Mt. Kilimanjaro
Sunset on Kilimanjaro from the town of Moshi on our first night in Tanzania.
“Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called by the Masai 'Ngaja Ngai', the House of God. Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.” Ernest Hemingway
This story was published in SeisNotes, the newsletter of ECHO Geophysical Corporation.
We left our 15,000-foot high camp at midnight, hiking under a full moon. Our chief guide, Respecius Baitwa, in his deep baritone voice, sang songs about the mountain, the plains and life in Africa. We took one step after another up the long ridge leading us to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa.
We had come to Tanzania in July, after the rainy season in hopes of climbing Kilimanjaro and spending several days on safari afterwards. Our first days on Kilimanjaro had been good. We had climbed through the rainforest surrounding the 30-by 50-mile peak, passed the heather zone, and reached the high altitude desert that marks the region near the base of the summit cone. We had crossed beneath the spectacular ice columns that form the famous Breach Wall. We had climbed the thousand feet of exposed trail that leads up the Great Barranco Wall and had passed through the beautiful Karanga Valley, stopping in the evening to explore a cave filled with waterfalls.
Five days of hiking with Respicius and his team of guides and porters had brought us to Barafu Camp at 15,100 feet elevation. This camp is higher than any water source, so our water supply for the summit day had come up on the loads with the porters. We had been amazed at the feats of strength and balance performed by the porters, but having them provide enough water for the summit climb at such high altitude seemed like asking the impossible. It was another day at the office for them.
As we climbed in the moonlight, I thought about our team. Five of us, John Jancik, president of Echo Geophysical; medical doctor Terri Baker; Jim Schaefer, building maintenance supervisor in Milwaukee; Dr. Joe Sears, mass spectrometrist at Montana State University-Bozeman; and I had been together twice before on international expeditions. In 1996 we traveled to North Peary Land, Greenland, to make the first climbs in the H.H. Benedict Range and cross the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean to reach the northernmost land on earth. In 2001, we returned to North Peary Land, to traverse the peninsula, climb the highest peak in the region and search for the northernmost mountain on earth.
David Baker, seismic analyst at Echo Geophysical, had been with us in 2001 and joined us again this summer in Africa. In addition, we had with us Echo Geophysical’s administrative assistant Nichol Schartau, Joe Sear’s 17-year-old daughter Sammy Sears, and my 16-year-old daughter Romney Gardiner.
For six hours we climbed in the ten-degree air, freezing at the equator. We were able to walk easily in the moonlight and kept a steady pace, pausing only for a quick drink of water and a bite of an energy bar. I watched on my altimeter as the numbers increased. Our first break was at 16,600 feet, the second at 17,400 feet and the third at 18,300 feet. We knew the summit was at 19,340 feet so each stop filled us with hope and anticipation.
It was still dark when we reached the crater rim and turned toward Uhuru Peak, the highest point on Kilimanjaro. Less than an hour after reaching the crater rim, we walked onto the summit, just as the first rays of sun came over the horizon. We stood in amazement as over the next ten minutes we watched an African sunrise from the highest point on the continent.
A cold wind chilled us quickly as we took photos and exchanged hugs and handshakes. We descended a scree slope, skiing in our boots down loose rocks and gravel. We returned to high camp in less than two hours, rested, ate lunch and spent the afternoon hiking to the final camp on the mountain.
Just before Rau Camp, my daughter Romney sat down on the trail and vomited. I helped her into camp and spent the night up with her as she vomited several more times. In the morning she was too weak to walk. Respicius immediately found four other porters and they took turns piggybacking her to the trailhead. We returned to the hotel and slept through the afternoon, hoping she would feel better in the morning when we planned to begin our safari.
She wasn’t better the next day so Joe, Nichol, Jim, Sammy and David left for safari. As team doctor, Terri decided Romney couldn’t travel so John, Terri, Romney and I stayed behind, sure we would catch the others on safari in a day or two. We took Romney to a local clinic where a test for malaria turned up negative. She improved so we set out on safari at Lake Manyara. We saw elephants, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, warthogs, baboons and much more, but the next day Romney was worse. By then, the other five had left Manyara and were animal-watching on the Serengeti. John and Terri spent the day at Ngorongoro Crater while Romney and I stayed at Lake Manyara. Romney seemed in worse condition so we returned to Moshi, hoping to meet the others there and catch our return flights to the USA.
On the afternoon of our flights, Romney was very ill. We returned to the clinic and they gave her an IV. The doctor suspected a serious condition and referred us to the local hospital where an ultrasound test showed us she had developed a bowel obstruction. The conditions at this hospital were seriously inadequate, so we arranged an emergency flight to Nairobi, Kenya.
Joe, Sammy, Nichol, Jim and David had a wonderful safari on the Serengeti and at Ngorongoro Crater. They saw all the animals they wanted to see and had good weather throughout. They returned to Moshi, just missed us as we headed to the hospital, and they boarded the plane for the trip home. At midnight, our emergency flight left the same airport with John, Terri, Romney and I on board.
We arrived in Nairobi, checked into the hospital, got Romney through her initial tests and had her in her room by 5:00 am. The bowel obstruction had become complete, so she underwent surgery at 3:00 the next afternoon. She spent four days in the hospital and an additional eight days in Nairobi recovering and regaining enough strength for the 20 hours of flights to the USA. Terri stayed in Nairobi with Romney and me, providing excellent medical care and support. John returned to Colorado where he made all the arrangements we needed to transport us home safely.
In Greenland, it had been 1,000 miles to the nearest village, so our memories were of untouched glaciers, deep crevasses, unclimbed peaks, and silent vistas. While Kilimanjaro is beautiful and the animals of the safaris fascinating, my memories of Africa will be faces—Respicius and the porters helping us climb the mountain and carrying Romney down, the jeep drivers who transported us, the pilot and doctors on the emergency flight, the nurses and doctors at Nairobi Hospital, and John and Terri who sacrificed their time and energy to help Romney and me when we needed it. Expeditions are designed for adventure and this time we got more than our share. Although it was at times frightening, we are left with wonderful memories of the mountain and safari, of the African people and our own close friends.