Mount Kilimanjaro

Machame route:
Walking 7 days from the West side of the Kilimanjaro to the East side. Starting at Machame village, 1800 meters, climbing towards the crown of Kilimanjaro at 5895 meters where oxygen is nearly half then at sea level.

The team:
Jan Brouwer: 57 years old, medical doctor, married with Marga, father of three children, living in Utrecht under sea level, no experience with climbing above 3500 meters, had an old wish since fifteen years to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and his other wish was to do this with his daughter, Nienja.
Nienja Brouwer: 26 years old, scientist, single, childless, born under sea level, previous experience climbing Mt. Kenya (in 1998) on sneakers, currently living in Moshi at the lower slopes of the Kilimanjaro (1000 meters) with the view of its top from her garden, very excited by the idea to climb together with Jan.
Freddy: 29 years old, mountain guide, single, childless, very experienced in climbing Kilimanjaro as a porter, cook and guide. Freddy followed and assisted us professionally.
Valence: 31 years old, excellent cook and assistant guide, married, 2 children. Valence always prepared for dinner exactly what we needed (he managed to cook us 6 different soups with fresh ingredients even on 4600 meters).
Godefroy: 25 years old, assistant guide and waiter. While serving the dinner in pouring rain he is still smiling and carefully watching our food intake.
7 porters: carrying 20 kilograms each on their heads, neck or back, walking on sneakers and wearing second hand clothes from former climbers, always more fast in reaching the camp and our tent was ready before we arrived.

We felt spoilt puppets in North Face outfit but in very professional hands.

The view:
Beautiful rainforest, Lobelia and Senecia trees, many different small birds, emptiness, misty clouds, quietness, sudden panoramic views, steep rock climbing, Lava tower, view of Mt. Meru (Arusha), amazing views of stars at night (which made Jan go out to pee every night).

The pique:
From the last camp at 4600 meter you go to sleep at 6 p.m in order to get some rest before you get up at 11 p.m to start climbing towards the pique of Kilimanjaro (5895 meters). It is around –10 Degrees. We walk in the night lightened by the starry sky and our head torches. Looking up and downwards we feel like taking part in a procession that aims to bring new stars to the sky above us.
Suddenly a beautiful sunset announces the day. We are almost at the first peak of Kilimanjaro: Stella point (5795 meters). Jan already has some problems keeping his balance but the kick of being on “The roof of Africa” makes us continue together. It is AMAZINGLY high, we walk on top of the crater of this old volcano. Alongside we see high walls (20 meters) of glaciers and a bed of clouds underneath us. We can see the peaks of Mt. Meru, Para mountains, Ushambara mountains and Mawenzi. Above us the clear blue sky.

Altitude (sickness):
The altitude above 4000 meters makes you become more tuned inwards. Conversations decrease, walking is slow and gradual like the striding of monks, the day becomes a meditation in which you walk, eat, drink and sleep. The body tries to adjust for the little oxygen available.
Nienja experienced the inconvenience of irregular menstrual periods, extra bowel movements, loss of appetite, irregular breathing while sleeping, thickening of hands, eyes and face. But a pleasant side effect has been the continuous laughing feeling.
Jan experienced loss of appetite, bowel movements, general fatigue, deafness, loss of balance above 5200 meters. It became walking like being drunk, no muscle control and loss of direction and breaks.
All symptoms decrease when going down to lower altitude.

Special moments:
The first special moment we had was when having our lunch in the rainforest. Because of the pouring rain the food was soaking wet before it could enter the mouth. Porters were walking in their underwear because they did not have raincoats.
You learn to appreciate every bit of water. It is not possible to take a shower for 7 days. When reaching home, you could smell our pile of wash from miles away.
Walking, eating and sleeping on this mountain is like a continuous meditation.
Movements became slow like a snail’s pace. Playing beach ball in the evening to get warm feet became impossible (our attempts were being watched like we are beginners).
Finally the most special moment is of course to reach the top of Kilimanjaro and to hug and kiss each other at an altitude of 5895 meters.

Valuable items on the way:
Plastic to cover all luggage, a cover for your bag and daypack, poncho, wet-tissues (for washing), deodorant, compeed (second skin for blisters) and Rubitec (with which you can have a torchlight without batteries and charge your phone at all times).

We feel the joy of climbing together made us reach the top!