So the plan is to go to bed at 7.30 pm, wake up about 11.30 pm, have some snacks and commence the final trek at exactly midnight. Another puzzle was "why exactly midnight". I learnt later that your ascent climb is recorded on your certificates and this is best calculated if everybody leaves base camp at the same time, no worries that this does create somewhat of a traffic jam!!
I knew I would have trouble sleeping and I did not let myself down. Probably about ½ hour. Barrafu camp is desolate and exposed and a quite strong wind picked up about 8:30 pm which caused the tent to flap about, putting an end to any chance of sleep. I did envisage that wind meant clouds and hence the climb was going to be a bit difficult in the cloud as well as dark. I had planned my whole trip to summit under the full moon. Anyway, I commenced at midnight under windy conditions but an absolutely clear sky lit brilliantly by the full moon and stars. Any extra lighting was unnecessary so I turned my lamp off after a few metres. I started fully kitted up against the cold including 2 pairs of thermal socks, 3 layers of thermal underwear, water proof over trousers, gaiters, 2 thermal tops, 2 fleece tops and a good thermal waterproof/windproof jacket, gloves and beanie. In hindsight I should have taken a balaclava as my exposed cheeks did feel the cold. After ½ an hour I removed 1 fleece top. Willibard carried my day pack so I did feel strangely unburdened by not having a load on my back. Anyway, we progressed up the zig zag track and started to overtake lots of other parties. We had brief stops for water or snacks but kept up a good pace to get pretty much ahead of the others. Willibard did mention that if we continued at this pace we would be too early for sunrise but I said I felt more comfortable moving at my own pace and didn't like to be hindered by other slower parties. I did wonder why many of these were quite inconsiderate when we came up behind them and they were not cooperative in letting us pass.
We reached Stella Point on the crater rim about 4 am, about 2 hours ahead of schedule. You then walk around the crater rim to reach Uhuru, the highest point. This is quite a gentle walk and if I didn't have Willibard with me, I was feeling so fit that I thought I could have jogged the remaining piece. At this stage, the sky was extremely clear and looking south over Tanzania was a similar view one sees from an aeroplane. Kenya, to the north was covered by low cloud. I could see over the crater ( not terribly scenic ) and over the top of some glaciers. I was becoming a bit concerned about Willibard as he seemed to be walking a bit erratically and I knew his hands were very cold as he hadn't worn gloves. When I inquired of his well-being got the reply he had a lot of experience on the mountain. We ambled along the crater, taking in the view and reached the true summit at 4:55 am, which is marked by a rough construction of a few pieces of timber. Then I discovered that in the freezing conditions my camera batteries did not have enough power left to charge up the flash so no record of the event.
Shortly after leaving Uhuru, suddenly a layer of clouds came roaring in, reducing visibility considerably. After walking back along the rim for a while, I discovered I was covered by a layer of snow or frost that had precipitated out of the clouds. Conditions became noticeably colder. There is a large rocky outcrop on the rim of the crater between the two main points and moving back around this I noticed a figure all clad in white sheltering here. I was about to pass on but something told me I knew that person and said " Tara, is that you". I received the reply " yes, and I have never been so cold in my life". I inquired about her friend Dwan and she said Dwan had already gone onto Uhuru. She asked where I was going and I said down. She then asked if she could come down with us. I then explained that the walk out to Uhuru was not difficult and not very far compared to the journey she had already taken and that she would regret not going on for the rest of her life. This was enough to get her going again and on she went.
On the way down, we obviously encountered lots of parties still going up and reemphasized my puzzle as to why most were unfriendly and not responding to any friendly gestures. Later I found out that many of the guides tell their charges that they must concentrate fully on one step after the other in getting to the top and not talk to anyone else. In other words, they acted like zombies. I now think that this causes a sort of paranoia and maybe why many find the final stage difficult but it did look funny from my point of view. Part of the way down, you branch off to go down a shingle scree slope and while going down here under the clouds that I could watch the sun rise behind Mawenzi, the eastern most and mostly un-mentioned peak of the Kilimanjaro complex. It is apparently quite difficult to climb.
I reached Barrafu ( base camp ) at 8 am and inquired on what was the programme for the rest of the day. I knew we had quite a descent to make to get down to Mweka camp (3,090 m ) that day. It was suggested I go to sleep for 2-3 hours before we descend. I told Willibard that I can not sleep in daylight and anyway, the wind was still causing tent noises. So he said Michael was preparing food and we would go down after that. I tried to rest and became somewhat annoyed no food or drinks had arrived so at 9:45 asked again when food would be available, was told another 20 minutes. I explained that food had been promised a long time ago so I have now decided I will live off my remaining biscuits and that we are going down NOW. There was a mad scramble to get the tents down and pack up. What really rubbed in the salt was when I saw the Norwegians arrive back in camp at 10 am to be greeted with hot drinks. So what had happened is that I had broken a well worn routine by arriving back at camp 2 hours too early and no one knew, or wanted to know, how to cope with this.
This leads to my theories on education. In much of the third world, students are taught "facts" by rote learning and are never taught the basics of education which is to think, to question, to learn how to solve problems in a logical manner, how to investigate the world around you and think outside the box. I have seen before that many uneducated folk will race around like chooks without heads when they perceive something has gone wrong rather than take a breath and investigate all possible options. They also do not seem to develop an inquiring mind but I guess this could come from the fact that you may not be interested in discovering new ideas if you are struggling to survive in your current world.
All of this really leaves much of Africa vulnerable to the practices of predatory missionary groups that invade the continent and as well as local religious entrepreneurs who can exploit this weakness. Some of the clever ones have made a lot of money setting up their own "new" churches all over Africa. No one is taught to question "facts" or "authority". It also helps the so called "big men" misrule and steal from must African countries. Who is going to question them? Africa will not solve is current under development until it makes quality education available to all children at no cost.
For anyone interested, another theory is : you can judge the educational standards of a country by the religiosity of it's society ...they are inversely proportional. There are very few atheists in Africa ( or America )
I got over my little outburst going down and my crew did manage to have camp set up by the time I arrived with hot drinks and potato stew ready.
I was down early enough to see all of the other parties I knew arrive in camp. During the late afternoon Tara and Dwan came to visit for coffee. This did become a talking point with Norwegians about the old man pulling these two young American girls....
The rest of the journey was so easy, being full of extra oxygen absorbing blood cells though I go downhill relatively slowly. On signing out of the park, you receive your certificate of success...green one if you got to Stella Point and gold for Uhuru. At the departure gate, Willibard pointed out a tall African called Simon Mtuy who owns a local trekking agency but currently hold the record for the fastest ascent and descent...an amazing 8 hours 27 minutes. Apparently it took Simon 6 hours exactly to reach the summit via the Umbwe route, and after 7 minutes to catch his breath, just two hours 20 minutes to complete the descent to the Mweka gate.
Then a bus journey back to the Springlands hotel in Moshi for my 1st shower in 8 days, a meal with Wilibard and the Norwegians and then early to bed for a 5 am start the next day. Another long shuttle bus journey to Nairobi via Arusha. At the hotel, I dished out tips to the crew as well as almost all my cold weather gear. I only kept 1 fleece.
I did need to buy a transit visa on crossing the border from Tanzania into Kenya this time. The road conditions had improved since my last journey on this road as more of the new sections had been opened up to traffic.
A call to my Nairobi driver Gerrard to arrange another early morning run out to the airport for an uneventful flight back to Jo'berg and Cape Town. Beautiful views of Kilimanjaro and Meru from the plane. Should anyone want a reliable and good driver in Nairoberi, Gerrard's phone number is +254 727 488 570
In summary, I didn't find the climb remotely as difficult as expected and believe as long as you get these 3 factors under control, most people could handle it : be relatively fit, especially your leg muscles; take good quality cold weather clothes and sleeping bag and follow all the rules in getting acclimatized for high altitude. Unfortunately the weather was a bit uncooperative on ascent day though if doing it again, I would ascend much later in the morning to guarantee some time at the summit during daylight hours.
