Kilimanjaro, - Kibo by Moonlight
by Colin Roberts
This trek was organised by members George and Margaret Taylor using Jagged Globe and tour leader David Haygarth, a considerable mountaineer, and took place in October 2006.
Midnight and 18 members raring to start the summit bid, bright moonlight, low wind and temperatures above freezing; it looked as if we were in luck. The previous day returning teams had spoken of driving, ice laden, 60 mph winds and extreme cold on top. Most of us were wearing five layers of clothing now, but where was Arnold, our mountain guide? Eventually a figure emerged from his tent, pulling on a cagoule. He hadn’t been oversleeping had he?
We had started our expedition with a three day climb of Mt Meru, at 4562m, the second highest in Tanzania and the remains of an old volcano. Imagine three quarters of the mountain blown away in a gigantic explosion, so that on the summit day we ascended quite steeply, just below the remaining part of the crater rim.
There were some rock slabs to negotiate by head torch, then rather a lot of soft, loose cinder and ash to plod up. The highlight was to witness sunrise behind Kilimanjaro, a massive bulk 30 miles to the east across the African plains. This was a good workout and we completed a long day by descending 2000m to a hut at 2500m, then down the following day for one night, enjoying the comforts of our hotel in Moshi, with showers, swimming pool, bar, buffet meals and early to bed.
Kilimanjaro is a huge mountain massif with three craters, of which Kibo at 5895m, is the highest. The reason our tour company was chosen is that their ascent takes the Umbwe route on the western flank, steeper and more interesting than the normal route from the south. We were driven to the Umbwe gate of the National Park, passing through the lowest vegetation zones used as fertile farm-land with many banana and coffee plantations. We walked up a good trail through the rain forest of densely packed trees with long hanging mosses. The route narrowed to an arête and we peered down into misty valleys on each side, using convenient tree roots as handholds. Just when we suspected we had overshot our camp, we espied tents in a clearing at Forest Caves. The team had done a great job fitting tents between roots on uneven ground and we were happy to recline on plastic chairs in a large domed mess tent for dinner.
The next day we emerged from the forest onto moorland with 3m high heather trees and giant groundsels. There was the great dome of Kili, high above with gleaming icefields, while behind was Mt Meru, floating on a cloud layer. A 10m wall was easy enough with a day sack but impressive to watch porters bounding up with kit bags, tents and chairs on their heads! We arrived at Barranco camp and were disconcerted by the number of tents with large contingents from Japan and Germany, whose route now joined ours. Inevitably one wondered about the weight of numbers on such a fragile environment. There was a pink sunset and a beautiful starry night.
On the third day our route would originally have continued directly up towards the cliffs of the Western Breach but this is now closed indefinitely following a rockfall and our alternative was to traverse around to the south west beneath the great glaciers. We had a short day, taking it easy at around 3900m, climbing the Barranco Wall, briefly involving hand-holds, and on across an alpine zone of sparse plants with many ever-lasting flowers to Karanga Camp. The afternoon was misty and damp, the only poor weather throughout. Some played cards in the mess tent while others tucked toes inside sleeping bags and read.
Next day was again quite short, ascending to Barafu camp at 4600m, the highest feasible site for a summit attempt. The immense space here was very striking. Normally we would have been high in a mountain valley with snowy peaks circling round but here we looked out over endless African savannas.
Summit day and our guide, now awake, led off at a steady pace, (pole pole, slowly, slowly), along a good path on rock leading to the crater wall. Head torches were hardly needed in the moonlight and I was wondering if I was over dressed in my duvet jacket. There is no kind way to describe the path up to the summit, uncountable zigzags, twists and turns on scree and loose cinder. We just kept going on autopilot up to Stella Point, 5730m, on the rim of the crater. Here it all became magic with dawn light growing behind the huge bowl of the crater and around its rim, then a gradual rise over a few bumps to Uhuru Peak, 5895m, the highest point in Africa. We had sunrise now and a cool wind, too cold to linger after the photo poses. There was no snow on our path but impressive ice walls nearby. Returning to Stella Point, our other team was just emerging from battle with the screes. We urged them on, not allowing them to rest.
Descent was a long, long plunge down cinder and scree paths back to camp. It was just brilliant to sit in the warm sun, savouring our achievement over hot orange juice and brunch. We heard by radio that everyone had reached the top, 100% success, reflecting well on the AAC, our guides and support team. It was a most memorable and satisfying expedition for us all. Thanks to all who organised and assisted.
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Last updated: 04 December 2007