This was a 7-day climb up Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania by the Machame route. It was organised by Altezza travel
We landed at Kilimanjaro international airport which is about halfway between the towns of Arusha and Moshi in northern Tanzania.
I was surprised when we went out of the airport because, being only 3 degrees south of the equator, I expected it to be hot but actually it was just a pleasant temperature. This was due to the fact that you are at 900m altitude.
We were met at the airport by the Altezza minibus which transported us to the Aishi Machame Hotel which is situated on a turn off north before Moshi on the road to Machami gate. The hotel is owned by the company and everyone there is either preparing for the trek or else just come back from the trek.
Looking at the map is deceptive because, although the airport looks close to Kilimanjaro (just inside the Tanzania-Kenya border), the country is vast and it took over an hour to reach the hotel.
The map shows also how big the Kilimanjaro massif is. It is 60 km across and so huge that it creates its own weather system.
The hotel is a peaceful oasis in the forest where you spend the first day relaxing and doing equipment check and attending a briefing lecture on the trek ahead.
On the next day our group of 10 composed of Americans, Europeans, and Australians were transported further up the road to the Machame gate at the start of the trek.
The trek starts through rain forest – this hanging moss is sometimes called ‘old man’s beard’.
Our group was 10 clients with 40 porters (a ratio of 4 to 1!). This number of porters is necessary because they have to carry food, water, cooking gear, paraffin cooking fuel, tents, tables and chairs for the eating tent, our sleeping gear plus our spare kit, medical kit, even an oxygen cylinder. They had a weighing scale to measure that the weight carried did not exceed 20kg.
There was one girl on our party who even had two porters just for herself to carry her personal toilet and personal shower!.
Unfortunately one person suffered vertigo on the first day and did not even make the first camp. His wife then also abandoned on the next day (with nose bleeds) – so we were early on down to eight.
The standard of food was outstanding considering we were up a big mountain.
Every morning we had to pack up our personal kit bags and put them out for the porters.
Camping is only permitted at the designated spots. There are always many other groups on the mountain and it can get crowded!
Every day the porters would do a tea stop for us.
With Emanuel, our head guide.
These giant cactus plants are on the approach to Barranco
The neighbouring peak ‘Meru’ can be seen poking above the clouds when you get higher up.
A ‘Dust Devil’ whirlwind trashed the mess tent at the Barafu campsite
Looking back at Barafu campsite on the pre-summit day acclimatisation hike
Summit day starts at midnight under head torch. Dawn arrives at 6 o’clock.
Stella point summit is reached after about 12 hours. At this point you have officially climbed the mountain. In our group (they split us into two from Altezza), everyone made it apart from the two who abandoned right at the start.
In the other group several did not make it in spite of the fact that they were the younger ones!
There then follows an exhausting further hour around the crater rim to the Uhuru peak summit.
At this stage our guides were constantly hurrying us along as they were conscious that every minute increased the risk of altitude sickness and they did not want to carry anyone down again. I don’t know if I was just lucky, but I had no altitude effect at all.
The glacier recedes further every year
The team – 8 clients plus 40 porters and guides!
There is a bar at the end of the trek. There is even someone who will clean your boots for you!
Certificate presentations back at the lodge.