Scots duo run up Mt Kilimanjaro in 7 hours

Scots duo run up Mt Kilimanjaro in 7 hours

The best advice to novice climbers who want to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in one piece and able to enjoy the beautiful scenery at the top is to spend several days (4 to 5) en route before reaching the summit. I have found that the 7-8 day trek (from start to finish) on the Lemosho route allows such a pace. This route allows the climber to gradually acclimatize and avoid mountain sickness.

So my advice is avoid what these two superhumans have done and take your time to reach the summit.

Kilimanjaro Club Member Le Huynh travels to Reunion, Seychelles

Kilimanjaro Club member Le Huynh, a native of Vietnam, is a globetrotter and has traveled to the farthest corners of Earth. He normally sends reports of his travels, this time from Reunion in the Seychelles.

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Mentioning La Reunion to a non-French person and you'll either get a blank stare or something like "what meeting point are you talking about?" Be that as it may, La Reunion holds a special place in the heart of the Vietnamese for it was here that one of our emperors mysteriously met his tragic end.

Mafate: A UNESCO World Heritage site.

In 1907, Emperor Duy Tan was only 7 years old when he became the 11th emperor of the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam. Unwilling to live a life in luxury as a puppet emperor for the French, he tried to organize a rebellion to liberate his beloved country. Unfortunately he was betrayed and captured by the French authorities in 1916.

Since executing the young emperor would turn him into a martyr and spark a revolt, the French sent him into exile to the most remote corner of their empire: the island of La Reunion.

The green field of tamarind trees.

During World War II he joined the Free French Force to resist the Vichy Regime and became lieutenant-colonel under General Charles de Gaulle. It was said that General de Gaulle talked to Vin San, the ex-emperor about returning to Vietnam to reunite the country for possible independence (similar to Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia). Unfortunately his plane disappeared on his way home to Vietnam in 1945 and the great hopes of many died with him as the country once again was torn apart by a senseless war for the next 30 years.

Beautiful black sand from the volcano. Certain sections of Mt. Kilimanjaro have similar volcanic sand.

The first thing a visitor to Reunion will notice is how green it is: all kinds of shades of green undulating as far as the eye can see, lined up countless flowing angel hair waterfalls, accentuated from time to time vivid red or pink flowers...a multi-colour diamond necklace glittering under the sun.

The highest point of Reunion (3,070m).

White clouds dot the horizon, moving leisurely across the sky, stopping here and there to visit the surrounding high peaks. Suddenly, a sweet yet delicate fragrance perfumes the air, stirring long dormant memories of one's youth as whole fields of frangipanier flowers came into view, revitalizing the already pure air with musky almost honey taste. A symphony of singing birds greets the visitor at the end of the day or early in the morning.

Le poses at one of the popular points on the Mafate trek.

Indeed, the best impressionistic tableau can only by painted by mother nature: no mortal artist can have access to such a palate of infinite shades of that colour of life. Surprisingly one is never saturated by so much stimuli to all of one's senses. On the contrary, your body and soul are soothed by a feeling of deep satisfaction as you relishingly immerse in such beautific surroundings, so much that you may never want to leave....

Oldoinyo Lengai, the mountain of God

I have plans to climb Oldoinyo Lengai, plans which have been on hold for the past several years. It took me close to a decade between the time I decided to climb until I eventually climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008. So, Oldoinyo Lengai might have to wait for a while.

It is an active volcano and the last eruption was in 2010 - the first in 1883 - and the eruption is still described as "on going." Which provides me an excuse for postponing my climb. The temperature of its lava is said to be only 520 degrees Centigrade. I interpret this to mean there are far more hotter volcanoes on this planet.

The highest point on Oldoinyo Lengai is only 2,980m above sea level; Kilimanjaro's summit is 5,895m above sea level. And yet I have heard from those who have been on this volcano that its steep slopes create a formidable challenge to the climber. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro involves continuous instances of going up and down, particularly during the initial few days on the Lemosho route. I am told Oldoinyo Lengai constitutes a continuous upward movement, all the way to the top.

Some of the information in this post accessed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Doinyo_Lengai.

Mt. Kilimanjaro as seen from Longido

While on a study tour of the Cultural Tourism Enterprise at Longido near the Kenyan border in February 2011, I woke up and looked through the window and saw a silhouette of a mountain against the rising sun. Having taken an interest in mountains and mountaineering in recent years since I first climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008 I took out my camera and as I held it up against the window of my guest house bedroom two children who were walking with pails on their way to fetch water, a boy and a girl, came into view on my viewfinder and the boy shouted at me saying, “That’s a very bad habit.”

Mt. Kilimanjaro as seen from Longido.

I did not respond, but angrily waved him to rush out of my camera’s sight and took this photo. It was only after I observed the photo days later did I realize I had a photo of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I had never observed the mountain from the western side as far west as Longido.

The sherpas of Mt. Kilimanjaro

The Sherpas of Mt. Kilimanjaro are known as wagumu, Swahili for tough ones.

There is little dispute that they are engaged in strenuous work, carrying heavy loads of food, tents, and equipment for the mountain climbing expeditions. It takes only a pass through some of the tough sections of the climb, for example, the Breakfast Climb from Barranco to Karanga camp, for any novice trekker carrying a much lighter day pack, to realize that the wagumu are indeed of a different breed.

They soon leave behind the groups of trekkers led on a slower pace by the mountain guides as they rush with the heavy loads to the next destination to set up the tents and meals for the trekkers.

Kibo peak is seen behind a group of Kilimanjaro porters, posing with two trekkers, on the last day of an expedition at Mweka Camp. Photo courtesy: Dmitry.

The tough work invariably engenders a lavish spending spree after each successive expedition. On receiving their pay, the majority of the Kilimanjaro porters are said to spend their money excessively on drinking binges. A barmaid in Moshi told me recently that he has seen many who drink their entire earnings in a matter of hours and then inflict wounds on themselves and stagger back to their homes to lie to their wives they were mugged.

Posts related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-mt-kilimanjaro-again-post-5-of-10.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/01/the-mwalimu-nyereremt-kilimanjaro_2.html

Jaffar Amin is now a member of the Kilimanjaro Club

The Kilimanjaro Club lists people I know who have scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro, including those who join me every year on the annual Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity Climb and those who join me for my non-charity climbs. 

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When Jaffar Amin visited Butiama in April 2009 I mentioned to him my annual charity climb: The Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity Climb and he said he would join me for my next climb.

Eventually we set off on the Lemosho route on 7th December 2010 and reached the summit on the morning of 13th December.

On the first day of our trek at Londrossi Gate, with me (left), Jaffar Amin (center), and our guide, Yahoo.

He becomes the seventh member of the Kilimanjaro Club. The updated list is:

No.	Name	Nationality	Age	Point Reached*	Summit Date
1.	Madaraka Nyerere	Tanzanian	48	Uhuru Peak	24th August 2008
2.	Le Huyhn	Vietnamese	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	25th August 2008
3.	Markus Geiger	Swiss	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	2009
4.	Gerald Hando	Tanzanian	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	6 October 2009
5.	Notburga Maskini	Tanzanian	49	Stella Point	6 October 2009
6.	Dmitry	Russian(?)	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	13 December 2010
7.	Jaffar Amin	Ugandan	44	Uhuru Peak	13 December 2010

*A climber is awarded a certificate for reaching one of three elevations: Uhuru Peak (5,895 AMSL), Stella Point (5,745 AMSL), or Gillman's Point (5,685 AMSL).

Post related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2013/05/dmitry-is-latest-member-of-kilimanjaro.html

Dmitry is the latest member of the Kilimanjaro Club

The Kilimanjaro Club lists people I know who have scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro, including those who join me every year on the annual Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity Climb and those who join me for my non-charity climbs. 

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On 13th December 2010, during my third ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I reached Stella Point at an altitude of 5,756m just before sunrise with Solomon, my mountain guide, and met Dmitry with his two guides, one of whom was Freddy. Both of our teams reached Uhuru Peak at around the same time just after 7:00 that morning.

At Stella Point, Dmitry (right) and Freddy, his guide (left) with another guide.

At the summit, I handed my camera to Dmitry and asked him to take a photo of the event of the day as I shook hands with my guide Solomon (right). 

  The updated list of the Kilimanjaro Club is:

No.	Name	Nationality	Age	Point Reached*	Summit Date
1.	Madaraka Nyerere	Tanzanian	48	Uhuru Peak	24th August 2008
2.	Le Huyhn	Vietnamese	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	25th August 2008
3.	Markus Geiger	Swiss	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	2009
4.	Gerald Hando	Tanzanian	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	6 October 2009
5.	Notburga Maskini	Tanzanian	49	Stella Point	6 October 2009
6.	Dmitry	Russian(?)	Unknown	Uhuru Peak	13 December 2010

*A climber is awarded a certificate for reaching one of three elevations: Uhuru Peak (5,895 AMSL), Stella Point (5,745 AMSL), or Gillman's Point (5,685 AMSL).

Posts related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2010/12/notburga-maskini-and-gerald-hando.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2013/05/jaffar-amin-is-now-member-of.html