Day 153

16 people setting off to climb Africa’s highest peak in honor of 27 children is a wildly emotional vision. Being at the summit and realizing that that dream is now a reality, is an entirely different story.

My desire to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro started, I think, before I even realized. With an incredibly adventurous family (including an aunt and an uncle who beat me to the summit some years ago), doing something along these lines has been in my blood since the day I was born. Being in Africa all this time and hearing the stories of so many people who had completed the hike, made the trip almost irresistible. Add all of that to my knowing that the climb would benefit the most amazing children in the world, and it was a done deal.

However, there were a few obstacles that I had to sort out before signing on. On the top of my list I found “Funding?” and “Gear?” burning holes through my paper. Both of those, now, seem like small milestones in the scheme of things, thanks to so many incredible people. “Funding” was checked off by several of you who visited my First Giving site and supported me from over seas. Thanks to a handful of generous volunteers from the last Kili trip and a few friends of mine here at Flying Kites, I was able to check “Gear” off as well. With that out of my way, “Training” was next, going for a run and drinking many liters of water daily was how I prepared myself.

A few days before leaving for Tanzania, the rest of our Kili team arrived in Njabini. This included a group of 14 people from all over, LA, Tennessee, Colorado, and Canada to be exact. Although we seemed very different from one another at the beginning of our journey, we would soon learn that our differences in our backgrounds, strengths, and likes and dislikes, would inevitably bring us closer. On Valentine’s Day, all 16 of us jumped on a bus and headed south on a 7-hour drive. After spending one night in the town of Arusha we headed to the mountain that next morning.

The hike itself lasted 7 days, however, when looking back, that week felt more like mere minutes. We started our climb in what I kept referring to as a “Dr. Seuss meets Alice in Wonderland forest”. The vegetation was like nothing I had ever seen. Trees were covered in stringy, spongy liken, and each branch bent in multiple directions, it was beautiful. After a couple days of hiking, our surroundings morphed into rocky terrain covered in thick Y-shaped trees that seemed to lead the way. During these few days, the sight of elegant waterfalls scattered the land. In fact, a handful of times we crossed paths with these waterfalls and as a result, had to tiptoe across them on rickety rocks. Each day we would end up at a new campsite all of which looked more beautiful than the last. It was an unforgettable experience to go to bed each night in a tent that sat on a cliff overlooking some of the most scenic views in the world. Our camp consisted of 8 sleeping tents, a dining tent, and a kitchen tent. After a day’s hike, which could have lasted anywhere from 4 to 15 hours, we were spoiled to a fabulous dinner prepared by our team’s cooks. Dinner was followed by a night’s sleep under the stars. Sleeping on solid Earth was a challenge at first, but after recognizing how badly we needed to get a good rest; sleep didn’t seem to be an issue.

By the time Day Four came around, we had made it past rocky landscapes and were now on to snow. Being at such high altitudes combined with being so close to the Equator, the sun was very strong. Due to the fact that we were so high up, the temperature had dropped exponentially, and unfortunately, sun exposure was the least of my concerns. One night after hiking all day on snow-covered land, I closed my eyes and was asleep for nearly 20 minutes before waking up in excruciating pain. Both of my eyes felt like they were on fire. I resorted to using my Camelback as a cold pack to sooth some of the pain. For nearly 10 hours, I physically couldn’t open my eyes. I was not only terrified at the thought that I might be forced to turn back, but, was genuinely afraid that I would never regain me eyesight. Thankfully, I woke up the next morning and was able to see, not perfectly, but could see nonetheless. One of our guides told me that what I was experiencing was Snow Blindness due to the fact that I hadn’t worn sunglasses the day before. Purely out of luck, one of our team members had a grandfather who was an eye doctor. Before leaving, he stocked her with medical tools in case of an emergency. I owe my getting up the mountain and possibly, even my eyesight to her and her grandfather. That day we had a 4-hour hike up some of the steepest parts of the trip. This included The Barranco Wall where we were nearly 150ft up in the air clinging onto vertical rock, not the best time to be partially blind.

By the next day my eyesight was back and I continued to make it up the mountain one step at a time.

During our trek we experienced rain almost every day. Some days it persisted for most of the day but others it was just enough to make everything wet. On occasion rain would turn into pea-sized hail. Weather definitely played huge part in our hike. However, Summit night was as dry as could be, and that alone is reason for all of us to say that we had good weather.

Summit night was by far the hardest part of the hike for me. At 11:00 pm, after a full day of hiking and only a couple hours of what you could barely consider sleep, the 16 of us woke up, had a quick snack, and headed up the mountain. We raced against time to make it to the top before sunrise. At the time I had to keep reminding myself that what we were doing was actually happening. It was an incredibly peaceful part of the trip. Our team hiked one by one in a line as we took baby steps upward. At the front of the line, our guide, Julius, sang in Kiswahili. In the distance, an array of headlamps belonging to other hikers, lead the way. The night’s stillness combined with Julius’ singing and a spectacular setting, made for an extremely meditative environment. Most people talk about fighting altitude sickness and cold temperatures as the toughest obstacles when pushing your body up to nearly 20,000 ft., for me, it was staying awake. It wasn’t that I was bored, that was the last thing I was feeling, it was simply exhaustion. At almost every break during that 8-hour hike to the summit, I fell asleep. Looking back I can laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation; I genuinely had to be woken up a couple times while climbing up one of the steepest parts of the trek!

Once we arrived at the summit, the most striking sunrise was there to greet us. Before celebrating what we had just accomplished, we found ourselves with jaws dropped, admiring the day’s first minutes simultaneously as the moon faded behind us. After a few moments the celebration started and the tears flew. Standing on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro after pushing myself harder than I thought possible, while looking out on the world, and thinking about the incredible children who inspired me to be there, tears were impossible to hold back. Before the cold could numb our bodies completely, we started down the mountain. After 3 hours of hiking back to camp, a nap, for me, was top on my list of priorities. After a couple hours of sleep we all sat down for lunch before starting another 4-hour climb down to our final campsite.

Dinner that last night was a mixture of emotions. We were all so proud that we had accomplished what he had come there to do, but were sad that it was over. Not only was the hike itself one of the most amazing experiences of my life but getting to know the people I was so lucky to share it with, was an amazing experience on its own. I can genuinely say that each of the 15 people I met just a couple days before heading to Tanzania, is now a friend of mine, and I couldn’t have imagined doing it with anyone else. Each of them played a huge role in getting me to the top. When I was terrified of the thought of having to turn around because my eyes were practically useless, all 15 of them got me through that day and ultimately through to the top. I have left that week with memories and with 15 new people I can sincerely call great friends.

I have a lot to be grateful for today. These past 5 months have been more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined. I hope that everyone who has been a part of my experience knows how fortunate I am to have them supporting me, whether they are from the US or Kenya, I wouldn’t be here without you. So, to everyone that has been so good to me, Thank You!

Hope all is well, Ill be home in 3 months! Love and Kisses, “Auntie Stephanie”