Sunday (8/14) was my last full day in Ndejje Village. Fabrice and Fabienne had moved out of Ndejje but came back to visit. From my understanding, someone in UNHCR offered them a house in a different village with no rent, so naturally, the huge family took the offer and moved. New York Cafe in Kampala was the last meal Fabrice, Fabienne and I ate together – their first time eating pizza!
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| Me and Fabienne at NY Cafe |
Sarah (a volunteer from Soccer Without Borders) was leaving the following days as was I and we both decided to have a small get together/cook out at her house to say goodbye to students and neighbors. Dark came quickly and I had to leave before it got too late.
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| Samuel and I |
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| Acheal, his brother they call Japonai and me |
The departure time for the Jinja Field trip was set at 6:30AM. I warned the children (and their parents while on the phone) many times that if they were late we would leave without them. Shandruki and Espoire definitely were NOT late; they showed up with their mother at my house at 4:45AM! They helped me back up the final things in my house and we walked to the roadside just as dawn was hitting. The taxi driver who Teacher Jacob had helped me arranged was not answering his phone and was nowhere to be found. Forced to find another driver, we negotiated a price and headed towards the school. There was only 1 student who was on time!! Time is nothing in Africa. People say “soon” but it really means sometime today.
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| Kids on the bus heading to Jinja! |
People use the phrases “now” and “now-now”, the latter one meaning sooner than “now.” My phone began ringing with parents on the other line telling me their child was on the way.
After waiting another 15-20min and picking up about 8 more students we began to head towards Kampala picking up more children along the way. Finally around 7am the matatu (taxi/Nissan van) was filled with 1 driver, 3 adults (including me) and 16 children and we were heading to meet the Nile River Explorer bus in Kampala!! One of the mothers and a teacher joined the field trip as chaperones. Because of the inevitable traffic jams surrounding Kampala, we missed the bus and were forced to continue in the crammed matatu the rest of the way to Bujagali/Jinja (80km). During the ride I taught them how to play “I Spy” and handed out prizes such as stickers, toothbrushes/toothpaste, pens/pencils, and other fun things.
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| Getting ready to go on the river! |
Paul was waiting for the van and ready for the pep-talk/briefing to begin! The children were so excited and were surprisingly well behaved. Half of the children went with Paul and Zen Tubing to go on the river, down the rapids, and see Bujagali Falls while the other group waited patiently swimming near the shores of the Nile River. Splashing, playing in the water and teaching some of the children how to swim was much more enjoyable than sitting in a classroom with a chalkboard. This was the teaching style I had been searching for. The kids actually seemed interested when I told them about the benefits and drawbacks of the Hydro Electric Dams in Uganda. Then the groups switched so that everyone was able to do the same thing.
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| Tubs! |
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| Students looking at Bujagali Falls. This epic rapid is set to be flooded by the dam in October. |
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| Brother and sister: Julian and Julie |
When all the fun was over a early and light dinner was ready and waiting for them before they packed themselves back onto the matatu to head back to Ndejje. Prior to departure, the driver of the taxi and I had agreed on a price of the days driving and I gave that money to Catherine (the teacher who accompanied us for the day). We all said goodbye and after they left Paul and I began frantically packing for the next month on holiday; our bus was leaving in an hour or two! Before long, Paul had received a phone call from the reception desk at Nile River Explorers in Jinja informing him that the matatu with HOPE Primary School was there and the driver was demanding more money!! Needless to say, I was not thrilled and sped into town to sort things out. In the end they made it home safely to Ndejje and I did not budge on my price, I’ve been told several times that I am a good bargainer…I think I get that from my Dad.
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| Student of HOPE Primary School on Jinja Field Trip. |
Kampala Coach arrived nearly 2 hours late but finally we were on our way to Arusha, Tanzania; a place I called home Summer of 2007. It was a cold, bumpy and sleepless ride to the Kenyan border. Being welcomed by begging street children and intoxicated men trying to grab you at half past midnight was not ideal; one becomes very good at ignoring people here. Being in Swahili country now, my Lugandan words of ndakka (leave me) and pisa embi (bad manners) would not work – I needed to learn those phrases in Swahili and fast! As soon as we arrived in Nairobi we changed busses and sat from about 3:30am-5am and then continued on to Arusha getting there at about noon.
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| View of Arusha from our hostel. |
The next two days prior to the Mount Kilimanjaro trek were spent walking around Arusha seeing old cites and restaurants that were still in my memory. The tribunals for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 were being held at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Arusha but when we had tried to see a trial, it was closed to the public.
Only in Africa do you see a business that “specializes in motorcycle parts and used shoes” on one side of the street and a man advertising for a cell phone company by dancing with a microphone and a bright pink t-shirt on top of a huge van that is loaded with blasting speakers.
On the 18th we headed to Moshi on a coaster (its bigger than a matatu but smaller than a bus) and then took a dalla-dalla (matatu/taxi in Swahili) to Marangu where we met with the hotel that we booked the trek with nearly 1 year ago. The hotel was amazing with a beautiful garden, self-contained rooms (hot hot showers!) and an amazing inclusive “last supper” before the hike. Having nearly nothing for the climb, we borrowed equipment from the hotel and met the 3 others that would join us on the mountain: 2 Dutch women (Pien and Linda) and a man from Prague who lived in Canada (Jerry). The five of us sat with a man named Shamus who briefed us on the next 6 days on Mount Kilimanjaro. Pole-pole is Swahili for slowly-slowly and one phrase he told us to get used to because the key to climbing Kili was going slow and drinking water. He was very thorough and very knowledgeable about the mountain and the climb – we were in good hands.
Day One:
Woke up a little nervous. After finishing the final packing and eating our “last breakfast” the five of us waited around for an hour or two while our crew assembled and our bills were paid – just in case something happened to you on the mountain they wanted to be sure they were paid haha. Five climbers = 1 lead guide, 4 assistant guides (including 1 cook) and 6 porters to carry everyone’s belongings. The 5 guides consisted of a father and his 4 sons. It was beautiful. The father, Emanuel, had been climbing the mountin since 1947 and was at the time 78 years old – amazing!!
The hiking was very very easy and slow. We moved like snails in the middle of a rainforest jungle with a hiking stick in one hand and a water bottle in the other. From the Marangu Gate to the Mandara huts (where we would spend our first night) we hiked about 10-12km and had an increased elevation of only 720m. The huts were the highest I had ever been – 2700m! Every step after that was an accomplishment for me J The huts were furnished with solar panels that provided lighting inside and also included 4 beds and mattresses.
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| Lunch on Day ONE! Jerry, Linda and Pein on the left: Paul on the right! |
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| pole-pole Paul! |
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| Beautiful rainforest of Mount Kilimanjaro. |
Day Two:
My nerves had calmed and the night wasn’t too cold. Tea at 7:30am followed by a full breakfast prepared by our wonderful cook with the help of our porters. We were one of the last groups, if not the very last group, to leave Mandara and head 12-15km up to Horombo huts. This day was longer than day one, but the scenery was just as beautiful and changed significantly with the 1020m altitude increase. We passed Maundi Crater along the path and vowed to take the side trail on the way down when we didn’t need to save out energy. Stopping periodically to drink water, use the bathroom/bush, and then to eat lunch, we finally arrived to Horombo at about 4/5pm. Time was of the least importance to us – we kept telling ourselves “pole-pole.” It was at Horombo where were were taking an extra day to help our bodies acclimatize to the altitude of 3720m
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| Frozen overnight... |
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| Tea time all the time (Horombo Huts) |
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| Our home for Day 2, 3 and 5. |
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| Gangs all ready! |
Day Three:
We slept in and started a light day hike before noon. We hiked towards Mawensi hut (used by climbers on a different route) and went past the famous “Zebra Rocks.” The guides said ‘you see zebras on safari, but you see zebra rocks on Kilimanjaro!’ Horombo was definitely the busiest of the huts – climbers going up, climbers on their “rest day” like us, and climbers coming down; stories were shared and although some eased out tensions, others made us all a bit more nervous for what was ahead. We saw many great views of Kibo (the summit) and also of Kilimanjaro other, more technical, peak Mwenzie. We all went to sleep early knowing this was going to be our last full nights sleep.
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| Some of our guides |
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| Zebra Rock! |
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| Paul and I with a clear view of whats ahead. |
Day Four:
Another 12-15km to hike with an increase of another 1000m… pole-pole. Around us, the vegetation changed once again and became like an alpine desert…not many plants and animals can survive at this altitude and the cold temperatures that the night brings. The last watering point was at 4130m – everyone filled every container they had and the porters carried enough to cook with, wash with, and then some extra to fill out bottles. They are amazing men and they make Kili possible. This day was the most exhausting yet. Feeling out of shape by walking quickly to catch up with friends, I told myself it was the altitude and then again reminded myself: pole-pole. Kibo huts were spotted from a distance but it seemed after 3 hours of hiking they weren’t any closer, I stopped paying attention to them. We finally arrived at Kibo huts (4700m) around 4pm and got ready for the big summit not too far away. We had a nice dinner and were briefed on the events to follow in the next 36 hours. I felt like every other day had just been walk in the park but soon we would attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro with another 1195m and 6km to go. The plan: go to sleep immediately after dinner (6pm), wake up at about 11pm and have some biscuits and tea before we bundled up in ALL of our warm clothes and headed towards the summer at midnight in the midst of a dark and very cold night with only a torch/flashlight on our head to see.
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| Layering up, its getting cold today. |
Day Five:
Tea had never tasted so bitter that morning, or should I say night (it was still before midnight). Beginning the summit wasn’t that bad: I had one three pairs of socks, 3 layers on the bottom, 5 or 6 layers on the top, gloves, hat and a balaclava over my face. Quickly becoming hot, I stripped some of my core layers and continued. After two hours of hiking I couldn’t feel my feet; my core was still warm and cozy but my toes felt like blocks of ice on the end of my foot. I continued to hike while wiggling my toes and hitting them on the ground to help the circulation. We were already passed by some people on their way down (they hadn’t made it to the top, they had decided to stop climbing). The pain in my feet became unbearable and the hike was suddenly not fun to me anymore. When I was told we nearly half way and not even at 5000m I made the executive decision and began hiking town back to my warm sleeping bag with one of our guides. Paul, Jerry Pein, and Linda continued up but soon Pein turned around as well. The three of them made it to the crater rim AKA Gilman’s Point (5681m) a bit after five in the morning and then continued onto the highest point, Uhuru peak (5895m), arrive just in time for sunrise. Paul was stumbling around like a drunk due to the altitude and the three began their decent back to Kibo huts for a short rest, a meal and then more hiking. Paul arrived back to camp about 10am looking exhausted. Apparently, one of his water bottles had a frozen cap and leaked water the whole time which froze down his leg – then he lost the top to his other water bottle leaving him with nearly nothing to drink. Good thing I was waiting for him at the bottom with fresh water, a snickers bar, and a big smile! After packing up and resting, the five of us continued down to Horombo huts.
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| Pein and I posing for our victory photo! |
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| Kibo Huts |
Day Six:
All of us were looking forward to hot showers and a cold beer (cider for me). We left camp early and began the 27km hike down the mountain which was no longer hiked at a pole pole speed. We went arakka-arakka (Swahili for quickly-quickly) and made it to the gate before 2pm. We stopped to see the crater and then again for lunch. Exhausted, we got on the back of a truck and headed towards the hotel.
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| This is what you will get wheeled down from the mountain on if you become too sick/weak to hike yourself. One wheeled stretcher...we saw 2 people coming down on these. |
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| Back at the gate! We did it! |
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| Back of the truck ride to the hotel. |
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| SUMMIT MAN getting his certificate for making it to the top! So very proud of him! |
