Erick Kivelege - Climbing Kilimanjaro With Africas Top Guide

Climbing

Kilimanjaro

With Africas Top Guide

ERICK KIVELEGE

2021

2021 By Kilimanjaro Kutembea Publishing, Wind River Associates, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, commercial orders or media inquiries, please contact us at:

Kilimanjaro Kutembea Publishing

Wind River Associates, Inc.

62504 Indian Summer Way E

Enumclaw, WA 98022 USA

&

P.O. Box 9518

Moshi Town, Tanzania

Or https://www.kutembeapublishing.com

Print Book ISBN: 978-1-09838-092-2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-09838-093-9

Printed in the Unites States of America

First Edition, June 15, 2021

To Our Ancestors,

May their peaceful spirits guide and comfort us on the trial until we see the light of the camp ahead, where we will find our meal, friends and our rest for the night, until the new day dawns bright upon the earth again.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Greetings from Kilimanjaro, the rooftop of Africa!

My homeland, Tanzania and East Africa, is the cradle of human civilization, a region of wonder and adventure like no other place in the world. Your journey here will take you to a faraway and magical landback into time itself. The rhythms of this land and our culture will feel like drumbeats in your soul, awakening a connection that you share with long-distant ancestors.

This book about East Africa and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is the first one written by a Certified Tanzanian Climbing Guide. There are many books about this magnificent peak, but none produced by someone who has climbed it more than 500 times, as I have. And there are no comprehensive books by a guide who was born and raised in East Africa, or who understands the culture and customs of Kilimanjaro and its surrounding villages like I do.

I will share the perspective of a Tanzanian, and as a highly experienced guide, I can teach you things youll find nowhere else. As you prepare for your journey to my homelandembarking on the adventure of a lifetimethis book will, I hope, become the most valuable resource you have.

Ive guided thousands of clients up every route on Kilimanjaro, in all kinds of conditions. Ive worked with people who came to me with a wide range of individual hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, and Ive tried to understand them all. I can help you find your own path. Starting in the deep jungles near the equator, with monkeys gliding through the trees, youll ascend to the snows of Kilimanjaro, the most remarkable journey in the world. Youll pass through every climate zone and have a chance to see dozens of different wildlife species, including many types of monkeys, birds, and some of the larger animals of East Africa.

Throughout these chapters, youll find all the necessary travel, training, historical, cultural, and equipment information youll need to successfully take on Kilimanjaro. Youll learn about the mountain and how to strive for its breathtaking summit at 19,341 feet, and youll develop a deep appreciation for all that East Africa has to offer as a destination.

Ill also share the story of my own journey to a distant landthe United Statesso youll know that I understand your apprehensions about planning and completing such a long trip to an unknown place. I hope to help you have a better experience, giving you confidence that your adventure can become everything youve dreamed it will be.

Chapter One

Welcome to My Home!

The endless plains of Serengeti National Park.

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in the center of Sub-Saharan Africa, located in the country of Tanzania, very close to the equator. But it is much more than a mountain, or even a name. Virtually every person in the world knows the word Kilimanjaro. It seems to most people like more of a feeling, or even an emotion of some sort. In every language and every culture, people pause when considering it. No one knows why this is so. The true meaning has been lost to the ages, something that adds to the mystery of this ancient place.

Roughly 4,600 years ago, the Pharaoh Khufu was building his Great Pyramid at Giza. Twenty-four hundred years before that, the waters of Lake Victoria flowed into what was Tanganyika, then into the River Nile and on to the ancient land of the earliest pharaohs in Egypt.