This would be my mom’s first international adventure trip. When she first asked if she could join me in Africa, I said “Of course. Yes.” But I didn’t believe that she would actually come with me. Traveling wasn’t really her thing. I sent her my itinerary with the trip total and shortly after she informed me that the money was in my account to book the trip. I asked her if she read the itinerary. She said she trusted me. I booked the trip. A few weeks later, I asked if she had read the itinerary and she once again told me she trusted me. Finally, she read the itinerary or I walked her through it, I don’t remember which. “We are climbing a mountain?!?” “Yes, mom, we are climbing a mountain. Actually, the tallest one in Africa.” “We are diving?!” “Yes, mom, we are scuba diving.” “Jaci, I can’t dive.” Luckily, she still had plenty of time to prepare even though she had trusted me and didn’t read the itinerary until about a month after booking her first trip to Africa. She spent the summer hiking with one of her best friends one to two times per week and signed up for a diving course and worked through her anxiety about breathing underwater (or even just wearing a regulator). I am so impressed by her. I just kept up with my regular exercise routine (CrossFit at the time) and have never actually gotten scuba certified but find myself on boats with divemasters and everything works out. This is something that I should probably address at some point in time. I did the rest of the preparatory work, i.e. vaccines, malaria pills, and packing.
Day 1: Fly from Cody (COD) to Seattle (SEA)
Day 2/3: Fly from Seattle (SEA) to Mount Kilimanjaro (JRO)
Day 4: Arusha – Ilboru Lodge
Day 5: Kilimanjaro Shira – Shira One Bivouac
Day 6: Kilimanjaro Shira – Shira Hut Bivouac
Day 7: Kilimanjaro Shira – Moir Hut Bivouac
Day 8: Kilimanjaro Shira – Lava Tower Bivouac
Day 9: Kilimanjaro Shira – Karanga Valley Bivouac
Day 10: Kilimanjaro Shira – Barafu Hut Bivouac
Day 11: Kilimanjaro Shira – Millennium Bivouac
Day 12: Arusha – Ilboru Lodge
Day 13: Ngorongoro Karatu – Tloma Lodge (option to go via Lake Manyara)
Day 14: Southcentral Serengeti – Olduvai Camp
Day 15: Central Serengeti – Ronjo Camp (via Ngorongoro Crater)
Day 16: Central Serengeti – Ronjo Camp
Day 17: Mafia Island – Butiama Beach
Day 18: Mafia Island – Butiama Beach
Day 19: Mafia Island – Butiama Beach
Day 20: Mafia Island – Butiama Beach
Day 21/22: Fly from Mafia (IATA) to Seattle (SEA)
Day 23: Fly from Seattle (SEA) to Cody (COD)
My first stop was Washington State, where my mom still lived. At this point, we had both taken our first round of malaria pills. I hadn’t noticed any side effects, but my mom did. So much so, that she ended up back in the doctor’s office to try a different kind. We went over our packing checklists together and repacked both our bags as a double check that we were not forgetting anything.
Our flights went SEA, Washington to IAD, Washington DC to ADD, Ethiopia to JRO, Tanzania. As the plane touched down in Ethiopia, my mom looked over at me and said “this is big right now.” I remembered my first time touching down in a foreign country, Buenos Aires, except I was by myself. I am glad that I could be there with her for her first international trip to help ease some anxiety.
We landed in Tanzania and my mom ditched me to rush through customs. That woman has no leisurely pace. We had a taxi waiting for us outside to take us to the hotel for the night. As we left the airport in an old van, we noticed kids herding goats alongside the road and many motorbikes. I have never thought of motorbikes as cargo vehicles until I saw them in Africa. It is amazing how much they can carry on a bike if balanced just perfectly. My mom asked our driver why there were so many bikes. He informed us that they were cheap so that is why they were so prevalent. My mom went on to explain that she had some motorcycles as well, a Harley and a BMW. Our driver replied, “Those are expensive.” I didn’t feel unsafe in this instance but I did feel a bit uncomfortable as my mom unknowingly flaunted her wealth. I wouldn’t say that my family was rich by any definition, but I did grow up with a lot more than most people.
My mom was relieved when we made it to the hotel in the densely populated city of Arusha. As we sat around the pool that night after dinner at the hotel, they had performers come out and dance. This seemed so touristy and I didn’t take any photos but just observed. Even if this wasn’t part of their traditional culture, it was part of their current culture which was probably a blend of their roots and modern-day opportunities to entertain.
The next morning, we repacked our bags and checked everything at the hotel that we didn’t need to take with us on our climb. We would have porters pack our gear and only keep what we needed for that day on us but our porters had a weight limit that we had to stay under. We loaded up and headed to our starting point. We met our trekking group which included a family of four from Mozambique and three guides. I had selected a Shira route that was five days up and three days down. It gave me more time on the mountain opposed to other routes and let me explore some more remote areas void of crowds for the first few days. The closer we got to the summit, the more people we encountered.
Our porters would set up our tent as soon as we arrived at each new site. I offered to help as I had experience setting up tents and they turned down my assistance and one of the guides ended up taking me on a short walk by myself each time. I realized that this offer was not being received the way I intended. I got a few extra views of the mountain as we explored but stopped offering to help after the second time. I am not sure what they were interpreting from my offer to assist but my goal wasn’t to offend or make them uncomfortable.
It drizzled the first couple of days of trekking but we still had some amazing views. It was somewhere around day two that my mom realized she was having a reaction to the alternative malaria pills that she had picked up. She was also struggling with the food. She has always been a bit of a picky eater and we discussed the possibility that she became a picky eater because many foods didn’t really agree with her. On day four we scaled Barranco Wall. This wall is steep enough that it could probably use a few anchors but they have left it open for us to scramble up it without ropes. My mom was really in poor shape by now with her body rejecting new foods and the malaria pills. This is when the first breakdown happened as she was stuck unable to move up the wall for a bit clinging on for dear life. I stayed calm and offered words of encouragement but outside of that, I was pretty useless. Our guides were amazing, patient, and actually useful in getting her up the wall. It was after this event that she decided to ditch the malaria pills and we would be back in the States by the time she would need treatment if she contracted it.
As we continued to ascend, the weather got colder. The first time we spotted snow, the two boys of the family that we were trekking with started shrieking and instantly started playing in it. This is the first time they had ever seen snow! It was fun to see their excitement.
I remember seeing all the city lights below from where we camped one night. It felt so safe being up on this mountain. Cities have never been a place that I felt at ease and I would be back down in one for a short while in between this part of my trip and the next. I view cities as something that I get to pass through that make me grateful for the rural and remote parts of the world. And they typically have great food and I love food.
Once we were at a higher altitude, Kilimanjaro looked similar to what I would imagine Mars looks like. No vegetation, just rocks. We made it into base camp mid-afternoon. We tried to eat a heavy dinner and get to bed early because we would be waking up in the middle of the night to start our final ascent to the summit. This base camp was positioned more or less on the side of the mountain. I put my bag at the bottom of the tent to push my feet against it to keep me from sliding down.
My mom was using dissolving tablets under her tongue to combat nausea and the smell of the food was getting to her (let alone the taste). She has traveled since this trip and brings plenty of her own energy bars that she knows agree with her system. What started out as a tropical trek, was now bitter cold. We woke up around 2 am, tried to eat again, and filled our water bottles with treated water (I had a hard time with the smell and taste of this one). Headlamps on, water bottles in our packs upside down so that when they froze from the top down we would still have liquid water, and puffy coats on we started our final trek to the summit. We made it to the top at daybreak to watch the sunrise. We hung out for twenty minutes freezing and taking photos. It was estimated to be around -40 degrees Fahrenheit. I was pretty exhausted at this point. I felt great until about 14k feet, but I have to admit that fatigue set in and I kept getting bloody noses above that.
We made it back to camp and our porters that were assigned our gear met us a few miles out and offloaded our day packs for us. I am not sure if this is customary, but it was welcomed. I am honestly so impressed that my mom made it. I can’t say for sure if I would have continued if I was in her condition. She amazes me. We tucked back in our tents for a quick nap before heading down to the next camp. We woke back up around noon and started our descent.
I love how everyone talks about the climb when we are talking about summiting mountains but the downhill wasn’t something I really ever thought to consider. My knees were not a fan of the two-plus days of continual downhill. When we got to camp that night, my mom had her second breakdown. She told me she was done and wanted a helicopter. I informed her that I didn’t think our insurance policy covered a helicopter for this situation. I read through the policy and she was adamant that she wanted a helicopter. I called our guide over and explained the situation. He informed her that they don’t really have helicopters here for that. She informed me she was going to have a breakdown after our guide departed our tent. I asked her if she wanted to turn on her phone and see if she had service to call Fritz (her significant other). I asked if she wanted to send a text from the satellite phone. I asked if she wanted me to talk or if should I be quiet. She just cried. I eventually just sat there in silence while she cried it out for a bit. She said “okay” when she was done. Again, I am not the most helpful human in these situations.
My mom mustered up the strength to hike all the way down the mountain. It was slow and constant progress. I am reminded that it is the toughest moment in life that shows us how strong we are.
As we packed up from our final camp, our guides informed us that we would be allowed to gift anything we wanted to our porters including clothing. He said they had no problem washing them if they were dirty. In a previous conversation, we had been informed that the average wage was around $70 per month at the time we were there. I had brought an especially nice pair of warm socks to summit in. There is really no better feeling in the world than a fresh brand new pair of good-quality Merino wool socks. I only wore them for that one day. I folded them up and put a packet of hand warmers inside and some chocolate that I had packed with them and gifted them to my porter. He expressed his gratitude. We did do tips as well but the gifts felt a bit more heartfelt.
Climbing Kilimanjaro with my mom was a transformational experience that I’ll always cherish. It’s a testament to the fact that age, gender, or any other societal norms are just constructs, and we can achieve anything we set our minds to. If you’re considering embarking on this adventure, I’d encourage you to go for it; it’ll be an experience of a lifetime. And if you’re thinking of doing it with your mom, even better, it’ll be a journey that you’ll both treasure forever.
Back at our hotel in Ashura, we enjoyed relaxing in the pool for a bit, letting our bodies recover for an evening before we headed out on a safari the next day!
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