The REAL Climbers - Porters of Kilimanjaro - THANK YOU!

I'm hoping some of the Kilimanjaro Porters will see this, particularly the crew from Karibou Adventures. Thanks for everything!!

We didn't climb the mountain, they did! They deserve the credit for allowing us to make it to the top. They're the ones that put in the real work, which allowed my dad and I to share a moment in life. Credit where credits do: The Porters.

Background Story. My dad was 67 when we did the Kili hike. He smoked many years of his life, and while he trained for the mountain, years of not training took a greater toll. They made sure to go slow with him, motivate him, pick him up when he was down physically and emotionally. They put in everything to make his dream come true.

One summit day, we left at 12 at night. It was cold and windy and it was mentioned to us that the temp can get to -20 degree F. As we hiked up together, we looked down and saw a thunderstorm and lightning as we were above the clouds. As we looked up, we saw a zig zag patch of little lights ascending the mountain like ants. It was obvious we had a long way to go. As I walked, I constantly stopped to breathe as the air is just not there. I'd lean over, hands on my knees gasping for air. The porters motivated me to keep moving, keep going. They did the same for my dad. We did this for 5-6 hours until we saw dusk break.

I arrived to the summit right around dawn, but as I looked back, exhausted and out of breath, my dad was nowhere to be found. Simba, my guide, waited with me but said we had to continue to the official summit. Since Kili is an old volcano, as you reach the top you still have to circle around to the highest point. The crater is still there like a true volcano which I had no idea about. And, massive glaciers of 50 feet high stood there looking down upon Africa. It was amazing, but my dad wasn't with me. We hiked to the final summit, maybe 30 minutes from the route, took our photos and celebrated.

As I looked back, Simba took a photo of me looking down, wondering if my dad was behind us, but he wasn't. At this moment I assumed he hadn't made it. We knew we had to get off the mountain so we started to descend. However, as we crossed a bend, I looked off into the distance and saw my dad with Mcloud and our other porter. He had made it, somehow. I ran to him and vie him a hug and cried as it was an emotional moment but he didn't seem as emotional as me. Maybe exhausted, maybe just more of a man, but he was stoic and he made it.

Or...The porter pushed and pulled him to make it. Without them, this wouldn't have been possible. They made the dream come true.

Thank you to Kilimanjaros Porters. "Pole, Pole"

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Thanks!
Michael



Tanzania. Porters. Kilimanjaro. Karibou adventures