KILIMANJARO
As an active lifestyle photographer, I admire those who challenge themselves physically and show determination in overcoming personal obstacles. I recently embarked on an intense climb, up one of the biggest mountains in the world. I hiked Kilimanjaro. Our trip started with a safari. We arrived early enough to do a 6-day journey. If you're going to Africa, how can you not see animals?
Our Jeep was customized for safari. The roof popped up allowing us to grab the railings as we zipped through the Serengeti. Funny enough, the seats were covered with the same fabric used as clothing by the local villagers, the Maasai.
While crossing this stream, we found that we were being followed by a herd of zebras. We stopped abruptly allowing the zebras to get a closer look at the humans.
En route to the Serengeti, we were greeted with song and dance from local Maasai children. Performing their "jumping dance", they sported painted faces and artisanal beadwork jewelry. The beads are made of ivory, charcoal, and wood. We tipped with chocolate and local currency.
Only 15 feet from our Jeep, this lioness had just finished hunting. She was full-on food coma. With barely enough energy, she lifted her head signaling us to keep our distance.
The standard dress of the Maasai tribe are sheets of fabric called Shúkà that are draped in different ways to create signature looks. Originally made from animal skin they changed to cotton cloth in the 1960s. The preferred color is red - signifying danger, bravery, strength and unity.
This boy had to be only 6 years old and was in charge of a herd of 30+ cattle. When one would stray... away he would run.
It was common to see giraffes grazing in the morning sun. There was a regal feeling when locking eyes with one. Very majestic and gentle animals.
I grabbed a family-sized bag of Hershey Kisses as a snack while on safari. We kept them in the Jeep’s cooler to share with the Maasai children.
This hippo pool had at least 100 hippos. We couldn’t believe how densely snuggled up they were. Did you know the average female hippo weighs in at 3,000 pounds? And males ranging from 3,500 to 9,500 pounds. WHAT!?!?
Spending New Year's Day in the Ngorongoro Crater, we stopped for lunch snapping photos outside of the Jeep. PH: Kelly Pettersen
Africa gifted us with many surprise moments. This was a five-second interaction with a jackal traveling on our Serengeti road. After two seconds of eye contact, he turned, skipping down the road.
On our final day of safari we visited an authentic Maasai Village. Our touring company donates a portion of our trip to help build and mantain a school in the village. Although we couldn’t communicate through language, I was moved by the Maasai's presence in front of the camera.
The children of the Maasai were welcoming and sweet. I shot a video of them waving and when they saw the playback they were overjoyed yet confused. They began waving at their own reflection in the video.
Ascending to our final camp, we took one more look at the Ngorongoro crater. This crater was formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed about two to three million years ago. Over 25,000 animals call this natural enclosure their home. Zebra, wildebeest and buffalo are the only species found to migrate out of the crater.
This was day one of our climb in front of the Machame route gate. There are multiple routes up Kili, ours was the second most popular route and spanned 7 days. Ph:Maasai Wanderings
On the trail we were given porters to carry our heavy bags. In our personal backpacks we carried only the essentials of water, snacks and a change of clothes in case the weather decided to shift. Mount Kilimanjaro is also nicknamed the “Chameleon Mountain” because each day can bring a different climate. Ph: Robison
Day one climb was a reality check. Dressed in shorts and t-shirts, we were hit with a two and a half hour torrential downpour in the African rainforest. This was our camp the morning after.
This is Holson. He was the captain of this ship - he had sub guides and a crew of 40 to support us. We heard people would call him "The Priest" because he looks like he could be a priest. He rarely smiled because most of the time you would see him leading the crew or assessing how our trip was doing. Lead the way Holson.
Most of the hike was relatively flat as we snaked our way up the mountain but there were portions where the rock scrambling had us gripping the side of rocks with one hand.
Every morning we would monitor our vitals. One of the biggest contributors of altitude sickness is a lack of oxygen in our blood. Usually above 90 is fine... one day one of us dropped down to 60 and she started having intense headaches and nausea. Not a fun day.
After two days of hiking we reached Shira Camp at 11,500 ft. Some of us still had wet clothing from the downpour of the first day. Using leftover string, we made makeshift clothing lines but woke up to frozen socks because the temperature at night would fall below 35 degrees.
This is Nick! He inspired me everyday that we could do this. He just woke up and we’re on our way to breakfast.
Our camps would vary each night from a rainforest to a desert. Tonight we slept between mountain ridges overlooking a horizon of clouds. Seeing clouds beneath us really put in perspective how high we really were.
Nick took this shot of me putting on my gaiters. Gaiters cover the tops of your boots to keep out the ash and debris when you’re walking for long hours. Get them if you’re going to climb Kilimanjaro. There's a lot of what they call "scree" on the hike - small volcanic rocks and debris. Ph: Nick Pennink
This is Antje, Judy and Scott in our mess tent. Our breakfasts were simple with bread, oatmeal with peanut butter or added chocolate, and sometimes sausage or eggs. Dinners were hearty and nutrient dense - usually some sort of protein of sliced beef stew, fried chicken, rice or pasta. Usually we finished dinner with some sliced fruit - mango or pineapple.
After awhile the terrain started looking the same day after day. Most of the time this was my view... boots in front of me.
Our group climbing up the Barranco wall. This was where the hike turned semi-technical. Half of this day was bouldering up the side of the mountain between large rocks and trying to not look down the 1000 ft. drop. Ph:Robison
The sun was strong on the day of the Barranco wall. We reached the top and it was gone… because we were surrounded by clouds. Ph: Robison
Most days we would hike for 5-8 hours. Our mid day lunch was always given to us at breakfast and we relished the midday break for lunch. Fried Chicken, bread roll, potato chips, mango juice and chocolate bar. Feet up!
I’m just noticing now that one of our guides Husseni had this large umbrella all week. He was the only one during the downpour with an umbrella which then he doubled as his walking stick.
This is Antje. I found out during the hike that she works for Google. Looking at our group of 14, we all came from different lines of work sectors. Some of us work in art or fashion, some in event planning or banking and a bunch of us worked in technology.
Nights could be tough and cold but we always came together to eat dinner. One of my favorite things about meals - the Cadbury Drinking Chocolate. I made hot chocolate any chance I got. I even added it to my oatmeal in the morning.
We pooled together some money to get a personal portable toilet tent with actual "flushing" water. The public toilets on the route were simply holes in the floor with a wood box for privacy - you could smell them from 20 feet away. This was the best $42 I ever spent.
Our guides were ready for anything and always looked so put together. This was Mandela - for real... he looks like he jumped out of GQ's guide for hikers. I was taking notes.
Some of our porters have climbed Kilimanjaro over 50 times. They were so quick on the trail compared to us, arriving hours to the next camp before we did.
Some days we would get to our camp exhausted and the first thing we wanted to do was just nap. We got to this camp and the sun was shining outside, so our tent was like a greenhouse. So warm and cozy we fell asleep on our backpacks.
One of my favorite portraits of Nick. He was cleaning the dirt from his hands. Wet wipes served so many purposes from face wash, to makeshift showers.
When thinking back on this journey I recall the sunsets at every camp. Usually just satisfied that we arrived to camp, I was ready for dinner and excited for sleep. Although the days were long I had to remind myself to take it all in - to enjoy the beauty of the journey from morning to night.
Our appreciation for our crew grew day by day. A team of over 40 guides and porters carried our gear, pitched our tents, cooked our food, and cheered us on to get to the top. #FitFam
This is Husseni. One of the lead guides and his whistling got me to the top of Kilimanjaro. As I tried to catch my breath the last thirty minutes of the climb, I would synchronize my steps and breathing to his whistling.
A couple more days and our trip would be over. I spoke with some of the crew and found out that they would make this trek once or twice a month. They would spend the time between hikes with their families or find other short jobs around their villages.
The days were long. We were tested emotionally. When you finally reach the sign-in post at camp after eight hours of hiking, the tired feeling takes hold. Everyday was a milestone to the next camp.
This was the breathtaking Karanga Valley. It felt like I stepped on another planet. We felt so small in this valley that resembled Mars.
The final ascent to our base camp called Barafu before summit day. Looking up you would see other hikers on their way up.
The night before summit I noticed that all of my gear was covered in dust and debris. The solar charger was only functional when placed in full sun - so I tied it to my backpack for continuous exposure.
We started the summit climb at 11pm and hiked till we reached the top at 630am. The air was thin and we could barely take three to four steps without getting winded. As we reached the top - the clouds began to clear.
As I reached the summit, tears of joy and accomplishment started to flow and freeze on my face. I wiped them off in the African sunrise surrounded by glaciers and gazed into the bending horizon. Ph:Robison
This is the view standing in front of the summit sign. Being this high you can see the earth start to curve and you remind yourself that you're at 19,341 feet. CRAZY.
The descent was not as easy as one would think but we were treated with some gorgeous rainforest canopies. Coming down the mountain you really feel your calves and shins taking most of the brunt. We couldn't walk for two days but it reminded us of what we accomplished.
The last day of the trip... Backing up all the images. Canon DSLR, Polaroid Cube for HD video, Apple Macbook Air, backup batteries and shockproof hard drives. #RememberToBackup When I got home the journey felt all so epic. Realizing that I chose to do this and succeeded gives me strength that anything is possible. Put the hard work in and you can achieve anything.
The morning before we climbed the Barranco Wall. I woke up at 5am to get the sun peeking over the mountain ridges and to see the clouds beneath us move in pink formations. Ph:David Potter
