Closing Reflections
TRIP REFLECTION #1 : Closing Thoughts
My name is Nagu, am a DGL Administrator for Africa South. I love hiking and hiking Kilimanjaro has been my dream for quite sometime.
Mount Kilimanjaro is something else, the mountain has several climatic conditions and the weather changes in a matter of seconds. I am glad I experienced all kinds of weather including, for the first time in my life, to witness the snowfall was very beautiful.
There are no exercises or practice that might help to hike this mountain, believe me this mountain will catch you. It needs courage, humbling yourself, hanging in there, and keep on focusing on your next step because that is what matter.
You will never do this mountain without patience, the slogan of “pole pole” works very well.
There like a couple times I asked myself why and what am i doing here especially on the Barranco wall, as it was very scary; Karanga camp and the summit night were so windy and cold, cold that I have never experienced in my entire life.
Another amazing thing is the PORTERS. They serve with a smile. They have been amazing each and every time; they are always the last to leave the camp, they get to the camp before us, and they have their own backpacks that contain their stuff with another bag which is not less than 20kgs. I wasn't even comfortable with my own backpack sometimes, but they did all that and walked very fast. Also the food! The guys from the kitchen are making great meals and the food was always hot even while the weather around might be below 10⁰C.
I have seen so much of the good work of our Living God: the landscape is very beautiful, even some waterfalls.
The day to the summit was the hardest day ever for that mountain, I almost gave up. It was very had as the oxygen was low at the altitude of 19,000 feet. It made breathing difficult and headaches come on too.
At the summit point it was so cold and windy you could not even take your gloves off. But getting there to the top takes away all the tears and sufferings, and for me it meant victory, like I overcame all of the challenges.
A devotional each night from different people was outstanding.
Thanks Beyond Adventures and DGL for the opportunity!
~ Nagu (DGL Staff - Africa South Division)
TRIP REFLECTION #2 : Closing Thoughts
There are a million things that run through your mind when you’re inviting guys to go on a once in a lifetime adventure trip like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Will the guys gel, can I make it up the mountain, what if someone gets sick, can I handle the altitude? In the end, there are too many questions to answer, and this is where faith comes in. You just have to have faith, and TRUST that everything is going to be okay.
Almost all of us were able to start or finish our trip with a Safari, and you get to witness God’s creation within its raw power - great preparation or a great conclusion to the trip. For each of us, we are walking home with a little something different. The mountain humbled us… On the drive to Kilimanjaro airport this morning, the clouds cleared to have a view of the top few thousand feet of the mountain. As we passed by I felt a sort of mutual respect. Before, the mountain looked intimidating and overwhelming. However, now we leave as friends with a mutual respect for one another.
Many people climb to “conquer” a mountain, and perhaps few feel like they have over the years. But the mountain still stands, it is undefeated, and for 7 days, it was our teacher, our mentor.
A few things we know for sure:
We all walked out changed men, and most of us for different reasons.
We were humbled by Beyond Adventures team of 35 who took care of the 17 of us. We saw Christ in them perhaps as much as we were able to admire God’s power and His Creation.
If, or when (I’m open to it), I do it again, I’ll have a ton more confidence that I can do it, but this doesn’t just apply to climbing Kili, or any other mountain- it has to do with life. I made it through this, and I think we all believe we can make it through anything.
~ Kevin Edelbrock
(Young Life DGL Director)