to time. I took along only one body, a Nikon D2X, and four lenses: 12-24 wide angle, 35-70 “normal” lens, 105 micro for close-ups of flowers, and 70-200 VR. With the 1.5 X digital factor, and high speed crop mode on the D2X, the 200 mm lens magically is transformed into a 400 mm (35 mm equivalent) lens at 8 megapixels! That capability was very useful for bird photography. Of course 4 lenses and one body makes for a lot of lens changing. I think it would be a good idea to shoot a photo of the sky every day and look for evidence of dust on the sensor. If present, it is time to clean it. I took along my ‘sensor brush’ kit, and a can of compressed air, both of which I used about 3 times during our 8 days on the mountain. I took along 4 batteries for the D2X, and that was plenty. I actually used only 3 of them. Graham also had a solar panel which he used to charge batteries for his “point and shoot” Pentax camera. I could have used it for my batteries if needed. I did not take along a computer or portable hard drive, relying instead on several Compact Flash cards, ranging from 512 MB to 4 GB. I shot JPEG fine. If you shoot Raw, plan accordingly. Luckily we had no malfunctions of any of our gear.

Security: We had no problems at all with theft or personal safety issues, never feeling in danger during the hike or subsequent 2-week safari. MEM instructed us to have locks on our duffel bags, and of course we complied. Our tent was off limits to porters, another security feature. We did hear of thieves, reportedly from Kenya, invading one of the camps a day or two before we arrived, so it does make sense not to leave valuables unattended in your tents.

Toilets: Before the hike, I read the term “long drop toilet” several times, and had a lot of fun imagining what that might be! Every camp we stayed in had several toilets, plenty to accommodate the hoards of people. The toilets are fully enclosed wood huts with just a hole in the floor about 8 by 16 inches. Even though each camp had a park ranger, their duties seemed to be limited to checking in hikers every day, including recording nationality, passport numbers and permit numbers-- they apparently did not include cleaning latrines! Be warned that it can get pretty slippery. Don’t even think about visiting the latrines in bare feet! Some groups had their own portable toilets carried by their porters and set up at each camp near their tents. I imagine everything comes at a price, and it is up to you to prioritize your funds.

Choosing an Outfitter: We chose MEM out of Moshi, based on the recommendation of a person who had climbed with them several times. Generally we were happy with this choice. They picked us up at Kilimanjaro airport right on schedule, and delivered us to the Bristol Cottages Bed and Breakfast in Moshi. The Bristol Cottages is very adequate, in fact quite enjoyable. The food and staff were both good. We were delivered to the trailhead without any problems, and picked up at the proper time 8 days later. They took us back to Kilimanjaro airport right on schedule. We were cared for attentively on the hike by Douglas and Brayan, our guide and assistant guide.

We didn’t look into prices offered by different companies, because we chose MEM based on the above mentioned recommendation, and the price they charged was very reasonable. Expect to pay more per person if there are just one or two hikers, and less if there are 5 or more. I know that MEM’s rates are very competitive.

We had some very minor complaints about MEM. For instance our many questions and requests, which we e-mailed in advance to Mohammed at MEM, were usually not well addressed. A common response was “everything you say is good.” In other words, no answer at all! We asked for a specific guide, and were given another—with no explanations. We asked for a guide with knowledge of flora and fauna and got one with minimal such knowledge. Perhaps none was available, but there was no mention of, or response to, our request. When I asked to rent trekking poles, Mohammed asked me to bring my own, and then he would buy them from us. We bought two pairs of nice trekking poles at REI, then his agent offered to buy them from us for $100 less than we paid for them! We brought them back with us, to use on many more hikes. Obviously these are very minor complaints, and did not detract significantly from our experience.

After arriving home, we heard from a single woman who climbed with MEM just a few days after us. She had some bad experiences with MEM. For instance, during the climb, there was a two day period of time when she never saw her guide! She was luckily able to join another group of hikers. And when she got back to the MEM office they tried to hold her luggage hostage, demanding another $200. She was able to grab her luggage and run away!

The Great Barranco Wall: I am not a technical climber, and have some degree of acrophobia, so when I read about the 900 foot wall that is Barranco, it was with some degree of apprehension. This wall needs to be scaled to get out of the Barranco Valley, on the way to Karanga Camp. If your route does not include these two camps then you will not meet the wall. The climb up the wall starts at 13000 feet, so altitude is an additional factor. At first glance it looks nearly impossible that the trail actually ascends this cliff, but looks in this case are deceiving. Please do not be afraid of the wall. The trail is steep but not dangerous. There is only one brief section where it is necessary to use handholds to assist with climbing. Otherwise both trekking poles can be used for the entire ascent. Sooo, do not fear the Great Barranco Wall!

Fitness Level Required to Climb Kilimanjaro: My pre-trip research really didn’t answer this question. I read everything from no special preparation necessary, to elaborately scheduled workouts over several pre-climb months! The best answer is that you should be reasonably fit in order to have an enjoyable experience. Obviously you need to be able to hike several miles in one day. It is also necessary to be able to ascend several thousand feet in one day. So, my advice is to get out on the trails and do some hiking, including some hikes with considerable elevation gain. I did some stair climbing at home, going up and down two flights of stairs for an hour or two at a time. The older you are the more attention you should pay to fitness. As previously mentioned, there is no relationship between fitness and altitude sickness.

Blisters: I have read some horror stories about blisters on Kilimanjaro. Just be sure your shoes fit and that you wear two pairs of socks. Going uphill is not a problem, because the ascent is slow and gentle. A couple of us got some minor blisters on the descent. I would assume that this is fairly common with a 9-10,000 foot descent in one day! I don’t have any definitive advice for prevention.

Money: If you are from the US, take bills that are as new as possible. National Parks and moneychangers seem to put great emphasis on looking at the year of issue of your 50 or 100-dollar bills. Some places utilize machines to detect counterfeit currency, and the newer bills seem to go through those machines easier. Everybody in East Africa seems to like US currency, so take plenty of small bills for tips and other expenses.

Tipping: You can read various guidelines for tipping your porters and guides, and I have even read of tourists being told that their tip was not adequate and that it would be necessary to cough up some more money. The porters are not paid well by the outfitter, work hard, and usually have family to support. I ended up giving each porter a $50 bill, which is a little over $5 per day. Waiter, cook, guide, and assistant guide were given more. They seemed happy with that amount—at least there were no complaints!

Observing Nature: In general there was very little interest among the guides or other hikers in the natural world. People seemed to just have reaching the summit as their goal, and were oblivious to the varied plant and animal life as we passed by.