First Thoughts
I had an absolutely incredible experience trekking up Mt. Kilimanjaro! The journey to climb the highest point in Africa began early last fall when I learned that the ministry I’m working with, Engineering Ministries International, was creating a team to climb the mountain as a fundraiser toward an office building project. Since I love experiencing the majesty and wildness of God’s creation first hand, I was immediately drawn to the possibility of joining the team. Soon after joining the team, Jesus started to teach me about trusting Him, and joining Him on His mountain…I found that the greatest adventure came through prayer as Jesus illustrated His will for my life during the preparation for the climb! I can see the way He brought me to a huge turning point in my life!
Leaving the office
Arriving at Kilimanjaro Int’l Airport, Tanzania
Our team of 14 climbers arrived in Arusha, Tanzania a couple days before the climb officially began to gather ourselves and check gear. We had 7 climbers from the eMi East Africa office, 2 from the Colorado Springs office, and 5 others with varying affiliations to eMi. It was great to have time to meet each other and relax after running around crazy getting work done before the climb! We also had time to talk about what we felt God was doing in our lives related to the climb, and established that our first goal was bringing God glory in everything we did. We left the hotel on January 21 to begin an 8-day trek, on the Lemosho route, up Mt. Kilimanjaro (“Kili”)!
The view from our hotel. Mt. Meru is on the left and Kilimanjaro is on the horizon in the center
Day 1
We spent 3 hours riding in Toyota Land Cruisers (the “Workhorse of Africa”) through the country side and up the lower slopes of Kili until the roads were too rough to continue. At that point we got out and started to hike…”Pole, Pole (Slowly, Slowly),” which proved to be laughingly slow! We hiked through the Cultivation Zone, or farmland, and entered the Rainforest. When we stopped for our first break, we asked if we could pick up the pace, our guide said sure – little did we know that we were about to climb one of the steepest hills of the hike! We camped that first night in the rainforest and started to acquaint ourselves with the routine we would have for the rest of the hike…
Disclaimer: the details I’m about to share will make our trek sound rather plush… which it was, but I’ll also say that without the help of our guides and porters few of us would have finished the climb. Each morning we were awakened at 6:30am by our “waiter” who brought tea and coffee. Then at 7:00 we were given hot water for “washing” – I don’t know how much it really helped, but it felt nice! At 7:30 we had a breakfast of toast, porridge, and fruit. Then we hit the trail by 8:30ish. We always hiked for the morning, but around 12:00 we would round the corner and see a table with chairs set up and food waiting for us! When we arrived at camp sometime in the afternoon, we were given water for washing again, followed a few minutes later by tea and snack. For dinner each evening we started with soup, and had a carb rich main course. After dinner we would hang out in the dining tent where we would share about the day, have devotions, and more hot drinks. Also, for the first five evenings, I worked diligently on a pair of sheepskin mittens for the summit.
Photo by David R. Hoskinson
Day Two
We hiked through the Rainforest, and passed into the Heath Zone, which was covered with heather and other tall shrubs; then we passed in the Moorland Zone which often had similar vegetation to the Heath, just smaller – though there were some plants in the Moorland that are unique to Kilimanjaro! As I looked through the thousands of photos people took, I realized we all had a lot of energy still because we took a ton of pictures this day! We had a lot of uphill, but we’re still on the lower slopes of the mountain. The most spectacular sight came as we rounded a corner and saw the summit in full view! Camp that night was down at the beginning of a large plateau with an incredible view of the mountain! The sun was out when we arrived at camp, and many of us did laundry, but the sun went down sooner than we expected and most of our clothes froze that night!
Lunch Table. Photo by David R. Hoskinson 
Sewing Mittens
Group Devotions
Day Three
I think that Day Three was one of my favorites, at least as far as the hike. We spent most of the morning hiking across the Shira Plateau straight toward the mountain. The hike itself was easy allowing for a lot of great conversation, and there’s something about that kind of scenery that I really love! About an hour into the hike we crossed a stream with a bit of a pool, so I jumped in! I think outside of summiting that was my only other “physical” goal on the climb – to swim in a mountain stream! Late morning we started hiking up the mountain which was just really beautiful…I might say that a lot in this post. When we were still about an hour from camp, we could already see it up the valley as we walked along the side of some really unique cliffs. That camp was really cool, and probably my favorite – it was at 13,500ft and reminded me of mountaineering camps in National Geographic! I remember having some really good conversations and enjoying the scenery. That was also the first time we really felt we were at the base of the mountain.
Arriving at camp. Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Sewing Mittens
Day Four
We spent the morning hiking to 15,000ft! That was the highest all but one of us had ever been. We left the Moorland Zone pretty early, and entered the Alpine Desert Zone (think sparse with jagged rocks strewn across gravel). We had lunch at a landmark called Lava Tower, which rises about 150 feet vertically from where we ate. We stayed there for about 1 ½ hours to acclimatize and to see how we reacted to the altitude…I had a bit of a headache that stuck with me until the last day. Then we descended through the Alpine Desert and into an area of the Moorland Zone which we describe as “Mario Land!” It had a lot of low vegetation with tall strange trees that are unique to Kilimanjaro. We camped that night around 13,000ft at the base of the imposing Barranco Wall.
Lava Tower
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Still sewing mitts! Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Day Five
We climbed up Barranco Wall! As a whole, it was a pretty easy climb, partly because we had to stop many times to let groups of porters pass (we gained a whole new appreciation for our porters that day!), but also, it was mainly hiking with a few places we had the scramble. At the top of the wall we stopped for a few minutes with a great view of the savannah on one side, and of the mountain on the other… we got some great group pictures using the mountain as the backdrop! We hiked down then up…then way down, and way up! I think that was the steepest trail we hiked! We camped that night at Karanga Camp (13,200ft), and if I remember right, we were in the clouds for most of the afternoon, but then had a great view of the mountain….we just had a ton of great views!
Here’s a little more on the mittens: I bought a sheepskin when I was on my project trip in Kenya last year with the intent of sewing warm mittens for the climb. Well, I put it off for too long, so I only had pieces cut out at the beginning of the climb. As I mentioned before, I worked every night on those mitts, and finally completed them at Karanga Camp!
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Day Six
This day we had our shortest hike – to the last camp before summiting! I think we all felt like we were marching to the front lines! Barafu Camp is at 15,300ft and sits on a pretty exposed ridge – to give some perspective, the highest point in the continental U.S. is Mt. Whitney at 14,500ft! One of my clearest memories from that camp is looking out, as we talked, and realizing the clouds were several thousand feet below us! After lunch we were told to sleep as much as we could before dinner, come to dinner, and then to sleep some more, because we would wake up at 10pm and start hiking to the summit at 11pm! I slept for about an hour before leaving the tent to have a quiet time. I was actually able to call my parents and talk with them for about 10 minutes. In hindsight I think that conversation, and the prayers that were prayed during that call, were key in helping me summit. Unsure of when the connection would be lost, we prayed together, in which my dad prayed Proverbs 3:5-6 over me. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.” Immediately after praying this verse, the connection was lost. This is one of my life-verses, that somehow I forgot momentarily – when I was reminded of it, I knew that everything would be alright, that I could trust my Father, and that He would direct my path that night!
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Day 6½-7 – Summit Day!
We woke up at 10pm and ate “breakfast” in enthusiastic anticipation – we all said millet porridge never tasted as good as it did then! We then did our best to choose the right layers to wear for the beginning of the climb, so we wouldn’t get cold, but also wouldn’t sweat. Then we packed our daypacks with only the necessary water, snacks, and additional layers we thought we would need. And off we went – the “Final Accent” was underway! It’s hard to describe the excitement we all had as we started out, mixed with a little anxiety, but both were regulated with “Pole, pole.” We were told when we left to not focus on the trail ahead…to mainly keep our gaze down and just focus on hiking. After the first ½ mile, the trail was almost entirely switchbacks, which meant a lot of back and forth. We knew that the hike would be 6-7 hours to the summit, and that it would become steadily more difficult, so we did our best to listen to all the advice our guides gave us. I did pretty well until we reached about 17,000ft, then I started to have a hard time getting enough oxygen and was becoming really light-headed. I was able to give my pack to one of the “summit porters” who accompanied us for that very reason, which helped a lot! Even then, the next 2,000ft became one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and was probably the worst I’ve ever felt. All I remember is trying to plod along, feeling like I might pass out with only a seconds notice. But throughout the hike I listened to worship music, and there were several Bible verses, including Proverbs 3:6-7, that I repeated over and over…in that sense it was actually a really cool and intimate time trusting and relying on the Lord! The whole team was also really intentional about encouraging one another! When we finally reached the rim of the crater, a wave of emotions overwhelmed me as I saw the culmination of things the Lord was working in me, overcame one of the most difficult things I have ever attempted, and heard the Lord minister to me through the song that was playing. I just sat down and started crying!
Sunrise at summit
At Stella Point with Jeff. Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
That point is called Stella Point, which is about 500 vertical feet from the summit, but was still a 45 minute hike. I was really glad that someone just picked me up and never asked if I thought I could make it. Off we went; still all 14 of us! That 45 minutes just as hard as the last 2,000ft, but was so rewarding! And that being said, when we reached Uhuru Peak (19,341ft!), I started crying all over again – and it really started flow when, Jeff, my supervisor at eMi, came over and gave me a hug. Surrounded by the rugged beauty of bare rock and majestic glaciers, and the stillness of the morning hours, my heart rejoiced being up there! … though my body was frozen, hurting, and oxygen deprived! As we walked back down to Stella Point, we watched as the sun rose over the African plain – it was absolutely beautiful! After taking more pictures at Stella Point, and soaking the experience in, we started the hike down. It was only then that I realized how far we hiked during the night. We could see the camp far below, and hiking/sliding down the screed (loose gravel), which was frozen solid during the ascent, still took nearly 3hrs!
After we finally reached the camp, we had about two hours to rest, eat, and pack. Then we continued hiking down to about 10,000ft – that’s a total of 4,000ft up and 9,000ft down in one day! All in all it took about 13hrs of hiking! But it was great to get to that last camp around noon and to just relax…for hours!
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Day Eight
We woke up to the same breakfast, but as we exited the breakfast tent, all the guides and porters were lined up to sing! They sang several traditional Swahili songs and songs of congratulations…including a bit of a dance-off. Then they came and pulled all of us in to dance with them! It was so much fun to let loose and dance – even though we were exhausted! The hike down through the Rainforest was really relaxed – all of us really satisfied with the accomplishment behind us!
Last 100 meters! Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Photo by David R. Hoskinson.
Final Thoughts
I’ve had nearly a month to reflect on the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro. In fact, tomorrow is one month to the day that we began the climb! While I am still awestruck by the beauty on the mountain and the joy of the adventure, two things rise far higher in my heart. The first is that we became part of one another’s lives for over a week, eating together, sharing tents, encouraging one another as we hiked, and building up one another in our love for Jesus – that was incredible! The most significant however, was the way Jesus invited me from the very beginning to come up on “the mountain” with Him, and to give Him control in our relationship – to trust Him with my joys and fears, and to let Him take me on His adventures – where He both weeps and finds joy!
paulinuganda 