Climbing Kilimanjaro

I officially made it to the roof of Africa! The summit of Kilimanjaro is called Uhuru peak, at a whopping 5,895 meters. It was definitely a test of character and the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever done in my entire life. So let me give you a run down of the events of my week on Kilimanjaro.

Day 1:
Machame Gate to Machame Hut
Elevation Gain: 1,800 - 3,000 meters
Length of Hike: 5 hours

We left Moshi around 9 am to drive to Machame Gate. After registering and paying our park fees we started our hike somewhere around 10:45 am. Machame Gate has an elevation of 1,800 meters. We had a nice long hike through the beautiful rainforest that lasted approximately 5 hours. Somewhere around halfway, after we stopped for lunch, it started pouring. I think it was even hailing at one point. This definitely made the day a little more interesting, and my tennis shoes were definitely ruined at that point. We reached Machame Hut (elevation 3,000 meters) around 4 pm. I was definitely ready to be dry and to relax a little bit. It was much colder than I anticipated on the first night. The stars on Kilimanjaro were unbelievable, more incredible than I can even explain.

Helena, Krista, and I excited to start our trek!

Our tents and the mess tent on the right.

Day 2:
Machame Hut to Shira Hut
Elevation Gain: 3,000 - 3,800 meters
Length of Hike: 5 hours


We set out on day 2 at around 8 am to Shira Hut. This was supposed to be a shorter hike today, but very steep.  It took us around 5 hours to get there, and was definitely more challenging than the first day. I kept repeating to myself "don't look up" and tried to focus on my own feet and the person in front of me. It was so steep that if you looked up you would just get discouraged at how far you had to go! I definitely could feel the affects of there being less oxygen in the air, as I got winded quite easily. We reached Shira Hut around lunchtime and then we took a short walk to see Shira Cave.

Taking a break to take in some awesome views.

Shira Cave. Juma in front and Joseph on the right.

Shira Hut camp.

Man made rock pile. Leaving my mark on Kilimanjaro.

Day 3:
Shira Hut to Lava Tower to Barranco Hut
Elevation Gain: 3,800 meters - 4,600 meters - 3,940 meters
Length of Hike: 6 hours

We started out on another steep part of the mountain heading to Lava Tower. This part of the hike is considered acclimatization because we hike high and then head back down to Barranco camp to sleep. This day was probably the toughest mentally, I started out with a mini mental breakdown asking myself "why the heck did you decide to do this!?" It was the first part of our steep hike and I had gotten a little behind our group. I was doing ok physically, but kept on thinking about how much longer we had to hike until we reached the summit.  We stopped at Lava Tower for lunch, which was the highest elevation we had reached this day, 4,600 meters. At this point everyone as feeling pretty good, although it was VERY cold. Once we crossed over Lava Tower we had to hike straight down and pretty much ran to Barranco camp. The whole day lasted about 6 hours, and we ended up not much higher than where we started. But that's why Machame route is good for acclimatization, hike high - sleep low. Prosper and Juma checked our oxygen levels for the first time at this camp. Mine was 92%, and I could definitely tell a difference, but no sickness!

A picture of our whole crew. 1 guide, 1 assistant guide, 10 porters, 1 cook.

Trucking along! Notice that it was very cold at this point, and I was sporting the mittens I got for Christmas from my Grandma! Always thinking about you!

Day 4:
Barranco Hut to Karanga Hut to Barafu Hut
Elevation gain: 3,940 - 4,800 meters
Length of Hike: 7.5 Hours

Started our day off climbing up Barranco Wall. This was particularly difficult for me, as it was early in the morning and my body is not fond of exercising that early. This was definitely more rock climbing than hiking, but the hard work paid off because the views at the top were phenomenal, and it gave us another closer look at the summit. After reaching the top of the wall we made our way back down (again) to Karanga Hut for lunch. Overall this took about 4 hours.  After our lunch break at Karanga Hut we made our way to Barafu Hut (base camp). This was another 3 hour long hike through a whole lot of scree (loose rock). It's amazing how much the climates change over only a couple of short days.  Once at Barafu Hut our oxygen levels were checked again. Mine had dropped down to 82%, and I was easily getting winded just walking to the bathroom. This made me very nervous thinking about going up another 1,000 meters!

Karanga Hut is that tiny camp on the upper right side. We had to go straight down from where we were standing, then climb back up that far wall to get there.

Our guide, Prosper.

Windy, Cold, and Cloudy

Part of Barafu Hut, you can also see Moshi in the background. So small.

Base Camp, where we "sleep" for a few hours before hiking the summit. Barafu means ice in Swahili, and it was COLD.

Day 5:
Barafu Hut to Uhuru Peak

Elevation Gain: 4,800 - 5,895 meters
Length of Hike: 8 hours

Technically this still started on day four, as we "woke up" around 10:30 pm. I hardly slept at all, a combination of nerves and inability to sleep in sleeping bags. It was also very windy and I think it was hailing at one point. We had a small "breakfast" that consisted of tea and biscuits before we started our trek at 11:30 pm. It was dark and cold, I was wearing 4 layers underneath my snowpants, and 5 layers underneath my down jacket. I think my favorite part about hiking this late at night was the stars. You could also see Moshi lit up in the distance, and the view was incredible. The reason why most people start to summit around midnight is for a couple of different reasons. It takes an average of 6 hours to reach the summit from Barafu Hut, and leaving around this time is prime for catching the sunrise at the summit. Also, the trek is so steep that I think if people could actually see what they were climbing they would be discouraged and turn back around. The pace was so slow, mostly focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. This part of the hike was also so steep that we had to zig zag up, its incredible that we were hiking for that long. I was feeling pretty energized and good for most of the 8 hours. I focused on trying to eat when we took short breaks and continuing to drink water when we were walking up. When you reach the top of the steep portion of the hike, you reach Stella's Point. Which is awesome and really disappointing at the same time. We realized we had to hike farther to reach Uhuru Peak. This was especially difficult, as I started feeling nauseous and a had acquired a bit of a headache. Each step felt like it took 5 minutes, and we were constantly stopping to catch our breath. By the time we reached the summit, I literally collapsed to my knees and just stared at the sign. Such a little reminder of how large of an accomplishment we just achieved.

The whole group!

We only stayed at the summit for a few minutes, because of the lack of oxygen. It was daylight now, and getting down was supposed to be easier than going up. The way down took about 3 hours, and it was basically like skiing down a bunch of loose dirt and rocks. By this time, I was exhausted and feeling very frustrated because I couldn't keep my footing and felt like I was falling every few minutes. Our guide, Prosper, asked "haven't you ever been skiing before?" I said, yes, but I fell so many times that I never went again. He held my arm the whole way down.

We got back to Barafu camp and got to rest for an hour before lunch. Then we proceeded to hike another 4 hours to Mweka Hut, our last campsite, which was at 3,000 meters. This part of the hike was the most physically exhausting for me, my knees were in a lot of pain and my body was screaming at me the whole way. We hiked for a total of about 15 hours this day.


Day 6:
Mweka Hut to Mweka Gate

We woke up early for breakfast, a nice song and dance performance from our crew, and our last 3 hour hike down to the gate. We had officially survived Kilimanjaro. This is definitely an experience to check off my bucket list. I have learned a lot about myself on this trek, and am proud to have accomplished something that not very many people do.


- K

Saying Goodbye to Moshi

This was our last week at CCBRT - Moshi. We have met some incredible people and learned a lot of things. It's a bitter sweet feeling to be leaving. We were just starting to feel comfortable with living in this city, learned how to get around, and found some good restaurants that we really enjoyed. I realize now how small of a town it really is. Every once in a while we will run into someone that we know on the street, which is a lot to say considering we don't know very many people.

Our program manager, Ruth.

Left to right: Krista, Shedrack, Sabas, Me, Fransis

Our CCBRT bus driver, Swai. Loved him. He doesn't speak much English, but always has a smile on his face!

One of the Occupational Therapists, Neophita

We've heard many stories about Dar es Salaam. Most of them including the weather and the craziness of the big city. I'm not one to love crowded big cities, but I'm sure I will make the most of it and it will be beautiful. I'm sure it will be fun and frustrating all over again learning the ins and outs of living in Dar, and that by the time we leave I will be sad to go.

The clinical aspect of this internship is officially half over. Considering that we are in Tanzania and the way the health care system works is much different than a normal clinic, I still feel like I've learned some valuable life lessons. I'm excited and nervous to see what the hospital in Dar has to offer as far as physiotherapy goes.

Saturday we begin our trek up to Africa's Roof! Kibo, or Mount Kilimanjaro, has been hovering over us the entire time we have been living here. It makes for some beautiful scenery, but is very intimidating when you know that you will attempt to conquer the summit. The peak is 5,895 meters, which is something just over 19,000 feet. (This is another thing about living anywhere BUT America, everything is in the metric system. This was extremely frustrating at first, but I am becoming quicker at conversions). 19,000 feet seems pretty much impossible to me, even though Kili doesn't look all that big from a distance. To put that in perspective, when I went skydiving I jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet. This means I will be trekking UP 6,000 more feet than I fell from a plane. Seems pretty insane right? I intend to write some things on paper to document my thoughts during the trek each day. This way when I attempt to blog about it some of my raw thoughts will be on paper and I can tell you just how fantastic, or miserable it is. We have talked to quite a few people of all different ages that have completed the Kili climb, all with varying stories and suggestions. Some people claim they didn't feel an ounce of sickness and made it to the summit without complaints. Some only had slight headaches. We heard stories of people that got very sick, and they claimed that saw other people being taken down the mountain via stretcher. One lady even told us it was "the most excruciating, yet exhilarating experience" of her life. I can live with exhilarating, let's hope we don't have to deal with excruciating.

Our hotel room and attempting to pack for Kili.

A view of Kilimanjaro from our house.

Here's to hoping that I reach the summit and don't get altitude sickness!


- K

Chakula (food)

This is a post dedicated to some of the delicious (and maybe not so delicious) Tanzanian cuisine.  Before I came to Tanzania, I had a lot of comments from my friends and family about food. Examples include: "what are you going to eat?!" and "you are going to starve!" This just meaning that I am somewhat of a picky eater. I will defend myself and say this, I will always try something once. Besides, usually it's not the taste of the food that I have an aversion to, but the texture.  Originally I had thought I was going to lose some weight while being here. After a few weeks I feel as though I am keeping up just fine and actually loving most of the foods that we have tried.

Traditional Tanzanian Foods

Our food that we eat for lunch is very basic, and I know that I have previously posted pictures showing what a typical lunch looks like. The cooks here at CCBRT make a hearty, filling meal that includes: wali (rice), maharage (beans), ugali (maize flour), pilau (brown rice with spices and meat) and/or kibichi  (cabbage).  

Ugali  is a dish of maize flour (cornmeal) cooked with water to a porridge- or dough-like consistency. It is the most common staple starch in Tanzania, and doesn't have a whole lot of taste to it. Traditionally it is eaten with your hands and you take a piece and roll it into a ball. I have a difficult time eating certain foods with strange textures, although it is not horrible tasting (mostly because it is just flour and water) it does sort of taste and feel like play-doh. 

Looks a lot like mashed potatoes. Paired with cooked cabbage and some unknown vegetable.

Another dish that we have gotten to try at CCBRT is called ndizi-nyame (plantains with meat). Basically it's cooked green bananas with some type of meat which turns out to be sort of like a beef stew or banana soup. When I first tried it I could have sworn I was eating potatoes. Then with a closer look, turns out they were just bananas!  This was actually a pretty good meal, considering I refuse to eat even the slightest green banana at home. 

Sambusa, or samosa is a fried or baked pastry in a triangular shape that is filled with different spices and usually ground beef.  They look like egg rolls in triangular form and taste delicious. You can also find these pretty much anywhere, and usually only cost 500-600 Tsh (around 35 cents).  These have become a favorite of mine.

Another one of my new Tanzanian favorites is chipsi mayai (chips and eggs). Basically it's a potato and egg omelette and is found pretty much anywhere. They take chips and toss them into a frying pan with a couple of eggs and some grease and fry until golden and crispy. It is usually topped with chili or tomato sauce and you can also find some places that will put beef in it. You can find chipsi mayai pretty much anywhere. When we tried it, we bought it at a food stand on the street.  If you can forget about where and how it's made, chipsi mayai is a yummy meal for only 1,500 Tsh ($1). 

Probably not very healthy, but VERY tasty.

Maandazi is a fluffy fried bread snack, tasting much like a donut.  They are less sweet than donuts in the US, and typically aren't served with any glaze or frosting. Usually they are triangular in shape and when cooked, they have a "fluffy" feeling and texture to them. I was unable to get a picture when we tried these yummy treats, so I utilized google images. 

Pilau is basically brown rice with spices and meat. It originates from India but in Tanzania it tastes and looks very different from the Indian pilau. Tanzanian pilau typically uses more spices than the Indian version. It has definitely become one of my favorite dishes here, and is also very easy to find and inexpensive. One other food that we keep hearing about is Chapati. It is technically an Indian flatbread that is paired with soup or stew. We have yet to try it, but we found that it is not hard to find and also inexpensive. Here is another google image since we haven't tried them yet.

Chapati

The vegetables here are usually cooked kibichi, or cabbage, which has become something I really enjoy on the side of some rice. The restaurants in Moshi also use a lot of sukuma wiki, or kale. The first time we ate it, I was not particularly fond of plain cooked kale. However, I have eaten quite a bit of it throughout my time here and it is pretty tasty when mixed with other veggies and rice.

MOSHI RESTAURANTS

Krista and I have spent a lot of time in the last five weeks experimenting at different restaurants and trying different foods.  Moshi offers a large variety of restaurants that offer Tanzanian, Continental, Indian, Italian, and other types of foods as well.  To start off with, one of our favorite places to buy food thus far is Abbas Ally's Hot Bread Shop. There is an excellent selection of fresh pastries, delicious bread, and one of my favorites - samosas! Glacier Bar is a unique outdoor sports bar with a dance floor and loud music. The wazungu hotspot on Friday nights has some pretty good food for fairly cheap. They offer a good "sizzler", which is reminds me kind of like sizzling fajitas that you eat right off of the pan. They also offer some entertainment!  We got the chance to see some Tanzanian acrobats doing some pretty crazy stunts. 

Crazy acrobats at Glacier Bar.

SAFARI

This past weekend Krista and I went on a 4 day, 3 night Safari to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This trip was AMAZING! We saw so many awesome animals and camped right in the heart of African wildlife.

Day 1 we left Moshi and picked up a few other people in Arusha. We ended up with 5 people in our group. We made friends with a nice couple from Finland, and a young French Canadian guy. We also had our guide and a wonderful cook with us (Frank and Bakari). We started our Safari in Lake Manyara, and ended up with a stroke of bad luck and two flat tires. However, it was a beautiful place with lots of fun wildlife.  We stayed overnight at Safe Haven campsite. There were tents already set up for us and beds instead of sleeping bags. It was a nice set up.

 

Hundreds of monkeys! And we spotted some elephants very close to our vehicle.

Tembo (elephant)

We had the chance to get out of the truck and walk into the field for a closer glimpse of the giraffes.

 

Our campsite at Haven Nature

The group sitting down for dinner. Simon on the left, Ida and Tuomas on the right.