Trip Reports

Kilimanjaro - Umbwe Route - 21 Sep to 2 Oct '19

Kilimanjaro - Umbwe Route, Mungo Ross, Oct 2019 23

Written by Leader Mungo Ross, October 2019

There’s another kata scarf flying from the summit of Kilimanjaro. The blessing scarves imprinted with the eight auspicious signs may be a gesture of Buddhist tradition and associated more with Nepal or Tibet, but when we make the mountains our office, classroom and church without the boundaries of institution or dogma, the gestures can surely find their sincere meaning.

It was very sad to learn on arriving at the keys Hotel in Moshi of the passing of two of the senior Kilimanjaro Guides – John Mtui who died a couple of years ago, and Thomas Ameela who had only been buried the day before. Both had led many trips for Jagged Globe, Thomas had been the Senior Guide on the Millenium trip, guiding on Kilimanjaro had been their lives. So fitting that we could allow the wind to share celebrating our ascent of the mountain with their spirits through the flapping fabric of the kata scarf tied to the sign post on the roof of Africa.

“We” in this case was the next Jagged Globe group to take on the challenge that is Kilimanjaro. Eleven of us brought together by chance (six were already an established group of friends, two others pals already) very quickly became a well-knit cooperative team, some with considerable previous experience of climbing mountains, some with absolutely none! All very much up for the journey though and on their varying gradients of learning-curve made light work of Little Meru before assembling on the Summit of Mt Meru at dawn the next morning (with just a little mild AMS thrown into the mix for good measure). The night back in Moshi is a welcome respite, an opportunity to shower and catch up on sleep, before the really hard work begins.

The mini-safari on the lower slopes of Meru (elephant, giraffe, baboon, buffalo, warthog, zebra) was an appreciated bonus; the detour through the foothills of Kili necessitated by the heavy rain turning the dirt road into something more like a rally course, as a consequence the late departure on trek then delay in getting the Forrest Cave Camp established ‘till well after dark in “challenging” conditions, provided something of the “epic” element to the expedition. It is meant to be an adventure, right?

The acclimatisation on Meru proved it’s value (along with just a little Diamox), everyone managed to dig deep enough (some perhaps deeper than others) to see us all at Uhuru Peak under a blue sky; certainly for some – the hardest thing they have ever done.

Climbing a six thousand meter mountain is never going to be “easy”, even if thoroughly acclimatised. The challenge of Kili is that most of us making for the summit are not really – our billions of cells are telling our brains that they are not very happy deprived as they are of the oxygen they are all so accustomed to, while our brains are telling us that we can do it. This time, this group, everyone did indeed do it.

Statistically a successful trip – 100% summits on all three peaks (Little Meru, Mt Meru, Kilimanjaro); and in every other respect a successful trip too – fun, cheerful company; faultless support from our team of porters, cooks and guides; the almost-taken-for-granted seamless organisation and management of Jagged Globe and Keys Hotel; the brief time we have shared together and the memories we have taken home. May the winds continue to blow our thoughts and prayers through that kata scarf left on the summit of Kilimanjaro.

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