Hello Family and Friends:
Well after one weeks of no letter, I’m not sure I can complete this letter in one sitting. But I’ll try!!!!
On November 22 we attended Stake Conference which was a video broadcast from SLC to this area of Africa. It was interesting to see how they tailored their message to the people here. They talked about the great family traditions of Africans but noted the tradition of giving a dowry to the bride’s family made it difficult for some young people to marry and caused some young people to not get married. Also as part of Stake Conference they sustained about 20 to 25 names to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. I’ve never seen so many names presented in all the stake conferences I’ve attended (except maybe last March in this Stake). So anyway the day started out good.
Then about 9:30 in the evening the real excitement started happening. Shena and the gang started arriving. By about 11:00 all had arrived at the motel and were ready for bed because the real excitement started the next day.
Day one: we went from Nairobi to Arusha, Tanzania which was about a 8 hour drive; had to cross the border into Tanzania. All tourist pay $50 except those from the US who pay $100. What a deal!!!! The area is pretty dry but there were some green trees and a few goats and cows along the way. As we got closer to Arusha the, the country side took a real turn for the green side. The city is very lush and green. We stayed at a place that was tucked between some real dumps but the place was clean and well kept. So it wasn’t too bad of a place to stay.
Day two: got up and headed to the high country. While loading up there was a fellow with the climbing company that showed up with a Staker Parsons (sp) hat on. Couldn’t believe my eyes; I have seen Paul G. wear a hat just like it. It’s the one with the fishing fly on it. Please pass this on to Paul, his company is known all over the world. Once we were at the train head, we signed in, had lunch and started up the train. Began hiking about 1:00 pm and reached camp at about 5:30 pm. Not a bad little hike. It was like walking in a rain forest. Could not believe all the greenery; a lush forest. Absolutely beautiful. Huge trees and tiny flowers; the variety was endless. Once we reached camp, we had to register and then we had dinner. Can’t relay call this climbing when you have someone carry your bags and then have dinner ready when you reach your destination (the Tanzanian government requires guides and porters be used by all climbers to provide employment for local folks).
Day three: today’s hike started with the same green vegetation then turned to a little shorter trees and shrubs. You would tell we were gaining elevation because everything was changing. The trees kind of looked like cedar trees. By the time we reached camp, there was very little vegetation except for grass and very small bushes. We hiked for about four hours again this day. It rained on us this day, so it was kind of miserable for a while. But you can get warmed up quickly when the cook has hot soup and hot chocolate ready for you when you arrive. The tents are also set up in the event you want to crawl into a sleeping bag and rest or just get warm.
Day four: this is where it gets exciting, put on your seatbelt!!!! Started out in the normal fashion; left camp at about 9:00 again (it takes a long time for five women to get their make up on for climbing). We had been hiking for about an hour when we came to a rock ledge that was muddy and wet. When Shena stepped on the wet rock she slipped and fell. The ledge had about a four foot drop so when I saw her she was on her back and in a lot of pain. It took a few minutes to make sure nothing was broken but she was bruised on her hand, leg, hip, and ribs. Debi had some industrial strength drugs to help with the pain, but it got to the point that the pain pills were causing her to have an upset stomach and become dizzy. As the day went on you could hear Shena shutter each time she took a breath because it hurt so bad. The hike for the day was suppose to take about 4 hours but it took about 9 or 10 to reach the next camp. Shena was in a lot of pain for the entire time. She figured that if she could get a good night’s rest she might feel better. So we all ate some dinner and went to bed.
Day five: Shena was in a little better condition today, still hurting but only needed half the medication she had taken on day four. Today’s hike included some rock climbing. It was a fun day. We gained about 400 feet of elevation in a short time as we climbed the canyon wall just past the camp. The day started out like just about all days. It was sunny until about 10:00 and then the clouds would roll in and sprinkles would begin to fall. Prior to the clouds rolling in, you would look down onto the valley floor and just see clouds. You might think it was a blanket of snow but we were too close to the equator. It was a beautiful sight. The hike took about four hours, a little longer than what was expected because Shena was still hurting. When we arrived we had lunch and then tried to get some sleep because the summit bid was to begin at midnight. It is difficult to rest/sleep when you know something exciting is just a few hours away. At about 7:00 dinner was served then everyone went back to their tents to see if they could get any more sleep.
Day six: started out at midnight by getting dressed with all the warm clothes we owned. It was clear and crisp but not too bad for 15,000+ feet. No one was able to sleep much because of the excitement of what was going on but we all tried. As we were getting ready to start climbing Shena came down with the stomach flu. As if the banged up body wasn’t enough. We all took off and began hiking for the summit. The term they use is “pole-pole” which means slow-slow in Swahili. It would take us about 7 hours to reach the summit. Along the way Debi began feeling like she was getting pneumonia; couldn’t breathe too well. I checked O2 on both Shena and Debi and they both had good oxygen and pulse for being as high as we were. So once we knew there were no serious problems we all continued on up the mountain. After hiking for about six hours the sun finally came up and you could begin to see the summit. The toll of the fall and the banged up body and stomach flu for Shena left her in pretty tough shape. She was within about 200 feet of the crater rim and she collapsed. She was shivering and couldn’t get warm so we put a down jacket around her and three of us huddled around her to block the wind. We encouraged her to relax and breathe easily. We checked her O2 again and determined she was still in the safe zone. After she warmed up and caught her breathe, she wanted to finish her climb to the crater rim. (Catching your breath at 18,750 feet isn’t too easy). So about 20 minutes later, Shena, Debi and I reached the crater rim. We could see all of East Africa. The official summit of Kilimanjaro is a high point on the crater rim about another hour hike from where we reached the rim. Given the condition of Shena and Debi, we determined we needed to go down the mountain. A lot of health problems are solved by just descending. One of the guides took Shena and almost ran down the mountain with her. Debi and I got to camp about a half hour later. The plan now was to get a little rest, have lunch and the start the decent to the next lower camp. Getting rest didn’t happen at this time either. We just waited in the tent until lunch, ate, packed our bags and headed down the mountain. This is when Debi found out how bad here knees were. We had just descended bout 4,000 feet and were looking at about 4 hours of more downhill. The train was rough and in places slick from rain (and a little snow). So all the descending began taking its toll on Debi’s knees. She was in pain before we got back to camp from the summit and then the added burden of going down even further was causing a lot of discomfort. She knew the only option was to tough it out and keep moving. The decent was suppose to take about three hours but after five hours we were still a long way from camp. It was pretty discouraging to be moving so slow and not gaining much ground. Finally, we heard some porters coming up the trail. They began talking to us and then one of them asked if mama simba (one of Debi’s many new names) wanted a ride down the mountain. So guess how Debi finished the day, yep she got a ride. We were probably still an hour away from the camp when the porters started carrying Debi. There were three porters and they took turns carrying her. We all had a very good rest that night, it is such a relief to be down in the thick air and have the mountain behind you.
Day seven: needed an early start to the day to be able to catch the bus back to Nairobi. So we were on the train by about 7:00 am. Unfortunately, Debi’s knees had not been healed by the good night’s sleep. So the day began like the previous day had ended. Debi and I got a little jump on the rest of the group to see if we could get down quickly, but the group passed us shortly after we started down the mountain. We struggled down the mountain for about three hours. It was suppose to be a smooth road. But it turned out to be a trail with rocks, mud, ruts, etc, nothing too easy to walk down. But once again there was music coming up from the bottom of the hill; porters coming Debi’s way. So they loaded her up again and carried her or supported her as they ran her over the rocks and mud. She beat me down of the mountain again.
When I was telling Shena what to expect on the mountain, I told her she was in good physical condition (she had climbed Timp many times and run half marathons) and could make the summit but she would need to prepare herself mentally. There are times you have to be just mentally tough to push through problems. Physical conditioning is only about 70% of mountaineering preparations.
I learned on this trip that I live with one tough woman and have another tough woman as a daughter. Both Debi and Shena braved fatigue and pain I have never had to deal with. I learned from both of them what it means to be strong, determined and tough.
It was a good experience climbing with Debi. Whenever I have climbed before, I have always missed family. Once on Aconcagua, I was dirty, hungry, cold, and was thinking; I could be in the hot tub in Green River and I’m here on this stupid mountain. It was great this time to share the experience with my family. Maybe Krista, Mya and Cherry will want to climb something with the old man (spouses also invited). It is so much more enjoyable with those you love around you.
So much for the climb – The safari next (this will be really short)
It started and ended with three hours of bad roads. The road to the ranch from Bone would be considered interstate quality compared to the roads into Maasai Mara. It is hard to believe the Kenyan government has such bad roads into a national park.
Anyway, we saw: wildebeest, zebras, lions, elephants (even little tiny baby elephants), cheetahs (eating a wildebeest), all kinds of gazelles (a number of different species), rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffes, monkeys, jackals, warthogs, elands, crocodiles, tortoise, baboons, hyenas, mongoose, cape buffalo, dik dik (miniature deer like critter), and birds too numerous to list.
All in all it was a pretty exciting two weeks. Now I need to go back to work so I can get caught up on my rest. Mom, I was thinking about you on the climb and the safari. I remember you saying how much you wanted to visit Africa. So I hope I gave a good enough description of what it looked like. As an engineer, I’m not too good at writing, so I’ll send some good pictures of what we saw.
I’ll be home on the 18th of December. Spend time in ST George over Christmas and then go to LA to visit Krista and fam, then to Seattle to visit Mya and fam, then back to the grind in Kenya on the 3rd of January.
Its late and I have to go to work in the morning.
Love
Paul/dad
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