Passports & Pearls: Hiking Kilimanjaro Day 5: Summit Day! (part 3)

There, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro. And then he knew that there was where he was going ~Ernest Hemingway, The Snows Of Kilimanjaro

Pure joy. Happiness. Ecstasy. Pride. Bliss. Satisfaction. Elation. These are just a few words to try and describe reaching the summit. To a certain extent, I don’t know if it can be fully described. Maybe it’s best that way. There’s just an unspoken, indescribable magic about reaching the summit that can only be fully understood through experiencing it for yourself.

Immediately upon arriving I gave Rakhi and Aaron big hugs of congratulations and gave Arnold and Daniel hugs of gratitude. Shortly after that a photo shoot began so we could capture in picture our achievement.

The best moment was taking a picture with the sign at the summit that says “Uhuru Peak, Tanzania, 5895 M. Africa’s Highest Point, World’s Highest Free-standing Mountain.” Every step that brought me to the summit, that sign was in the back of my mind. Every time the hike was difficult or I didn’t know if I would make it, I would think of that sign. It was my motivation and a right of passage for all those who trek Kilimanjaro.

I am so proud of myself for taking on this challenge and succeeding. I know that this experience is something I will forever be proud to tell people I accomplished. Standing on top of Kilimanjaro has made me feel so alive and purposeful. I feel ready and am excited to check more things off my “bucket list.”

Our time at the summit was short lived. We were only allowed to stay twenty minutes due to the altitude. After drinking my celebratory Coca-Cola I left the summit feeling content with life.

I thought that going down would be easy compared to hiking up Kili. I was proven wrong big time. As we were hiking down I was overwhelmed with exhaustion. Honestly, I could have rolled down the hill and been perfectly fine with it. Rakhi actually did fall a few times coming down the mountain. And Aaron had to be held up by Arnold and Daniel coming down the mountain because he was still sick from the altitude.

It took us about three and a half hours to hike down from the summit back to Millennium Camp. As soon as we arrived at 1:30 PM, we were given an hour and a half to rest and nap if we wanted to.

I used the first thirty minutes to decompress. I felt like I had just been through such an ordeal. My face felt burnt and chapped from the sun and high winds. My eyes would not stop watering because they were so irritated from the wind and all the dirt that had blown into them. My body and muscles ache to the extreme. My ankles and knees feel like someone has been kicking them continuously. I have never felt joint pain this bad in my whole life.

More than all of the physical pain combined, I was mentally and emotionally drained. The mix of emotions and intensity of emotions I felt was ridiculous. I was beyond ecstatic to have made it to the summit, proud of myself, weary from the hike, stressed from the physical pain, and a little bit sad it was over.

Sleeping for an hour was the best thing I could have done for myself. I woke up still in pain and feeling emotional, but it was much less than before I had gone to sleep. At 4 PM we ate a quick lunch of soup and crackers.

Quickly we packed up our camp in order to hike to the final camp in daylight. The porters aren’t supposed to be in transit at night because they don’t have headlamps which makes the hike very dangerous. Arnold had told us earlier that around ten people die on Kilimanjaro every year and mostly they are porters.

As soon as the camp was packed up we left Millennium Camp. It took us longer than it should have to get there because the sun had set and we were forced to hike in the dark. Hiking this leg in the dark was pretty difficult because there were a lot of large, slick rocks than we had to climb down off of.

Fortunately after about three and a half hours of hiking, we made it to the next camp. We immediately sat down and had a dinner of rice, white beans, vegetables, and coconut sauce. Food has never tasted so good.

After eating we had a celebratory champagne toast with our whole group including Arnold, Daniel, and the porters. It definitely made me sad to think that our adventure together had almost come to an end. Come tomorrow I’d be on my way home to the States. But before that I still had to finish getting down the mountain.