Part I

19,341 feet, or 5,895 meters is the altitude of Uhuru Peak, Africa’s highest point at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I am proud to share that I was part of a group of seven that reached Uhuru Peak on the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to fundraise for Shalva! The trip was an incredible experience and the journey was so much more than just climbing to the top of a mountain.

Before the Trip

Traveling to Tanzania is no easy feat. As it is halfway around the world, especially if you’re traveling during the pandemic, it is important to get vaccinated (COVID, Hep A, Polio, Typhus, and Tetanus) and bring medication to keep you healthy.

Shalva partnered with a group called Charity Challenge, which shared the list of items we had to complete before being ready to travel. Some of the paperwork we needed to prepare before the trip included: a negative PCR test 72 hours in advance of our departing flight, travel visa approval, travel insurance, health approval by the port of Tanzania, prescriptions for antimalarials, altitude sickness and antidiarrheals.

Departure

The initial departing flight from JFK was on a Sunday, the day after a snowstorm hit. Over five inches of snow arrived in New York City over Shabbat, including on the runways of JFK. Motzei Shabbat “flew” by with a “flurry” of packing as the snow finally stopped falling. I barely remember sleeping that night, I was so filled with nerves about the upcoming international travel and making sure all the paperwork was in order.

The travel for myself and Chaim Reiss, a fellow Upper West Sider, thankfully went smoothly for our flights to Nairobi, Kenya (13.5 hours) and then to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (one hour). We met Sam, the owner of Tanzania Travel & Safari Company, at the airport and he expertly navigated the roads to our lodge for the night. The firm bed felt like a cloud after my 24 hour-journey. After some dinner and some freshening up, it was time to rest up for day one of the hike.

The Six-Day Ascent

We were a group of seven determined hikers, a doctor, and the porters and guides. Ranging from ages 20-69, our group was from all over the world—myself and Chaim from New York; Erik Lindenauer and his son Mark from Washington, D.C.; Michael Hirsch from Maale Adumim, Talia Merchant from London; Kevin Beigel from Canada; and our doctor, Pieter-Jan Van Balen from Antwerp, Belgium. In addition to our group of seven hikers, there were more than three porters per climber, totaling over 28 porters, in addition to the six guides.

The first day of the hike we were introduced to A.J., the head guide for the climb. He provided a thorough explanation of what to expect, calmly reassured us and made it clear that we needed to stay hydrated and eat well. As long as we followed his directions, reaching the top was possible, safely, and as they say in Swahili, pole pole (pronounced pole-ay), or slowly, slowly. We filled up our water bottles and after a bus ride to our starting point, we had a refreshing lunch, and began our climb up the seemingly never-ending stairs winding through the Tanzanian rainforest. The porters hiked alongside us, practically running up the steep incline. They were all in good spirits, smiling, humming or singing as they climbed. Even more impressive, the porters were carrying their own belongings for the trip, in addition to one or two of our duffle bags. A few hours later, we arrived at the first camp of the trip—Big Tree Camp or Mti Mkubwa Camp, elevation 8,694 feet or 2,650 meters.

Over the next few days, we traveled through the changing landscape as we got closer to the peak. We went from tropical rainforest to moorland, arid desert to glacial. Some of the group experienced side effects of altitude sickness and thankfully the doctor was there to help us navigate through it so we could continue climbing.

We began our hike on a Tuesday, which meant we were going to be keeping Shabbat on the mountain. The porters built an eruv around the camp and hung battery-powered lights so we could safely navigate to the respective food, bathroom and sleeping tents. We spent Shabbat learning Belgian and Tanzanian card games and watching other hikers continue their trek up the next steep incline of Barranco Wall. Bright and early Sunday morning, we continued our trek up the mountain.

After a short and challenging climb on Sunday, we arrived at Barafu Camp, which was at a literally breathtaking altitude of 15,331 feet or 4,673 meters. We had arrived in the early afternoon and planned to have an early dinner in preparation for our midnight departure to the summit. Everyone was nervously excited. This camp was the most crowded, which amped everyone up even further. Tomorrow was it. To summit or not to summit.