Category: blog | climbing kilimanjaro 2016

Day 1:
So, I know I have to get caught up on yesterday, but as I want to capture today – our first day on Kili.
We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel. Everyone was in great spirits for our first day. For breakfast we had eggs and omelettes cooked to order, chapati, fruit, yogurt, potaotes and sausage.

We gathered our bags – leaving the items we didn’t need for Kili at the hotel – and waited for our guides. Our head guide is Julius and I was happy to another guide, Omari – who helped me and AJ summit in 2012.

We boarded the bus for our two-hour drive to the Machame gate, our starting point for Kili. When we got off the bus – we were handed a boxed lunch, we ate lunch, signed in and then waited for the team of 34 – yes 34 – to gather our gear, tents and food for the climb. The wait was a bit long – to kill time we took the typical pictures in front of the gate and watched the monkeys in the tree.

Soon we were on our way – the team full of energy. The trek today will be about 5 hours and we will climb 1200 meters. The journey will take us through a dense rain forest. The trail today was wet and muddy. It’s a beautiful walk – the forest is lush – it’s peaceful – and it was nice talking with the other hikers. About a 1/4 of the way into the hike we split into three groups based on how fast everyone was walking.

We eventually reached a ridge – where we walked for about an hour. The forest became less dense – and then suddenly we were out of the forest – and the path dusty, and the sky clear – we were out of the clouds! We walked for about 15 minutes – turned a corner and there she was – Mt. Kilimanjaro – rising majestically into the sky. Everyone was in awe of it’s beauty.

Two of the groups had met up for the last hour of the climb and when we got to camp we checked in at the first station. Our tents were set up and we had time to get settled before the tea and popcorn were ready – our post hike snack. As we were having snacks – Deb arrived. We were so happy to see her!

Soon dinner was ready – we started out with a leek soup, then an avocado salad, potatoes, spinach and fried fish. As we were eating dinner our last hiker arrived – Becky. (As an FYI – there is always a guide with the hikers). We were ecstatic to see her. Climbing Kili isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and everyone goes at the pace that’s comfortable to them. We talked a little – and then everyone went to bed. Everyone is in good spirits, a little tired though. 

Until day 2 . .
I’m having issues uploading pictures right now. 😕

After a long Tuesday, we decided to make Wednesday a more relaxing day for the team. At breakfast we broke the team into 2 groups – Deb, Becky, Lilly and Lacey went to the school with me – and Adam, Lynn, Cathy and Peter stayed at the house. Our morning would be spent assisting with daily tasks. At the house that meant cooking, cleaning, laundry, or whatever Auntie Grace needed help with – and at the school it meant cooking, doing dishes or helping students in class.

At school I took the opportunity to spend the time in the Shamba (garden) and Greenhouse. This past year I embarked on a fundraiser to support the Shamba and Greenhouse. I want to thank all the generous donors and I especially want to thank the Schreiber Family – Scott, Jennifer and Brooks and my family – my sisters Vicki and Melissa, and my Mom, Paula – for their incredibly generous donations to Flying Kites! The shamba and greenhouse are producing the most delicious and nutritious vegetables for these beautiful children. Asante Sana!

After lunch everyone had time to organize their gear and to relax as tonight we will have a send off and tomorrow is a very early day.

I spent the afternoon organizing my things, trying to catch up on this blog and baking a cake. One of the volunteers, Morgan, turned 21, and Edwin asked if I could bake a cake for her. Now I’m a trained pastry chef, but I will be honest, I was a little nervous making this cake – I would need to improvise using the ingredients at the house and I had to use an oven without temperature control, at least as I know it. I had to use the same oven I cooked the pizza in – the charcoal fired oven.

I decided to make a simply white cake – I creamed eggs and sugar; added oil, milk and vanilla; and lastly mixed in self-rising flour and baking powder. Then into the butter and floured cake pans – one pan was a traditional pan, the other an old cookie tin. And as I didn’t have icing, I improvised and made a jam glaze – red plum for one cake, strawberry for the other.

We all had dinner with the children in the children’s dining room. And at the end of dinner we presented Morgan with her cake. And then after dinner we had a big bonfire with S’Mores, a beautiful song written by Josh, and Taylor sang along. The two of the are quite talented. After singing and dancing around the fire, everyone (the Kili climbers) headed to bed. Peter and I, headed into the volunteer lounge and hung out a bit. Then it was off to bed. Tomorrow we head to Arusha! 

Next post – the journey to Arusha….

PS – my first mobile post.

On Tuesday’s agenda – to climb Elephant Hill (really a hill?) is a prep for Kili. Elephant Hill, which gets it’s name for it’s resemblance to an elephant’s head and because of the wild elephants in the park, stands at almost 11,800 feet above sea level. The 20+ mile climb (roundtrip) should only take about 3-4 hours up and another 2-3 hour down. Let’s put it this way – we have renamed Elephant Hill – Endless Mountain!

So we gathered at the house in the volunteer kitchen and discussed the hike and climb (aided by a google search of Elephant Hill), a few of the climbers decided to conserve their energy for the main trek – Kilimanjaro – and not attempt Elephant Hill. In retrospect, I think they may have been the smart ones!

Just after 8:30 am, 6 of the Kili Climbers, 4 volunteers and Edwin, climbed in the Land Rover and headed for the ranger station. The day ahead – overcast, misty and chilly – perfect prep for Kili. At the station, we paid our entrance fee and met our two guides – both packing AK-47’s for our protection against the elephants.

The first part of the climb is up a dirt road to the entrance – which reminded me of something out of Jurassic Park – a tall looming electrified fence. And as we approached the entrance, we heard voices off in the distance – Amos had taken the other Kili climbers on a short hike up to the entrance of Elephant Hill. We greeted our fellow climbers as we rested a bit, then continue our trek up Elephant Mountain.

The Electric Fence – straight out of Jurassic Park!

A chance meeting with Amos and the other Kili Climbers.

As we continued our hike – one guide walked towards the front of the group and the other towards the back. As we enter the gate, the early part of the trek is a lush, dense forest – this is known as the forest zone. Spirits were high and we even had time for a group selfie!

The Lower Forest Zone

Group Selfie

Soon after we enter the protected area, we see why we have guides with such powerful weapons – we came across deep elephant tracks. And you can see exactly how deep these are as Lacey stepped into one foot print – and to give you an idea of how deep they are, she stands 5’6” when you look at the picture. Now as an experienced Elephant tracker, I could tell by the new leaves on the footprint that this footprint was at least 3-days old. I confirmed my suspicion after smelling some elephant dung – fresh dung has a sweet, almost floral smell to it – and as dung ages – it becomes nuttier in its scent.

Elephant Tracks

Lacey Standing in an Elephant Footprint.

As we rose in elevation, the ecosystem began to change and soon we entered the bamboo zone. The paths are narrow and covered with a canopy of towering bamboo. It is almost surreal to enter this enchanted forest.

The Bamboo Zone.

Robbie and Peter – pushing through the Bamboo Zone.

From the Bamboo Zone you enter the Alpine Zone with it’s incredible flora.

Alpine Flora

We soon reached the infamous Despair Point, where we stopped for lunch. At this point, you have climbed a bit, but off in the distance, you can see how far you still have to climb. It seems Endless. The climb from this point on becomes a little more treacherous – in fact I think it is more difficult than climbing Kili. The path is rocky, steep and with the misty weather – it has become very slick.

Edwin and Taylor at Despair Point

Soon after we continue our ascent – the group breaks into two – a faster group (the young volunteers – Taylor, Josh and Kate) and then the remaining group. I am sure we would have naturally broken into three groups, but as there were only two guides, we had to stay in two groups.

As the day wore on, we all become a little tired, definitely wet, and chilled. We continued our trek through the Alpine Zone.

Trees in the Alpine Zone.

I don’t know if it was a blessing or not, but the continual fog, made it difficult for us to see our destination. However, every once in awhile, the fog cleared and we could see the destination. However, it did not seem like it was getting closer. And each time we successfully ascended a hill, and we reached a plateau, we were convicted we had reached the top. Only to realize as the fog cleared, that the summit was still off in the distance. Hence our new name for the peak – Endless Mountain.

Our group reached one of the lower peaks and as we rested a bit, we heard voices off in the distance. No we were not hallucinating, but the lead group had reached the summit. It was incredible to see their silhouettes standing on the peak. It is hard to see in this picture but those are not all trees on the summit, they are of the younger volunteers.

Elephant Hill Summit

The beautiful view from the lower peak.

At this point our group decided that due to the late hour, and to conserve our energy for Kili, we were going to head back home. I am sure if the weather were better, we probably would have continued to the upper peak and head of Elephant Hill.

Lacey and Cathy on the Lower Peak, and Robbie sharing his thoughts of this climb.

We made the long descent down to our awaiting Land Rover. It was such a welcome sight. We waited for the trailing group to arrive, and then headed home, it was now past 6 pm.

The Eerie Forest on our descent.

When we got home, we quickly changed into dry clothes, ate dinner, sat in front of the fire to warm our tired and chilled bodies, and then we went to bed early.

Tomorrow, we will all take it easy….

NOTE: I am trying to catch up on the blog, and it is late in Arusha (11:30 pm), so my apologies for spelling and grammar errors. Have a good night….

I’m sorry I have not been able to blog much, we have been so busy and by the time I get to my computer, I start falling asleep. It’s Wednesday night and I know I have all of Tuesday and Wednesday to blog. We have a long drive to Arusha tomorrow and I hope to blog along the way.

So just as we were about to serve lunch, the remaining Kili climbers arrived. I was very excited to meet the remaining climbers, especially my roommate and tent mate, Peter. So here is our group . . .

So there is me (Steve Anderson) a restaurant consulant from Nashville, TN – and Peter Kinsman a businessman from Australia.

And there are two childhood friends – Lacey Burns who works for the Rwandan Cycle Team and lives in Rwanda, and Lilly Mead, who is from Boston and works at the Children’s Hospital.

Next up we have Deb Azorsky from Colorado, who is celebrating her 60th Birthday and Becky DeGrossa, Deb’s wife.

Next up we have Lynn Heilig, who is also celebrating her 60th Birthday and her son Adam, who will be celebrating his 20th birthday on our climb. Both from Colorado as well.

And last but not least – we have Cathy Hott, from Virginia and who is also climbing Kili for the second.

Until the ride to Arusha . . .

Happy Wednesday!

After a very long flight, I arrived in Zürich, Switzerland. What made it long? Unfortunately there was a baby crying the entire flight! It’s not they way you want an overnight flight to go. I felt so bad for the baby, and the mother was beside herself. I can’t imaging what was bothering that baby, but something was going on. I don’t think anyone slept on that flight. So needless to say, I will probably sleep on this next flight – another 7+ hour flight.

So an update on my flight from Zürich to Nairobi: Ironically, the plane I flew in from NYC was the same plane I am taking to Nairobi, with the same exact seat! But I did change seats, so two girls that were traveling together could also sit together. And selfishly, I switched because here seat had no one next to it. It made for a more enjoyable flight and I think I actually slept a little.

Flying to Nairobi is always fascinating – people come here for so many reasons – from holiday to mission work to business to visiting friends and family. On this trip I met Brooke, the girl in the aisle next to me, who came in from Boston where she is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. She works with challenged and disabled children in Boston, using music as therapy and she is also working on a similar program for both Nairobi and Uganda. The program sounds amazing and the healing it is doing unbelievable. So with all that is happening in this world – from our insane election to the numerous acts of terrorism – it’s hearing about work like this that gives you hope that humanity and goodness are not lost. With that, I will say goodnight….

After packing, repacking and repacking again as my two bags were stuffed to the max and were close to the 50 pound limit, I’m finally off on my adventure! This morning I’m headed to New York City to spend the night with my sister and brother-in-law, and then tomorrow night I’m off to Nairobi. See you in a month Nashville!

It is less than 3-weeks before I head back to Kenya and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. The first time I went, I had a check list and began staging everything I needed 30-days before I left! How times have changed, as of today, I have yet to stage anything! With that said, I think I should begin prepping for the trip and climb this weekend.

On my first trip to Africa, I used one of our bedrooms as a staging area.

July 11: Meet trip leader in lobby of Sarova Stanley Hotel at 11 am for a brief orientation, followed by transfer to the Flying Kites School in Njabini, Kenya. Most participants choose to also stay in the Town Lodge hotel the night before, and your trip leader can make a reservation for you.

July 12: Today you’ll have the opportunity to see what it is we do at Flying Kites; meet the kids and team in Kenya and explore our community.

July 13: Flying Kites: After a gentle hike in the Aberdares National Park, you’ll have the afternoon to spend time with the kids. Take your time to get to know these remarkable children and see the impact your fundraising has had on their lives.

July 14: Depart Flying Kites: This morning we’ll depart for Arusha, TZ. This trip is often times a mini safari in itself, keep a look out for zebra, gazelle and giraffe! Once we arrive at our hotel in Arusha, we’ll have a brief meeting with our guides and have plenty of time to relax and unwind in the swimming pool.

July 15: Kilimanjaro: Machame Hut (3,000 m) 6-8 hours walking. The climb starts from Machame gate (1800m) after a short walk through the colorful banana and coffee farms of Machame village. The path follows a ridge through dense montane forest. This is a rich, forested area on the mountain and where 98% of the water on Kilimanjaro originates. We may get our first closer look at the glaciated dome of Kibo if the evening clouds permit (6-7 hours walking throughout the day).

July 16: Shira Hut (3,840m);. A shorter day that begins by climbing up a steep ridge to reach a small semicircular cliff known as Picnic Rock. There are excellent views of Kibo and the jagged rim of Shira Plateau from here, and it is a good rest point too! The trail continues less steeply to reach the Shira Plateau. We camp near Shira Hut (3,840m.) which has some of the most stunning views on Kilimanjaro; close to the huge volcanic cone of Kibo, the spectacular rock formations of Shira Plateau, and looking across to Mt. Meru floating on the clouds (4-6 hours walking throughout the day).

Juy 17: Great Barranco valley (3,900 m.) A morning of gentle ascent and panoramic views, leaving the moorland plateau behind to walk on lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach. After lunch near the Lava Tower junction (4,550 m.) we descend to the bottom of the Great Barranco valley (3,900 m.), sheltered by towering cliffs and with extensive views of the plains far below (5-7 hours walking throughout the day).

July 18: Karanga camp (4,000 m) A steep climb up the Barranco Wall leads us to an undulating trail on the southeastern flank of Kibo, with superb views of the Southern Icefields. From here the trail gradually ascends and descends until we reach Karanga camp. Here there is plenty of time to rest, or take a short acclimatization walk above the camp (4-5 hours walking throughout the day).

July 19: Barafu campsite (4,600 m.) A short but steep climb out of Karanga up to the Barafu Campsite. The remainder of the day is spent resting and preparing for our midnight summit attempt (3-4 hours walking throughout the day).

July 20: Summit day: Mweka forest camp (3100 m) We will start our ascent by headlamp at about 12 a.m. so that we can be up on the Crater rim by sunrise. The climb over volcanic scree has some well-graded zig zags and a slow but steady pace will take us to Stella Point (5,735 m) in about five or six hours. We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the sunrise over Mawenzi. From here we’ll continue along the crater rim to Uhuru Peak (5,896 m), passing close to the spectacular glaciers and ice cliffs that still occupy most of the summit area. The descent to Barafu is surprisingly fast, and after some refreshment, we continue to descend to reach our final Mweka forest camp (12 hours walking throughout the day)

July 21: Mweka forest camp to Mweka Gate (1,650 m); A sustained descent through lovely forest with lush undergrowth takes us to Mweka National Park gate. From here will be transferred to our hotel in Arusha where we’ll spend the afternoon resting poolside! (3-4 hours walking throughout the day)

July 22: Arusha to Nairobi. Today we’ll depart Arusha and head back to Nairobi. This afternoon is spent exploring Nairobi and relaxing after a great climb.

July 23: Depart Nairobi for home, proud at having successfully topped out on one the world’s seven summits! Time to start planning your next adventure….

Kilimanjaro is calling again!

I am excited to announce that this summer, I will lead the Kilimanjaro Experience for Flying Kites. So if you are up for an adventure, join me from July 11 to 23, 2016 as I climb the world’s tallest freestanding mountain for the SECOND time. And if you are not able to join us on this incredible trip, you can follow our experiences and adventures each day on this blog! For more information and to sign up for this amazing trek: Flying Kites Kilimanjaro Experience