AFRICA: KILIMANJARO THE TALLEST FREESTANDING MOUNTAIN IN THE WORLD
The tallest peak in Africa, one of the Seven Summits, has been an achievement I’ve set my sights on for over a year. At 5,900 meters in elevation, it towers over Tanzania’s savannahs and the great Serengeti. On this journey around the world, I’ve committed myself to pushing past limitations and building deeper inner strength and resilience. A successful summit of Kilimanjaro checks all the boxes for this. I traveled north from South Africa to the city of Arusha, where I began this challenge by finding an outfitter and a team to get me to the top. After planning my route and getting my gear ready, we were off to the starting gate of the Lemosho route.
On this 70-kilometer, 9-day journey around and up the mountain, I took on the challenge to shut out the world and tune deeply into myself. To drink the medicine of the mountain and go deep within to find the strength and resilience I know I have, while letting go of the weakness and lack. To get super clear on the direction I am conducting my life in. The longer northern circuit was the perfect choice for this. We ascended the west side of the mountain to 4,000 meters, then spent 5 days hiking around the northern side, only to reach the eastern base camp and climb to the volcanic rim, all the way up to 5,600 meters. From here, I’d hike across the volcanic rim and across the top of Kilimanjaro to Uhuru Peak, the western summit, at 5,900 meters. A worthy challenge.
My team, consisting of a mountaineer, a chief, and a few porters, started the trek through the rainforest, around the base of the mountain, before reaching the alpine desert above the tree line at 4,000 meters. From here, we started on the northern circuit, far away from most other hikers who took shorter routes. Sometimes, we would trek for hours without seeing another hiker, and the views were amazing. We could see neighboring peaks and vast savannahs, sanctuaries for Africa’s animals through conservation efforts. The terrain was mostly volcanic rocks with shale and gravel. It’s safe to say I was on my butt more than once! Each evening, we would stop in a camp with other hikers, usually close to a fresh water stream, and set up for the night. Each day, we moved to a new camp, moving closer to base camp where we would attempt a successful summit.
You truly develop an intimate relationship with the mountain you climb. You practice respect for her through leaving a clean camp and setting a responsible pace to navigate the terrain. You go through hardships and challenges to earn the beauty she holds through panoramic views, vast expanses of land, clouds, and mountain ranges. You prove your worth to reach the top and stay committed no matter what. You pray for good weather but prepare to navigate the worst. You are at her mercy, yet you still choose to push on. In turn, she takes care of you in a special way. She shows you your strength and brings you to places that invoke growth. She pushes you past your limitations and brings you new resilience. In moments, she brings you into full presence with yourself, to the deepest parts of your being. She strips you naked and shows you your soul. The spirit of this is why I choose to climb mountains. The connections you form with these giants bring out the giant within you.
After a week of hiking and climbing, we finally reached base camp at 4,600 meters of elevation. We arrived mid-afternoon and would start the ascent to the summit around 11:30 p.m. I remember the excitement, anticipation, and nerves of a summit attempt like it was yesterday. It’s like the wait before playing in a championship game or preparing for a race you have trained years for. Reaching in and pulling out that full commitment necessary to accomplish everything you have worked toward. It’s extremely hard to sleep knowing what you are about to attempt, so most times, resting and hydrating is the best you can do. With not a wink of sleep and already feeling the effects of high elevation, we started out just before midnight with the moon and stars guiding us. Determined and ready to overcome the inevitable challenging moments of climbing to the top of Africa.
Hiking in the dark has its perks and drawbacks. The perks are being able to focus on the ground right in front of you and taking one step at a time, not having to see how far you still have to go, just focused on keeping your rhythm. The drawbacks are it’s very cold without the sun, well below zero, and it can be disorienting knowing you are high up on the side of a vast mountain but unable to see most of it. Still, we pushed on, climbing higher and higher. I could feel a shift when we got over 5,000 meters, with a new layer of high elevation symptoms setting in. You become dizzy and lightheaded, disoriented, thoughts are moving slower, and decision-making is impaired. Your body becomes heavier and harder to control. You get tired, weak, and feel like falling asleep while you are standing up and hiking. It’s still dark in the depths of the night, and you are freezing cold. You still have a vertical kilometer of ascent to go. You don’t even think of hiking down the mountain afterward. This is why it’s paramount to set a rock-solid resolve and your WHY factor before attempting the summit.
You will be pushed into moments where you are convinced you will quit. The true victory is not in reaching the summit, but in choosing to continue persevering forward when you feel you are about to collapse. These moments are when something fundamentally shifts inside of you. When you choose to keep going, no matter what excruciating situation you are in. You reach deep within, to another gear, a hidden store of strength hidden from you until now. In a sense, you meet your maker. You experience how humans have survived for hundreds of thousands of years. You get a glimpse of the human spirit and the sheer will to live coursing through all of us. You reach peace, you lean deep into this pocket, and you KEEP GOING.
We finally reached the volcanic rim at 5,600 meters a few hours before sunrise. I set my eyes on this gigantic crater kilometers across, a snow-filled glacier glistening with a billion sparkles in its middle. Only 3 more kilometers and 300 meters of elevation to go along the rim of this volcano to reach the highest point in Africa. Through the snow and ice, we chipped our way across in the dark, although the faintest light was beginning to appear. Every few hundred meters, I had to stop to regain my strength and oxygen levels, feeling miserable but with ironclad determination to emerge victorious. With one last push, we reached Uhuru Peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro, the top of Africa. One of the Seven Summits. The sun greeted us over the horizon, the dawn of a new day and a new will to live rising up through me.
I complete challenges like this for the lost teenager I was. I was too depressed to get out of bed and start my day, too anxious to eat, too stressed to think about my future. The simplest tasks were a hard challenge. Wanting to quit it all and give up. I do it for him. I keep going for him. I will never quit for him. I will never give up. I show him we won, I show him we are victorious, I show him how strong we have become. That is my WHY factor.
Often, the largest mountains in our lives are not the ones everyone sees us standing on top of, but the momentous struggles within that no one sees. The mountains we don’t want to post online, the mountains we hide from everyone and are terrified of. The mountains we do not have the tools to safely climb without the support of a team cheering us on. I also complete challenges like this for anyone climbing a hidden mountain. I know how hard it is, I know how hopeless it feels. I’m here to show you how victorious you can be too. I’m here to show you the willpower and life force you have within you right now. I’m here providing the proof you can summit any mountain standing in front of you. Remember, even if you are on the brink of collapse, always choose to KEEP GOING. The dawn of a new day is coming, a glorious, amazing day.
