Day 1: Preparations and Mandara Camp

Before I venture into the tale that was our ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I wanted to post a ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture of the mountain. So, here’s a picture of the mountain as viewed from our hotel on the morning we began our climb.

And here’s a picture of the mountain (taken from the same location) on the afternoon that we completed our climb.

For anyone who doubts the fact that there was a blizzard, you can see for yourself. Even this drama queen can’t make this stuff up.

Okay, on with the story.

After breakfast on Saturday morning we hauled all of our gear down to the courtyard of the hotel where our crew was busy organizing the gear, food and equipment for our climb. As a group of 14, we had a crew of 28 men including 19 porters, 2 cooks, 6 guides and 1 chief guide. The Marangu Hotel has the preparation piece down to a science and our role was to basically just stay out of the way!

Crew members gathering in the courtyard to receive their roles and to prepare for our climb

Kitchen items including gas stoves, water containers, and metal food bins

Each porter carries up a single duffle weighing no more than 15kg or ~30lbs. The porters were packing our duffles with extra items until they weighed exactly 15kg

Weighing the bags

If you’ve ever wondered how one carries fresh eggs up the mountain, look no further! Here’s a coffee can filled with wood shavings and fresh eggs. Genius.

Once the gear was ready and each crew member was assigned his role, there was a line-up and you can see one guy checking everything and everyone off of his list

My porter is the 18 year old wearing the red t-shirt. His name was, Anized and he carried my gear up and down the mountain for me

Then, it was time to pile into the pick-up trucks and to head to the national park entrance

After registering with the national park and all of our gear being re-weighed to ensure no bag was over 15kg (they’re serious about this weight limit), we posed for a group shot before beginning our 5-day climb

Here’s the signboard outlining our route. Take note of the elevation gain each day and especially of the different ecosystems

The hike starts in a rainforest at the base of the mountain and by the time you reach the summit you are on an ice cap! Rainforest...

We made it to Mandara Camp after about 4 hours and all 14 of us were in the same hut

Bunks

Toilets…I know that not everyone is interested in seeing a toilet, but these were a special treat; I mean, how much does a seat really cost that it’s better to have a hole with two places to put your feet?

After a hearty dinner we were fast asleep and dreaming of Day 2.