Kilimanjaro blog post 3 of 4: Packing List

Below is my packing list for 5 weeks in Africa. I tried to indicate which of the following items was or was not used on the Kili climb. Because I climbed in July, which is the coldest month on the mountain, and because I get cold very easily, the list below is full of warm clothes and warmth accessories.



Luggage and backpacks:

• 32L light comfortable daypack.
• Two light large sturdy duffel bags that fit inside each other. Leave one duffel at the hotel and the other for the porters to carry on the mountain. Make sure all mountain gear, including the sleeping bag, fit inside the duffel you’re taking on the mountain.
• Stuff sack for the smaller duffel (optional).

Electronics:

• Big cam & accessories. – Not brought on the climb.
• Small laptop & large-capacity usb keys & accessories. – Not brought on the climb.
• Baby cam & accessories. – Used on the climb, left the charger at the hotel.
• Backup baby cam. – If you’re paranoid about your camera failing on summithike.
• Cell phone & accessories – I actually rented a satellite phone for the climb because I wanted to call my family from the top of the Kili. Cell phone coverage BTW is awesome on the African continent.
• Headlamp. – Used on the climb.
• Batteries for the headlamp, multiple sets. On summithike, it is recommended to use a set of lithium batteries because they last a long time.
• Backup headlamp. – If you’re paranoid about your headlamp failing on summithike.
• Travel adapters: types C, E, D, G, and M cover the African continent. – Not brought on the climb.
• Watch. – I wore mine everyday and used its alarm to wake me up in the morning.
• Mini music player. – I didn’t bring one, but some people had one and used it while hiking.

Small purse items:

• Small purse. – Not brought on the climb.
• Passport. – They ask for the passport number at the climb entrance gate. I kept mine with me on the climb.
• Mini travel wallet (at any point, mine contains some local $$, some USD, and a credit card). – Not brought on the climb. On the plane, I carried the exact amounts needed for airport visas.
• Mini canadian wallet (Canadian $$ and Canadian medicare card). – Not brought on the climb.
• Mini travel journal with pen and backup pen. – Used every night before bed on the climb.
• Mini lens cleaner cloth. – Always in my pocket.
• Whistle. – Always in my daypack.
• My mini St-Christoph key chain. – Always in my daypack.

Water related items:

• Camelback bottle for the backpack. – Used on the climb.
• 1 or 2 stainless steel bottles. – On summit night, the steel bottles took longer to freeze than the camelback.
• Electrolyte tablets. – I used them inside the stainless steel bottles. They gave the water some nice flavor.
• Water purification tablets. – Optional. I used them in case the water didn’t boil properly at high altitude and never regretted it.

Sleep related:

• Sleeping bag (or bags) in a compression sack, with optional liner and optional pillow(s).
• Sleeping mats are usually included in the gear provided by the company, but some people like to ask for an extra sleeping mat.
• My climbing fellows used earplugs in the noisy camps. For nights on a slope (sloped campsites), I kindof wish I had some kind of sleeping tablets.

Toilet related:

• Ziplock “toilet bag” kept in the daypack all the time. Contains:
• a roll of toilet paper,
• some wet wipes,
• and some hand sanitizer.
• Keep extra toilet paper/ wet wipes/ hand sanitizer in the duffel bag carried by the porters.

Thin fabric bag for the underwear & socks, containing:

• Several non cotton top and bottom underwear for the climb.
• Several any-material top and bottom underwear for the pre/post climb.
• Merino or double layer socks for the climb – I used one pair every 2 climbing days.
• Cotton socks for pre/post climb.
• Thick socks with a liner for summit hike.
• One pair of super thick wool socks for the nights.
• PJ undies and PJ shirt.
• Not for the climb: bathing suite.

Thin fabric bag for the pants, containing:

• Merino base layer for cold nights and for summit hike.*
• Fleece pants as PJ and for summit hike.*
• Light hiking pants for the first two days.
• Sturdy hiking pants for the remaining climbing days.*
• Rain pants: carried all the time on the mountain in the daypack, but luckily never used!
• Not for the climb: shorts.
• Not for the climb: 2 light comfy capris.
• Not for the climb: light comfy pants.

Thin fabric bag for the tops, containing:

• 1 short-sleeve Merino base layers – Wore as main top on the first 2 days of the climb with a thin sleveless cycling gilet on top.
• 2 long-sleeve Merino base layers – Wore as main top on the first remaining days of the climb with a thin sleveless cycling gilet on top.
• 1 more long-sleeve Merino base layer – for cold nights.
• Not for the climb: 2 tanktops.
• Not for the climb: a small number of comfy summer shirts.

External top layers:

• Thin hoodie. – Not brought on the climb.
• Thick fleece. – Used on cold days.
• Thin fleece*. – Always in the day pack, and for summit hike.
• Thin down jacket*. – For summit hike.
• Medium thick down jacket*. – For summit hike.
• Rain shell*. – For windy days, and for summit hike.

Gloves:

• Fleece gloves – for the climb. Used on all cold days, and used as inner gloves on summit hike.
• Glove covers (first tried big waterproof gloves but they were too tight above the inner fleece gloves, then I tried big mittens but they also were too tight above the inner fleece gloves, finally I tried a pair of socks with a hole cut out for the thumb. They worked perfectly).
• Chemical hand warmers to put between the inner and outer gloves on summit-hike – mine did not work but many other people had them.

Other accessories:

• Gaiters – for the climb. They were recommended but I did not need/use them.
• Balaclava and/or bandanna. – I didn’t have one. But some people used it on the climb to protect their neck from the sun and/or to breath through it on dusty trails.
• Sun hat – for the climb and for the rest of the trip.
• Winter hat – for the cold days and for summit hike.
• Sunglasses. – Always in the top pocket of my daypack.
• Microspikes for the bottom of the hiking boots – brought them for the climb but did NOT use them.
• Walking poles – I used to never hike with them before the Kili, but I found them essential on the Kili. Also, it’s good I brought mine all the way from Canada, because some of the rental ones were not in their best shape.

Misc items:

• Quick dry towel. – Used on the climb.
• Light mesh bag for the laundry. – Used on the climb.

Shoes:

• Hiking boots – kept in carry on luggage during international flight in case luggage gets lost. My "Solomon" boots were not high at all: just the minimum above angle length required to call them boots!
• closed shoes – for the evenings at camp.
• Sandals – for the pre/post climb.

Essential Objects:

• Reusable rubber twists, or tie wraps, or pieces of string. – Very useful everywhere!
• Enough USD to cover the mountain tip. – Used on the climb.
• Folder with all the travel docs: copies of passports and visas, itineraries, maps, receipts, immunisation record, travel insurance info, etc. – Not brought on the climb.
• Meds: pain killers, diamox, immodium, anti malaria pills for the post-climb safari, anti acids, ginger chews, motion sickness pills for vehicles, etc.
• Hiking snacks. – More important than it may seem. Especially small bite-sized ones for summit hike.
• A few thin supermarket fruit bags. – For daily tent garbage on the mountain.

Toiletteries:

• Sunscreen. – Used every day on the mountain. Remember to bring some for the way down from the summit.
• Bug repellant. – Used on the first two days on the mountain.
• A small pair of scissors.
• Mini comb. – Used on the climb.
• For the girls: sanitary pads (used on the climb), hair removal items (not brought on the climb), a simple pee-while-standing device (I didn’t use mine on the climb, but girls from other groups did. There is even one lady who used it inside her tent with a “pee bottle” so she wouldn’t have to go out in the freezing cold at night).
• A few pairs of daily contact lenses.
• A case for normal glasses.
• Mini mirror for the contact lenses.
• Soap (for post climb), a few millileters of campsuds for the climb (didn’t use it because they gave us soap).
• Tooth brush and tooth paste.
• Shampoo. – For post climb.
• Dry shampoo. - I didn't even know what it was, but I saw other hikers use it on the mountain.
• Dental floss.
• Lip balm. – Very important on the mountain. I ran out and boy did I regret it!
• Tweezers.
• Qtips.
• Hair ties.
• Earrings. – Not brought on the climb.

Other Objects, most of them not essential:

• Large recycling/garbage bags. – Even though the duffels were put inside dry bags before being carried by the porters, some hikers preferred to line the inside of their duffels with garbage bags to ensure waterproofness.
• Micro compass/thermometer combination on a mini keychain – non essential but fun to have.
• Home keys. – Not brought on the climb.
• Some clothpins to hang wet clothes outside the tent. – Not used on the climb.
• lock. – Not brought on the climb.
• Mini disposable emergency toilet bag. —Not used on the climb.
• Catchy book.
• Small light fabric bag for little things to keep (entrance tickets, mini rocks I’m allowed to keep, etc).
• Mini sewing kit. – Brought but not used on the climb.
• A few safety pins.
• A small carabiner or two.
• Ziplock bags.
• Sharpie pen.
• extra shoe laces.
• Binoculars. – For pre/post mountain use.
• String attached to glasses to make them not fall.
• Swiss army knife.
• Small roll of duct tape.
• plastic eating utensil (combo of a knife/fork/spoon). – Not needed on the mountain.

First aid kit:

• Band aids and/or small bandages of various sizes.
• Alcohol wipes.
• Medical tape.
• Gauze.
• Moleskin for the blisters (I prefer bandaids myself).
• Rehydration tablets.
• Possibly polysporin.

** Pant layers used on summit hike: merino wool base layer, fleece pants, sturdy hiking pants.

** Top layers used on summit hike: merino base layer, thin fleece, think down jacket, thick down jacket, rain shell.

Kilimanjaro blog post 2 of 4: Physical Preparation

At the time I climbed my real age was ~35.5 years. However, due to the absolute lack of any physical exercise as a kid, in the course of my life, including when I was in top shape, I always lagged behind the majority of the people when it came to fitness: when I compared my fitness level to that of other people my age, I always felt about 7 years older.

At the time I booked the climb, I was in terrible shape: I take my teaching job very seriously, work a very large number of hours, and don’t sleep much. This doesn’t help with physical fitness and doesn’t leave much time for exercise.

In the two months preceding the climb date, this is exactly what I did as physical exercises:

• Six full-day hikes.
• Twice a week band practices (playing Brazilian drums which require dancing and playing at the same time)
• Once a month weeding the family garden at the family house.
• One run in the neighborhood.
• Ten serious visits to the YMCA gym.
• One four-day canoe-camping trip.

The training hikes that I did were always uphill, but never too strenuous. During these hikes, I always took my time and never hiked fast.

I did what I had time to do, but when trip-time came, I was dead scared of not making it to the summit. I was still easily winded, and my body mass index was 27. To make my fear worse, several people at the pre-climb hotel stated that the Kili climb was the hardest thing they have ever done. One man even stated that each day of the climb was the hardest day of his life. Young and older people both said it was “so hard”. So understandably, I was scared.

But I did make it to the top!

Dry weather surely helped, and being prepared against the July cold also helped. But what really helped is the “pole pole” (pronounced poleh poleh), magic words continuously said on the mountain. They mean “slowly slowly”; and that was generally the pace set by the guides: slow.

I was in a group of six climbers. Four of them were in good shape and would always walk at the (slow) speed set by the main guide of that day. I was slower: after the first couple of days we figured out that if I walked at a comfortable pace that does not leave me breathless, it takes me about an hour and ten-to-fifteen minutes to cross a distance that the others would cover in an hour. Since our group of six people had three guides, splitting the six of us into two groups, a slower and a faster group, was not a problem. The four fast climbers walked at the pace set by the main guide on that day, and I walked at my pace with a different guide. Every hour and a half or so the fast group would stop and rest, which allowed me to catch up with them. Everyone was happy with the arrangement.

Here’s how I felt (physically) on each of the 8 climbing days. Hike times shown are *my* hike times:

• Day 1: trail head to big tree camp. 3h30min hours of afternoon/evening hiking. Hike not too strenuous, I stopped briefly when I was out of breath and felt fine.
• Day 2: big tree camp to Shira1 camp (not Shira2 as the website claims). 3h35min of hiking before lunch. 2h10min of hiking after lunch. The ups and downs on that day were very strenuous for me. Difficult day.
• Day 3: Shira1 camp to Moir camp. 3h30min of hiking before lunch. 2h30 of hiking after lunch. Hike not too strenuous, I stopped briefly when I was out of breath and felt fine.
• Day 4: Moir camp up to lava tower for lunch then down to Barranco camp. 3h20min of hiking before lunch. 2h50min of hiking after lunch. I was comfortable on the way up. I felt a little rushed on the way down.
• Day 5: Barranco camp, up the Barranco wall, down-&-up Karanga valley to Karanga hut +acclimatisation hike. 2h25min of rock scrambling on Barranco wall, 2h35min down-&-up Karanga valley, ~2h acclimatisation hike. Up the wall was fine because I was allowed to go slowly. I felt a little rushed on the way down the valley but not too much. For the acclimatisation hike, I kept slipping on small loose rocks on the way down, so a guide helped me.
• Day 6: Karanga hut to Barafu Camp +acclimatisation hike. 3h00min of hiking before lunch, ~2h acclimatisation hike. Hike day not too strenuous, I stopped briefly when I was out of breath and felt fine. For the acclimatisation hike, I occasionally slipped on small rocks on the way down, so a guide helped a little.
• Day 7: Night hike from Barafu Camp to Stella Point to Summit (7h45min). Morning hike from summit to Barafu Camp (4h30min or 5h30min). Afternoon hike from Barafu Camp to Mwenka Camp (3h30min or 2h30min). I’ll describe the summit climb and the subsequent descent in another lengthy blog post. But I would like to say here that once again, I was allowed to climb up slowly, so I was not out of breath, which was awesome. My main enemies were the lack of sleep and the leg muscle very serious fatigue. Coming *down* from summit hike really was the hardest physical thing I've ever done.
• Day 8: Mwenka camp to Mwenka Gate. 3h00 of down hiking. Once again I was slipping on the wet compressed mud, and once again a guide helped me on the way down.

Injuries sustained: Aside from minor blisters, the big toes on both feet were extremely bruised from the post-summit descent. I am writing this blog post one full Moon Cycle after my Kili hike, and my two big toes still hurt every time I go to the swimming pool. Also, since summit hike, my knees now hurt every time I sit still for more than half an hour.

Finally, except for a mild headache on one day, I never felt any altitude sickness, possibly partially due to "diamox" prescribed by my travelling doctor to prevent altitude sickness. Dosage: each standard 250mg diamox pill is usually broken into two halves, one half to be taken in the morning, and the other in the evening. In total, I took six and a half diamox pills, starting on the evening of the day before the climb, and ending on the night of day 6, just before summit hike.

Out of the six travellers in my group, 5 of us took diamox. The 6th girl had a cold, and on the first night, she took a diamox pill at the same time as an anti-cold medicine, felt strange, and vomitted. When she tried diamox again a few days later, she was fine. As far as I know, the only side effect of the diamox felt by our group was the tingling of fingers/toes.

Kilimanjaro blog post 1 of 4: Choosing the Climbing Route and the Climbing Company

Kilimanjaro image #1: the three volcanos that make up Kilimanjaro




Kilimanjaro image #2: the entrances to the various Kilimanjaro climbing routes




Kilimanjaro image #3: summary of the Kilimanjaro climbing routes




Kilimanjaro image #4: summit night ascent routes





“Mount Kilimanjaro” is located in Tanzania, not far from the border with Kenya. The highest point on the mountain, called "Uhuru Peak", that's the peak of the "Kibo Peak", stands at 5895m above main sea level. It is Africa's highest point, and the top of the world's highest free-standing mountain --when height is measured from main sea level.

In February 2014, I started the research process for the Kilimanjaro climb. The plan was to climb Kili sometime in summer 2014, with a schedule that allowed me maximum moonlight during the climb, yet did not interfere too much with the 2014 worldcup game viewing.

The first part of the preparation involved carefully choosing a climbing route. Here are a few things that I learned while choosing the route:

• Kilimanjaro is oval shaped, extending from west to east, see image #1. The west part, the beeeaaauutiful "Shira Plateau", is a caldera (collapsed magma chamber) of an extinct volcano called "Shira". The middle part is occupied by the dormant volcano "Kibo", the highest point of which is "Uhuru Peak". The east part is occupied by extinct volcano "Mawenzi", which looks skinnier than Kibo, but as ominous as Mount Doom in Mordor. The three peaks are marked in image #1.
• The kilimanjaro climb is not a technical climb, it is a hike. So the best way to prepare for the Kili climb is to go hiking.
• There are *seven* STANDARD routes, entering the mountain at various points, but all of them do the final summit approach from the EAST. The route entrances are shown in blue on image #2: Marangu (entrance #1), Rongai (entrance #2), Northern-Circuit (enters through the west but skirts the northern edge), Shira (entrance #4), Lemosho (entrance #5), Machame (entrance #6), and Umbwe (entrance #7).
• There are *four* NON STANDARD routes, also using entrances 4-5-6-7 above, but doing the final summit approach from the WEST, through a path called the "Western Breach". The Western Breach is considered unsafe by some climbing companies due to falling rocks; specifically the rocks that were imprisoned by the glaciers of the Kili that became loose as the glaciers melted.
• An additional night at “Crater Camp” near the summit can be added to any of the 11 routes, but it not recommended by many companies because of the dangers of sleeping at high altitude.
• Image #3 is a table I made of the 11 routes with some info.
• The climb can be done in as little as 5days-4nights ("Marangu" or "Umbwe" routes), however it is possible to take more time using either of these two routes.
• The climb can be done is as much as 10days-9nights ("Northern Circuit" route), however it is possible to take less days using this route.
• For the seven standard routes, the final climb to the summit is attempted at night.
• For the seven standard routes, the standard progress of summit-night, shown in image #4, is as follows:
  • "Shira/Lemosho/Machame/Umbwe" climbers leave "Barafu Camp" (south east of the main peak) around midnight, arrive to "Stella Point" around sunrise, and to "Uhuru Peak" an hour later.
  • "Marangu/Rongai" climbers leave their "Kibo Hut" camp (east of the main peak) around midnight, arrive to "Stella Point" around sunrise, and to "Uhuru Peak" an hour later.
  • "Northern" climbers leave their "School Hut" camp (near "Kibo Hut") around midnight, arrive to "Stella Point" around sunrise, and to "Uhuru Peak" an hour later.
• Summit hike is attempted at midnight appearently for the following reasons: climbing in the dark makes you not see how scary and steep the path is, sunrise from the top of "Kili" is stunning, in some seasons the peak starts to get foggy around 8AM, scree slopes are easier to ascend when slightly frozen (this is soooo true), and, after the climb up, the hike down can be time-consuming and must be done during daylight hours.

So there you have it. After some more reading about the routes, several google image searches, talking to two friends who had already done the climb, and keeping acclimatisation and safety and crowds and steepness and the number of days on the mountain in mind, I was pretty much decided to do the Lemosho route. But I needed to find a climbing company that offered this route: not all companies offer all routes.

Finding a climbing company is more time consuming than deciding on a route: there are dozens of companies offering the climb, many of which have a web site.

The prices for the climb (not including tip and the fees for the rental of non-essential gear) vary from ~$700 to ~$6000. The average price seemed to be about $1850-$2600. The price variation is partly due to the level of luxury-camping/ luxury-climbing that these companies offer --later when I was on the mountain, we really did see companies offering fancy tents and everyday hot lunches, etc.

I had been warned by many ex-climbers to not book a climbing company online, and instead, to wait to go to Tanzania, and book the climb then, with a cheaper local company. But since this was my first time on the African continent, and since I did not yet have a grasp of how safe or unsafe everything there was, I decided to go ahead and book online, like the majority of international travellers.

After comparing a dozen companies or so, making use of reviews on tripadvisor, reading various blogs, and paying particular attention to the companies’ safety record and to how well the mountain-staff/porters are treated, I decided to book the 8-day Lemosho route climb with “ClimbKili” (Climbkili.com).

I emailed ClimbKili, and they responded promptly with detailed information. After some back and forth discussion, sometime in march, I booked the group-of-6 climb starting on Thursday July 03, 2014. July is the driest but coldest month on the mountain. The chosen date allowed me to watch all worldcup group stage matches and the round of 16 important matches while in North America, and provided an 86% visible moon on summit night (night of July 10 to 11). In retrospect, after talking to other climbers on the mountain about how much they paid and about the level of service that they were offered, and after talking to one of our guides about how well the mountain staff was treated, I am really happy to have chosen this company.

Opening Game

Watching football (soccer for the north americans) is extreeeemely popular in the middle east (or was when I grew up there some 20-30 years ago). Most families have supported specific international teams (like Germany, Brazil, England, and Argentina) for generations!

When I was a kid, everyone in my large extended family (except for one uncle) supported Brazil. So I've been a supporter of the Brazil football international team all my life. Therefore, today is a big day. The first game of the 2014 worldcup starts at 4PM. I am going to the family house at 2PM to start watching at the start of the coverage. Happy worldcup!

No longer free

It had worked for years: visiting the outdoor section of the Montreal Botanical Gardens was FREE after 6PM on summer weekdays. You could enter at 6PM and stay until sundown (~9PM).

This is no longer the case. Ticket sale now closes around 6PM, and no one can enter the gardens after 6 PM. If you're already inside, you can stay until 7PM max before they kick you out. Early morning free admission no longer exists either.

I'm still fuming about all this. I don't know who is the stupid person who came up with this. Why can't the city inhabitants keep enjoying the gardens until sundown?