It’s a wonderful starry night. The number of stars is unlike anything I’ve seen at home. Head torches of hikers and guides illuminate a zigzag trail. Almost nobody is talking, only breathing. The only noise you can hear are the deeps breaths every hiker takes – almost forming a rhythm in the silence – and the shouting of the guides in Swahili, communicating with each other – probably how fast to hike or when to take breaks. The scene seems almost absurd, also considering it is about 2am in the morning – that’s exactly what we experienced this morning, our seventh day – the Summit Day – of our Mount Kilimanjaro expedition.
We were woken up at 11pm after having slept or at least rested for a couple of hours and had snacks and hot drinks before Gavin, the Head Guide, shouted at around midnight: let’s set off. Off to the destination of our trip – the roof of Africa.
We wore every layer we had brought with us and packed bottles of warm water into our day bags, wrapped in socks to stop them freezing in the temperatures that can drop to -10°C near the summit. Starting the trail, most of us were sweating in all our thick layers, but after a couple hours it got colder and colder.
We passed Camp Kosovo, the camp closest to the summit and then found ourselves in the scene described at the beginning: all walking behind each other, putting one foot in front of the other, slowly trying to get into a rhythm of breathing and stepping. Unfortunately, due to the frequent stops this was almost impossible. Six and a half hours of hiking until the sun rose was quite challenging because speaking was impossible. The higher we got, the more pressing the cold and the wind got. Only the starry night with its few shooting stars and the hot tea breaks gave us any sort of distraction.
The symptoms of altitude sickness and exhaustion made the hike extremely difficult but we all helped and motivated each other – everyone made it to the summit of 5895m! Personally, I thought about the people I am grateful for and that I do not show them enough how much they mean to me. I imagined them being with me at the summit and remembered a study: a person who is experiencing something negative with someone they love feels less miserable compared to those going through a difficult situation on their own. I tried to live in the moment and to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience of reaching the summit.
We all kept going and at around 6.30am the sun’s rays appeared on the horizon, dipping the sky into an orange, red and pink mix, and illuminating the clouds underneath. The sunrise reached from one side of the mountain to the other, showing the snowy remains of the giant glacier that used to be there. After that, we reached Stella point and we knew we were going to make it to the highest point – Uhuru peak – another 45 minutes away around the creator of the still active volcano.
When we arrived at the sign, everyone hugged each other, some cheered, others had their eyes filled with tears (whether joyful, exhausted or tears of relief was not always quite clear). It was evident that this mountain had changed us all, on the one hand in a personal way, on the other hand as a group. What a day!
The return to camp was very individual, some descended fast, others took their time. At camp, we were greeted with a juice of mango and had lunch before heading to our last camp of the expedition.
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro introduced me to people and experiences I would never have encountered otherwise. I learned from a storyteller, (I never heard that was a job before) an elephant expert and our guide Gavin, who shared his knowledge of the mountain and its geography.
More importantly, the expedition encouraged me to reflect on my own life. It challenged me physically and mentally, helped me disconnect from my phone and reconnect with nature, and reminded me of the importance of the people I care about. Those lessons may stay with me longer than the achievement of reaching the summit itself.
by Antonia
