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Mt. Kilimanjaro Travel Guide
It all began on Mother’s Day 2008… another sleepless night worrying about how to co-ordinate a group of friends who were keen to climb Mt Kilimanjaro…and especially the prospect of taking up a young couple where the guy has Cystic Fibrosis and his wife, Multiple Sclerosis… and so it was that Dream the Impossible Dream Organisation (DIDO) was born! It just so happens, by sheer coincidence that my name also happens to be Dido!
I have summited Kili twice before…please note, you may not call Mount Kilimanjaro anything except by her full name until you have climbed to Uhuru Peak which is the highest point on the crater rim!
I first climbed with my father via the Machame Route, just before his 75th birthday, and then I climbed with my husband via the Umbwe Route up the notoriously dangerous Western Breach. This time however we will be tackling the Lemosho Route. This is a longer and initially more undulating route – but more pristine, scenic, and even has the possibility on the first day of seeing big game (we enter from the Londorossi gate). The route was selected because, at least for the first few days, it would be a road less travelled. To maximise our enjoyment as well as acclimatisation, we are doing the route over 8 days – we have three days of acclimatization (climb high, sleep low) built in! In total we cover somewhere around 100km – we ascend in 6-days and descend in two. After our summit, we also have the privilege of sleeping at Crater Camp, surrounded by Kilimanjaro’s last remaining glaciers, on the edge of the ashpit.
The Dream Team
The DIDO dream team of 9 include myself, my husband (financial advisor) Nick, Chris Yelverton (a 31 year old Chiropractor who has Cystic Fibrosis) his wife Caroline (a 31 year old Chiropractor who has Multiple Sclerosis), my brother Tom, our close friend Judith (owns her own company and is a mother of two), Elize (a broker and mother), Andaline (a Physiotherapist, wife and mother) and Helena (a wife and mother). Mostly though it has been us, the Yelverton’s and Jude who have hiked and wined and dined throughout… we call ourselves the ‘FUNNEL FRIENDS’. What started off as just a bunch of friends became for me a mission – in fact this mission it seems may be MAKING HISTORY – we cannot find any other South African with either Cystic Fibrosis or Multiple Sclerosis who has successfully summited Mt Kilimanjaro – let alone a couple doing it together!!!
Cystic Fibrosis
Chris was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis uncharacteristically late (in 2001). Normally children are diagnosed really young as a result of their failure to thrive… and in fact Chris was only diagnosed when most CF sufferers already have one foot in the grave. Statistically, Chris, now in his 30’s should already be pushing up daisies! Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a common hereditary disease in which exocrine (secretory) glands produce abnormally thick mucus. This mucus can cause problems in digestion, breathing, and body cooling.
To see more on Chris and his experience of Cystic Fibrosis.This life-limiting illness has major risks when going to altitude, and Chris has been advised to descend the moment he gets any Acute Mountain Sickness symptoms. High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema would most likely be fatal for Chris or at the vey least cause permanent damage and shorten his life. Any respiratory tract infections would also be detrimental to Chris’s health and long term prognosis – so Chris (and the rest of us monitoring him on the mountain) needs to be extremely vigilant and cautious – neither taking his health or the altitude for granted! We have had varying amounts of support regarding Chris doing this, and some of our worst critics have been CF suffers and medical specialists, who seem to feel the risks are just too high!
A lot of soul searching has resulted (never a bad thing) and we are left with the decision that ‘Tis better to dare mighty things and fail than live in a grey twilight where there is neither victory nor defeat” (distilled from quote*). All along this journey has been about affirming life, and that is how it will stay – it is NOT about a summit ‘at all costs’ – and so, should the time come for Chris to descend, so it must be… with no sadness or failure but for a sense of joy for the journey he has travelled and a sense of pride for the heights he has achieved!
Multiple Sclerosis
Caroline in turn has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system in which gradual destruction of myelin occurs in patches throughout the brain or spinal cord (or both), interfering with the nerve pathways and causing extreme fatigue, muscular weakness, loss of coordination and speech and visual disturbances. Caroline was diagnosed in 2001 and has Relapsing-Remitting MS – to see more about Caroline’s experience of Multiple Sclerosis.
Her disabilities that will most hinder her on the mountain will be that she has only 14% vision in her left eye, and a weaker left side, with some residual pain and numbness. Also she is very prone to fatigue, especially when under stress. Caroline has been training hard to build up endurance and resistance to fatigue as well as strengthen her weaknesses. Not only has she been walking and hiking but she has done a lot of work on a PowerPlate (generously sponsored to her for the months leading up to Kili) which has been of enormous benefit! Caroline is no more at risk for Acute Mountain Sickness than the rest of us, but she needs to be careful in terms of her levels of fatigue and the lack of co-ordination that results from her muscular imbalances as well as having only 14% vision in her left eye. So it is a case of taking one step at a time, as the Kilimanjaro guides keep urging us onwards and upwards to the top of Africa: “Pole Pole” (Slowly Slowly in Swahili)
Preparation
In the months leading up to climbing Kili, we have done a lot of walking (eg road races such as the 702 Walk the Talk) and hiking (such as Mont Aux Sources in the Drakensberg and the Rhibok 2 day Hike in Goldengate) as well as training at gym (on treadmills at elevation, step machines or ski machines, weight training…etc etc). We have worn in boots, tried new sweets and muti’s… we have bought down jackets and little teabag like sachets that heat up when exposed to air which we’ll put in our gloves and pockets (and with out headlamp and camera spare batteries) when we go for our summit bid. Not only did we get some curve balls, but the learning curve was sometimes quite steep… Dido, Caroline and Judith wet ourselves (LOL!) while learning to pee with funnels. We decided to opt for funnels not out of p#nis envy but so the pit stops do not take too long or involve removing backpacks and several layers of clothing. Remember we’ll all be on Diamox ( a diuretic which aids acclimatization). This is how the “funnel friends” were born (not to mention christened…). Another lesson learnt was always follow instructions …and when the instructions suggest doing a few practise runs in a shower, it’s NOT bad advice, especially since you needn’t worry about wind direction!
Now, less than a month before we leave it is time for our MENTAL preparation!!! Well, mental preparation and trying to stuff all our stuff into 80litre duffle bags!!! We still wonder whether we will be making history if we succeed in getting Chris and Caroline to the top. We would love to hear from other people with life-limiting illnesses, ESPECIALLY those who have walked this road… Motivation and inspiration will be the soul food that sustains and fortifies us as we head out from Barafu camp at around midnight, by headlamp and full moon for our summit attempt on the 15th of September 2008! Please contact Didio with any advice, suggestions and motivation. We would especially love to hear of anyone else with Cystic Fibrosis or Multiple Sclerosis who has successfully climbed to Uhuru Peak, the highest point on Kilimanjaro!
* It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. ~Theodore Roosevelt
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