A week ago right now I was in an anxious half-sleep waiting to wake up at 11pm to summit the tallest mountain in Africa. I’ve had time to reflect and recover from this huge achievement, though I still feel like I need another week of rest!

So the basics…

Days OOO: I’d go for 7. Maybe 8. This requires some time to recover from jet lag before and to rest up after putting your body through the ringer. You want to arrive by Friday for a Saturday departure, and you’ll be done by the next Friday. You could get back Sunday to the east coast!

Budget: This is feasible to do with ~$3000 including accommodation, all meals, flights, the trek itself, tips and salaries for porters/guides. You could budget less depending on the trek provider, but I LOVED how reputable and wonderful Top Climbers Expedition was.

How I got there: We flew British Airways from DC to London to Nairobi. We spent a day in Nairobi getting over jetlag and playing with cute giraffes and elephants, then took a 45 minute flight from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro on Kenya Airways. KLM offers one-stop through Amsterdam to Kili, and Qatar does the same through Doha if you’re looking for something more direct.

Training Required: I went to Bolivia for altitude training and acclimated to 4000m. I also did Orange Theory (HIIT workouts) 3-5 days a week to prepare. HIIT workouts helped my oxygen levels stay high and resting heart rate stay low in spite of altitude.

Why Lemosho? The things that stood out most for me when choosing which route to take up were summit rates, hiking high and sleeping low, and ultimately I was sold on how this is more scenic and less crowded than Machame. I wasn’t aware that this route was a little more technically difficult…and longer… but ultimately I really enjoyed it! I felt comfortable at altitude and when I summited, and 100% of our group made it.

Breakdown by Days:

1. Lemosho Gate to Big Tree Camp (7k)Easiest day, starts pretty late, is hot, and you’re just this young, impressionable green hiker who doesn’t know any better. Sigh. Got a true dose of how cold the nights are at camp, but took how warm it was for granted.
2. Big Tree Camp to Shira Camp I (7k) and on to Shira Camp II (10k)One of the most difficult days on my feet as it was the longest in distance. The first part is up and down and very rocky while the second part is flat and relatively easy. The length was just exhausting!
3. Shira Camp II to Lava Tower Camp (7k) to Baranco Camp (3k)I actually really enjoyed the hike to Lava Tower as it’s the first time you get to base camp altitude and pretty enjoyable. This is also when the routes merge with Machame, so there are way more people on the trails and at camp. The descent from Lava Tower is straight up treacherous rocks and horrible when wet. Weather usually starts clear but today was when we realized weather normally deteriorates in the afternoon.
4. Baranco Camp to Karanga Camp (6k)The first part is really tricky because you’re basically climbing Hacksaw Ridge. You think you see the top, and then you get there, and there is another top. This happens several more times until you mentally feel like this rock wall is a sick and twisted joke. Requires using all 4s to climb. Pretty fun when you don’t have a head cold! The top looks like you’re in the clouds. The end to Karanga is super uphill and daunting from afar, not so bad up close! Karanga is where we really got to appreciate the stars at night. Incredible– didn’t know there were so many in the sky.
5. Karanga Camp to Barafu Base Camp (4k)Would’ve been insanely easy relative to the rest of the days if I wasn’t getting sick every 15 minutes. Don’t think it would’ve been too challenging if I were healthy. Also really beautiful as you feel so close to the summit.
6. Barafu Base Camp to Stella Point (4.3k) to Uhuru Peak (.7k) to Barafu (5k) to High Camp (4-5k)Casual 16 hours of hiking that starts in the middle of the night. Go to bed at 5pm, wake up at 11pm to begin the summit. Absolutely freezing until sunrise. Sandy conditions towards the top before Stella Point make it feel like you’re making zero progress and instead sinking backwards. Harder in the dark because you can’t see the end. Crowded at the top unless you wait a bit, which we were super happy we accidentally slept in and took it slow. After Stella, Uhuru is so much easier! Descending is the real challenge. Rock skiing isn’t as easy as it seems. If you don’t save energy to descend, it SUCKS. Thankfully some porters helped me down. After you get back to base camp they let you nap for a hot second and hike another 2 hours further down to High Camp. This is the day that never ends, destroys your knees, mentally drains you, and makes you want to sleep for weeks.
7. High Camp to Mweka Gate (13k)The first part was super rocky like Lava Tower, but so much easier in the sunlight and when you know that once you’re done with this leg you are done forever. Having the path turn into dirt was beautiful, though our knees still hurt too much for the amount of stairs. Party at Mweka Gate at the end!!

Things I wish I knew beforehand, things I’m happy I did

• Washing water isn’t sufficient shower water. This may sound really dumb but we thought we could get away with a mini shower with the washing water. You will NOT want to shower while on the mountain as it is too cold. Yes, it’s gross, but the alternative is miserable too.
• Kilimanjaro is DUSTY! Bring something to cover your face and mouth as you hike if you don’t want to inhale anything. We would all blow our noses and it would be black from dust. Yuck.
• Wipes, wipes, wipes! Wipes to save the day. Bio-degradable toilet wipes for our private toilet, Lysol wipes to sanitize what we could, hand and face wipes to pretend-shower, and more wipes for the female peeing device.
• Speaking of which… yes it’s an elephant in the room but if you’re a chick climbing Kili, the freshette was one of the BEST things I brought to the mountain. Most of the toilets are literally disgusting holes in the ground.
• COLD MEDS. Half our group got the flu while climbing. All we had was Tylenol so I was able to break my fever but not get rid of the congestion. It was awful. Don’t be dumb like us, bring Dayquil, Sudafed, and Mucinex.
• Listen to the guides. We probably took “pole-pole” (slow! slow!) a bit too much to heart as we outlasted all of the estimated hiking times daily. I blame the flu. But these guys have literally climbed Kili dozens of times and know the mountain like the back of their hand. I didn’t want to use hiking poles, but I went along with what my guide thought and was thankful. Same with foot gaiters and water.
• The porters are superheroes. The porters will make you look like the most pointless, weak, worst hiker in the world because they are superhuman and climb 4x as fast with 5x the stuff. Just think about it– someone literally climbed to the top of the mountain carrying our private toilet on his back.
• You will feel like a freaking toddler. The guides guilt you into eating when you aren’t hungry. Calm you when you have a fit. Carry things or carry you when you feel like you can’t do anything. Wake you up. They even help tie your hiking boot laces and put on gaiters. Zip and unzip your jacket during summit day like a parent. Make you drink water and eat snacks. Need to know intimate details about your body functions as it relates to altitude. Seriously at one point we tried to smear the food around the serving plate to make it look like we ate more than we did. They also made the sick people drink this ginger/honey/lemon/garlic tea. Reminded me of when my mom made sure I swallowed medicine growing up. To be fair, the gross tea did help. We thought it was hilarious how we reverted into a toddler like state.
• Diamox is the best and worst medicine. It gets you to altitude all right. At what cost? Randomly tingly body parts— sometimes a tingly face! Also peeing so often you feel like a 55 year old woman. The worst part was having to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. It was inevitable, and the colder it was outside the longer I’d fight with my inner voice about getting out of my sleeping bag.
• DJ Khaled transcends culture. Our porters and guides loved that we knew the ridiculousness that is DJ Khaled, and our best parts of the journey were when we were distracted by we the best music. One of the best quotes of the trek was when I told a guide Attalia was from California and he responded… “California! The land of Rick Ross!” Classic.
• Get a solar powered charger for devices. Not sure how I didn’t think of this before because it’s bloody brilliant. Instead my brother and I charged 4 external chargers and prayed for the best. Meanwhile the porters covered themselves in solar panels and it was genius.
• SIM cards and data. My Verizon daily travel pass worked and I got service more often than my brother and friend who had Vodacom and spotty service. The counterpart in Tanzania was Tigo for me, though I hear Airtel is the best. Look for a bunch of porters hanging out on rocks at the camp, that’s where you can tell they get the best service because they’re on their phones. Oh yea, Tanzania doesn’t have 4G or LTE so posting on social media or communicating with the outside world can get infuriating.

Okay so the highs were high and the lows were low. This isn’t what the guides want me to tell you– they want me to say it is easy. I would say it is easy if you go slow, adjust to altitude, and don’t get sick. If I can do this with the flu, pretty sure you could do it too. People of all demographics made it to the top! The main thing is that YES, climbing is WORTH IT! Also NO, I will never do this again. I’m so proud I made it and pushed myself to summit!