On December 29th, 2007, 37 participants ventured to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Collectively, we had a desire of making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than us. We are pleased to inform you that 31 of us made it to Gilman’s Point (5680 m, 18740 ft) and 29 reached the summit at Uhuru Peak (5895 m, 19430 ft). Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, together we were able to raise a net amount of over $150,000.00 for Save the Children Canada to be used for its HIV / AIDS projects in Kenya.

“Jambo” – “Hello”

This is how our head guide (James) woke us up at Kibo hut, about 10.00pm on the night before our pre-summit nap. We were at an elevation of 15,500 ft. Most of us only had about 3 hours of sleep. However, the excitement of starting on the last phase of our adventure got us up to venture out into the cold Kilimanjaro night to do what we had come to do – ascend to the summit by dawn the next morning.

Our adventure (The Axis Pharmacy Kilimanjaro Challenge) had started on December 26th, 2007 when 37 of us, 21 males and 16 females, from all across Canada, boarded on the flight to Arusha, Tanzania to start the Kilimanjaro trek on December 29, 2007. We were somewhat aware of the challenges of the trek and shared with each other the stories we had heard from previous climbers that we had been in touch with. Our group consisted of 12 Pharmacists, and other friends and relatives, ranging in age from 16 to 58. Nothing could have motivated us more than the presentation we heard during our initial orientation from Jimmy, who had come from Kenya to meet with the group, the day before the climb. Jimmy works with Save the Children and is based in Kenya. He gave us an overview on the plight of the children and adults affected by HIV/AIDS and how the funds that we had raised from this climb would benefit programs operated by Save the Children Canada in Kenya.

While there are many routes to ascend the summit, we had picked the Marangu route – commonly known as the “Coca Cola” route. This is the most travelled route and supposedly the easiest one. After the first 2 days on this route, we realized that there was nothing easy about this route. While we had all done some training before leaving for our trip, very few of us expected the Marangu route to be this difficult. This explains why we were told that in a group the size of our, not to expect a success rate of more than 50% to reach the summit. The limited toilet facilities and no showers added to the conversation we had every evening during dinner time where we shared our experiences of the day and laughed to ease our weary bodies.

On Jan 1st, 2008 at 10.00pm, with both anticipation and trepidation, our spirits soared as we put on our 3 to 4 layers of clothing, had a cup of tea with a few cookies and ventured out on the perfect night for summiting – still, mild, with millions of stars. The head lights on our foreheads ensured that we were all walking in a single file following the guides and assistant guides. We had an intimidating 15 hour day in front of us: climbing 6-8 hours to achieve the summit; 3 - 4 hours to return down to Kibo hut and then a final four hours hiking down to Horombo hut at an elevation of 12,300 ft to finally sleep.

“Pole Pole” – Swahili for “slowly slowly” is what gets you to the top of Kilimanjaro – this is what we had been told during our orientation meeting. And this is exactly what we did – ascend slowly – getting closer to the top step by step. Above us we could see headlamps from another group. At times these could easily be confused with all the stars that were visible against the blackness of the mountain.

The glory of the African dawn greeted us at about 5:45am, 100 feet below the rim of the crater. We paused to see the horizon turn a brilliant red with Mawenzi, which the day before had towered above us, now far below. Shortly after sunrise, we found ourselves over the rim and standing on Gilman’s Point at an elevation of 18,740 ft. It’s a bare, rocky area with the bowl of the extinct crater below and magnificent glaciers all around. It was a hugely emotional moment for many of us – we had “made it”, well “almost made it”.  By this time, the Team had been split up into various groups and each group of 3 to 5 people reached this point at different times.

We weren’t quite done yet. The “true” summit of Uhuru (“freedom”) Peak was only 1.25 miles away and at an elevation of 19430 ft, yet reaching it in our exhausted state would take us another two hours along the snow on the crater rim. And none of us knew if we had it in us. But, collectively we motivated each other to reach our goal.

The exhaustion continued to deepen, and we all went slower and slower. Occasionally we would meet other team members coming the other way who would encourage us with “keep going it’s worth it”. We paused more and more frequently as we all reached our limits. As we reached the glory of Uhuru Peak, there was no immediate sense of exhilaration. Only silence, extreme exhaustion, and overwhelming emotion.

What seemed like a dream, was now a reality. All the months of planning and preparing had finally bore fruit. Not only did we succeed the physical challenge, but our whole beings were altered. We came together as a team, raised money for children who are vulnerable, through no fault of their own and experienced an adventure that we could not even imagine. As we wondered how we would have the energy to get down, an inner reserve seemed to flow and guided us to the base.  This climb was definitely worth doing, for all the children’s lives it impacted.

WATCH FOR OUR NEXT EVENT 

HIMALAYAS CHALLENGE 2009 

TREKKING THROUGH THE REGION OF NEPAL

(October / November 2009)

Children at the Tunahaki Children Centre in Moshi, Tanzania



Items donated to the Tunahaki Children Centre in Moshi, Tanzania.



Entrance  to the Tunahaki Children Centre in Moshi, Tanzania.



Participants getting ready for the orientation meeting the day before the



The trek from Gilmans point to the summit – Uhuru peak



View of the crater from Gilmans point



Zahir Bhanji, Pharmacist, Axis Pharmacy Toronto at Uhuru peak



The group at Kibo Hut (15,500 ft) on the day before attempting to summit

Alykhan Velji, Pharmacist, Axis Pharmacy,
Warkworth at Uhuru peak



Amin Shivji, Pharmacist, Axis Pharmacy,
Haliburton at Uhuru peak



The group at Horombu hut (`12,000ft)



Our staff – Head guide, assistant guides, porter and cooks



Sleeping quarters at Horombo hut. 20 people to a hut in bunk beds



Our trek from Horombo hut to Kibo hut