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In a quick decision just before Risa left, I sent home all of my stuff except for a backpack. Including my laptop, which is why I’m so behind in blogging. I wanted to be mobile in order to travel. Right when I got back from Zanzibar, I packed up all my stuff and said goodbye to Dar, my apartment and friends.
My apartment in Dar
Tuesday morning I took a 10-hour bus ride to Arusha. I spent a day there to attend a Rotary meeting and see John, our safari guide from when my family came to visit. On Thursday I was heading to Kenya. I felt a pang of sadness to be leaving Tanzania after spending the last 8 months here. I would miss the friendly “hellos” from strangers on the street. I would miss speaking Swahili. And I would miss living in a place I had learned to understand and grown to appreciate.
“Pole pole” the guide said time and again as we trekked up Mt. Meru. Standing at 4562m (14,967 ft), it is Tanzania’s second highest peak and Africa’s 5th tallest freestanding mountain. Let’s just say it is no anthill. It would take 4 days to climb and the high altitude certainly wouldn’t make it any easier.
Day 1: Climb to Mariakamba Hut at 2500m. We hiked past streams, plains and rolling hills. We saw buffalos, giraffes, zebras and wild pigs. It was perfectly silent less the birds chirping. With our spirits and excitement still high, we arrived at the hut four hours later and just in time to watch the sunset. After a nice dinner, hot cocoa and some cards, we set off to bed in our cozy little hut.
Day 2: An early wakeup to climb to Saddle Hut at 3500m. It was a clear day and we saw some fantastic views, including our ultimate goal, the summit. With a little music to keep us pumped, we made it up the 300+ stairs and reached Saddle Hut by 1pm. The porters and our bags were already there. The porters actually gave us a head start, but passed us along the way with our heavy bags perched up on their heads. Saddle Hut was significantly cooler because of the altitude, but some hot roasted peanuts and hot chocolate warmed us up.
Little Meru: After a few hours rest, we were ready for the trek up Little Meru, standing at 3801m. A practice run for the actual summit, it is a chance to acclimatize and see some nice views. It only took an hour from Saddle Hut and made us all feel pretty confident for the actual summit. We clearly had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
The Summit: On the way to the summit I wanted to title this blog entry: “This f*#$n sucks, G-d please just kill me now.” Yes, it really was that hard. We started out at 2am, using the light of the full moon and our headlamps. The temperature was below zero and the wind whipped around us. We slowly hiked up a path of gravel, and the loose rocks meant two steps forward and one step back. The view around me was stunning, but the second I lifted my head to look around I felt disoriented and feared falling off the mountain. When it was 5am and we were nearing the summit, the landscape changed to large rocks. It took so much energy to put one foot in front of the other and I was constantly out of breath – effects from the altitude. I was miserable to say the least, and I kept thinking that I couldn’t believe I paid someone to go through this and definitely did not want to climb Kili anymore By 6am the sun rose, and it was a bit warmer. At that point, I could see the summit and it didn’t look far at all, yet it took another hour and a half to reach. When I finally made it, all I wanted to do was sit. I was exhausted and was just praying there was some sort of slide down. Of course there wasn’t. A few pictures and it was time to head back.
Day 3: The descent to Mariakamba Hut. After a 5-hour hike to the summit it was time to turn back. I was definitely dreading it, but what took 5 hours to get up only took 2 hours to get down. It went by quickly, but it was painful on the knees and the front of my toes. The route was slippery with skree (small loose rocks), and at one point I even fell backwards! What amazed me the most was the steepness of the mountain on either side of the path. Seriously, if I had seen what I was doing on the way up, I would have never gone. We scaled rocks with endless drops below, and walked on slippery paths just along the crater rim. I guess that is why they summit in the dark…so people don’t realize what a dangerous excursion they are getting themselves into. I’ve heard mixed statements on how many accidents there have been from people falling off the mountain (a questions I only asked once I had descended safely).
After the two-hour hike back to Saddle Hut, we ate some food and rested a bit before continuing down to Mariakamba Hut. At this point, the 300+ stairs were pretty miserable, and my constant stops from some “stomach problems” didn’t help the situation at all. Possibly from the boiled, but still green stagnant water that I drank on the way to the summit? Let’s just say thank god for ciproflaxin! I was more than happy when we reached Mariakamba Hut (with proper toilets) by 3pm. The rest of the evening was spent conversing with other travelers about the miserable ascent to the summit, the painful descent, and wishing there was a masseuse and some beer for purchase on the mountain. By 9pm we were all ready for bed.
Day 4: Final Descent. Despite a few blisters, very sore legs and pain in the knees, we set out at 8am for the final descent down to Momella Gate. For some crazy reason, we opted for the longer 14km route, mostly to see the famous fig tree. Games like geography kept us entertained for quite a while, and I think we all learned some African geography from our guide. We passed the famous fig tree, which has a large hole in the middle big enough for a car to drive through. Although probably not worth the extra 10km, the hole that was made by elephants is pretty cool. We finished by noon and had a celebratory lunch before heading back to a hotel in Arusha for a much needed shower.
Now that it is over with, time to get pumped for the climb up Kilimanjaro with Risa and Elior in February! Man, what am I getting myself into…
Favorite gear I brought on the mountain: 3 liter camelbak, iPod, sandals for the campsite, headlamp, no sweat hiking socks, quick dry running shirts.
Photos from Mt. Meru trek: http://picasaweb.google.com/jarasmall/MtMeru02?authkey=7eJF7ikz7zc#
