Kilimanjaro (continued)

              Yesterday we hiked up to camp Barafu. It took four and half hours as the oxygen is getting thin and it takes awhile for the lungs and heart to catch up that is why you don't want to push yourself too hard or too quick at high elevations. Once we hiked through all the alpine including talus fields and boulder fields we arrived at camp around 3 pm. We slept awhile before we had a briefing with our head guide Onyx. During the briefing, we decided what time later that night we would start our ascent from Base Camp at 15,000 ft and start heading up to the summit of Uhuru. First off, around 6 pm. we had a light dinner then went back to bed for awhile. It was decided that Deb and Moira would wake up at 10:30 pm. after a light snack and tea then they would pack up and begin hiking with their guide Coleman. Then Peter, Mike, Doug and I would begin hiking with our guides Benjamin, Omar and Pacha around 1:30 am. The reason for the two different hiking times is so we would all end up at the summit at sunrise for pictures.

              We woke up around 10:30 and opened the tent flap to see a string of headlamps heading up the mountain. Everybody and their brother started hiking before us. We passed by many of them. Kilimanjaro or Uhuru is the tallest peak on the entire continent of Africa at 19,340 feet or 5985 meters.  Kilimanjaro is a massif, which is made up of 3 volcanoes or volcanic cones: Kibo is the summit; Mawenzi at 16,893 feet (5,149 meters); and Shira at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater.  At this elevation, we moved 'poly-poly' (slowly-slowly). The cool African air at this elevation felt arctic. We would ascend 4000 feet in 3 and half hours.

              During the early morning hours from roughly twelve, midnight until twelve mid-day Mt. Kilimanjaro is open to see. Then from noon until midnight, the mountain is obscured by clouds. During that brief window is when people begin the hike from base camp to the summit so they can arrive at or near sunrise to be at the top during a break in the weather to have a view.

               After several hours of hiking, we would stop to add more layers because the temperature plummeted the higher we climbed. At first light, we walked by the disappearing glaciers and slowly and steadily climbed to the summit. The summit is called Uhuru (which means freedom and independence in Swahili). At the summit, we stopped at the summit cairns and had our pictures taken. My head was beginning to hurt. I was losing my balance. I couldn't focus. One of our guides took a picture of us, and everyone is smiling at the camera. I am kneeling down in front and holding myself up from falling over and staring at the ground.