Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. Standing at 5895 metres, climbing this mountain was not going to be a walk in the park.
For years I had held the vague notion of wanting to climb this mountain, to live the experience of standing on the top and looking down from the roof of Africa surrounded by glaciers and snow.
Then, this year I turned 30 and I saw an opportunity surely I could justify the cost to have this adventure in my 30th year!
As is typical for me the trip was booked with only a couple of months to go and for only 6 weeks after my wedding. All my planning, equipment buying and collecting had to happen within that 6 weeks. It became all consuming. Weekends were spent in outdoors shops judging equipment for an experience I could not yet comprehend.
I seemed to be constantly surrounded by people who knew someone who hadn’t made it to the top or who had become very ill with the altitude.
I decided to try to let go of the outcome getting to the top would just be the icing on the cake. But my brain had other ideas…it would wait until I was dropping to sleep at night to fill my mind with all the things that could go wrong and imagining being in a hospital in Tanzania having been dragged off the mountain at high speed. This was a lot of money to spend with no guarantee of whether I could even cope with the demands of the mountain.
I chose to acknowledge what my brain was telling me but not pay too much attention. I carried on with my planning.
Arriving at Heathrow with our big rucksacks felt surreal this is really happening. More and more people kept arriving to join the group…this was a bigger group than I expected. Here were the people I would be spending the next week with, each person seemed to have a bigger bag than the person before.
The first night in the hotel in Moshi was spent getting to know each other and getting to know our team leader and guide, Joe. This was the man who would quickly become the guru whatever he said, I would do. This was to be his 18th time to the top of Kili and he knew all that lay ahead for us. The anticipation in the group was building as we all tried to get our heads around how different things would be a week from now when we would be back in the hotel with the trip complete.
The big day came and we were off, packed into a bus with all our luggage on the roof. There is a real sense of excitement as we make the 3 hour trip to the gate. This is it, it’s happening. At this point, I never could have imagined how tough it could be nor how amazing the entire experience would be.
Ready to go
We spent 6 days on the mountain and in that time settled into a routine which became our new normal. My experience on the mountain became a microcosm of life, it had a way of showing things so clearly. These are the 5 life lessons that really stand out for me.
[divider number=”1″ title=”Pole pole (poh-leh, pol-leh) Swahili for slowly.”]
This is the mantra when climbing Kilimanjaro. The pace is slow, steady and consistent. You follow the lead guide for the day and don’t go faster than him. Sounds simple, but for someone who is used to moving quickly and getting the job done, this was a real challenge and took some adjusting to. It seemed unnecessary on the first day which was a pleasant 3 hour trek through the rainforest, but became so vital. Start as you mean to go on. As the terrain got steeper and the altitude became higher, these slow steady footsteps became something to hold on to. They were rhythmic and predictable and made me feel safe. If in doubt or feeling unsteady, just watch the steady plod of the boots in front of you and keep time with them. On Kilimanjaro, there is no rush. It almost forced us to look around and notice our surroundings. To really experience what was around us.
I think we could all do with a little more ‘pole pole’ in our lives.
Pole pole
[divider number=”2″ title=”You are stronger than you think.”]
I will be truthful there were times when taking on this challenge terrified me. Before we left the UK my brain was going through all that could go wrong and the horror stories I had heard. On the second night curled up tightly in my sleeping bag in the freezing temperatures unable to sleep, knowing I had many more days of being cold ahead. The altitude symptoms on day 3 and thinking that surely it was impossible for me to go 2000 metres higher! The instinctive part of my brain was screaming at me ‘I can’t cope’, go back to where you are safe and comfortable. The challenge was to continually override this instinct and replace it with self belief. I had to commit
to taking each stage as it came, each night as it came, each challenge as it came. When you get your mindset right, you are much more likely to succeed. Of course, the fear is always worse than the things themselves, once it’s done you wonder what you were worried about. Worry is simply a misuse of imagination. So plan adventure, do things that challenge you. Feel the fear and do it anyway. The amazing experiences you collect along the way make it so worthwhile. And you are always stronger than you think you are.
Feels like camping on the moon!
[divider number=”3″ title=”Set your sights on the goal, and then let it go.”]
For everyone embarking on the Kili adventure, there is one goal in mind…to get to the top. This is great, you are setting your intention in your mind, creating a positive mindset and expecting to achieve your goal. However, I quickly realised that letting go of this as the only thing that mattered, opened me up to all the amazing things that life on the mountain had to offer. As in everyday life, you have to experience the moment. If you are single mindedly focused on one goal in the future, you miss all that is beautiful about the experience of now. And yes, at 7.45am on 22nd October 2015I did make it to the top, but when I look back on the whole experience, getting to the top was just the cherry on the icing on the cake. What really holds strong in my mind is the collective experience of chatting along the way, the porters and guides singing, trying to keep down the food, appreciating the amazing views and the routine that we all accepted as normal so quickly. Dont miss the details of life, they are usually the best bits.
A long way still to go
[divider number=”4″ title=”Be Flexible”]
Be open to what happens. No one can tell you ahead of time how you will feel at high altitude. No one can guarantee you that you will be able to get to the summit of the mountain. It is impossible to plan for everything and impossible to see what is ahead. On Kilimanjaro I became very flexible. I had to adapt to whatever happened as very little was in my control. I often did not have all the information and so life simply became about doing what I was meant to be doing in that moment. We were told when to get up in the morning, how much water to drink and were given set meals every day. It is rare to feel so out of control, like you have so few choices when you are used to feeling so independant. Truthfully though, although we might feel in control in everyday life, I believe it is an illusion as we never know what curve balls life will throw us and when. Kili taught me very quickly to give up control and enjoy the fact that I could just go with the flow, let other people take care of decisions and just do what I was meant to be doing at that time.
The incredible local crew
[divider number=”5″ title=”Trust”]
When beginning the trek up Kili, you are giving yourself over to the experience and wisdom of the guides and local crew. They are trained to spot the symptoms of altitude sickness and know when your symptoms are such that you can’t continue. Even when I felt dreadful at altitude on the third day, I had to trust that they knew my symptoms were only ‘mild’ (they didn’t feel very mild!). At altitude I became very out of breath very quickly, my chest felt tight and even when lying still I was breathing very fast. It felt a lot like having anxiety and I had to remind myself more than once that it was not anxiety, it was the effects of altitude. The instinctual part of my brain wanted to panic, so I had to keep reassuring myself that this was normal. It was essential to trust my body and to trust the guides to spot if there was anything to worry about. On summit night, this trust went to a whole new level when I felt I effectively became a child again. Trekking through the night, in freezing temperatures at high altitude meant that someone carried my bag for me, gave me water when they thought I should drink, held my hand up steep bits and practically dragged me when I had no energy left. I said ‘I’m cold’ and another coat appeared and was physically put on me. When I no longer needed my head torch it was removed from my head and whisked away. I never allow myself to be taken care of in this way in normal life but I know that I would not have made it without the help of these wonderful people. Sometimes you have to trust the experts, let go of your ego and let yourself be led to where you need to be.
At the summit
As the locals would say… Hakuna Matata!
The roof of Africa!