Horombo Hut – 12,204 feet above sea level

The second day was about a 5 hour hike to Horombo Hut, the second base camp on the way to Kilimanjaro. Essentially, I entered Kilimanjaro National Park below Mandara Hut and started walking uphill. It would be 4 days of walking up hill before getting to the top.

The trek to Horombo was interesting for a while, the landscape slowly changed as I gained altitude. Gone were the lush trees, they were replaced by scrub brush and low grasses. I could feel a change in the weather too, although the sun was out I could feel the beginning of a cool breeze coming from the north. It was coming from the direction of the mountain.

About an hour from Horombo the brush was replaced with something that reminded me of a large cactus and the grasses were gone. I could feel the wind picking up.

I had yet to see the mountain because it was obscured by some cloud cover.

I had a lot of time to think. At Ernest’s request I was going very slow so it felt like I was sneaking up on the mountain. Everything was happening as planned. I actually thought I may be able to sneak up the mountain before it noticed me.

At least that’s what I hoped.

Mandara Hut – 8858 feet above sea level

The time was fast approaching.

I made the connecting flight in Nyrobi and landed in Kilimanjaro Airport just before midnight on Sept 1. I had been able to sleep a little on the airplane but I couldn’t get the pending climb out of my mind. I was tired but I could feel the adrenaline rush starting.

I was able to get to the hotel in another hour and attempted to sleep before my scheduled morning briefing with the tour group.

No such luck. I may have dozed a little but the morning came pretty quickly.

Once up, I grabbed my gear and met Seamus, one of the owners of the Marangu Hotel. He went through the details of what I was about to experience. So many people have come through this briefing to successfully climb the mountain. I was hanging on his every word.

They have been running trips out of the Marangu Hotel for a long time. In fact, I talked with a consultant at IMA who had successfully climbed Kilimanjaro in 1964. I found out that he climbed the exact same route and stayed at the exact same hotel.

Seamus was very thorough, he told me exactly what to expect each day and how to handle it. We spoke for about 30 minutes and his last words of advice to me were this…

“I know you’re excited, you’re probably going to forget most of what I just told you. But remember this, Drink 3 liters of water a day, take your Diamox (meds to help me handle the altitude), and go slowly. There will be times when you feel like stopping, don’t quit... keep going.”

With that, I was out the door and loaded into a van with my equipment. This is where I first met my guide, Ernest and the rest of the crew.

There was Abraham, the cook and assistant guide and two others… Elisa and Godwin, both porters to help carry equipment and food.

It seemed like a lot of support for one person. But again, who am I to question it? They know what they are doing.

Once we got to the trail, Abraham and the others grabbed their packs and set off to Mandara Hut at an incredible pace. There was no way I could keep up with them.

But the combination of adrenaline and pride made me push the pace despite Ernest’s best wishes.

“Pulli Puli” he would tell me. Pulli Pulli is Swahili that translates to slowly slowly… he knew I was going too fast.

Ernest stayed about 3 steps behind me while we were hiking. If I slipped on a rock, he would grab my arm and apologize.

I quickly realized that Ernest was my bodyguard on this climb.

We talked a lot that day. His English was much better than my Swahili (I know about 6 words) and I found out that he was 44 years old with 4 kids.

He grew up near the base of the mountain and he and his brothers all work as guides helping tourists reach the top of Kilimanjaro.

He also told me that he climbs the mountain about every 2 weeks in the busy season. Again, I’m with someone who knows how to get to the top.

At one point I joked with him a little.

“You think I’ll make it to the top?” I asked?

“I’m a good Ernest, you make it to Uhuru.” He replied.

It was reassuring knowing this guy had my back.

We made it to the first base camp, Mandara Hut, in about 2 and a half hours mostly due to my early burst of energy.

The area around Mandara Hut was very lush and green. There was moss on the trees and I could hear the occasional monkey flitting around in the trees.

It was still early in the day but I grabbed some dinner and quickly headed off to the bunk house. I knew I had to catch up on my sleep or I’d never make it.

That night I slept for about 14 hours. When I got up I felt like I had washed away the exhaustion from past two weeks. Leading up to the climb, I had not slept in the same bed two nights in a row as I visited IMA supported sites across Tanzania and the DRC.

I finally felt like I was ready.

Back in the office

It feels good to be back.

As I sit here in my cube I’m having a difficult time keeping focused, my mind keeps wandering back across the Atlantic despite my fast growing list of things to do.

Tomorrow I’ll post my written account of the climb complete with photos. I have so much material to edit it’s a bit overwhelming.

The story is done but I’m still sorting through the images.

I have more than 45 gigs of photos and two hours of HD video to edit. That’s going to be enough to keep our website fresh for the next 8 months!

I’ve attached a photo from the top of the mountain. At this point I was on my way back down but I was in awe of the clouds. It is hard to believe that I had walked above them.

He made it!

IMA's Chris Glass has reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

He spent about an hour at the top, taking photos. He told his wife, Michelle, it was "amazing."

Glass is already at the first base camp and plans to finish by tomorrow.

Stay tuned for all the stories!

Well on the way

Chris Glass is well on his way to reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

He arrived at the second base camp. On Sunday he and his team did a trial run to the crater, turned around and headed back to the second base camp -- part of getting used to the extreme altitude.

At 18,500 feet, Crater Camp is the last stop before the summit.

On the hike, Chris said to his guide, Ernest, who does not speak much English, "What do you think Ernest? We going to make it to the top?"

"I good Ernest," Ernest replied. "We make it."

Chris plans to embark again Monday, make the third base camp early that afternoon to sleep. Then around 11 p.m. or midnight he will leave to reach the summit Tuesday at sunrise.

Internet service is spotty to non-existent on the mountain, which is why he's unable to make his own update to the blog.

Already, Chris reports feeling as though he's reached the roof of the world, watching clouds roll by underneath him.

Stay tuned!

Gearing up for Kilimanjaro

It's time to get down to business. I'm writing this while driving through the mountains of Rwanda. We're running later than expected due to a delay while crossing the border from the DRC.

There were no real problems, but apparently Rwanda has a law barring plastic bags. Customs officers searched all of our luggage, pulling every plastic bag among our group.

I orginally thought I'd have more time in Kigali but it looks like I need to go directly to the airport.

If there are no surprises, I should arrive at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro tonight at midnight, grab a few hours of sleep, and start the climb tomorrow morning.

I'll continue to post short messages as long as my phone has battery life and cell service.

Stay tuned!

Day 2 in the DRC

I’ve just settled into my hotel room tonight.
The program portion of the trip officially ends tomorrow with a visit to the new IMA World Health office in Goma, DRC.

After a quick morning visit, I travel back over the border into Rwanda via SUV and catch a plane back to Tanzania for my attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

As I sit here, I can’t help but reflect on my past couple days in the DRC.

It’s been such a mix of emotions. Nothing is simple and there seems to be an underlying element of danger like I haven’t seen before.

Of course, this is the first time I’ve traveled to this part of the world. For others who make this type of journey frequently I may be stating the obvious.

But for those of you who wonder what it’s like, let me tell you about a couple stops we made in the past while traveling through the South Kivu province.

We visited at a memorial where 20 Congolese women were buried alive during one of the recent civil wars. They were buried alive out of retaliation for a successful attack by the local militia.

I stopped at a Congolese prison where I saw a well-worn book produced by the USHINDI

program, outlining the rights of women and detailing the definition of rape. It had notes written on the cover and was obviously in use.

However, I later found out that the same guards gave a colleague of mine several reasons why it’s ok to rape women during a recent interview.

While visiting the Kibunda medical center in a rural part of the DRC I met a man named Kichanda Elis who was holding his baby daughter, Baraka. He was as proud as he could be to show her off for a photo. (It’s posted above) It was obvious to me how much he cared for her, we held a fairly long meeting outside the center and he held her the whole time. He was taking care of her that day.

The trip was filled with contradiction. But as I met the staff and volunteers who work in the USHINDI program I came to realize the challenge they are facing, one that will take time to overcome. They are attempting to sensitize a culture to the rights of women - they are attempting culture change.

The numbers are beginning to show some change. In some areas, the number of reported attacks are on the incline. Is this because more women are being attacked? No, there are more women who feel they can report the attack.

In many domestic cases, when a woman is attacked her family will attempt to have her marry the attacker or work out a financial settlement. It generally isn’t something that is announced to the community.

Women are beginning to speak out. Through the program they are learning to read, learning new skills to help them economically and they are supporting one another through community groups.

The empowerment of women in the Eastern provinces of the DRC is starting to spread and it’s happening through the medical centers operating under the USHINDI program.

It’s happening because of the dedicated staff and volunteers of IMA and our implementing partners.

IMA helps set the stage, but they are the ones on the ground every day counseling women, answering questions in the community and doing the little things to push this movement forward.

The horror stories are out there, but it’s their image – one of hope- that I will keep with me as I leave the country tomorrow.