The Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity Climb 2010 (post 9 of 12)

This is the ninth of twelve posts on the December 2010 Mt. Kilimanjaro climb.

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Friday 10 December 2010

We woke to sad news. As we were having breakfast Yahoo, as usual, came to ask how we were doing. Then, apparently content that we felt fine, told us his mother had died. He said he had to turn back towards Moshi.

Yahoo explained he had nominated two of the crew – Solomon and Ludovick – to lead us for the remainder of the climb.

It was tragic. I imagined how Yahoo would cope. He said his mother had not been ill and was in her fifties. I later learnt she is from Songea, in southern Tanzania.

Later, I worried how we would cope with his replacement, Solomon. But surprisingly, with Jaffar’s profound ability to engage anyone in endless conversation, the rapport with Solomon turned out to be excellent. On our trek to Barranco camp, we walked continuously under the rain, which I found extremely inconvenient. The bonus was, because it was cloudy and foggy, we did not see far ahead of our steep climb towards Lava Tower, the most testing section of today’s trek. I have learnt from experience that what you don’t see during a climb does not intimidate you.

At a certain point after a brief clearing of the fog, I saw the distinct silhouette of Lava Tower, only a short climb away from a stream where Jaffar had asked to take a break. After he said he felt dizzy I suggested he was not drinking enough water and could have been suffering from dehydration. It turned out I was right because in the next days he drank more water and did not experience any dizziness.

I notice a big difference between Jaffar on the ascent and one on a descent.* The former speaks little; the latter has endless stories to tell. Characteristically, I am left behind on descents; my forte, I have discovered, is during climbs.

*Climbing most mountains, particularly while heading towards the summit, involves both climbs and descents across valleys and ridges.

Next: The breakfast climb

Posts related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/05/the-mwalimu-nyereremt-kilimanjaro_29.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/06/the-mwalimu-nyereremt-kilimanjaro_4.html