{"id":1166,"date":"2018-09-04T09:05:23","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T14:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/?p=1166"},"modified":"2018-09-04T09:05:23","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T14:05:23","slug":"kilimanjaro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/kilimanjaro\/","title":{"rendered":"Kilimanjaro"},"content":{"rendered":"

In July I visited Tanzania with some friends. \u00a0We climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and went on a safari. \u00a0This post is about our Kilimanjaro hike. \u00a0You can see some safari pictures here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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At the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My trip was supported by a grant from FELS, the Foundation for Educators at Lincoln Sudbury<\/a>. \u00a0This amazing organization raises money to support the personal and professional development of Lincoln Sudbury educators. \u00a0I am grateful for their help with this trip!<\/p>\n

Elevation<\/h3>\n

The most challenging part of the hike up Mt Kilimanjaro was the elevation. \u00a0The summit is 19,341 feet above sea level, where there is less than half as much air pressure as I am used to. \u00a0 The duration of our trip was eight days, mostly to give our bodies time to adjust to the lack of oxygen. \u00a0We spent six and a half days climbing up the mountain, and only a day and a half climbing down! \u00a0I and most of my companions took a high altitude medication, Acetazolamide<\/a>, throughout our trip.<\/p>\n

Route<\/h3>\n

Mt. Kilimanjaro is crowded in July,\u00a0but our route took us away from the crowds for a good part of the climb<\/a>. \u00a0We chose our route to give us plenty of time to enjoy the mountain and adjust to the altitude. \u00a0We also chose to spend a night in the crater, above 18,000 feet.<\/p>\n

Arusha National Park<\/h3>\n

At the start of our trip, we spent two nights in Arusha National Park getting to know our guides and fellow hikers. \u00a0We stayed in luxury tents at about 7000 feet elevation on the slopes of Mount Meru, so part of the reason for this was to begin adjusting to the altitude we would face. \u00a0 Arusha National Park had some interesting wildlife, and we saw giraffes and zebras, and heard Cape Buffalo grazing outside our tents at night.<\/p>\n

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Baboons in Arusha National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So Many Porters<\/h3>\n

We started our hike at Machame Gate, and met the horde of porters who would carry our tents, food, tables, chairs, and more up the mountain. \u00a0There were more than sixty porters supporting our trip of eight paying guests! \u00a0Each porter is allowed by regulation to carry twenty kilograms (44 pounds) of gear for the trip, but they also carry their own clothes and sleeping bag. \u00a0 There were also several assistant guides and cooks supporting our trip.<\/p>\n

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On the trail, porters outnumber guests by a large margin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first three days of our climb followed the Machame Route, one of the most popular routes up the mountain. \u00a0The camps we stayed at had many other \u00a0groups, but were spread out enough to not seem too crowded. \u00a0After the first day we were pretty much above the clouds for the rest of the trip. \u00a0We split from the Machame Route after the third night.<\/p>\n

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Shira camp, where we stayed our second night on the mountain. Many other groups were camping there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arrow Glacier Camp<\/h3>\n

Our fourth and fifth nights on Kilimanjaro were spent at Arrow Glacier Camp. \u00a0It felt luxurious to not hike for a day, and our meals were leisurely. \u00a0We went on a short hike and learned about some of the safety gear that the group had brought.<\/p>\n

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We stayed two nights at Arrow Glacier Camp. Our route then led up a steep slope to the Western Breach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most interesting was the Gamow Bag. \u00a0A person suffering from altitude sickness can climb into the bag, which is then zipped up. \u00a0A hand pump is used to inflate the bag to several PSI above the ambient pressure. \u00a0This is equivalent to descending about 3000 feet. \u00a0The whole can then be carried by about 6 porters down the mountain, while one person keeps pumping to refresh the air in the bag.<\/p>\n

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The Gamow Bag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Western Breach<\/h3>\n

Our sixth day on the mountain we ascended the Western Breach. \u00a0This hike was qualitatively different from the other days of our trek. The route was not well marked, and our guides made a lot of choices about what would be easiest and safest. \u00a0Much of the route was over snow.<\/p>\n

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Hiking up the slope to the Western Breach was steep and slow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We went very slowly due to the steepness and elevation. \u00a0We also wore helmets to protect against falling rocks. \u00a0We started at 5:30 AM, and arrived at the crater rim around 1pm. \u00a0From there it was only a short walk through the crater to our camp.<\/p>\n

Crater Camp<\/h3>\n

Staying in the crater just below the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro was an amazing experience. \u00a0There are still glaciers in the crater, and the ground was completely snow covered. \u00a0We could see the summit, and could even see the sign at the summit.<\/p>\n

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In the crater, looking at the summit. If you look carefully you can see our camp at the edge of the crater.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This hike was difficult for the porters as well, and some of our amenities, such as the dining tent, table, and chairs, did not come up to the crater. \u00a0We ate our meals in the cook tent, which was warm but cramped.<\/p>\n

Summit Day<\/h3>\n

Most people who climb Mount Kilimanjaro stay the night before they summit at a much lower elevation. \u00a0They start hiking to the summit at or just after midnight. \u00a0Our trip was not like that at all. \u00a0We got up early by choice, since we wanted to be at the summit for sunrise.<\/p>\n

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Sunrise at the summit. Crowds are already gathering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We started hiking around 5 AM, and reached the summit a little after 6. \u00a0The summit was crowded! \u00a0We quickly took some pictures and within about an hour we were headed back down. \u00a0It took all that day and the next morning to hike out. \u00a0We stayed a night in Arusha before heading out on our safari.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In July I visited Tanzania with some friends. \u00a0We climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and went on a safari. \u00a0This post is about our Kilimanjaro hike. \u00a0You can see some safari pictures here. My trip was supported by a grant from FELS, the Foundation for Educators at Lincoln Sudbury. \u00a0This amazing organization raises money to support the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameswithcode.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}