Kilimanjaro Climbers

We have been out of civilization for a few days…and what an amazing few days it has been. After spending time at Kilema Hospital and sorting out some details regarding the HIV clinic we met up with the Kingston group who were climbing Kilimanjaro.Of the 6, 5 of them made it to the summit and 1 to the point just below. She had to turn back (rather, she was turned forcefully around, by a very astute porter who recognized altitude sickness), she had to get off the mountain. I have never seen a group of people more exhilarated and beaten up all at the same time. They had minus 40 with the wind chill at the top as a storm blew in on summit night. I guess that is unusual for Kili but not unheard of. They had 19 porters and guides who ‘helped’ get them to the top. You cannot climb the mountain without a licensed guide because of conservation issues and safety. Rumor has it (and they keep this quite a secret so as not to affect future climb business) that 18 climbers have died on the mountain so far this year. Almost all from altitude sickness. The porters told our friends that many climbers are so hell-bent on getting to the top that they refuse to listen. The majority of climbers who have died this year are young Japanese people…maybe something about honour and saving face there, but who really knows. The porters and guides cannot forcefully remove people until it is basically too late. And, anyway, where are you going to go when they get you off if you already have cerebral or pulmonary edema? The nearest hospital is ill-equipped to deal with those kinds of things (flashback to my blog regarding the lack of an oxygen concentrator at Kilema Hospital!). Well, we had a celebratory dinner that night at the Marangu Hotel, the oldest establishment at the mountain base that has seen many climbers come and go (many famous ones too if you look at their log books). Roman is really considering it now, having seen it (the mountain) and the group, after their successful (ie. No one died) climb. They had incredible pictures of the porters (quite small nimble men) carrying a weeks worth of eggs and frozen chicken and a fold-up table and chairs etc…all on their head, which is the most common place for any Tanzanian to carry whatever they are transporting. I missed a picture the other day of a guy with a sofa (I am serious) on his head and his friend had all the cushions!! Those porters and guides get about 1 trek per month in season and are a perfect example of the hierarchy of life in Tanzania. The head guide, who is the most educated and speaks the best English, gets paid about $30 US per day. The assistant guides, also fairly educated about guiding and who speak pretty good English get about $20 US per day. All the other porters, have less education (in varying degrees) an, less of a command of English, get $15 US per day…...and this is considered a good job, one worth risking your life for.