Hey all,
I just wanted to post this story while I'm thinking about it (aka before I forget).
Yesterday afternoon the kids came. These are the most adorable Basotho children in my village; they come to my house after school is over to color with crayons or play with the bladder of a destroyed soccer ball, depending on the day. Yesterday it was four girls and they wanted to color and draw with pencils. I got out new pencils for each of them and grabbed my sharpener, a fancy "machine" that holds the shavings in a little plastic compartment, which you then empty. They all had sharp pencils and had drawn some lovely scribbles. After I had marked their drawings and given them stickers (as is our unspoken agreement), one little girl wanted to resharpen her pencil. Two of them got into a little tiff and soon the pencil sharpener had fell to the ground and popped open, scattering pencil shavings all over my porch. The little one began crying so I came out to show her it was fine - the sharpener was certainly not broken. She didn't seem to care about that; she was more concerned that my porch was dirty, so I grabbed my broom so she could sweep if she wanted to.
(Note: Basotho brooms are just small bundles of straw; they have to bend over to sweep. I got an upright broom when I first got here because I very much dislike bending over to sweep... I'm too tall)
The broom was at least twice as big as she was... another of the girls grabbed the broom and proceeded to sweep my entire porch, even under my bench and mat, giggling the whole time.
The little one (Reitumetse) had stopped crying and started giggling too (and there is nothing more adorable than a small child's giggle)... meanwhile the one sweeping started telling me, "M'e Katie, Rethabile (the one who had knocked the sharpener out of Reitumetse's hands) is a FOOOOOT!" I looked at her, pretty confused at what she meant by that; I pointed to my foot. She shook her head and repeated: "Rethabile is a FOOT!" Finally, Rethabile stepped in to defend herself and correct Papali. "No, 'M'e Katie, Papali is a FOOOOL." Oh. Fool. Of course. But this wasn't what Papali had in mind either... "No, Madam, Rethabile is a FOOOOD."
Even now, I'm not sure what any of them meant, but it was pretty cute.
Love from Lesotho,
-Katie
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Farewell and Swaziland
With less than two months to go, I find myself experiencing a range of emotions I don’t even understand. I’m excited to start selling things but nervous about how much packing room I’m going to have. I’m ready to be done teaching but now is the time that matters most for students – they need to pass their year-end exams or they have no chance at passing their grade. It’s practically summer so all I want to do is be outside but I can’t (duh); I have to teach. Most of all, I’m ready to go home, but I realize how much I’m going to miss this place and these people.
Two weeks ago was the farewell party for the external students who will be leaving us next year because hopefully they’ll be moving on to one university or another. Lots of preparations were made all day Wednesday: cleaning, cooking, sound-checking (because there was electricity at this year’s farewell!) and everything else you can imagine. Wednesday evening teachers and students were up late cooking chicken and pork (from the recently slaughtered pig from our piggery), making chaka-laka and the traditional ginger drink.
On Thursday morning, it was rainy but the teachers played the students in soccer anyway. I hadn’t played in a very long time but laced up my oldest tennis shoes and threw on a jersey… if it hadn’t been for the students on the teachers team, they would’ve completely decimated us. As it was, they beat us I think 3-1, but it was great fun. It always amazes me how much the boys of my Form A and B classrooms become men on the field.
After a quick bath and a rushed attempt to write a farewell speech fit for the entire school, I headed up to the hall for the farewell ceremony to begin. As an outgoing teacher, it was also my farewell. Many students participated: singing, dancing, reciting poems, acting out dramas and giving speeches.
When it came time for my speech, I was incredibly nervous. I have been speaking in front of 40 people every day for the past 2 academic years but now it was closer to 400 with all the teachers, students and guests. I talked about how I had no idea what to expect from Sekameng: what the students would be like, how the teachers would be, what my house and village and school would be like… and then how impressed I’d been with everything. Students care about their work, and teachers and students care immensely for each other. The school is really a great place. I ended by urging them to continue working hard and thanking them all for a wonderful two years. It was a simple speech so I’m hoping everyone understood my English (ha).
I managed to make it through my speech without crying (which surprised me), but several speeches later, I was called up to the stage again. The students I’d applied with for a tuition scholarship wanted to thank me, or so the MC announced. When I reached the stage, they had a very large envelope and a funny-shaped bag. One of the students pulled a large handmade card from the envelope and read it out loud: “We shall miss you for your support and love. Thank you for everything. Wherever you go, whatever you do, our prayers shall follow you. Best of luck and God bless you” and they listed their names. Then, from the bag, they pulled out a Basotho hat. They explained that they had combined resources to thank me by giving me the hat. At that point, I lost it. These were some of the brightest, most needy students who had contributed money to thank ME. I gave them all hugs and sat down, smiling and still wiping my eyes. It was one of the most generous gifts I think I’ve ever received.
After the ceremony was lunch (at 4pm) and we all feasted before the post-meal entertainment: a beauty pageant. This beauty pageant was honestly one of the most ridiculous things I think I’ve witnessed in Africa. There were maybe 7 or 8 girls entered and they had to strut and pose and dance in front of the whole school and a handful of judges. They dressed up in their street clothes and for one of the categories even got to wear a very fancy formal dress. Maybe it was because I’d seen so much of the rehearsals the days prior, but I didn’t watch much of this pageant. Afterwards, they kept the sound system going for a massive dance party. From what I could tell, the students really enjoyed the farewell.
The next morning however, all the previous day’s fun came back to bite us… all. Everyone who had eaten anything at the farewell was running to the toilet. Repeatedly. Teachers, students, staff, guests… my stomach didn’t calm down until late in the afternoon. Looking back, its pretty funny, but at the time we were all miserable.
On Saturday I left for Swaziland to visit PCV friends there (who I met on vacation in Mozambique). It was an incredibly long day of travel: we crossed the border shortly before 6am, left for Joburg at 7am, arrived in Jozi about noon and were on the way to Mbabane by 1pm. The travel gods were smiling down on us – no problems in Johannesburg and the taxi for Swaziland left very soon after we all piled in. We reached Mbabane by 5:30, our hostel by 6, dinner arrived about 7:30 and we all conked out at 8:30.
The next day we parted ways; I went with PC-Swazi and my travel companions went their own way. We relaxed another day in Mbabane, cooked a tasty Mexican meal and enjoyed one more hot shower before camping in the Ngwempisi gorge the next day. There were 7 of us total staying at a tree-house for grown-ups, as we called it. It was an awesome open-air lodge/hostel place built in and around a massive boulder. There were beds to sleep 16, a kitchen, and several areas to have bonfires. Possibly the greatest part was the toilet and shower. They were situated around the boulder so there was privacy, even without a door. While sitting on the toilet or standing in the shower, you could look out and see the river valley and the many hills in the distance. Truly stunning.
On Tuesday we went hiking down to the river, across the river, and on a barefoot death hike to one of the most disappointing hot springs I’ve ever seen. Except the barefoot part across little burs and sharp twigs (which was the death hike – our feet hurt so bad!), it was really amazing. Crossing the river was a bit scary as the current was fairly strong in places, but the cool water was refreshing, and thankfully there were no crocodiles. The hike back up was difficult but only because our trail-blazers were practically flying… no “pole pole” like on Kilimanjaro! That night we sat around the fire and ate dinner before going to bed very early.
We were up and out pretty early the next morning… into Matsapha for pizza at a great place called “The Italian Job” … probably the best pizza I’ve had in Africa (other than my own homemade, of course). Then, because of planned protests in Mbabane and Manzini the next day, I went with Megan to her site for a few nights. We reminisced about Minnesota (and America in general), did massive amounts of laundry and walked around her community – a very nice place. Her family was very sweet and gave me the Swazi name “Nomaswazi” which I’m told means Swazi girl… I learned greetings in Siswati and really enjoyed seeing how another PCV in another country lives. Plus the volunteers there are awesome – we’ve hung out together in 3 different countries now!
My last night, we went back to Mbabane so I could leave early the next morning… we tried to make black bean burgers but they turned out terribly. First, we had to use lentils instead of black beans. Second, we burned the lentils. Third, we made sangria. All in all, a very fun night and a good way to exit with a bang.
Traveling all the way back to Lesotho wasn’t difficult, just long. My head hurt, my stomach hurt, and I didn’t want to drink too much water for fear of stopping the taxi every hour to use the bathroom. Oh, Africa. I made it back to Lesotho sort of late, but I found a friend crossing the border to share a taxi with to my destination so it worked out just fine.
I got to site on Sunday afternoon, unpacked, had a snack and fell asleep almost instantly… until 1am. My afternoon nap turned into almost 16 hours of blissful sleep before teaching again this morning!
Other than all of that, not too much new to report. I’m looking into possibilities for jobs or grad programs after I get home but it’s really daunting… One day at a time!
Love from Lesotho,
-Katie
Two weeks ago was the farewell party for the external students who will be leaving us next year because hopefully they’ll be moving on to one university or another. Lots of preparations were made all day Wednesday: cleaning, cooking, sound-checking (because there was electricity at this year’s farewell!) and everything else you can imagine. Wednesday evening teachers and students were up late cooking chicken and pork (from the recently slaughtered pig from our piggery), making chaka-laka and the traditional ginger drink.
On Thursday morning, it was rainy but the teachers played the students in soccer anyway. I hadn’t played in a very long time but laced up my oldest tennis shoes and threw on a jersey… if it hadn’t been for the students on the teachers team, they would’ve completely decimated us. As it was, they beat us I think 3-1, but it was great fun. It always amazes me how much the boys of my Form A and B classrooms become men on the field.
After a quick bath and a rushed attempt to write a farewell speech fit for the entire school, I headed up to the hall for the farewell ceremony to begin. As an outgoing teacher, it was also my farewell. Many students participated: singing, dancing, reciting poems, acting out dramas and giving speeches.
When it came time for my speech, I was incredibly nervous. I have been speaking in front of 40 people every day for the past 2 academic years but now it was closer to 400 with all the teachers, students and guests. I talked about how I had no idea what to expect from Sekameng: what the students would be like, how the teachers would be, what my house and village and school would be like… and then how impressed I’d been with everything. Students care about their work, and teachers and students care immensely for each other. The school is really a great place. I ended by urging them to continue working hard and thanking them all for a wonderful two years. It was a simple speech so I’m hoping everyone understood my English (ha).
I managed to make it through my speech without crying (which surprised me), but several speeches later, I was called up to the stage again. The students I’d applied with for a tuition scholarship wanted to thank me, or so the MC announced. When I reached the stage, they had a very large envelope and a funny-shaped bag. One of the students pulled a large handmade card from the envelope and read it out loud: “We shall miss you for your support and love. Thank you for everything. Wherever you go, whatever you do, our prayers shall follow you. Best of luck and God bless you” and they listed their names. Then, from the bag, they pulled out a Basotho hat. They explained that they had combined resources to thank me by giving me the hat. At that point, I lost it. These were some of the brightest, most needy students who had contributed money to thank ME. I gave them all hugs and sat down, smiling and still wiping my eyes. It was one of the most generous gifts I think I’ve ever received.
After the ceremony was lunch (at 4pm) and we all feasted before the post-meal entertainment: a beauty pageant. This beauty pageant was honestly one of the most ridiculous things I think I’ve witnessed in Africa. There were maybe 7 or 8 girls entered and they had to strut and pose and dance in front of the whole school and a handful of judges. They dressed up in their street clothes and for one of the categories even got to wear a very fancy formal dress. Maybe it was because I’d seen so much of the rehearsals the days prior, but I didn’t watch much of this pageant. Afterwards, they kept the sound system going for a massive dance party. From what I could tell, the students really enjoyed the farewell.
The next morning however, all the previous day’s fun came back to bite us… all. Everyone who had eaten anything at the farewell was running to the toilet. Repeatedly. Teachers, students, staff, guests… my stomach didn’t calm down until late in the afternoon. Looking back, its pretty funny, but at the time we were all miserable.
On Saturday I left for Swaziland to visit PCV friends there (who I met on vacation in Mozambique). It was an incredibly long day of travel: we crossed the border shortly before 6am, left for Joburg at 7am, arrived in Jozi about noon and were on the way to Mbabane by 1pm. The travel gods were smiling down on us – no problems in Johannesburg and the taxi for Swaziland left very soon after we all piled in. We reached Mbabane by 5:30, our hostel by 6, dinner arrived about 7:30 and we all conked out at 8:30.
The next day we parted ways; I went with PC-Swazi and my travel companions went their own way. We relaxed another day in Mbabane, cooked a tasty Mexican meal and enjoyed one more hot shower before camping in the Ngwempisi gorge the next day. There were 7 of us total staying at a tree-house for grown-ups, as we called it. It was an awesome open-air lodge/hostel place built in and around a massive boulder. There were beds to sleep 16, a kitchen, and several areas to have bonfires. Possibly the greatest part was the toilet and shower. They were situated around the boulder so there was privacy, even without a door. While sitting on the toilet or standing in the shower, you could look out and see the river valley and the many hills in the distance. Truly stunning.
On Tuesday we went hiking down to the river, across the river, and on a barefoot death hike to one of the most disappointing hot springs I’ve ever seen. Except the barefoot part across little burs and sharp twigs (which was the death hike – our feet hurt so bad!), it was really amazing. Crossing the river was a bit scary as the current was fairly strong in places, but the cool water was refreshing, and thankfully there were no crocodiles. The hike back up was difficult but only because our trail-blazers were practically flying… no “pole pole” like on Kilimanjaro! That night we sat around the fire and ate dinner before going to bed very early.
We were up and out pretty early the next morning… into Matsapha for pizza at a great place called “The Italian Job” … probably the best pizza I’ve had in Africa (other than my own homemade, of course). Then, because of planned protests in Mbabane and Manzini the next day, I went with Megan to her site for a few nights. We reminisced about Minnesota (and America in general), did massive amounts of laundry and walked around her community – a very nice place. Her family was very sweet and gave me the Swazi name “Nomaswazi” which I’m told means Swazi girl… I learned greetings in Siswati and really enjoyed seeing how another PCV in another country lives. Plus the volunteers there are awesome – we’ve hung out together in 3 different countries now!
My last night, we went back to Mbabane so I could leave early the next morning… we tried to make black bean burgers but they turned out terribly. First, we had to use lentils instead of black beans. Second, we burned the lentils. Third, we made sangria. All in all, a very fun night and a good way to exit with a bang.
Traveling all the way back to Lesotho wasn’t difficult, just long. My head hurt, my stomach hurt, and I didn’t want to drink too much water for fear of stopping the taxi every hour to use the bathroom. Oh, Africa. I made it back to Lesotho sort of late, but I found a friend crossing the border to share a taxi with to my destination so it worked out just fine.
I got to site on Sunday afternoon, unpacked, had a snack and fell asleep almost instantly… until 1am. My afternoon nap turned into almost 16 hours of blissful sleep before teaching again this morning!
Other than all of that, not too much new to report. I’m looking into possibilities for jobs or grad programs after I get home but it’s really daunting… One day at a time!
Love from Lesotho,
-Katie
Friday, September 16, 2011
50th Anniversary Celebrations
Hello again,
Two posts in one week... you lucky ducks! (Though I won't even comment on the quality of these posts... I haven't really been in the writing mood recently)
All of the volunteers in Lesotho recently gathered for a joint All-Volunteer conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration. The 50th celebration had speeches, singing, dancing and even the King attended. It was fun to get dressed up and hear the good things people had to say about the work we're doing (recognition is always nice!) and that they hope the States will continue to send volunteers here. The cultural dancing was great fun to watch - I'd seen the female dance before but the male dance is very entertaining, with lots of stomping and showy moves.
The King did not give a speech but plenty of other important people did - one of whom was the principal of my school! He was incredibly honored and (I think) did a great job. After the ceremony, they split us into groups (important people, school dance troups and everyone else) and he made it into the important people tent; when I saw him later, he was absolutely beaming at the honor of eating in the King's tent.
I'm told the celebrations were televised but I doubt I'll be able to find a television in time to watch it! I do think the photos will find their way to some website somewhere.
Not too much else to report. I have something like 12 weeks left! All my appointments are scheduled (medical, dental, language assessment, etc) and I'm more than ready to leave! (...though I will miss this place once I'm gone)
Love from Africa
-katie
Two posts in one week... you lucky ducks! (Though I won't even comment on the quality of these posts... I haven't really been in the writing mood recently)
All of the volunteers in Lesotho recently gathered for a joint All-Volunteer conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration. The 50th celebration had speeches, singing, dancing and even the King attended. It was fun to get dressed up and hear the good things people had to say about the work we're doing (recognition is always nice!) and that they hope the States will continue to send volunteers here. The cultural dancing was great fun to watch - I'd seen the female dance before but the male dance is very entertaining, with lots of stomping and showy moves.
The King did not give a speech but plenty of other important people did - one of whom was the principal of my school! He was incredibly honored and (I think) did a great job. After the ceremony, they split us into groups (important people, school dance troups and everyone else) and he made it into the important people tent; when I saw him later, he was absolutely beaming at the honor of eating in the King's tent.
I'm told the celebrations were televised but I doubt I'll be able to find a television in time to watch it! I do think the photos will find their way to some website somewhere.
Not too much else to report. I have something like 12 weeks left! All my appointments are scheduled (medical, dental, language assessment, etc) and I'm more than ready to leave! (...though I will miss this place once I'm gone)
Love from Africa
-katie
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 12, 2011
Greetings from Lesotho!
I realize it has been a long, long time since I’ve updated at all… probably since Kilimanjaro? Life has been a rollercoaster since then, lots of ups and downs, and somehow I never quite know what to post.
Probably the biggest thing is that the school’s generator is now completely fixed and functional. Much thanks to the Hilbert students in Wisconsin for their incredible fundraising, we were able to get the alternator fixed and installed. The electrician had to come several times to make sure everything was usable and on his final visit, a student came running to my house and told me to try my lights. I flipped the switch and THERE WAS LIGHT. IN EVERY ROOM OF MY HOUSE. Since then the school has been using it to pump water and provide light for the older students to study in the evenings. It’s wonderful!
Other than that, the biggest news is that I’ll be leaving my school early December to finalize all my paperwork and leaving Lesotho several days later. Though I don’t have my trip all planned yet, I’m looking forward to a couple weeks of travel before arriving home for Christmas!
With my COS (close of service) date looming just a couple months away, I’m trying to make sure all the things I’ve been working on are appropriately wrapped up and handed over to people who will be able to continue them in my absence. The egg project is finished – the chickens haven’t been producing enough eggs, meaning they’re no longer worth keeping. I believe almost all 150 chickens have been sold so I’m not going to have to worry about eggs or chickens anymore, probably for the rest of my life. The library is still a library, and as long as my teachers can choose new librarians for next year, it will be just fine.
Classes continue to be fine. We have just under 3 weeks left before Independence Holiday (a week off in October), after which the external classes begin their serious exams. After that, only a month and a half of school before we close in November.
That’s all for now, folks…
Love from Lesotho!
I realize it has been a long, long time since I’ve updated at all… probably since Kilimanjaro? Life has been a rollercoaster since then, lots of ups and downs, and somehow I never quite know what to post.
Probably the biggest thing is that the school’s generator is now completely fixed and functional. Much thanks to the Hilbert students in Wisconsin for their incredible fundraising, we were able to get the alternator fixed and installed. The electrician had to come several times to make sure everything was usable and on his final visit, a student came running to my house and told me to try my lights. I flipped the switch and THERE WAS LIGHT. IN EVERY ROOM OF MY HOUSE. Since then the school has been using it to pump water and provide light for the older students to study in the evenings. It’s wonderful!
Other than that, the biggest news is that I’ll be leaving my school early December to finalize all my paperwork and leaving Lesotho several days later. Though I don’t have my trip all planned yet, I’m looking forward to a couple weeks of travel before arriving home for Christmas!
With my COS (close of service) date looming just a couple months away, I’m trying to make sure all the things I’ve been working on are appropriately wrapped up and handed over to people who will be able to continue them in my absence. The egg project is finished – the chickens haven’t been producing enough eggs, meaning they’re no longer worth keeping. I believe almost all 150 chickens have been sold so I’m not going to have to worry about eggs or chickens anymore, probably for the rest of my life. The library is still a library, and as long as my teachers can choose new librarians for next year, it will be just fine.
Classes continue to be fine. We have just under 3 weeks left before Independence Holiday (a week off in October), after which the external classes begin their serious exams. After that, only a month and a half of school before we close in November.
That’s all for now, folks…
Love from Lesotho!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
PHOTOS!
I almost forgot!
Our group started a website to share all our photos. Check it out: http://teamtorcheskilimanjaro.shutterfly.com
It may take some time for everyone to finish their travels and actually get around to uploading photos but I'm almost finished and I saw that Kellie uploaded hers too.
Here are a few, just to snag your interest...
Adam and me at Uhuru Peak!
Group photo at the Lava Tower on Day 4
Adam and me with our first glimpse of the mountain
Our group started a website to share all our photos. Check it out: http://teamtorcheskilimanjaro.shutterfly.com
It may take some time for everyone to finish their travels and actually get around to uploading photos but I'm almost finished and I saw that Kellie uploaded hers too.
Here are a few, just to snag your interest...
Adam and me at Uhuru Peak!
Group photo at the Lava Tower on Day 4
Adam and me with our first glimpse of the mountain
Kilimanjaro 2
Kili continued...
When I last left this, I think we had boarded a bus to go to Moshi again, back to the Springlands Hotel (Zara Tours accommodation for its tourists). We looked a mess and probably smelled worse, but I think the glow from our accomplishment prevented us from caring. At reception they told us there was no room at Springlands (again), so we’d be staying right in Moshi, at the Panama Hotel (again). We were psyched – this meant we could go shopping in and around Moshi the next day before our flight around 5pm. Meanwhile, they fed us. Lunch tasted great and was a never-ending buffet… the guys went back for seconds and thirds. After we were stuffed, they brought us to the Panama again and gave us an hour to clean up (first shower in a week!) and meet back in the restaurant for a little ceremony.
I cannot even describe how amazing that shower felt. It was a little strange since the hotel had no designated shower area, there was just a showerhead in one corner of the bathroom and a couple of drains on the floor. This did not matter. I cranked the hot water and watched the dirt just stream off. It took me a solid 30 minutes to clean myself. I emerged two shampoos, one very deep conditioning, gobs of facewash and nearly an entire bar of soap later, wrinkly but clean.
The group hardly recognized each other! All the guys were clean-shaven and everyone was in street clothes instead of hiking gear (and at least one layer of “tan” – dirt and grime – lighter). We each ordered a Kilimanjaro (the local beer) and got down to business. The guides gave us certificates for having succeeded, as well as a very heartfelt speech about how they thought we’d all known each other going in to the whole thing, and how our almost instantaneous friendship definitely helped us along the way. Chombo told us how he’d seen groups who didn’t talk, had no fun, and then blamed him when they didn’t reach Uhuru. It was very clear that all the guides had really enjoyed our group (which made me happy) and they were proud of us for having grown so close so quickly.
Then it was our turn. One of the British guys made a short speech about how we wouldn’t have made it up without their excellent team, and how appreciative we were. We handed over a tip and presented them with some articles of clothing. I donated my hiking boots (selfishly, I didn’t want to lug them back to the States and would rather see them on the feet of a porter or guide than someone in my village who probably won’t ever climb a mountain in their life), hiking pants (hand-me-overs from another PCV), a nice pair of socks (still clean!) and some bug repellent. Adam also gave his hiking boots. It was very sweet how appreciative they were of our donations; that just affirmed to me that it was the right decision (and I found myself wracking my brains: what else could I give?!). We then got to just relax and have a beer with the guides and talk to them on a completely non-professional level – I think they let their guards down considerably. After a while, they excused themselves, saying they wanted to get home to their families (and probably bathe too), but thanking us and giving us their email addresses.
And then there were seven. The gang went out for food and landed at a fairly touristy place (though it was a Sunday night, so not much else was open) where we chowed down on pizza and Indian food, reminiscing and laughing about the previous week together. It felt like I’d known these people forever even though it had only been 8 days. It’s really amazing to me how being in a situation like that can really draw you close to people… it also made me realize (again) how great our group was. Aww ☺
Back at the hotel we played cards until almost midnight before calling it a night. We had to say goodbye to one that night (his flight was super early the next morning and his ride was coming at 3am or something ridiculous), which was hard. The next morning, to our delight, breakfast was included in our stay in the hotel. After more showers, we headed out to explore the Moshi market and do some shopping. We lost two more then (off to spend time at the Hilton in Zanzibar, lucks!) and although it was hard to say goodbye, four was a much more manageable number for walking around as tourists. A local Tanzanian decided he would guide us around town; he took us to the stall for whatever it was we said we were interested in: jerseys, jewelry, t-shirts, paintings… After a few hours of this, we were exhausted and had to head back to the hotel just to get rid of him. It was definitely lunchtime, so we went back to the place Adam and I had found a week before for a huge plate of fish and rice.
Adam and I were on the same flight as the other American woman so we left the last group member there around 3pm to go catch our flight. Again, it was hard to say goodbye. He had become sort of a grandpa to me on the trip and I hope to reconnect once we’re all back stateside.
No problems at the airport (except I stupidly forgot to pack my nice knife in my checked bag and so I lost it to airport security). Our flight was a tiny bit late but to me, that was a good thing. It would only minimize our 13-hour layover in Addis Ababa. In Ethiopia, we wandered around a little, said goodbye to our fellow Yank, got some water, and curled up on the floor to start chipping away at the long night ahead of us. We’d been asleep maybe 30 minutes when a security guard came over and asked for our flight information. Where were we from? Where were we going? When did our flight leave? I thought we were going to be kicked out (or at least in deep trouble for not making better flight arrangements). He just told us we had to go downstairs to some desk to find out about our hotel. Adam and I were both pretty confused… we had no hotel and we sure didn’t want to have to pay for one. He insisted we go downstairs so we did.
At this desk, we found out that not only did we have a hotel room (apparently it got reserved with our tickets? maybe that’s why they were so expensive?), we also had shuttle service to and from that hotel room, as well as two meals in the hotel! Ten minutes and an Ethiopian transit visa later, we were on our way to the Panorama Hotel in downtown Addis Ababa, actually a very beautiful hotel with delicious food, hot showers and an amazing bed. I think the only thing that could’ve made that part better is if we’d realized it earlier, and not spent hours in the AA airport trying to kill time. We made it to the next flight in plenty of time and were on our way back to South Africa.
One of Adam’s teachers was at the Johannesburg airport (a very welcome sight), waiting to bring us back to Lesotho. Apart from stopping for burgers at Wimpy, I honestly don’t remember a lot from that ride either. It was cozy and warm and I fell asleep soon after we started moving. After that, it’s not too exciting. I spent much of Wednesday in the PC Office uploading photos and working on the first half of this massive blog post (so I hope you enjoy!) and then ended up back at site. I slept 17 hours the first night, was awake for about 4, took a 3 hour nap, woke up long enough to prepare tea and a bowl of cereal, and slept another 15. Needless to say, I was pretty well rested by the time water arrived the next day. Friday was laundry day… buckets and buckets of water, loads and loads of laundry. You know you’ve done too much laundry (all by hand, mind you) when by the time you’re finishing the last load, most of the stuff hanging on the line is already warm and dry. In any case, clean clothes are nice. I won’t even try to describe how dirty the laundry water was (and I haven’t even tried to wash my socks yet – ew).
I think that’s all I have for you… climbing Kilimanjaro was absolutely phenomenal. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it, though I will also advise you to be in pretty good physical shape, and ready for ridiculously high altitudes. Really, a handful of blog posts and all my photos don’t do it any justice… another incredible adventure to add to my list.
Peace and love from Africa,
-Katie
When I last left this, I think we had boarded a bus to go to Moshi again, back to the Springlands Hotel (Zara Tours accommodation for its tourists). We looked a mess and probably smelled worse, but I think the glow from our accomplishment prevented us from caring. At reception they told us there was no room at Springlands (again), so we’d be staying right in Moshi, at the Panama Hotel (again). We were psyched – this meant we could go shopping in and around Moshi the next day before our flight around 5pm. Meanwhile, they fed us. Lunch tasted great and was a never-ending buffet… the guys went back for seconds and thirds. After we were stuffed, they brought us to the Panama again and gave us an hour to clean up (first shower in a week!) and meet back in the restaurant for a little ceremony.
I cannot even describe how amazing that shower felt. It was a little strange since the hotel had no designated shower area, there was just a showerhead in one corner of the bathroom and a couple of drains on the floor. This did not matter. I cranked the hot water and watched the dirt just stream off. It took me a solid 30 minutes to clean myself. I emerged two shampoos, one very deep conditioning, gobs of facewash and nearly an entire bar of soap later, wrinkly but clean.
The group hardly recognized each other! All the guys were clean-shaven and everyone was in street clothes instead of hiking gear (and at least one layer of “tan” – dirt and grime – lighter). We each ordered a Kilimanjaro (the local beer) and got down to business. The guides gave us certificates for having succeeded, as well as a very heartfelt speech about how they thought we’d all known each other going in to the whole thing, and how our almost instantaneous friendship definitely helped us along the way. Chombo told us how he’d seen groups who didn’t talk, had no fun, and then blamed him when they didn’t reach Uhuru. It was very clear that all the guides had really enjoyed our group (which made me happy) and they were proud of us for having grown so close so quickly.
Then it was our turn. One of the British guys made a short speech about how we wouldn’t have made it up without their excellent team, and how appreciative we were. We handed over a tip and presented them with some articles of clothing. I donated my hiking boots (selfishly, I didn’t want to lug them back to the States and would rather see them on the feet of a porter or guide than someone in my village who probably won’t ever climb a mountain in their life), hiking pants (hand-me-overs from another PCV), a nice pair of socks (still clean!) and some bug repellent. Adam also gave his hiking boots. It was very sweet how appreciative they were of our donations; that just affirmed to me that it was the right decision (and I found myself wracking my brains: what else could I give?!). We then got to just relax and have a beer with the guides and talk to them on a completely non-professional level – I think they let their guards down considerably. After a while, they excused themselves, saying they wanted to get home to their families (and probably bathe too), but thanking us and giving us their email addresses.
And then there were seven. The gang went out for food and landed at a fairly touristy place (though it was a Sunday night, so not much else was open) where we chowed down on pizza and Indian food, reminiscing and laughing about the previous week together. It felt like I’d known these people forever even though it had only been 8 days. It’s really amazing to me how being in a situation like that can really draw you close to people… it also made me realize (again) how great our group was. Aww ☺
Back at the hotel we played cards until almost midnight before calling it a night. We had to say goodbye to one that night (his flight was super early the next morning and his ride was coming at 3am or something ridiculous), which was hard. The next morning, to our delight, breakfast was included in our stay in the hotel. After more showers, we headed out to explore the Moshi market and do some shopping. We lost two more then (off to spend time at the Hilton in Zanzibar, lucks!) and although it was hard to say goodbye, four was a much more manageable number for walking around as tourists. A local Tanzanian decided he would guide us around town; he took us to the stall for whatever it was we said we were interested in: jerseys, jewelry, t-shirts, paintings… After a few hours of this, we were exhausted and had to head back to the hotel just to get rid of him. It was definitely lunchtime, so we went back to the place Adam and I had found a week before for a huge plate of fish and rice.
Adam and I were on the same flight as the other American woman so we left the last group member there around 3pm to go catch our flight. Again, it was hard to say goodbye. He had become sort of a grandpa to me on the trip and I hope to reconnect once we’re all back stateside.
No problems at the airport (except I stupidly forgot to pack my nice knife in my checked bag and so I lost it to airport security). Our flight was a tiny bit late but to me, that was a good thing. It would only minimize our 13-hour layover in Addis Ababa. In Ethiopia, we wandered around a little, said goodbye to our fellow Yank, got some water, and curled up on the floor to start chipping away at the long night ahead of us. We’d been asleep maybe 30 minutes when a security guard came over and asked for our flight information. Where were we from? Where were we going? When did our flight leave? I thought we were going to be kicked out (or at least in deep trouble for not making better flight arrangements). He just told us we had to go downstairs to some desk to find out about our hotel. Adam and I were both pretty confused… we had no hotel and we sure didn’t want to have to pay for one. He insisted we go downstairs so we did.
At this desk, we found out that not only did we have a hotel room (apparently it got reserved with our tickets? maybe that’s why they were so expensive?), we also had shuttle service to and from that hotel room, as well as two meals in the hotel! Ten minutes and an Ethiopian transit visa later, we were on our way to the Panorama Hotel in downtown Addis Ababa, actually a very beautiful hotel with delicious food, hot showers and an amazing bed. I think the only thing that could’ve made that part better is if we’d realized it earlier, and not spent hours in the AA airport trying to kill time. We made it to the next flight in plenty of time and were on our way back to South Africa.
One of Adam’s teachers was at the Johannesburg airport (a very welcome sight), waiting to bring us back to Lesotho. Apart from stopping for burgers at Wimpy, I honestly don’t remember a lot from that ride either. It was cozy and warm and I fell asleep soon after we started moving. After that, it’s not too exciting. I spent much of Wednesday in the PC Office uploading photos and working on the first half of this massive blog post (so I hope you enjoy!) and then ended up back at site. I slept 17 hours the first night, was awake for about 4, took a 3 hour nap, woke up long enough to prepare tea and a bowl of cereal, and slept another 15. Needless to say, I was pretty well rested by the time water arrived the next day. Friday was laundry day… buckets and buckets of water, loads and loads of laundry. You know you’ve done too much laundry (all by hand, mind you) when by the time you’re finishing the last load, most of the stuff hanging on the line is already warm and dry. In any case, clean clothes are nice. I won’t even try to describe how dirty the laundry water was (and I haven’t even tried to wash my socks yet – ew).
I think that’s all I have for you… climbing Kilimanjaro was absolutely phenomenal. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it, though I will also advise you to be in pretty good physical shape, and ready for ridiculously high altitudes. Really, a handful of blog posts and all my photos don’t do it any justice… another incredible adventure to add to my list.
Peace and love from Africa,
-Katie
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Kilimanjaro
July 20, 2011
Well, we made it. All the way up and all the way down. I’ll do my best to recount everything but it may take 2 (or ten) posts to do the trip justice.
Adam and I left two weeks ago on the 8th for Johannesburg. We lucked out big time and the taxi left Maseru as soon as we were in. It was quite a long drive, all on back bumpy roads with more potholes than Minnesota during road construction season. As PCVs, we’re told to avoid the Joburg taxi rank as much as possible, so I was sort of nervous, however other volunteers have said that it’s definitely manageable, and it was. As soon as we arrived, there was a guy outside the taxi offering to bring us anywhere in the rank. It was once we arrived at the airport taxi that he asked for money, but we’d made it safely, so I was happy to pay.
We got to O.R. Tambo around 2pm… plenty early for our 9pm flight… but there were restaurants to visit! At first, it didn’t seem like there was anything available to us in the International Departures Terminal so we had to walk around a bit but eventually found Subway and a handful of other great places. We had sandwiches first (delicious but not quite as speedy as in the States) and then sat down for bottomless coffee and the best muffins on the face of the Earth at Mugg & Bean. Four (or five?) cups and a few hours later, we were wired and walked around a bit before checking in (they let us check in way early – some people are so nice!). Once through security and immigration, we bummed around a few more hours, looking in bookshops and the Duty Free stores. One of my favorite things to do in airports is people-watch and we did a fair amount of that too.
We grabbed some food for the flight (not expecting anything) and boarded, off to Dar es Salaam. That flight landed around 1:30am. We groggily found our way to immigration to buy our Visa for Tanzania. When we got to the desk, they asked for $100 (which we didn’t have) and we offered our credit cards. No luck. The machine that took credit cards was down, they said, but there were some ATMs outside. They held our passports and we headed outside to withdraw Tanzanian shillings, which we would then need to change to USD. No luck. The ATMs we found wouldn’t take either of our cards… At this point, I was getting pretty flustered. We were in a foreign place, it was 2am, we couldn’t get our Visas, our cards didn’t work, and we had to climb Kilimanjaro the next day. Thankfully Adam was incredibly calm about the whole thing. He went back in and explained to the woman the entire situation. She accompanied us to the immigration desk and explained to the guy that we would just need to pay for the visa upon departure. He wrote in each of our passports “subject to pay visa on departure, usd100 for multiple entry visa” and we continued on our way to the next leg of the journey. I cannot even explain how relieved I was, but also how worried I was; my only means of getting cash wasn’t working – would I be able to get cash once we got to Moshi?
We crashed for a few more hours in the airport in Dar before our 6am flight to Kilimanjaro airport. That flight was absolutely spectacular. It was just starting to get light, and above the clouds, we could see the whole sunset. As we approached Moshi, I could see Kilimanjaro in the distance, the top just peeking above the clouds… stunning. Once we landed, it wasn’t too long before a car came to pick us up and bring us to check in for our climb. We were supposed to stay at this little (touristy) oasis of a place, about 15 minutes from downtown Moshi but they were overbooked, so we ended up IN Moshi, which was actually much better. We got to walk around town without having to worry about getting there or back. After not much sleep the night before, I was exhausted… Adam, however, somehow had enough energy to walk around a fair amount. As we were waiting to get a sim card for the cell phone, I fell asleep, right in the store. That was when he agreed to let me go take a nap . My nap was great… he even let me sleep longer than I wanted because he was scared to wake me up (sound familiar Mom?) We found a great local place (right next to the place we stayed) for lunch – Zanzibar rice with beans and spicy sauce and some salads. A huge portion cost the equivalent of $1. We vowed to go back for dinner.
A few more hours of walking around put us at about 4:30pm so we headed back for our group meeting and briefing with our guides and other group members. I had been a bit concerned about who else was going to be in our group… would they be older couples with whom we had nothing in common? Would they be cool? Would they even speak English? All these worries vanished when we met a couple of awesome British guys and another American woman… they seemed very cool. We were told there were two more guys on the way but we didn’t end up meeting them until the next morning: another British guy and another American man. We were 7 in total, 3 Brits and 4 Americans… needless to say, there was a lot of banter flying in the group. We all learned new phrases in the other “language” and got to practice our accents… even though the Brits said our accents were “rubbish” and (to us) they just sounded like hicks most of the time.
I was relieved to find out that the others in the group were just nervous as I was, if not more, about the climb. Our guide and assistant guides were very reassuring; they’d had a great summit record together and were confident we’d be great. The 7 of us bonded very quickly (as you tend to do when in a situation like that) and even our guides didn’t believe that we hadn’t known each other before coming to Tanzania.
The drive to the gate the first morning was pretty long. We were all chatty, not sure what to expect but relieved that at least the first day was said to be relatively easy. When we arrived at the gate, we had to check in with passport numbers and register all our information. They gave us a nice box lunch, we drove another hour (through some crazy brush – in a massive safari-like vehicle on a path that was maybe meant for a bicycle… it was bumpy) before disembarking, packing up our packs and hitting the trail.
The first day’s hike was indeed relatively easy, only about 3 hours, all through the rainforest. Some ups, some downs, and I think we were all on a big hiker high. We arrived at the first camp around dinner time, found our packs and dragged our belongings to the tents. The porters brought us warm water for washing and directed us to the tent where we’d have tea. It was a pretty small tent with a very small (and wobbly) table with popcorn on a big platter, as well as 7 mugs, 7 small spoons and an assortment of tea, Milo (cocoa) and coffee. Then came dinner… first a carrot soup and some bread, then later fish and potatoes and vegetables. We were all in awe – we were going to be waited on hand and foot for the next week. After dinner, our guide, a very gentle, professional Tanzanian named Chombo, came in and told us the program for the next day (which would also end up being the schedule for most of our days). We would wake up for tea at 7am, get some more warm water for washing, take breakfast at 7:30 and hit the trail by 8. We’d go about 6 hours to the next camp, and the day would be sort of difficult. With this news, we headed to the tents to get some sleep. Adam and I had no trouble falling asleep (this is where being accustomed to poor sleeping conditions comes in handy!) and staying asleep until 7am when there came a knock on the tent – they brought tea to our tents.
Breakfast was several courses as well: first uji, a porridge (not unlike lesheleshele in Lesotho) made of maize and sorghum meal. Then came pancakes (thin – no baking powder in them, almost like sweet tortillas) and bread, and finally eggs and sausages. We hadn’t realized how much food there would be so we all sort of filled up on the uji and tea. Then it was time to pack and hit the trail.
As any of my family members can attest, I’m not usually huge on hiking, and even less keen on camping, but this was an adventure. The hike was beautiful – more rainforest, and then eventually into some other ecological zones (not sure what else to call them). Plenty of up-hills and several rests… but the prospect of a good hot lunch was waiting for us. About 4 or 5 hours in to our 6-hour hike, we finally caught a glimpse of the mountain. It was spectacular… and all of a sudden the task ahead got a whole lot bigger. Camp the second night was probably my favorite. It wasn’t as crowded as the first camp, plus we could see the mountain directly out of our tent and caught a grand sunset and sunrise.
Day 3 was easier, pretty flat and basic (though the sun was shining and many of us got a bit burned), a chance to rest up and acclimatize for the next day. Day 4 was rough. It was a lot of uphill, up to around 15,000 ft at a place called the Lava Tower, a beautiful rock formation on one side of the base, and then back down to about 12,000 ft. The up part wasn’t too bad and I think the down would’ve been alright if it weren’t for the fact that we’d already been hiking 4 hours up. By the end of our descent that night into Barranco camp, I felt absolutely terrible. I had a pounding headache and felt weak and worried whether or not the next day would bring any relief.
As soon as we got to camp that night, I went to the tent to lie down, but only managed to rest a few minutes before tea time. Sugary tea and salty popcorn helped a lot, but I still felt pretty terrible… I got to rest probably only 30 minutes (not quite long enough to really fall asleep but to start drifting off) before dinner. I wasn’t sure about eating dinner but figured it couldn’t hurt… and I was right. After dinner, I felt ten times better and slept really well.
Day 5 was supposed to be easy… we had to climb Barranco wall, basically a cliff, up which we “bouldered” … a.k.a. scurried up. The night before, Chombo had told us we should not bring poles because we would need to use our “crawly hands” … absolutely accurate. There were a couple places where we had to be really careful with balance and there was a very specific “left foot here, right hand there” pattern we had to follow. What amazed me the most was how quickly the porters could scurry up the side of the wall with probably 30+ pounds of stuff on their head/neck/back. Several hours later (like 5 I think) we arrived at camp. It wasn’t a super difficult hike but it was not as easy as we’d anticipated either. After lunch we got time to rest but before we could sleep, the assistant guide, Lucas, came to the tent to see if we wanted to go for a short acclimatization hike, basically a short jaunt up a ways and then back down, so we’d be camping lower than the highest elevation of the day (which wouldn’t have been a problem since the top of the wall was pretty darn high). I figured it couldn’t do any harm... I’d been alright that day and had started to get pretty nervous about the summit day and this at least would calm my nerves.
Day 6 actually lived up to expectations. It was not terribly difficult. The hike was about 4 hours, but this time we were seriously going up in elevation. This was the real deal – up to 15,000ft to camp at Barafu for a few hours before the summit hike to Uhuru. After a warm lunch, we were sent to our tents to relax, which we did willingly until our early dinner. Around 5:30pm they brought in a huge plate of pasta with some very thick vegetable sauce – carbo load! As we were taking tea, our guide and assistant guides came in to tell us how the summit would be. Everyone was very quiet but the tent was absolutely electric. We got a pep talk fit for a professional sports team from Chombo (with Lucas and Charles on his sides, nodding and adding in Swahili when he left something out). The plan was as follows:
We were to go to sleep (it was 7pm at this point) until 10pm. We would wake then, dress in warm layers, take tea and biscuits at 10:30pm and set off on the trek up the mountain at 11pm, headlamps on head. We would climb and climb and climb, take more tea about halfway up, and climb some more, all the way to the top. We’d get 10 minutes at the top to take photos and revel in the moment before beginning our descent…
So, at about 10pm, Adam and I woke up and started layering on clothes. I ended up wearing two pairs of socks, hiking boots, 3 pairs of pants (long underwear, hiking pants and water/windproof), 6 layers on top (various wicking shirts, some fleece and insulation), a neck gator, headband, hat, hood, gloves and mittens. Tea was nice and warm and again the tent was electric. Everyone was excited and nervous, anxious about what might happen if something went wrong but optimistic that nothing would.
By 11:05pm we were off up the hill, a nice little train of headlamps up a very big mountain. I think we were probably the second or third group to leave camp that night… one of the group likened it to a Christmas tree – all lit up. We went maybe an hour and a half before stopping for a break; we were all out of breath even though nobody was moving faster than a snail’s pace. At this point we split off – Bill with Chombo to go a bit slower and the rest of us with Lucas and Charles (the assistant guides). At this point, I just remember being tired and cold. Not super fatigued or sick, just tired and cold. After we’d been going a while, we had to go up some bigger rocks and I must have taken it too quickly because everything started going blurry and I felt much worse. I asked to take a break at which point Charles swiped my bag off my back and I was told to go second in line, right behind Lucas. We slowed down a little bit but kept going, trudging slowly, slowly up. The group was mostly quiet but every once in a while someone would ask how I was feeling (or how someone else was feeling). It was really incredible, feeling their support and knowing not only how badly we all wanted to summit but also how badly the guides wanted it for us.
We stopped again and this time I felt absolutely nauseated. I couldn’t tell if I was going to throw up or pass out or what was going to happen… One of the guys in the group offered me some glucose tables which I took and sucked on. There was no way I could’ve taken solid food at this point or I surely would have vomited, so thankfully these helped and I felt like I could continue.
Many hours of the trek are a complete blur. I know we climbed for 8 hours total and stopped several times. We stopped for tea which warmed us all a little bit, and then finally it was only 45 minutes to Stella Point, which was to be 100 vertical meters from the top, another 45 minutes up to the sign for Uhuru Peak.
Somehow, I’m still not sure how, we all made it up. Stella was an incredible site, especially knowing how close we were. The sun was beginning to rise at this point and the sky was warming from deep blue to shades of yellow and orange, and the moon was still full on the other side. Everything was absolutely breathtaking (literally and figuratively). The attitude in the group definitely lifted from Stella the rest of the way. It was almost like a magnet was pulling us up because I honestly don’t know how any of us had any energy left at that point. We just kept going…
Finally, the sign was in site and I couldn’t stop myself from crying. It was such a beautiful moment: achievement, friendship, support… natural beauty too, with the sun rising on one side and the moon still up over another (smaller) mountain on the other side… As I looked around, others in my group were crying too. Then it was a giant hug-fest as we congratulated each other and commiserated about how terrible we felt but how thrilled we were to be at the top.
Several photographs later, we were back on the way down, and as crazy as it sounds to only be at the top for 10-15 minutes, I think we were all ready to go back down and rest for a little while. As the guide told us, it’s not very good for people to be up that high (over 19,000 ft) for very long, and anything can happen at the top. Shortly after 7:15am (and a stop for a little chocolate) we were on our way, half walking and half stumbling, back down to Barafu.
We made it to camp about 3 hours later (though much of that time is also a blur to me). I remember being exhausted, having a bad headache, and being concerned about Adam feeling really sick. As soon as we got to the tent, we were both passed out.
We rested a while before taking another hike back down the mountain about 4 hours, in order to camp at a lower elevation, about 10,000ft. We all slept like babies that night… “like totos” as the Tanzanians would say. The final day was all downhill and that was when I really started getting sore. It was only 4 hours downhill, and we descended 5,000ft before exiting through the gate, boarding a bus, and heading back to Moshi.
Unfortunately, I think I need to get going now, but I will definitely post more at another point – soon!
All my love from Africa,
-Katie
Well, we made it. All the way up and all the way down. I’ll do my best to recount everything but it may take 2 (or ten) posts to do the trip justice.
Adam and I left two weeks ago on the 8th for Johannesburg. We lucked out big time and the taxi left Maseru as soon as we were in. It was quite a long drive, all on back bumpy roads with more potholes than Minnesota during road construction season. As PCVs, we’re told to avoid the Joburg taxi rank as much as possible, so I was sort of nervous, however other volunteers have said that it’s definitely manageable, and it was. As soon as we arrived, there was a guy outside the taxi offering to bring us anywhere in the rank. It was once we arrived at the airport taxi that he asked for money, but we’d made it safely, so I was happy to pay.
We got to O.R. Tambo around 2pm… plenty early for our 9pm flight… but there were restaurants to visit! At first, it didn’t seem like there was anything available to us in the International Departures Terminal so we had to walk around a bit but eventually found Subway and a handful of other great places. We had sandwiches first (delicious but not quite as speedy as in the States) and then sat down for bottomless coffee and the best muffins on the face of the Earth at Mugg & Bean. Four (or five?) cups and a few hours later, we were wired and walked around a bit before checking in (they let us check in way early – some people are so nice!). Once through security and immigration, we bummed around a few more hours, looking in bookshops and the Duty Free stores. One of my favorite things to do in airports is people-watch and we did a fair amount of that too.
We grabbed some food for the flight (not expecting anything) and boarded, off to Dar es Salaam. That flight landed around 1:30am. We groggily found our way to immigration to buy our Visa for Tanzania. When we got to the desk, they asked for $100 (which we didn’t have) and we offered our credit cards. No luck. The machine that took credit cards was down, they said, but there were some ATMs outside. They held our passports and we headed outside to withdraw Tanzanian shillings, which we would then need to change to USD. No luck. The ATMs we found wouldn’t take either of our cards… At this point, I was getting pretty flustered. We were in a foreign place, it was 2am, we couldn’t get our Visas, our cards didn’t work, and we had to climb Kilimanjaro the next day. Thankfully Adam was incredibly calm about the whole thing. He went back in and explained to the woman the entire situation. She accompanied us to the immigration desk and explained to the guy that we would just need to pay for the visa upon departure. He wrote in each of our passports “subject to pay visa on departure, usd100 for multiple entry visa” and we continued on our way to the next leg of the journey. I cannot even explain how relieved I was, but also how worried I was; my only means of getting cash wasn’t working – would I be able to get cash once we got to Moshi?
We crashed for a few more hours in the airport in Dar before our 6am flight to Kilimanjaro airport. That flight was absolutely spectacular. It was just starting to get light, and above the clouds, we could see the whole sunset. As we approached Moshi, I could see Kilimanjaro in the distance, the top just peeking above the clouds… stunning. Once we landed, it wasn’t too long before a car came to pick us up and bring us to check in for our climb. We were supposed to stay at this little (touristy) oasis of a place, about 15 minutes from downtown Moshi but they were overbooked, so we ended up IN Moshi, which was actually much better. We got to walk around town without having to worry about getting there or back. After not much sleep the night before, I was exhausted… Adam, however, somehow had enough energy to walk around a fair amount. As we were waiting to get a sim card for the cell phone, I fell asleep, right in the store. That was when he agreed to let me go take a nap . My nap was great… he even let me sleep longer than I wanted because he was scared to wake me up (sound familiar Mom?) We found a great local place (right next to the place we stayed) for lunch – Zanzibar rice with beans and spicy sauce and some salads. A huge portion cost the equivalent of $1. We vowed to go back for dinner.
A few more hours of walking around put us at about 4:30pm so we headed back for our group meeting and briefing with our guides and other group members. I had been a bit concerned about who else was going to be in our group… would they be older couples with whom we had nothing in common? Would they be cool? Would they even speak English? All these worries vanished when we met a couple of awesome British guys and another American woman… they seemed very cool. We were told there were two more guys on the way but we didn’t end up meeting them until the next morning: another British guy and another American man. We were 7 in total, 3 Brits and 4 Americans… needless to say, there was a lot of banter flying in the group. We all learned new phrases in the other “language” and got to practice our accents… even though the Brits said our accents were “rubbish” and (to us) they just sounded like hicks most of the time.
I was relieved to find out that the others in the group were just nervous as I was, if not more, about the climb. Our guide and assistant guides were very reassuring; they’d had a great summit record together and were confident we’d be great. The 7 of us bonded very quickly (as you tend to do when in a situation like that) and even our guides didn’t believe that we hadn’t known each other before coming to Tanzania.
The drive to the gate the first morning was pretty long. We were all chatty, not sure what to expect but relieved that at least the first day was said to be relatively easy. When we arrived at the gate, we had to check in with passport numbers and register all our information. They gave us a nice box lunch, we drove another hour (through some crazy brush – in a massive safari-like vehicle on a path that was maybe meant for a bicycle… it was bumpy) before disembarking, packing up our packs and hitting the trail.
The first day’s hike was indeed relatively easy, only about 3 hours, all through the rainforest. Some ups, some downs, and I think we were all on a big hiker high. We arrived at the first camp around dinner time, found our packs and dragged our belongings to the tents. The porters brought us warm water for washing and directed us to the tent where we’d have tea. It was a pretty small tent with a very small (and wobbly) table with popcorn on a big platter, as well as 7 mugs, 7 small spoons and an assortment of tea, Milo (cocoa) and coffee. Then came dinner… first a carrot soup and some bread, then later fish and potatoes and vegetables. We were all in awe – we were going to be waited on hand and foot for the next week. After dinner, our guide, a very gentle, professional Tanzanian named Chombo, came in and told us the program for the next day (which would also end up being the schedule for most of our days). We would wake up for tea at 7am, get some more warm water for washing, take breakfast at 7:30 and hit the trail by 8. We’d go about 6 hours to the next camp, and the day would be sort of difficult. With this news, we headed to the tents to get some sleep. Adam and I had no trouble falling asleep (this is where being accustomed to poor sleeping conditions comes in handy!) and staying asleep until 7am when there came a knock on the tent – they brought tea to our tents.
Breakfast was several courses as well: first uji, a porridge (not unlike lesheleshele in Lesotho) made of maize and sorghum meal. Then came pancakes (thin – no baking powder in them, almost like sweet tortillas) and bread, and finally eggs and sausages. We hadn’t realized how much food there would be so we all sort of filled up on the uji and tea. Then it was time to pack and hit the trail.
As any of my family members can attest, I’m not usually huge on hiking, and even less keen on camping, but this was an adventure. The hike was beautiful – more rainforest, and then eventually into some other ecological zones (not sure what else to call them). Plenty of up-hills and several rests… but the prospect of a good hot lunch was waiting for us. About 4 or 5 hours in to our 6-hour hike, we finally caught a glimpse of the mountain. It was spectacular… and all of a sudden the task ahead got a whole lot bigger. Camp the second night was probably my favorite. It wasn’t as crowded as the first camp, plus we could see the mountain directly out of our tent and caught a grand sunset and sunrise.
Day 3 was easier, pretty flat and basic (though the sun was shining and many of us got a bit burned), a chance to rest up and acclimatize for the next day. Day 4 was rough. It was a lot of uphill, up to around 15,000 ft at a place called the Lava Tower, a beautiful rock formation on one side of the base, and then back down to about 12,000 ft. The up part wasn’t too bad and I think the down would’ve been alright if it weren’t for the fact that we’d already been hiking 4 hours up. By the end of our descent that night into Barranco camp, I felt absolutely terrible. I had a pounding headache and felt weak and worried whether or not the next day would bring any relief.
As soon as we got to camp that night, I went to the tent to lie down, but only managed to rest a few minutes before tea time. Sugary tea and salty popcorn helped a lot, but I still felt pretty terrible… I got to rest probably only 30 minutes (not quite long enough to really fall asleep but to start drifting off) before dinner. I wasn’t sure about eating dinner but figured it couldn’t hurt… and I was right. After dinner, I felt ten times better and slept really well.
Day 5 was supposed to be easy… we had to climb Barranco wall, basically a cliff, up which we “bouldered” … a.k.a. scurried up. The night before, Chombo had told us we should not bring poles because we would need to use our “crawly hands” … absolutely accurate. There were a couple places where we had to be really careful with balance and there was a very specific “left foot here, right hand there” pattern we had to follow. What amazed me the most was how quickly the porters could scurry up the side of the wall with probably 30+ pounds of stuff on their head/neck/back. Several hours later (like 5 I think) we arrived at camp. It wasn’t a super difficult hike but it was not as easy as we’d anticipated either. After lunch we got time to rest but before we could sleep, the assistant guide, Lucas, came to the tent to see if we wanted to go for a short acclimatization hike, basically a short jaunt up a ways and then back down, so we’d be camping lower than the highest elevation of the day (which wouldn’t have been a problem since the top of the wall was pretty darn high). I figured it couldn’t do any harm... I’d been alright that day and had started to get pretty nervous about the summit day and this at least would calm my nerves.
Day 6 actually lived up to expectations. It was not terribly difficult. The hike was about 4 hours, but this time we were seriously going up in elevation. This was the real deal – up to 15,000ft to camp at Barafu for a few hours before the summit hike to Uhuru. After a warm lunch, we were sent to our tents to relax, which we did willingly until our early dinner. Around 5:30pm they brought in a huge plate of pasta with some very thick vegetable sauce – carbo load! As we were taking tea, our guide and assistant guides came in to tell us how the summit would be. Everyone was very quiet but the tent was absolutely electric. We got a pep talk fit for a professional sports team from Chombo (with Lucas and Charles on his sides, nodding and adding in Swahili when he left something out). The plan was as follows:
We were to go to sleep (it was 7pm at this point) until 10pm. We would wake then, dress in warm layers, take tea and biscuits at 10:30pm and set off on the trek up the mountain at 11pm, headlamps on head. We would climb and climb and climb, take more tea about halfway up, and climb some more, all the way to the top. We’d get 10 minutes at the top to take photos and revel in the moment before beginning our descent…
So, at about 10pm, Adam and I woke up and started layering on clothes. I ended up wearing two pairs of socks, hiking boots, 3 pairs of pants (long underwear, hiking pants and water/windproof), 6 layers on top (various wicking shirts, some fleece and insulation), a neck gator, headband, hat, hood, gloves and mittens. Tea was nice and warm and again the tent was electric. Everyone was excited and nervous, anxious about what might happen if something went wrong but optimistic that nothing would.
By 11:05pm we were off up the hill, a nice little train of headlamps up a very big mountain. I think we were probably the second or third group to leave camp that night… one of the group likened it to a Christmas tree – all lit up. We went maybe an hour and a half before stopping for a break; we were all out of breath even though nobody was moving faster than a snail’s pace. At this point we split off – Bill with Chombo to go a bit slower and the rest of us with Lucas and Charles (the assistant guides). At this point, I just remember being tired and cold. Not super fatigued or sick, just tired and cold. After we’d been going a while, we had to go up some bigger rocks and I must have taken it too quickly because everything started going blurry and I felt much worse. I asked to take a break at which point Charles swiped my bag off my back and I was told to go second in line, right behind Lucas. We slowed down a little bit but kept going, trudging slowly, slowly up. The group was mostly quiet but every once in a while someone would ask how I was feeling (or how someone else was feeling). It was really incredible, feeling their support and knowing not only how badly we all wanted to summit but also how badly the guides wanted it for us.
We stopped again and this time I felt absolutely nauseated. I couldn’t tell if I was going to throw up or pass out or what was going to happen… One of the guys in the group offered me some glucose tables which I took and sucked on. There was no way I could’ve taken solid food at this point or I surely would have vomited, so thankfully these helped and I felt like I could continue.
Many hours of the trek are a complete blur. I know we climbed for 8 hours total and stopped several times. We stopped for tea which warmed us all a little bit, and then finally it was only 45 minutes to Stella Point, which was to be 100 vertical meters from the top, another 45 minutes up to the sign for Uhuru Peak.
Somehow, I’m still not sure how, we all made it up. Stella was an incredible site, especially knowing how close we were. The sun was beginning to rise at this point and the sky was warming from deep blue to shades of yellow and orange, and the moon was still full on the other side. Everything was absolutely breathtaking (literally and figuratively). The attitude in the group definitely lifted from Stella the rest of the way. It was almost like a magnet was pulling us up because I honestly don’t know how any of us had any energy left at that point. We just kept going…
Finally, the sign was in site and I couldn’t stop myself from crying. It was such a beautiful moment: achievement, friendship, support… natural beauty too, with the sun rising on one side and the moon still up over another (smaller) mountain on the other side… As I looked around, others in my group were crying too. Then it was a giant hug-fest as we congratulated each other and commiserated about how terrible we felt but how thrilled we were to be at the top.
Several photographs later, we were back on the way down, and as crazy as it sounds to only be at the top for 10-15 minutes, I think we were all ready to go back down and rest for a little while. As the guide told us, it’s not very good for people to be up that high (over 19,000 ft) for very long, and anything can happen at the top. Shortly after 7:15am (and a stop for a little chocolate) we were on our way, half walking and half stumbling, back down to Barafu.
We made it to camp about 3 hours later (though much of that time is also a blur to me). I remember being exhausted, having a bad headache, and being concerned about Adam feeling really sick. As soon as we got to the tent, we were both passed out.
We rested a while before taking another hike back down the mountain about 4 hours, in order to camp at a lower elevation, about 10,000ft. We all slept like babies that night… “like totos” as the Tanzanians would say. The final day was all downhill and that was when I really started getting sore. It was only 4 hours downhill, and we descended 5,000ft before exiting through the gate, boarding a bus, and heading back to Moshi.
Unfortunately, I think I need to get going now, but I will definitely post more at another point – soon!
All my love from Africa,
-Katie
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