Kilimanjaro Via the Marangu Route: "Tourist Route" My Ass

By Phil Gray

I needed a break. I needed " an off-the-wall dalliance An all-boys' adventure in a faraway land. An adventure far away from telephones and faxes and lawyers. An adventure with an abundance of humor, serious physical exertion, and danger nominally short of life-threatening." After a little research and a few phone calls, I decided that a climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, with four friends, via the "Tourist Route", would fit the bill.

In this book, the author tell the story of the climb-four days up, and two days down-with a humorous yet sensitive slant, describing the perils of altitude, the vicissitudes of Mother Nature, the enjoyment of multi-generational and multi-ethnic collaboration, the travails of disappointment, and the exhilaration of success. And where it suits his fancy-and does no harm to accuracy-he embellishes an observation or encounter to illuminate the pure joy of the experience. After all, it was about good fun, and the telling of it should be too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 29, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595859733

Phil Gray

Phil Gray lives in Hawaii with his wife of many years. He has an under-graduate degree in Physics from an obscure university in Connecticut, a Law degree from Ohio State University, and a Certificate from Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park confirming that he hiked to the summit. He has travelled extensively in Europe and Africa, and routinely indulges a special fondness for off-road safaris in the countries of Southern Africa. Book info with Photos & Images can be seen at http://www.pinterest.com/philgray

Book preview

Kilimanjaro via the Marangu Route

Tourist Route My Ass

Phil Gray

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

Kilimanjaro via the Marangu Route

Tourist Route My Ass

Copyright © 2006 by Phil Gray

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,

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ISBN-13: 978-0-595-41625-7 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-85973-3 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-41625-X (pbk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-85973-9 (ebk)

Contents

Background

Day 1

Park Headquarters to Mandara Hut

Day 2

Day 3

Rest Day at Horombo Hut

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Horombo Hut to Park Headquarters

Epilogue

Melinda, thanks for the inspiration.

Background

1996 WAS NOT a good year. My business life was so bad I felt like I had the reverse-Midas touch. Everything I touched turned to shit. And no amount of good old-fashioned hard work made a lick of difference. Nothing worked and my frustration mounted. So I decided to disengage; to clear the slate completely with an off-the-wall dalliance of the kind an analyst would discourage and my wife would forbid. An allboys’ adventure in a faraway land. An adventure far away from telephones and faxes and lawyers. An adventure with an abundance of humor, serious physical exertion, and danger nominally short of life threatening.

Bingo!

For years, I had been vaguely aware that there are some small hotels located on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, that cater guided climbs to the mountain’s summit. And I’ve had a thing for Kilimanjaro since catching a glimpse of the summit while on safari in Tanzania several years before. To real mountaineers, Kilimanjaro is a sissy mountain. Although the summit is the highest point on the continent of Africa, its elevation above sea level is a mere 19,340 feet. The climb is said to be strenuous, but non-technical. The travel industry advertises it like it’s a walk in the park. A luxury safari. Perfect. After all, I didn’t need a seminal mountaineering experience, just an eclectic adventure.

The most popular route to the summit is via the Marangu Route, quaintly referred to in guidebooks as the Tourist Route. The guidebooks say the summit can be reached in three or four days, by a reasonably fit person. Porters carry the gear and cook the food, and it only costs about US$600. After hastily dismissing the relevance of age (I was then fifty-two), and after some very delicate negotiations with my wife (using the tired argument that it’s cheaper than staying home), I called my friend John, a British ex-pat living in Nairobi, Kenya, chatted him up on the idea,