Mount Meru

We arrived from the Safari with big grins on our faces, still pinching ourselves with our luck to have seen so many beautiful animals in their natural habitats. We had a great sleep that night back at L’Oasis, where they had upgraded us to a beautiful banda once again (yes!!), but it was not yet time to relax completely as next up was our hope to climb Mount Meru. We walked into Arusha, along our now familiar route, and reconnected with our good man Godfrey. We had met Godfrey in Arusha the day before we left for safari. He owned a small camping equipment rental place, and when asked, said he would be glad to provide a ride to and from Mt Meru for a good price, in addition to renting us the necessary equipment for the climb. We had decided to avoid the tour companies, which provide porters, cooks and a guide – this seems to be what most climbers opt for, but we thought it would take too much out of the adventure experience.

Before setting off on our adventure, we had to be selective in buying food for the trip, as it meant carrying it all on our backs for the 3000m uphill. This of course came hand in hand with our pot, dishes, thermos, camping stove and fuel. Oh yes, we were in for fun!

We said our goodbyes to Godfrey at the final park gate and set a time to meet again at the same location four days later. We then began the wait to see what group we would join to share the Park Ranger and begin the first stage of the climb. Although we had to wait the whole morning before everyone was ready to go, we ended up with a great group of climbers from England and the US and Ben was the only man in the group of nine! Lucky guy (or lucky ladies).

Armed Park Rangers are a mandatory requirement for the trek as Mt Meru is located within Arusha National Park, home to elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, warthogs and many others. We quickly took a liking to Ranger Dominique with his quiet spoken manner, good nature and subtle humour. He began by leading our group through a lush grassland, complete with a river meandering slowly to the forested foothills of Mount Meru. The atmosphere was magical as we entered the misty forest and crossed our first stream, balancing on rocks only marginally above the water. The moss and lichen hung from the twisting tree branches all around as we heard the call of unseen wildlife.

We took the direct route up to the Miriakamba camp (2500m), rising 1000m and arriving by late afternoon. We were seriously impressed with the clean and well appointed accommodations, complete with dining hall and cold showers. We even had bunk beds with mattresses and pillows! Patricia was so inspired she continued her climb right into the top bunk.

As the guided guests lounged about we were in the kitchen acting as our own chefs. Dominique dropped in to see how we were doing and when he saw the popcorn we had made he suggested that tea would go nicely. When we explained that we didn’t have any (morning coffee only), he took Patricia outside to go search for fresh mint. We boiled up the findings and had a deliciously fresh tea to go along with our crunchy snack! It was so good that we collected enough for each afternoon to follow.

Miriakamba was actually the coldest of the camps as it resides right at the elevation of a band of persistent clouds that provide the misty effect for the forest. Patricia in particular was happy to be heading up early the next morning for the sunshine that Dominique assured us we would reach later that day. We again hiked through the lush forests for the first half of the climb, pausing for lunch with a dramatic view below – finally above the clouds!

As we continued, the vegetation began to change, clearly adapting to the dryer environment. Trees became less dense, with flowers and bushes becoming more prominent.

All the while the skies went from grey to whitish and finally blue. Approaching the Saddle Hut camp, we encountered some of the most unique trees we had ever seen – something like very tall broccoli sprung up on all sides with the dusty brown trail cutting a winding path through the greenery.

We had arrived reasonably early at the high camp (3500m) and the afternoon held the option for a climb up Little Mt Meru. Sensible people would likely have stayed down at the camp to enjoy the sunshine with Patricia, but then Ben is not the type. Thankfully the climb up was fully justified by the first views of our camp below, and Mount Meru summit with the small volcanic cone rising out of the mist trapped in the middle of the natural bowl shape.

Looking in the other direction the summit of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak (~5900m) rose hauntingly above the cloud cover.

We again did our thing in the kitchen, this time joining the chefs and guides in the effort alongside the universal sounds of Bob Marley from our music player. Another delicious dinner was concocted with fresh garlic, onion, green pepper, carrot, pasta, tomato sauce and “tasty soy chunks” (seriously the name on the package). We then bedded down for the night as Dominique informed us that we’d be departing early the next morning for the summit – at 1am. With the alarm ringing in our ears at midnight we awoke to fire up the stove for breakfast - some tea with crackers and peanut butter for quick energy and a light load on the stomach for climbing. We also filled our thermos with hot water and noodle soup for the summit we hoped to reach some six hours later. We have Godfrey to thank for this great idea!

There was a cloudless night, with stars so bright the Milky Way was a prominent white stain across the black velvet sky. As we climbed, the stars grew in size until they seemed so near you felt you could just reach up and pluck one down. Our group was in great spirits as we reached Rhino Point with Ben insisting on a quick group picture to mark the occasion. The valiant photographer is not present in the shot but we think his sacrifice in the cause of good lighting was well rewarded.

The high morale of our group was slightly shaken in departing from Rhino point when one of the guide’s decided to encourage us by letting everyone know that there was only another 4 to 5 hours to go. Yay! We continued on in the dark, picking our way over rocks and along a thin path by headlamp. At times the extreme darkness on either side of the path seemed quite ominous and so we decided to focus on the path and not let our minds or our feet wander. As we trudged on, the wind picked up and the night began to get quite cold. Patricia was forced to swing her arms in circles to maintain feeling in her fingers and Ben zipped her up in his outer coat for extra warmth.

By the time the sky began to get faintly light it had been a long, hard climb, but we now crested the final stretch. We had made it shortly after 6am, on top of our own little world! And what a view awaited us. The rising sun split through the clouds in a golden fan of light, parting in the middle to highlight the dark silhouette of Kilimanjaro in the distance. The ash cone of the formerly active volcano rose above a sea of clouds that seemed to crash like waves against the rock below. The peak itself was apparently named in honour of Tanzania’s first President and we grinned ear to ear below the sign with Dominique.

After enjoying our still deliciously hot soup and signing the summit log book stored safely at the top, we made our way back down and finally got to see some of the landscape we had missed on the ascent. It was dramatic to say the least and at times it seemed that we were walking right on the knife’s edge of the crater rim. We were thankful that we hadn’t been able to see certain parts of the trail going up in the dark, or we might easily have lost our nerve!

Walking along the narrow ridge, we got to see just how high up we were above the rest of life below. It was breathtaking, with Africa rolling out in colours of green and brown well below our feet on one side, and the inactive volcanic cone on the other.

We arrived back at the high camp feeling tired but incredibly satisfied, taking a much needed rest in the shade. After preparing some lunch, we packed up our gear and made our way back down to misty Miriakamba camp to stay the night. It took our last reserves of strength to whip up popcorn, tea and a big dinner before we collapsed gratefully into our bunks. We had been awake for about 21 hours and slept like logs.

On the last morning we set off by the long route back to the base through a beautiful forested trail. We stopped at a waterfall where our group rested, chatted and snapped a few photos. The final surprise was an enormous fig tree which acted like a tunnel for the cars passing through to supply the Miriakamba camp above.

Arriving back down below, the faithful Godfrey was still waiting for us almost 2 hours after our agreed time. That’s the Tanzanian way – always “pole pole” (slow slow) and “karibu” (welcome). We greeted him with our big smiles and an even bigger “ahsante!” (thank you)! It felt great to get back to L’Oasis, have a hot shower and a beer on the patio in the late afternoon sun on our tree house veranda. Yes, L’Oasis had done it again – free upgrade! That night we chilled out on our favourite lounge couch, good food and wine keeping close company. The next day we were catching a plane to Zanzibar, that ever-mystical island off the coast of Tanzania, where white sandy beaches and aquamarine water beckoned us to the faint strain of muslim music…time for relaxation to begin!