Day 9: Climb to Karanga Camp
MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW
After breakfast, one of the biggest challenges for our climbers begins. They’ll climb up and over the Great Barranco Wall. Getting to the top of it will take 1 to 2 hours. After the wall, climbers will cross a barren and rocky plateau with views of Kibo and three glaciers before descending into Karanga Camp. As they cross the plateau on a trail of gravel and sand, climbers will pass streams and giant boulders for 2 to 3 hours. As they walk into camp, they have a good view of tomorrow’s route. They’ll get to camp by lunch. But this short day is planned for resting which helps with acclimatization.
MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS
Starting elevation 12,900 feet
Ending elevation 13,300 feet
Elevation gain 400 feet
Distance hiked 3 miles
Average hiking time 4 to 6 hours
JOURNAL ENTRY BY CHIMWEWE SIYABU
I have heard so many stories from friends about their experience climbing Kilimanjaro Mountain but I knew that the only way I would fully understand details from their stories or appreciate the beauty of this giant mountain or the fun they had with other climbers and the hardships they faced during their climb was to set up myself for a Kili-Climb challenge.
From the day I convinced myself to go through with the challenge, my heart was filled with both excitement and anxiety! I was excited that I get to see another level of God’s amazing creation and enjoy the experience that I definitely know I will forever cherish in my heart. My anxiety has always been the cold and the altitude....how can one train their body to keep up with these two conditions if they living in Dar es Salam where the lowest temperature in winter is 23 degrees Celsius!
This is my Day 4 on the mountain. Each day has had its own high and lows; and I am grateful that they have all worked well to get our group to Karanga Camp where we are spending the night. I have learned that Polepole (which means slowly slowly in Swahili) is the magic word if you wanna make it to your next camp and enjoy your hike. Today I got to appreciate this magic word to another level! We climbed up and over the Barranco wall which took us to about 14,500 feet above sea level. The only way to get on the other side of this super steep wall was to remember the magic word every second; follow the instructions from our well experienced guides; making sure each step and grip is well calculated (even when passing through the Kissing Rock :) ) and watching out for potters carrying very heavy camping gear on their heads/shoulders....I still don’t understand how these potters go through the insane terrains on this mountain!
I count myself blessed to be a part of a climb team that has a very wide age range - the youngest on our team is 11 years old and the oldest is 66. At the beginning I wasn’t sure how this was gonna look like considering that we also have energetic teenagers who think they can face this giant mountain in a split second! But for the past 4days, few thoughts have run through my mind that have made me conclude that our team has been tailor made by God Himself - WHY? I feel like our oldest and youngest climbers are acting as our speed limits to keep us within the right pace but also to protect us from being hit by the crazy altitude sickness. I also think that God is taking us through the school of patience and team work. Our team leader Drew Voyles said the other day that “it easy to focus so much on reaching the summit and forget the process”....that’s including your climbing mates.
My prayer and hope is that everyone on our team will reach the majestic Uhuru Summit Peak and we will all together celebrate our memorable, beautiful, hard and crazy moments we are experiencing together on Kilimanjaro Mountain.