Kilimanjaro is the highest peak on the African Continent and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world and one of the highest volcanoes.  Though it can be walked all the way to the top without technical expertise, you must be in very good shape, be prepared for the cold and take the time to acclimatize properly.  But you should not be fooled into thinking this is an easy undertaking.  For example, during the Millennium celebrations, over 7000 people attempted Kilimanjaro during New Year’s week - over 1000 attempting the summit New Year’s Eve alone.  Over one third of those making the attempt failed to reach the summit, many not getting close.  In that single week, 33 people had to be rescued and 3 people died.

 

I had a lot to do to prepare in a very short period of time.  I read as much as I could and the biggest difficulty seemed to be the bitter cold on summit night and the altitude itself.  Most people wore long underwear, possibly an intermediate layer, fleece jacket and shell jacket/pants but were cold.  I was determined not to be cold so I bought some cold weather gear including a down jacket with hood, insulated pants and down gloves.  I also got foot heaters for the bed of my boots and thick liner socks.  If you do this, I guarantee you will not have a problem with cold on summit night.  And it all compresses and packs up tight and light.

 

I got my climbing/medical insurance and a Tanzanian visa.  I went to the doctor and got Yellow Fever vaccine, Typhoid vaccine, prescriptions for Diamox (high altitude acclimatization drug), Malerone (Malaria prophylactic) and an anti-diarrheal.

 

 

I felt I was in good conditioning for the climb.  I run quite a bit including 10 mile and 10k races yearly.  I got as many 5 mile runs in as I could in January, but February was mostly under 10 degrees so I didn’t run much.  I also lift weights several times a week and play hockey.  My body fat index is about 9%.

 

 

I had heard horror stories of lost luggage and had put all my cold weather gear in my carry-on daypack.  Only my inflatable pad and sleeping bag were in danger and I was confident I could rent these if necessary.  When the flight departed Nairobi, you had to point out your bags on the tarmac and have them loaded into the plane.  Whew, both checked bags were there, my pack and duffel.  I pointed them out and a porter grabbed them and I followed him to the plane and watched him load them and then I took a seat.  A short 50 minute flight later and we were at Kilimanjaro Airport.  After I cleared customs in Tanzania I was quite surprised to find that one of my bags was missing.  They rechecked the plane, no bags.  Another climber on a different tour/route also was missing a bag; they rechecked again, no bags.  Now we had both watched our bags loaded, so the bags had to be there.  It was the last flight into Kilimanjaro Airport and the baggage handlers just wanted us to fill out missing bags forms so they could go home.  Finally, the other climber convinced them to take him out to the plane where he promptly found both “missing” bags.  We learned persistence before we even stepped foot on the mountain.

 

An Into Africa representative was waiting patiently with 3 Poles (Marek, Mark and Peter) that would be part of our trek.  They had a few beers while they were waiting for me.  We hit it off immediately, great group of guys.  I spent two nights in the Into Africa guesthouse getting accustomed to the time change.   This is where I met Tim and Charlotte from New Zealand who were also in our group.  Emmy gave us information on what to expect on Kilimanjaro.  Rosie and Dot from the IntoAfrica front office would join us, their first Kilimanjaro climb.  On the spare day we toured Arusha, went to the market, used the Internet Cafe to send/receive e-mail and grab a local lunch.