5,895 meters or 19,340 feet

Either way you measure it, it's really high and I can now say I've been there. I even have a gold certificate to prove I've been to the highest point in Africa and I'm going to frame it and hang it more prominently than my MD degree. My Kilimanjaro climb was an amazing experience and one I probably won't repeat. Our climbing group consisted of my parents, myself, and our family friend, Ginger Emery.We had 2 guides and 9 porters, which included a cook. Our trip was 6 days via the Marangu route, also known as the Coca-cola route. Our 2 guides: Munna on the left and Hamisi on the right

We stayed in 3 huts along the way, with 2 nights at the middle hut on the way up and the one night on the way down at the middle hut again. The hiking itself was not strenuous until the final ascent. Your experience all depends on how you deal with altitude, and there's no way to know how your body will respond.Mandara Hut

The theme of Kilimanjaro climbs is "pole, pole." The hiking all happens at a very slow pace so that your body is able to acclimate. This was a little difficult for my dad who is a fast hiker, but we slowed him down by stopping to take pictures and to pee behind trees and rocks. We were drinking 3+ liters of water a day so we had to pee a lot. The hydration helps your body survive the change in altitude and we also all started the trek taking Diamox, a diuretic that also helps with acclimatization.Our amazing porters

The first day was a beautiful hike through rain forest that looked so much like the Washington Peninsula. The biggest difference being we don't have monkeys in Washington State. We never got rained on while hiking, but it did rain our first night at Mandara Hut. Day 2 we hiked from the rain forest into heather forest and then into a drier climate with cactus and other succulent plants. We took a day hike from Horombo Hut to zebra rocks before spending another night at that hut.

Zebra rocks

The hike on day 4 took us through desert that looked like the Southwest United States and soon there was only dirt and rocks. It was much harder to find something to hide behind to pee. We all managed to keep ourselves headache and nausea free while some people around us began to feel sick.Kibo on the left and Mawenzi on the right

Kilimanjaro is actually made of 2 dormant and one extinct volcanoes and is the highest free standing mountain in the world. The extinct volcano, Shira, is 3,962 meters and was the highest peak before it collapsed. The two dormant peaks, Mawenzi and Kibo, are 5,149 meters and 5,895 meters, respectively. Kibo is the only peak covered by snow year round. Uhuru is the highest point on Kibo peak and is the highest point in the world that can be reached without technical or life supporting facilities. Gillman's point is straight up the mountain from Kibo hut and then you walk around the crater to Uhuru point. Mawenzi peak, although shorter, is a difficult technical climb. We had great views of it along the way.

Mawenzi

On day 4, we had an early dinner at Kibo hut and tried to sleep before getting up at 11pm to begin our ascent at midnight. I had been looking at Kibo peak for the past couple days and the very steep slope leading to the top. I was told we would take a switch-back trail up the steep slope and you just couldn't see it yet, but it was where the steep gray trail is. It turns out you make your own switch-backs up a steep slope of loose gravel. We moved very slowly up the mountain in a single-file line. Munna was leading and I just started at his feet as we went. Hamisi brought up the rear and he had hot tea for us in his backpack to have at the top. We didn't even use our headlamps for the climb because the moon was so bright that we could see without them. The starts were amazing and I glanced up at the Southern Cross occasionally. It took us 5 hours to reach Gillman's point and we stopped for tea. We were the only ones there and had passed some other groups on the way up. It was still dark and it was neat to look down the mountain and see strings of headlamps on their way up.A view of Kibo the day before ascent

We were told the difficult part of the ascent is getting to Gillman's and once you're there, it doesn't take much more to get to Uhuru. The walk to Uhuru is on the snow around the crater rim and it's barely inclined so it really shouldn't be very hard to get there. However, it happened to be extremely windy that morning and as soon as we walked past the rocky shelter of Gillman's point, I was hit with winds so strong I had to put all my weight to one side of my body to keep myself upright. We were walking on a ridge that sloped into the crater on one side and off the mountain on the other side and I honestly thought I was going to blow off the mountain and die.
There are times weather keeps people from summiting so I asked Munna if the wind was too strong and we'd have to turn back. I really would have turned around if he said so, but he said "we continue." He had taken Ginger's backpack and Hamisi took mom's backpack and dad and I carried our own backpacks with our frozen water and trudged on. It was slow moving against the wind and it was cold as chunks of snow and ice hit my face. The sun started to rise as we walked and I couldn't imagine stopping for a picture that would require me to find my camera and then hold it steady so you'll just have to believe me that it was the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen with orange and pink colors lighting the whole sky. I really felt like I was on top of the world.

Sunset at Mandara Hut, earlier in the climb

As we neared Uhuru, Hamisi grabbed my dad under one arm and Ginger under the other and pulled them up toward the sign. I watched them go by and wished someone would pull me up. I struggled up there and behind us was Munna, dragging my mom. We gave our cameras to the guides and I have a few crooked pictures of us at the top. I had imagined myself spending more time at the top, but it was just too windy and cold so we immediately headed down.Mom, dad, and me at the highest point in Africa

I was so thirsty, but my water was mostly frozen and it took too much effort to even get it out to drink. My body was so tired as we started down and now that the sun was up, the snow was melting and becoming icy so that added to the wind caused me to fall a few times. It probably would have been easier to scoot down on my butt. It took so much energy to pull myself up each time I fell that when we got back to Gillman's point, I collapsed in exhaustion. Munna took my backpack so now each of the guides had 2 packs and my dad was the only one carrying his own. He made me run down the mountain since I was feeling nauseated and had a headache. I went straight down the soft gravel, digging my heels in with each step and skidding a couple feet. It took forever to get down and in the light I could really see how far we'd gone up. When I finally reached Kibo hut, I barely had enough energy to make it to the bathroom. I somehow crawled into my top bunk and slept until I was awakened for lunch
I felt rested enough to hike back down to Horombo Hut where we ate our dinner and had a much needed sleep. I felt much better at this lower elevation. We met many other hikers from around the world along the way and it was fun to see who made it to the top. There was a 76-year-old English man who made it all the way to Gillman's point! I really hope I'm in that good of shape at 76.
I could barely move the next morning I was so stiff and sore and my feet were full of blisters. We just really wanted to get home and have a shower. It was fun to see people on the way up and reply "yes" when they asked if I'd made it to the top. We hiked down much faster than the hike up and reached the gate just after lunch. I headed straight to the little shop and got everyone in our group a Kilimanjaro beer.
We said good-bye to our crew of guides and porters and they sang a Kilimanjaro song for us before we got in our Land cruiser for the driver back to Arusha. We all fell asleep on the drive until we had to stop because both our rear tires were flat. Our driver must have run over something. We sat in the shade under a tree on the side of the road while our driver put both spares on and we finally made it back to Arusha before dinner. It wasn't until we were back in Arusha that I started feeling sick and I spent the next 24 hours vomiting and a few days after that feeling nauseated. It's a rare thing for me to lose my appetite because I'm generally a good eater. I didn't lose my appetite on the mountain, but unfortunately, I didn't feel like eating much while we were surrounded by tons of good seafood on Zanzibar. At least I didn't get sick on the mountain, plus, you can't spend 10 weeks in Africa and never have some sort of GI illness, even if it's from altitude.
So the climb was successful and I'm glad I did it. It would take some serious convincing to do it again, but I think if my brothers wanted to climb I'd do it with them. It would be fun to do a different route. If anyone is thinking of climbing, I would highly recommend the company we used. It's called Moonstruck Safaris and is based out of Moshi. We had excellent guides and the food was great too.