21. The Beginning of the Trek – August 7

Three weeks ago today, on August 7, 2023, a group of individuals met in the town of Moshi, Tanzania.  We were to be a group of nine, but one individual had flight delays so would join us the following day.  We checked into the Panama Hotel which was not the one originally scheduled for our lodging.  We were to have double rooms but now we were three to a room for the women and the two men who were there had a double.  Alex who would join us the next day would get a single room.  The triple room was crowded with three beds, our suitcases, our duffel bags and all our stuff that ended up scattered around the room.  The shower did not have proper runoff, so the floor was very wet each time one of us showered.  I shared a room with Jo Simmons and Kristen Gillan who had accompanied me on the game park safari just before this meetup in Moshi with the group.  After freshening up, we went to the dining area to meet the rest of the team members over dinner and encountered a lovely, large rat along the pathway.  He was harmless and seemed rather friendly.  

Some of the group were already at a table and the others arrived shortly, to make a group of eight very tired, hungry, and anxious individuals about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.  The extensive menu had lots of vegetarian items that sounded tasty, so I ordered a guacamole sandwich.  Then we waited almost two and a half hours for our order to be served.  I was tired and hungry, and the wait seemed an eternity.  When it arrived at the table, I think I would have eaten just about anything.  It was satisfying but seemed more like three slices of bread with guacamole between the slices.  We were uncertain about drinking the table water, so we ordered bottled water.  We filled our water bottles from the bottled water and I think by the time we checked out we used up the entire supply of bottled water they had at the restaurant.   While we waited for the food to be served we had time to begin getting to know one another.  There was Mark Kohus, 52, diagnosed with early onset PD, Jo Simmons, 47, whose dad has PD, Kristen Gillan, 46, whose mom is in the end stages of PD, Justin Fields, 38, with early onset PD and a deep brain stimulator, Laura Aldrich, 35, whose father passed away with PD, Connie Qian, 32, whose father has PD, and Betty Frances Thomason just 19 whose dad has PD.  Alex DiLalla, 28, diagnosed a year ago just two weeks before his wedding with early onset PD, would hopefully join us the next day

The next morning, we met with the tour operator at breakfast, and he laid out our day ahead.  After breakfast we were going to walk to town and do some market shopping.  We ended up walking about six miles along dirt sidewalks and visited a small craft market where I purchased a few small souvenirs and then on to the big market in town. The sights in a market like this always fascinate me.  There were stands of fresh fruit and vegetables, big bags of dried beans, rice, spices, flour, and other items.  And of course, there were trinkets of bracelets, carved animals, earrings, paintings, and such that the vendors would beg us to buy from them.  I made a few selections, but we didn’t spend much time here as it was time for lunch.  I got to ride in a tuk tuk for a wild ride to our lunch venue.  It was outdoors on the lawn at a very nice place.  My eggplant sandwich was fabulous.  Here also, Alex joined the group.  Fortunately, we had a van take us back to the Panama Hotel where we were instructed to pack our duffel bag with the gear we were taking on the climb and meet in a conference room for orientation.

I worked hard to get all my gear packed into my duffel bag and then headed over to the meeting.  Most of the others were already in the room with all their contents out of their duffel bags and waiting for the head guide and tour operator to inspect our readiness for the climb.  I was dismayed that I was going to have to take everything out and then try and get it back in the bag, but I didn’t have a choice.  Fortunately, all my gear was approved, and the head guide recommended I could leave a few things behind.  Then came the task of getting it all back in the duffel bag and carrying it back to the room.  This was our first time meeting the hike leader, Abel Lauwo whose grandfather had led the first western mountaineer, Hans Meyer, to the peak of Kilimanjaro in 1889.  Abel was a very experienced guide, and we would be his 1021^st expedition to the summit.  I knew we were in very good hands with Abel.  His expertise would keep us safe, and he would do everything possible to get our group of hikers to the top.  He would know the pace we needed to go, the signs and symptoms of altitude sickness and what to do for it and advise us what to eat and drink to stay healthy on this trek.  

I went to bed that night very excited that the next day, Wednesday, August 9, I would begin the expedition to the summit of the roof of Africa, the highest peak on the continent and the tallest free-standing volcano in the world at 19,341 feet.  After breakfast we got our bags ready, put what we weren’t taking with us in storage, took some group pictures and loaded onto the bus.  Along the way we passed a field with giraffes grazing and of course we had to stop and take pictures.  Next stop was at a gas station where we used the restrooms, and I found a man selling bandanas that I had to have.  Jo and I purchased nine of them so each member of our group could have one.  The stop seemed to be taking a long time.  The tour operator left us to go to a bank to get money to pay the entrance fee to Kilimanjaro National Park. There seemed to be an issue getting the cash out of the bank to pay these fees, so we continued without the tour operator to our destination. He must have worked out paying the fees as we were granted entrance to the park.  It was here that we learned that our itinerary was being changed from 8 days and 7 nights to 7 days and 6 nights.  This would mean that we would start the hike at about 10,000 ft. and climb to about 11,500 ft. bypassing the rainforest the first day instead of starting at about 7,500 ft. and going up to about 9,500 ft.  

We arrived at the Londorosi Gate where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch consisting of hot soup and sandwiches.  We loaded back on the bus and continued up the road bypassing the rain forest and arrived in the Shira Plateau with moorland vegetation.   We had not been able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro yet as we were in a layer of clouds preventing us from seeing the peak that we would be climbing.  As we rounded a curve in the road we cleared the cloud layer and there before us was the majesty of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  It was one of those ah ha moments where silence is the best response.  When the bus stopped we eagerly disembarked ready to hit the trail.  Of course, there was the obligatory group photo op and then we donned our daypacks and were ready to get going.  Abel lifted my pack and asked what all I had in it as it seemed too heavy.  He began taking items out of my pack and putting them into his pack and that was the routine every day for the rest of the trek. It was late in the afternoon and the mountain was glowing in the sunlight.  The words pole, pole mean slowly, slowly and this was the slogan each day of the hike.  Due to the altitude, one must go slowly so as not to tax the body in the thin air.  I felt we were traveling at a snails pace and wanted to go just a little faster as I was afraid we would be hiking in the dark if we continued so slowly.  The trail was not very difficult, but it was very, very dusty.  Jo was in shorts and soon her legs were coated with a thick layer of dirt.  We had to cross two small ravines with small streams to get to Shira Camp I and just as we arrived the sky was pink with a beautiful sunset.

 

Jo and I decided to tent together and set about unpacking our gear in the dark, in a very tiny space and without getting dirt everywhere.  It was a taxing undertaking and one that I did not master the entire trek and by the end of the trip it was definitely the pebble in my shoe for the journey.  Once settled we ventured to the mess tent for a delightful hot supper and conversation around the table.  On our way back to our tent we were amazed at the brilliance of the stars and enjoyed a view of the Milky Way I had not seen in many years since pack backing in southern California in my twenties.  We crawled into our sleeping bags and tried to sleep.  I think I was awake by 3:00 a.m. with restlessness, excitement, and the sounds of camp.  Thus was the beginning of the journey to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

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