Issue 2: Freedom Peak

The bus journey from Nairobi was not too exciting. I tried to plan everything to perfection, but new situations caught me! Normally, when I need to take a bus or train, I would try to determine the direction I am travelling. This is very important for choosing the seat at port or starboard side of the mode of transport. During the 7-8 hours bus journey, my knees would press hard against the seats in front of me when the driver depressed the brake pedal. Thankfully, it is not painful. I would rate the level of pain at 1 on my “Ouch-Meter”. It is not painful, but the discomfort was sufficient to keep most people awake.

Choon Wee and me reached Moshi at about 4pm. We went to explore the town. Generally, I felt Moshi is a much safer place compared to Nairobi. The town is laid back. I like the setting of this little town, there are a lot of sunflower plantations in the highland. Weather was not too humid and cooling during August. Probably one of the better season for climb Mount Kilimanjaro aka Roof of Africa at 5895m ASL. We waited for another Singaporean travel mate, Karen, who arrived on 9 Aug 05 at night.

I was pretty concern about Karen for this mountain track. Though Kilimanjaro is not a tough peak, the altitude posed a challenge for most climbers. Doing the mountain in six days is not an easy task, especially when we were trying to tackle the Western Breach. This route was listed to be technical a few years ago. I have reserve thoughts for route from day two to day three. We were expected to sleep at 3800m ASL on day two and 4600m ASL on day three. There is no opportunity for proper acclimatisation for Karen. There is a medicine commonly known as “Diamox”, the pills are normally taken for people who experience altitude sickness. I would never encourage taking medication for climbing. For climbing is purely for fun, never for pain.

The climb started on 10 Aug 05, as planned. We were supported with 2 guides, 6 porters and “1 phantom cook”. Day one was relatively simple. We trekked from the cultivation, through the wet tropical region from Machame Gate (1800m ASL) to Machame Camp (3000m ASL) in six hours. After Mother Nature switched off the light, the sky cleared gradually. I witnessed some of the best starry sky. How I wish RuiMin can be around to navigate me across the countless the star constellations.

However, Machame route (my guide, Prosper, prefers to call it the whisky route) is not for some ladies. There is no proper toilet, and we slept in tents throughout the climb. There is another Marangu route, which is also called the “Coca Cola” route. This is a better route for trekkers prefer a more proper shelter at night.

Day Two, we entered the Moor lands region (third climate for Kilimanjaro). My guide, Prosper, started chanting “pole pole” (pronounce as “po-le” or “pole leh”) and “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta”. “Pole Pole” means “slowly slowly”. If U can remember from the movie “Lion King”, there was a song called “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta”. In Swahili language, “Ma-ta-ta” means “trouble or worries”, “A-ku-na Ma-ta-ta” literally means “NO WORRIES!” I like that!

Contingency planning started at Shira camp instead of Lava Tower. At 3800m ASL, Karen experience mild headache. Advices from Francis and Cooper’s map became an important asset. I knew the option of skipping Lava Tower and proceed toward Barranco and Barafu Camp direction. However, this opposed the plan of seeing and touching the glacier at Crater Camp. The glaciers at Kilimanjaro are receding. According to the IMAX movie produced years ago, it was said all glaciers would be gone by year 2020. Missing the glacier would be a great pity. It was actually the beautiful glaciers instead of the summit that drew me to Tanzania. Summiting Uhuru peak is an extra bonus from Mother Nature.

Thanks to Tan SiYan. There are more information on Kilimanjaro! For those interested read
http://www.ewpnet.com/kisummap.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilimanjaro

Karen was very determined to see the glacier! I believe her passion for the big ice cubes was much stronger than mine. As she had similar number of high altitude experience, I left the decision for taking Diamox to her. We proceeded from Shira camp to Lava Tower at 4600m the next day.

Day four is a relatively short walk. It took us about three hours for a DIY transfer from Lava Tower to Arrow Glacier at 4980m ASL. The campsite was nearly bare with rocks. We were into the fourth climate, the “High Desert”. As the gain of altitude for day four was not too abrupt, Choon Wee, Karen and me proceeded with a short acclimatisation walk as we have a lot of daylight hours.

14 Aug 05 was the day that we tackled the “technical part” of the track, there is nothing too technical for the usage of ropes. However the initial route of the Western Breach can be pretty dangerous, everyone who attempted this route needs to clear the initial 300m before sunlight hit the glacier. My team started climbing at 5am. We were not fast, but relatively steady. I love this route very much. The rocks are big and easy enough to hold. I felt myself doing a little rock climb along the way. The sensation of dancing on rocks was fun. I was also happy to photograph this route. However, Prosper thinks it is not too safe to hang the camera around my neck. I hate it when he wanted to take away my trekking pole, thinking I should use my hands to climb instead of legs to balance. If weapon is important to a soldier, I believe I did the right thing for not handing over my trekking stick.

Nine hours was not a bad timing for the climb, we rest at Crater Camp by 2pm. Cloud was covering the camp site. We were blessed with good fortune just prior to dinner time. I believe Karen would crawl out of the tent if needed, just to touch the glacier.

Summit walk was relatively easy from Crater Camp which is 5700m ASL. Ascending 185m took us 90 minutes. We spent about 30minutes at the summit, I am pretty glad we are one of the first few team to reached the summit as the team has lot of time to pose for summit shots. Descending from the Freedom Peak or Uhuru Peak was fun! I enjoy the sensation of breathing denser air freely.

Tips were given at USD7 per day for guides and cook, and USD5 per day for the porters. The guides received additional USD40 camping at Crater, while porters who sleep at Crater earn an extra bonus of USD20. Total tipping was of a hefty USD500.

Tanzania is a good destination for revisit too… I would love to see Africa third highest peak Mount Mawensi at 5149m ASL closely. If Tanzania named herself the “Land of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar”, I would be an incomplete traveller for I have yet to visit the beautiful island that was once war torn. For more info, check out http://www.allaboutzanzibar.com/ . Diving at this island would be fun!

Never Stop Exploring!

Kia-Ora!

Chee Meng