Over the course of summit night, the team reached Uhuru Peak in a number of different groups. It was challenging, cold and tiring, but there were a lot of smiles at the top as students hugged and celebrated reaching the highest point in Africa.
After the summit, everyone made their way down to Millennium Camp. By the afternoon, we were all back together again, tired but happy, and took the chance to get a full team photo before getting some rest.
This morning started with a well-earned breakfast before the final descent through the rainforest to Mweka Gate. The green forest feels very different from the rocky landscapes higher up the mountain, and reaching the gate is a real sense of achievement.
At Mweka, the students collect their summit certificates before driving back to camp in Moshi. After days on the mountain, there is one thing everyone was looking forward to: a shower.
Tomorrow, the team heads to Twiga, where the Baraza Groups will share presentations on their project work that they completed on the mountain. Then it’s on to the safari and a final celebration dinner on Thursday. As the expedition moves into its final stages, we will share any updates we can before the students begin their journeys home.
For now, the team are enjoying being off the mountain, back together, and reflecting on their remarkable achievement.
Here are Helena’s thoughts:
Sitting back at camp in Moshi, with damp hair and fresh clothes, I can say: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro has changed the way I will approach my life. Not only were we granted incredible views of rainforests, deserts and glaciers that reminded me of the truly amazing nature we get to share a planet with, hearing about the snow melting on top of Kilimanjaro also showed how easily nature can be destroyed by man-made climate change. Living in a moving village, something that was made possible by over 120 guides and porters, made many different questions cross my mind. “Could I live like a nomad?”, “What does it mean to be part of something bigger than myself?” and “In what way will humans always be dependent on others?” are just a few of them.
At the same time, I was confronted with my privilege, starting with the place I live in to the ways I get to pursue opportunities that will never be presented to others, simply because they do not share my background. During one of the hikes, David, a guide asked me: “do you think life is fair?” I answered “no, it most definitely is not”. Knowing, that this answer would not influence my life the way it would influence his, made it a hard question to answer.
Both perseverance and resilience were the core values that shaped climbing Kilimanjaro for me. We all started with one goal in mind: standing on the summit by Monday the 17th of August. On our way up, we were hit by loss of appetite, sunburns, nausea, headaches, twisted ankles, sleepless nights and the cold, making it easy to forget our goal. I often heard people emphasise the importance of “pushing through”, very abstract words, that only became tangible for me during summit night, when giving up did not seem to be an option.
Walking up about 1,300 meteres at midnight, sleep-deprived and freezing at minus 15 degrees was one of the biggest challenges many of us had taken on. And yet, the community kept encouraging, rubbing backs and sharing snacks until we had made it up the summit: Round Square spirit at its finest.
I will be flying home with lots of dirty clothes, a dozen book recommendations, lots of inspiring conversations on my mind and many new friendships. Most importantly, I will take home appreciation for the “little things” in life, that do not seem so little after all.
