This past weekend I summit-ed Mt. Meru, Africa’s 5th tallest mountain. It’s now Thursday and I finally feel normal again. The first two days were beautiful and the hikes were wonderful. I took over 300 photos of the beautiful red hot pokers, trees, giraffes, buffalos, and, of course, Meru. I “joined” Team Pole Pole (Slowly Slowly) with MS, JS, and MH. Because of the altitude difference, hikers are supposed to ascend slowly. Especially with my asthma, this was not a problem up to the first two campsites.
Summit day, on the other hand, was brutal. We woke up at midnight, had tea and biscuits and started the climb a little after one. One of the girls, MH, was really sick so Peter, our guide, asked a porter to come with us in case she had to stay behind / turn around. In the pitch black and the rain, we marched on for hours - up hills of sand, in zig-zags, and across rock faces. By 630am I was physically and mentally exhausted. My clothes (5 layers of shirts, 3 layers of pants and snow gloves) were completely drenched. Between the rain and the wind, I was sure I was going to lose some body part(s) to frostbite or die of hypothermia. I starting blaming Peter for telling me that I could do it when every peak that looked like it could/should be the summit wasn’t. I was upset at MW for not telling me how to keep dry/warm (unfair, I know. I blame it on the altitude?). I was so mad at myself for thinking it was a good idea to climb a silly mountain. Oh, and Kili. Definitely off my list of things to do.
But eventually, finally, we reached the summit. It was completely clouded over and we couldn’t see Kili, Arusha or the sunriset. This is what I paid $400 for?? Ugh. We quickly took a few (lopsided / fuzzy) pictures and ran off the mountain. MH ran ahead and JS, MS, Peter and I took a quick, but not too rushed hike back. I almost immediately started to feel better, as my clothes started to dry out and I took off some wet clothes (namely, my drenched gloves). At one point, Peter stopped and pointed out the rough outline of Ash Cone, which is the ash remnants of the volcano (used to be higher than Kili) that blew, creating a lot of the path to Meru’s summit. Peter kept commanding the clouds to move away to reveal more of such a beautiful sight and we were lucky enough to see most of the breathtaking view. In those moments, I began reconsidering Kili.
After an hour or so more, we finally reached the Saddle Hut Base Camp. I was so exhausted after 11 hours of hiking. I barely touched the cabbage, toast, chapati lunch provided and quickly crawled into my sleeping bag to try to get warm. I laid there for about an hour, shivering. Finally we had to get up, pack and head back down to the first set of camps, where there was a Rescue Car waiting for us. The nine of us piled in the back with Peter and another guide standing up. The rocking back-and-forth in the car / against everyone and the awesome animal sightings (giraffe, colubus monkey, dik dik, etc) made our bond even stronger.
Overall, I’m glad I went. I’m even happier that I was able to summit. For those looking at doing Meru/Kili, do it. Nine times out of ten you’ll have better weather than we had and as long as your group is just as great, the overall experience is fantastic.
More to come on dinner at Jose’s last night and dinner with Evans tonight later. Now, it’s time for bed. J
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