The Mt Kilimanjaro Adventure

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Mt. Kilimanjaro is situated in north eastern Tanzania. It stands 5895 m high and is the highest mountain in Africa. Hiking up the mountain is extremely rigorous but many people attempt it every day. Few years ago, my friend and I, accepted the challenge of climbing to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The first day of the climb was harder and colder than what we had anticipated, and by the end of the day our running clothes were soaked through. After four hours of strenuous trekking through dense forests, we reached the first camp or hut, called ’The Mandara Hut’, and stayed overnight.
Next day was colder than the previous day. We were forced to put on every winter gear we had. We also had to stop to rest several times during the climb.
We continued hiking until we reached Horombo Hut, our second destination, where we spent a day to acclimatize ourselves. On the third day, we journeyed to the highest hut, known as ’Kibo’, which is at 4700m. To our delight we found this trek to be the easiest. The view was breathtaking.
At 12.30 am, we began the final stage of our journey. The night was stunningly beautiful and the sky was filled with millions of stars that seemed so close that we felt we could pluck them.
As we were climbing, we felt very confident. But the higher we climbed the more breathless we became. The climb turned immensely harsh and painful. We had some frightening experiences like when my friend lost his footing and slipped backwards down the mountain. But luckily our guide was very helpful.
As we pushed on laboriously, we noticed that the bright stars, which had followed us so far, were disappearing gradually. Within moments we were engulfed by strong chilling winds and icy snow. Such harsh weather made it impossible for us to move ahead and even reduced our visibility to zero. Still, we didn’t give up.
We finally made it to the summit at dawn. I have no words to describe the feeling. We were filled with elation and a marvelous sense of achievement.