Pole! Pole! Kilimanjaro

Day 5 Kibo Hut -> Gillman's Point -> Uhuru Peak -> Kibo Hut -> Horombo Hut

It was midnight and clear. We could see every single star in the sky. I couldn't remember when in the past I had ever seen so many stars and constellations – it's even more beautiful than what I saw at the Outward Bound rafting night.

We ascended along a steep zigzag trail, slowly slowly. In pitch dark, there was this broken line of headlights, moving gradually. It's like some stars moving on the ground, mirroring the starry sky. I kept looking into the sky as it was so beautiful and saw a couple of shooting stars.

I was feeling quite well until around 5300m. I started to feel bad in the stomach and some headache. Then at about 5500m, I threw up. Once you throw up, you actually feel much better. For me, on my way to the peak, I threw up three times, and every time I did so, I gained some more strength, which could last for about an hour and then I felt like vomiting again. Shortly after the first vomit, we reached the Gillman's Point at 5681 m at 5AM. Steven asked me if I'd like to continue, I said yes without any hesitation.

From Gillman's Point, we started to walk on the ridge of the crater. It became less steep but still got some ascending. We could see some snow caps and glaciers on the way. Luckily, it was not very windy that morning – it could be very windy once you are on the crater and the wind chill is ruthlessly freezing. After 90 minutes, the sun started to come out when we started to walk in glaciers. It was amazingly beautiful.

At 6:45AM, we reached the Uhuru Peak. Of course, I forgot about all the altitude sickness and took lots of pictures.

On the way down, I started to feel bad again. But then I had nothing to puke anymore. I was so out of shape and my legs were so weak that I couldn't walk very fast. Plus the headache, I was not even entirely conscious. My guide came to my rescue and with his aid, we quickly descended. Thanks to him, I saved many of my brain cells. Once I was below 5300 m, my headache was gone and I didn't feel like vomiting anymore. So 5300 m might be my physical limit on altitude survival. It's good to know your limit.

We were back in Kibo Hut by 10AM and had a hot brunch before quickly descending to Horombo Hut.

That night, I had such a good sleep.

Gillman's Point (5681m)

First sun light

Sun has come out

100 m away from the peak

Uhuru Peak (5895m)

Mt. Mawenzi and glaciers

Glacier close-up