 If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know that I love long distance trails. I love the distance. I love that all you have to do is get (safely) from point A to point B each day. I love the conversations you can have on the trail. I love the physical challenge. I even love the unpredictable weather (if you're ready for it, of course!). And, I love feeling the sense of accomplishment when you reach the finish line. The Lemosho route checked every box for me - it was everything I love about hiking. With 7 of routes to the peak of Kilimanjaro there are plenty of options for people to choose from. If you're short on time, take the popular Marangu route (also known as the "Coca Cola Route") straight to the top. But if you prefer a few more days on the trail to acclimatize to the altitude, enjoy stunning scenery, and camp in the most beautiful locations, take the 70 KM Lemosho Route, like we did. 10 reasons why I loved the Lemosho Route:
 Day 1: July 11 - LODGE to LEMOSHO GATE (2,100 MASL) to MTI MKUBWA CAMP/BIG TREE CAMP (2,650 MASL) This is the day I had been waiting for 7 months! One day I woke wake up to a voice saying 'climb Kilimanjaro' and the next thing I was in Moshi, watching guys secure bags onto the top of a bus while meeting 10 strangers who will be our companions for the next eight days - time is a funny thing. When I look back to that first day, we were strangers from 5 countries on the bus, sitting quietly starring out the window taking in the scenery, too shy to talk, and testing the waters on jokes. How soon we would become fast friends who shared an experience of a lifetime. Isn't that one of the great things about travel? Once the bus was ready to go we took off for Lemosho Gate via a stop at a very expensive store to pick up last minute supplies (Tip - bring everything you need as things in the store from batteries to chocolate bars were triple the price). The drive was a couple of hours but passed really quickly. A short stop to let a dazzle of zebras cross the road kept us entertained. (Can we just pause for a minute and think about how cool it is that a group of zebras is called a dazzle?) Once at the gate, the crew unpacked the bus while we sat down for a boxed lunch.  Our group consisted of 12 hikers - from Canada (us), United States, UK, Ireland and Qatar - and this meant that we required a lot of crew. 52 to be exact. We basically became a small village for 8 days. Our extraordinary crew consisted of: - 1 Lead Guide - 5 Assistant Guides - 1 Stomach engineer and several assistant cooks - 12 personal Porters - A lot of other Porters who carried everything else from chairs, tables, tents, cooking supplies, toilets, and more. This photo (left) was taken with the crew moments before we hit the trail enroute to our first camp - MTI MKUBWA.  Today's trail took us through a rain forest. It was vibrant and green and full of forest sounds. It's also the day we learned about 'pole pole'. This is Swahili for slow slow. This is the pace you hike Mount Kilimanjaro. It doesn't matter your physical fitness, you all walk slowly. This is new to me - I generally make pretty good time, mostly because I'm tall and I have a long stride. But I came to truly appreciate this slower pace, it's not because the terrain was difficult, which it wasn't on this day, it's because it allowed me to truly be in the moment, look up, and take it all in. I was hiking Mount Kilimanjaro! Today was full of firsts - first time meeting new friends, first time meeting the crew, first meal in the dinning tent, first night sleeping on the mountain, first time hearing monkeys outside the tent, first washy washy, and first time using the toilet tent - all good stuff. Another first - the nightly briefing about the next day's hike and a health check. While checking our blood oxygen levels (mine was always lower during this test than when I was relaxing in my tent - white coat syndrome like when you're in the Dr's office and your blood pressure is higher than at home ) we got our wake up time, breakfast time, and the general plan so we'd know what to expect. During this time our lead guide also asked us if we were experiencing any headaches and if so how badly were they on a scale of 1-10. We did these health checks every night. Today's hike eased us into the trail with a gradual ascent of 550 meters and it was a beautiful introduction to this incredible mountain.  Day 2: July 12 - MTI MKUBWA CAMP to SHIRA I CAMP (3,505 MASL) I hadn't yet developed my stealth moves to get into and out of the tent - this is where being tall can be a hinderance - and so I embraced my clumsy awkwardness and just went with it. My move: squat down and tumble in. I will admit, my clumsiness never truly evolved into stealthiness and I had to accept that. Thank goodness I can laugh at myself! The other thing I hadn't yet figured out was a morning routine - how to get ready and packed up in time for breakfast so this morning was a bit of a scramble. The one thing I had learned, however, is the value of ear plugs, which I didn't wear overnight and so I didn't really sleep much. The sounds of monkeys howling and people snoring kept me awake much of the night. Mornings on the trail are EARLY. Wakey Wakey today was 5:30am with a coffee or tea. Washy Washy is 30 minutes after Wakey Wakey. Breakfast is 30 minutes after Washy Washy. Somehow that hour flew by like it wasn't more than 10 minutes. The one thing I came to truly love about hiking Mount Kilimanjaro is that everyday was different. Today we left the rain forest and entered the Shira Plateau. To get to the Shira Plateau we had to hike up and over a section called Elephant's Back. This was a steep rocky section that tested all that cardio training I did (FYI - it worked!). While I loved it getting my heart racing, several people in our group struggled with it. But, we all got through it in the end. One of the best surprises of the day was seeing the peak of Kilimanjaro for the first time! Until now it had always been hidden behind the clouds. What a shot of adrenaline it was to see it! It seemed so close and yet so far. Once at camp we had a bit of a rest before our briefing for the next day. And then before dinner, we got to watch the full moon rise over Kilimanjaro as the sun was setting. Spectacular! An incredible end to Day 2.  Day 3: July 13 - SHIRA I CAMP to MOIR HUT (4,200 MASL) Another early morning and another beautiful day! From the heather moorland of the Shira Plateau we made our way through the Alpine Dessert on our way to the Moir Hut campsite. By today, it was becoming quite evident that there was a fast group and a slower group and I was in the slower group - a few of us older folks that always ended up arriving last at camp and lagging behind on the trail. While I consider myself a fairly decent hiker and could probably have kept up with the younger folks in our group, walking slower allowed more time for pausing the take pictures and generally taking in every moment on the mountain - hey, I'm only going to climb this mountain once so I wanted to enjoy every single minute. It's not a race and I was going to get to the top - I just knew it - I was just taking it at 48-year-old pace. When we were about 45-min from camp, we were taking a break and suddenly all our porters came walking over a ridge towards us. They were coming to carry our backpacks the rest of the way! This wouldn't be the first time they did this. We learned that once we see our porters coming towards us, that we were getting close to camp. Today's landscape was breathtaking - let's be honest - everyday the landscape was breathtaking. It's actually impossible to pick a favourite! The one thing that was changing was the air - it was getting very dry. We were at an elevation where very few things grow - some ground flowers and that was about it. We were also experiencing the Kilimanjaro dust - it was everywhere and found its way into every nook and cranny of your body. Every. One. It truly amazed me that it even made its way through at least 3-4 layers of clothes into my belly button. Luckily, no one in our group experienced extreme altitude sickness symptoms yet aside from a mild headache but that was about it. To test our bodies at a higher altitude, we applied the 'walk high, sleep low' practice. After lunch, we did an acclimatization walk up to about 4,600 MASL, (which is about the same altitude as Lava Tower where we would have lunch the next day) and back down to camp. I was relieved that I didn't feel any symptoms on that little jaunt. So I thought I was in the clear but the next day would test my limits. Day 3 seemed like a good day to break out the snack-sized Mars bars we brought to share with everyone. Small gesture but I think everyone was happy to have a little bite of chocolate. Something to think about if you're planning a Kili hike - bring a fave snack from home to share. The nights were colder now and would continue to be until we got back down to the rainforest. This night was the first time I wore all my base layers to bed (merino wool leggings, long sleeved top, socks) and even my fleece, as well as a toque. The lesson here is that you have to stay warm because it's really hard to warm up once you get cold. Another night watching the full moon rise over Kili. Like a spotlight on the end of another exceptional day on the mountain. Next: Days 4 & 5 - when I experience another first - a painful symptom of altitude sickness. Click here.
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