Before heading to Kili on Saturday, we started the day with a march around Moshi to draw attention to the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the campaign against gender-based violence. I loved that our march was headed by a brass band in full gear, which trumpeted our arrival at every corner. After the march and speeches by various dignitaries, we headed back to the hotel to collect our hiking party and start our journey. However, our take off was slightly delayed by the arrest of one of party members for littering. Apparently, it is illegal to litter in Moshi and this provision is strictly enforced.
The hike from Marangu Gate, one of the gates into the Kili National Park, to Mandara, the first hut, takes place on a relatively gentle path that breaks its way through the forest. On our hike to Mandara, we briefly flirted with a jumbled rock road that is used by emergency vehicles to take people off the mountain. This road ends before Mandara. If you get ill or injured on Kili, you have to either walk yourself down to this road or be carried down the mountain on a stretcher by two porters. Kili is not a good place to be ill or injured.
Day one and two of hiking up Kili on the Coca-Cola route were pretty easy going and we didn’t hit any altitude problems until we reached Horombo, the second hut. Don’t get me wrong, it was still pretty hard work, as both days involved 6 to 8 hours of hiking uphill while carrying a 5-6 kg pack. I know it’s only 5-6 kgs, but I have not been working out enough for that to be a comfortable weight. Luckily for us, we had porters who were carrying our main bags, which were significantly heavier than our daypacks.
The working conditions of the porters are a contentious issue. Legally, a porter is supposed to carry a maximum of 20 kgs. However, if some money gets slipped into the left pocket, a porter may end up carrying upwards of 25kgs. Being a human rights organization, we did a very informal fact finding while we were hiking up Kili, which revealed other issues regarding porter’s rights, such as: poor sleeping facilities, inadequate food, poor pay and a lack of health or life insurance. The LHRC intends to arrange for a formal fact finding to occur so that the specifics of these issues can be nailed down.
Day three of our trip was an acclimatization day so we spent an extra day at Horombo and visited a place called Zebra Rocks. Our hike up to Zebra Rocks was the first time that I became conscious of the altitude change and the thinness of the air. I also started to appreciate my bite-sized chocolates, which were giving me bite-sized amounts of energy. If I were to do Kili again, I would pack double the amount of chocolate. Days four and five were spent getting to the final ascent and back down to Horombo.
Day six was a 4 am wake-up call so that we could hike from Horombo to Marangu Gate for a press conference at noon. We all made it to Marangu Gate at noon for our 15 minutes of fame in our sweating, unbathed glory.
The hike from Marangu Gate, one of the gates into the Kili National Park, to Mandara, the first hut, takes place on a relatively gentle path that breaks its way through the forest. On our hike to Mandara, we briefly flirted with a jumbled rock road that is used by emergency vehicles to take people off the mountain. This road ends before Mandara. If you get ill or injured on Kili, you have to either walk yourself down to this road or be carried down the mountain on a stretcher by two porters. Kili is not a good place to be ill or injured.
Day one and two of hiking up Kili on the Coca-Cola route were pretty easy going and we didn’t hit any altitude problems until we reached Horombo, the second hut. Don’t get me wrong, it was still pretty hard work, as both days involved 6 to 8 hours of hiking uphill while carrying a 5-6 kg pack. I know it’s only 5-6 kgs, but I have not been working out enough for that to be a comfortable weight. Luckily for us, we had porters who were carrying our main bags, which were significantly heavier than our daypacks.
The working conditions of the porters are a contentious issue. Legally, a porter is supposed to carry a maximum of 20 kgs. However, if some money gets slipped into the left pocket, a porter may end up carrying upwards of 25kgs. Being a human rights organization, we did a very informal fact finding while we were hiking up Kili, which revealed other issues regarding porter’s rights, such as: poor sleeping facilities, inadequate food, poor pay and a lack of health or life insurance. The LHRC intends to arrange for a formal fact finding to occur so that the specifics of these issues can be nailed down.
Day three of our trip was an acclimatization day so we spent an extra day at Horombo and visited a place called Zebra Rocks. Our hike up to Zebra Rocks was the first time that I became conscious of the altitude change and the thinness of the air. I also started to appreciate my bite-sized chocolates, which were giving me bite-sized amounts of energy. If I were to do Kili again, I would pack double the amount of chocolate. Days four and five were spent getting to the final ascent and back down to Horombo.
Day six was a 4 am wake-up call so that we could hike from Horombo to Marangu Gate for a press conference at noon. We all made it to Marangu Gate at noon for our 15 minutes of fame in our sweating, unbathed glory.
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