The summit day.
Amani looked a different person today. His instructions and information looked like actual leader. As a strict instruction, "Today you have to wear all your dresses. Dress it and then go to sleep".
Wooly cot both upper and lower. Fleece jacket. Down jacket. Wind cheater. Two T shirts on the upper and 4 layers on the lower. Two gloves. Two socks of which one should be woolen. Two coverings on head. And a head torch
Wearing a single dress, at this altitude, inside a tent is cumbersome. And now we have to wear so many dresses. It felt breathlessness.
The raging wind in the night made horrific sounds. And it was never ending. Sometimes things happen which you never want. Like you feel thirsty often, when you have less water. Might have gone to a little sleep but had to wake up due nature's call. With so many dresses, it was very difficult to get out of sleeping bag and then out of the tent. Now peeing is another hilarious job.
It was 09:30 pm when I got out of the tent. The sky was clear. The moon light was very bright. But the wind was still very strong.
Oh my God! Our dinning tent is blown away. All table and chairs fallen here and there. But where is the tent? Our dinning tent has fallen over Reetesh's tent. Reetesh, one of our teammates, has come for this trek with his wife, Timsi . They live in Bangalore. They were very nice and humble. Normally, they stayed within themselves.
After a lot of hardship at the toilet tent, I returned back to the tent and gone to sleep again. Later on, loud voices and screaming were heard. Porters were fixing the dinning tent again.
What to call it? Evening Snacks or morning breakfast? At 11pm Robert called us. "Tea and hot popcorn are ready". Pooh! Who will eat now. We cannot even open our eyes. I don't know what happened? When I was out of tent, God knows, how I got back the energy. In fact, all of us regained the energy. It was an electrifying atmosphere. People were already out. Long distance array of head torches could be seen. Some below us, some above us. Wasting no time, I had some hot chocolate and pushed in some popcorn. Energy is the only thing required. Stamina is already tested.
We started walking sharp at 11:30pm. There is a single path to the summit. You cannot cross the other. This is a reason for traffic jam. If you stand for more than a minute you will cease in cold. You have to keep moving. Amani arranged our line. Weakest first and strongest last. Maulshree was last. Maulshree came from US but basically, she is from Lucknow. She is the fittest and very strong. I was happy to be before her, as she will push me if required.
Then the walk started in the strong wind. Initially, the pace was good. But as the altitude increased, the pace reduced drastically. Amani controlled the group very nicely. "Now is water break, 40sec". " No seating, no removing backpack, get the help of other, 40sec."
Amani is a Masai. He is a superhuman. Super strong. What an energetic and powerful man. Masais are primitive tribes of Tanzania originated from Israel. They are Christians. In school time, my Geography book mentioned about this tribe. They can bear extreme hardship. Ones at leisure time, I confirmed from Amani that in Masai festivals of marriage or birth or any auspicious events, they celebrate by having cow blood. A bag is usually tied on the neck of the cow and drops of bloods are collected in the bag. Normally this are done on male cows or female cows who stopped giving milk.
Amani gave a halt every 40 to 50min. It can be a pee break or a water break. After walking for 4 hrs, a single step was taking few seconds. The view was beautiful. But eyes cannot be kept open properly, forget clicking of photo. Though the eyes were fixed to the shoes of the person in front of you, still the twinkling lights far down and the zig zak lights to the top mixing with the stars was never ending. In this dark, the stars and the people ahead of us can be differentiated only by moving ones or static.
Before leaving, Amani had a strict order "Do not ask, how far is it? ". " I will tell when we are near". After walking for 5 hrs the three before us became extremely slow. Maulshree revolted and I also supported, " Let's break the group into two, fast and slow". And we crossed the three. Amani guided us. Penini and Meriki stayed with them. It's ok to revolt, but do we have the energy to walk that fast. But still we maintained a constant pace without stopping.
All of us carried 2 lts of water and some snacks. Maulshree was carrying water pouch with pipe to the mouth. It's always recommended to have water pouch while trekking. You don't need to stop for water, you just suck water from the pipe. But it is so cold that the water in the pipe can freeze. So, Amani gave a solution before starting of the journey. "Whenever you finish drinking, blow the water back into the pouch". But who remembers all this in critical time. And as usual, the pipe got freeze. As my bottle was inside the backpack, it didn't freeze, and we shared it.
It seemed never ending in the dark. I followed the footsteps of Amani. Forgot to mention, there is no such wind as we came up after 2 hrs. of climbing. There was a pin drop silence everywhere. At some juncture, groups were found taking breaks. Some rubbing hands of others to retain freshness. Some groups crossed us at some juncture, some we crossed. But always remember, when crossing some other group, you have to boost up yourself. And that drains out all your accumulated energy. You are tired again.
After walking for 6 hrs., maybe, by seeing our energy level Amani first declared, "We are very near". But I tell you, I could still see moving headlights far higher. We regained some energy. Pace increased. It seemed like, I will die with lack of energy. But how could I stop. Maulshree is behind me.
It's still dark. The biting wind is piercing us even with so many layers.
Suddenly, the wind increased. Amani stopped "WE REACHED!!" Moving my eyes from his feet, I could see a name plate "CONGRATULATIONS". "You are at Stella Point, 18885ft".
Reached! Reached! Reached Alive! Reached on the rim of the volcano of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We jumped. We hugged. We cried! We have done it.
It was still dark. The eastern horizon could be identified by a thin yellowish-reddish line. The wind was extremely cold. We sat behind a rock. Had some food. Forcefully. Couldn't even chew. Had some water. We were very happy. It was a very successful moment. We felt very proud.
Amani said, "Don't wait for long". " Let's move on for Uhuru point".
Uhuru peak can be seen from this point. It is the highest point on the rim. Some 1 km from this point. It's not a climb. You have to walk on the rim, little ups and downs.
Easy trail? At this altitude of 19000ft nothing is easy. After walking for the whole night, nothing is easy now. Sun has turned white from red. But the wind. It's damn chilling. Even the numerous layers are of no use here.
The walk on the rim is mesmerizing. The huge crater in the middle and glaciers of ice on the edges of the rim. As this is a standalone peak, only few small peaks surrounding it are peeping from the clouds. What a breathtaking view.
It took me one and half hour to reach Uhuru peak from Stella point. There, it was an electrifying atmosphere. People are busy clicking pictures in different poses. All this is surrounding a name plate, identifying the peak. Even there is a queue for taking photos.
Hurriedly, I remembered that I carried our national flag to hoist on the peak. It was an amazing feeling to hoist it. Feeling so proud.
Thank you to all well-wishers. Congratulations to all Indians. Thank you to all my loved ones. Thank you everyone. WE DID IT.
