I traveled to Tanzania in late February to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with seven other hikers, five from Bloomington and two from Indianapolis. We planned to optimize our chances of reaching the summit through physical training, outfitting, and hiring local professional guides. It took all of that and more!
After 26 hours of travel, the hike began the next morning in a lush tropical rainforest, temperature 85 degrees F, humidity off the charts. Over five days, we gradually added layers of clothing as we passed through the temperate zone, with its unusual variety of trees, flowers and insects, and on past the tree line where there was no vegetation, only a dry lunar landscape-like expanse of scattered volcanic rock. No trees or animals. We heard only the sound of our conversations and the crunch of glasslike rocks under our hiking boots. Volcanic ash was everywhere, and I coughed it up for days after I returned home.
Our support guides worked hard to help us reach the top. We could not have done it without them. Twenty-four porters, all local Tanzanians, ages 16 to 23 years old, carried the gear – food, water, tents, sleeping bags, cook stoves, chairs, and tables for the dining tent. They broke down the camp site each day, hiked on ahead to set up for the evening, and ran back down the mountain to assist us throughout the day. We hikers carried a day back with our personal items.
A Maasai warrior was second-in- command, overseeing the porters and communications with base camp. He talked effortlessly about his life and the village where he lived when not working on the mountain. Also from Tanzania, our group leader was 26 years old, and a college graduate who spoke excellent English who was earning money to return to school to study dentistry. We were in excellent hands.
Burning around 6,000 calories a day, we were “carbed” up at each meal. Foods served to us were millet porridge, tea, coffee, juice, fruits and vegetables, bread, lentils, beans, rice, pasta, potatoes, eggs, sausage, chicken, and peanut butter and jelly, plus lots of water throughout the day.
On our fifth day, we began the climb at midnight to reach the summit by sunrise. Headlamps on, hiking poles in hands, single file, this last leg was the hardest. Thin air and cold temperatures increased the challenge. At the peak, it was -20 degrees F. Most of us wore six layers – in other words, all the clothing we’d packed. All eight of us reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, standing together in intense sunlight and the clearest blue sky at 19,340 feet.
In reflection, I was most impressed by the Tanzanians I spoke with – how literate and respectful they were about U.S. culture. We knew only what we’d read. I admired their belief that one does not discuss politics or religion in public and are therefore able to avoid conflict and maintain their personal freedoms. For me, this trip was the culmination of a goal I set when I was a teenager and one that I actively worked at getting in better physical shape six months before our departure. My pre-trip training and the climb became my personal anti-burnout program from medicine. This physical and mental goal helped me focus on something other than medicine and politics. As physicians, we need to take better care of ourselves. I recommend it! I want to thank Dr Tarek Sibai for repairing a biceps injury I sustained last fall and for the assistance from my fitness trainer, Greg Simmons, and Iron Pit Gym.
