Pole Pole

"Pole Pole" means slowly slowly, and is the mantra on Kilimanjaro. When we started, the guides seemed to creep along like snails and I wondered if I could take the madness of the pace. But the scenary was so amazing that it was madness to go any faster. Also, hiking the mountain too fast leads to altitude sickness and possible death.

Ahh, the landscape! We saw so many strange and breathtaking vistas. We hiked the mountain for 6 days and each day there was a new treat for our eyes. The first day we hiked through thick and humid forest live with bird songs and the occasional monkey call. By the end of the first day, the folliage changed suddenly and drastically to smaller trees covered with bright green moss. We hiked through barren scree, rocky moon like landspapes, alien folliage and water falls. The 4th day, we clambered up tricky switchbacks on a near verticle slope. By the end of the 4th day after gaining around 2,300 ft. over the course of 5 miles in about 8 hours, we reached a height of 15,300 ft. We reached camp by 5pm that day and were supposed to take a quick breather only to start the assent to the top that midnight. We had wanted to arrange an extra day on the mountain to acclimatize but the agency told us to play it by ear and pay for it only if we felt that we wanted it on the mountain. However, it became clear from the guides that another day wasn't possible. Therefore, after experiencing the worst headache I have EVER had and Najam having a headache and nausia to boot, we decided to bundle up and sleep for the night rather than another 4000 ft ascent to the peak. We are not unhappy with our decision. The peak wasn't as important to us as the journey. The sunrise from Barafu camp was no less spectacular. As a bonus, we were rid of writhing tourists gasping for air and wincing from headaches. For anyone completely hooked on getting to the summit, however, we recommend taking the extra day up front.

The social experience was as interesting as the physical one. The agency had arranged for another Seattle based trekker to join us, to make the trip more cost effective for them. For three trekkers, we had 7 porters, one guide and one assistant guide. Each day, we got up, scrambled to get our things together, ate breakfast and started the day. After we left, the porters cleaned and packed up the camp, including the tents, and then started after us. At some point, they always passed us carrying around 50lbs typically on their heads, and had camp set up for us once again when we reached our day's destination. Two of the porters also worked as a cook and a server. Each breakfast and dinner, they would set us a tent with table cloth and dishware and serve our meals in multiple courses restaurant style. We felt both guilty and grateful at being served to that extent. We did eat separate from the porters and we believe we ate more complicated and possibly more expensive food than they ate. On the final day, we made a special request that we pool all of the food together and eat as a group to get to know them a little better and to sample what they ate too. But it seemed to be either too difficult or too inconvienent for them to arrange. Another interesting and unnerving fact was that all of the trekkers we saw were white and of Euro descent, except for Najam of course. We looked through a guest log book at one of the campsites that had people's nationalities in it and it confirmed what we saw. There were however a couple of Sherpas from Nepal registered therein. The contrast between black porters and guides and white climbers was stark.

Since Kili we've been on a 4 day Safari to lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. We saw Lions, Zebras, Hyenas, Hippos, Elephants and the beginnings of the Wildebeest migration. We saw a lot more, but we'll talk about it later. Tomorrow we take off for Dar Es Salaam, and possibly to Zanzibar. We have a little less than two weeks left here, we'll keep you posted!