Mar 29, 2008
Journey to Mt. Kilimanjaro
A climbing trip and humanitarian project
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by Steve di Costanzo
As we exited the plane at Kilimanjaro International Airport and made our way down the stairs onto the tarmac, the air felt different than any place I’d ever been. It was warm and breezy, without the humidity of the Caribbean or the dryness of the desert. It had a unique quality and was a fitting start to the climbing trip our group of 10 was embarking upon.
The catalyst for the adventure this past January was Peter Downs, a good friend with a 50th birthday looming and an ongoing battle with adult-onset MS. Peter, a former marathon runner who had seen his athleticism compromised, vowed to get back into shape and bring those he cared for with him on this journey to climb the highest mountain in Africa. While an athletic endeavor was clearly our focus, we all would discover a humanitarian angle that gave this trip a deeper meaning as well.
We put the group together one year ago. The core consisted of Peter, a New York City-based contractor, myself and my brother-in-law, David Ott, a New York-based psychiatrist, and Ames Russell, Peter’s childhood friend from Vermont. We had all completed a climb of Washington’s Mt. Rainier in September 2002 just days before 9/11.
On that trip, Peter had just been diagnosed and he literally used the strength of his arms to help move his faltering leg as he neared the summit. Ames recruited several of his friends from Richmond, Va., all participants in a workout group run by a former Navy Seal. Rounding out the group was a friend, a professional photographer from Charlottesville, Va. That made 10 and the trip was on.
Mount Kilimanjaro consists of three inactive volcanic cones — Kibo, Mawensi and Shira. The highest point is Uhuru Peak on the volcano Kibo, 5,895 meters (19,340 feet). Kibo has a 1.5-mile-wide crater on the top of it. As the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak is one of the so-called Seven Summits (comprised of the highest mountains on each continent).
Our group worked with Jeff Martin, the director of operations for Seattle -based Rainier Mountaineering Inc. RMI was founded by noted climber Lou Whittaker, whose twin brother Jim was the first American to climb Mt. Everest and RMI guide Linden Mallory, who both helped guide us up the seven-day Machame Route. The Machame Route is one of several up the mountain.
Endurance climb
Although no mountaineering skills are needed, it is a strenuous endurance climb exacerbated by the potential of mountain sickness due to the altitude. We chose the Machame Route because it allows for an extra day of acclimatizing. Our guides told us that roughly 15,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro each year with 40% reaching the summit.
The mountain was first climbed in the late 1890s. As far as its name is concerned, there is debate. Some feel it is a derivation from Swahili that breaks up into Kilima (Swahili for “hill, little mountain”) and Njaro, which might be an ancient Swahili word for white or for shining. Because of Kilimanjaro’s equatorial location as well as its high elevation, climbers experience almost every climate type on Earth during the trip to the top.
When we started from the Machame Gate at 5,700 feet, we were walking in shorts. By time we were making our summit attempt, we were bundled up in parkas and gloves. Lower on the mountain we started in rainforest-type conditions. There were dense forests with hanging moss on the trees.
As we climbed higher on successive days we trekked through sparse trees and bush into an alpine desert setting. By the fifth day, it was all rock and scree with little visible vegetation. Our sixth day, and summit day, was the most grueling athletic endeavor any one of us from our group had ever faced. We left our camp in darkness at 1 a.m. donning headlamps and cold weather gear. It was a chilly seven-hour climb straight up switchbacks to the summit.
Our efforts were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise and blue-sky conditions as all 10 in our group got to Uhuru Peak.
We spent an hour at the summit taking pictures, admiring the glacier fields and the 1.5-mile wide snowy crater. With varying degrees of dizziness and headaches, we rallied our strength for the five-hour descent back to 10,000 feet. We all slept well that night.
Orphanage and Children’s Center
Before we left Tanzania, Jeff Martin from RMI arranged a meeting between our group and Unambwe Zephania Kaaya, a wildlife guide/tutor and community leader who with his wife have established the Peace Matunda Orphanage and Children’s Center near Arusha, Tanzania. Kaaya’s mission is to provide orphans and abandoned children with basic education, proper housing and adequate health care.
Kaaya offered us a tour of the schoolhouse and the additional school/residence building they are trying to finish. We met the 15 children living at the orphanage, as well as several international volunteers and a local teacher working at the school. It was very moving to hear some of their stories. Many of the kids had been orphaned due to AIDS and other crises. As a group, we are endeavoring to raise money to help with the completion of the orphanage.
To date they have raised $3,500 in donations to help construct the existing orphanage structure, which is framed out. An additional $9,600 is needed for completion.
For anyone interested in learning more about the project, please visit the GiveMeaning.com Web site and click on www.givemening.com/project/matunda. There is also a photo page at http://picasaweb.google.com/linden.mallory/PeaceMatundaOrphanage.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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