(on behalf of the Kili Trio)06:00 of 7 July, 5895 meters above sea level at the Uhuru Peak, after 6 hours of hiking from Barafu camp (4600 meters), Peter Nielsen (Danish) & Bevan McKenzie (New Zealander) have successfully reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It has been a long journey since they started from Machame village 5 days ago. Up & down, up & down, all for better acclimatization, and all is worth the 15 minutes' breath-taking view on the "Roof of Africa". It was too cold to stay there long so they started descending. I met them at Stella Point (5745 meters) and continued my way to the summit which happened after sunrise. So the Kili Trio of IMD have all made it to the top, with the help of mountain guides, porters and support from the MBA class, special thanks to Randy Balisalisa (American) who shared with us his first hand experience of reaching Uhuru Peak in 2006. Being in the real world, the marvelous mountain, what have we learnt?
Kilimanjaro has taught us a lot of lessons and I think the key is about respect. We respect the environment even when it meant to carry additional weight before reaching the rubbish collecting point. We also saw it from the porters, the guides and fellow hikers. If human beings don't protect the environment, this World Heritage will be destroyed soon. We also learnt to respect our own bodies. Being it a headache due to mountain sickness or the constant thirst leading to dehydration, we responded accordingly by taking medicine or drinking water. If human beings don't take care of our bodies, they will not collaborate with our minds. Of course, the respect has to be built up among the people as well.
"Pole, Pole" is how people greeting each other in the mountain (in Kiswahili, it means "slowly, slowly"). In practice, it reminded hikers not to rush through but conserve energy for the long journey. In theory, it reminded urban hikers to slow down, taking time, enjoying scenery and savoring nature. I personally benefitted a lot from it. Having headache since Day 2, I had to take pain killer and even lost appetite the next day. With walking poles, I really did it "pole, pole". Fortunately regained appetite before the summit night, I woke up early to start the slow journey. My mountain guide David said I probably set some "pole" record of reaching the peak in 8 hours. Before leaving for Kilimanjaro, Dr. Weiju Hsieh (Taiwanese, a seasoned mountain climber) gave me her insight, "a mountain is not to be conquered, but rather to be experienced and appreciated". So pole as I did, I was happy to enjoy the mountain Safari ("safari" means "journey" in Kiswahili).
This uniquely intimate experience of hiking, camping together for 7 days also taught us to be tolerant because we had to share a lot things taken for granted in a normal environment, e.g. space, clean water, hot water, noise, etc. During spare times, we also shared knowledge & fun including an alternative pain killer which is a card game called "Casino" introduced by Peter's uncle. I learnt something new about the 5 icons of Denmark, Karen Blixen whose memoir "Out of Africa" (the original title in Danish is "My Africa") which turned into a huge success in Hollywood (we actually visited the Safari where the movie was shoot during discovery trip in Kenya); LEGO = Play Well (abbreviation of the two Danish words "leg godt"); architect Jørn Utzon was awarded the project of the Sydney Opera House in 1957, author & poet Hans Christian Andersen whose fairy tales were read out to Peter (my colleague, fellow hiker) by his grandpa; the national bird of Denmark, mute swan. As to the "down under" New Zealand, I asked Bevan for a silver fern souvenir after his successful promotion of the country's symbol. Sir Edmund Hillary who just passed away early this year, is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.
In remembrance of this extraordinary life, it is appropriate to end with his quote, “You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.”
Pole, Pole, Karibu Kilimanjaro!
P.S. thanks to Aoife Hegarty (Irish / Rwandan) who kindly lent us her IMD umbrella.
