Climbing Kilimanjaro at 16

On top of Africa

by Sulli Knight

When I was 16, my grandfather gave me the incredible opportunity to climb Kilimanjaro with him, my aunt, uncle, and cousin. This was one of the most intense, rewarding, and humbling experiences of my life. Kilimanjaro sits at 19,341 feet, Africa’s highest point, located in Tanzania. Completing this takes training and preparation months beforehand, getting ready to hike up to 10 miles a day. The mix of physical exhaustion, emotional struggle, and the indescribable beauty of nature makes this the biggest achievement of my life.
Prior to the hike, I began to train on trails and in the gym. I practiced hiking at higher elevations and longer routes than I was used to, and in the gym, I did strength training and the stair master for 30-60 minutes most days of the week.
You must go through a company to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; we went with Wilderness Travel and had an amazing experience with them. We booked the Northern Circuit Route, taking 11 days total, all with meals provided, guides, and porters to carry your bags and prepare camp. We only had to carry a daypack, I think mine weighed about 10-15 pounds, with an extra layer, rain gear, snacks, and water. The first two days are spent at Arusha National Park to get acclimated and prepare to start the journey.
It took us almost a day to travel to Tanzania. After two nine-hour flights, a layover, and a few hours in the car, we finally made it to our destination and were met with a wonderful dinner prepared for us at Arusha. Overwhelmed with exhaustion and already homesick, I just sat in my cabin and cried after we arrived. I was sharing it with my aunt, Katherine, who I could not have done the hike without. Katherine’s presence, positivity, and encouragement carried me through the whole trip. The next morning, we met the rest of our group, a pair of brothers and two older men. We spent that day getting to know one another and becoming acclimated by hiking part of a trail on Mount Meru.
 On day 3, we woke up and made our final preparations before driving to the starting point of the trail on Kilimanjaro. The head of the trail starts at 7,400 feet of elevation, where we started our 4.5-mile hike to our first camp, Forest Camp at 9,150ft of elevation. This hike was not as hard as I had imagined; it took us about 4 hours to reach camp, walking through the green forest. Our porters went ahead of us with bags and equipment and had our tents ready for us when we arrived. Every day, arriving at a made tent was such a blessing after hiking many miles. Our guide insisted that after every hike, we have time to sit and relax together in the dining tent with tea and snacks. It was warm this night, and I barely used my sleeping bag to stay comfortable. I was woken the next morning by 2 of our porters outside of my aunt and I's tent, they called out good morning to us to make sure we were awake and offered a morning tea. Once we got ready, we joined our group in the dining tent for breakfast, where there was a selection of fruits and breakfast foods, along with each of us having a bowl of soup. At breakfast, our lead porter, Samia, explained the itinerary for the day: how far we would hike, about how long it would take, where we would stop to eat lunch, and anything we should expect on the way. This was how every morning looked for us. That day, we hiked 5.5 miles from Forest Camp to Shira Ridge camp. We were still trekking through the forest for the beginning of the day, then the trees began to thin out and change. This camp was not crowded, and we could finally see the top of the mountain, yet it would take us 7 more days to summit. We camped at the edge of the Shira Plateau, with our tents set up in front of a wonderful view of Uhuru Peak. Our evenings and nights at camp were mostly similar, relaxing together once we were done hiking, getting ready for dinner, eating, and hanging out before going to sleep. I spent a lot of time with my cousin, Shepherd, who was 19 at the time. We shared our experience from the day, which was mostly similar as we hiked next to each other the majority of the time, and shared excitement as we got closer to summiting every day. Most nights, I would leave the tent for a few minutes and brave the cold to see millions of stars. It’s incredible how many stars you can see there; it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Day 5 was a 6.5-mile hike to Moir Camp that sits with views of the Shira Plateau. I remember this day being one of the worst for me, not because it was the hardest, but because I felt very sick. I had begun to have slight altitude sickness, feeling nauseous and having headaches throughout the day. This was also the only day that it began to rain while we were hiking. A mix between feeling sick and being uncomfortable in my rain gear caused me to silently cry for the last stretch of the hike to camp. I remember just being so tired and homesick that I wanted to give up, but I was determined to keep going(there really wasn’t another option at this point). We finally made it to camp after what felt like hours, sharing dinner and conversation with our group. The few days following were mostly the same, hiking most of the day, reaching camp, having dinner, and going to sleep. Sharing this experience with my family made it all the more enjoyable and rewarding. Each day, we would spend time together before bed, exploring the camp, meeting and talking with porters, or relaxing together and highlighting the best parts of the day.
Part of our route was to spend 2 nights at Lava Camp, getting acclimated before spending the night at over 18,000ft before summiting. The night before our longest hike, we spent some time making sure our gear was prepared, fit properly, and was packed correctly in our packs. That morning, we woke up very early, about 3 am, and began getting ready in the dark. We started our 9-hour hiking day with a breakfast of eggs, meat, toast, and soup, which had been our variety every morning. This was by far the hardest day on the trail. We spent 9 hours hiking straight up the side of the mountain, seeming impossible with no clear trail in sight. This is not a popular route; our group was the only one going up this way. At checkpoints, we would take a break, and the guides would give us some chocolate to help keep our energy up. The whole day was a blur of rocks; I honestly do not remember much of it. I had never been so exhausted in my life. Once we reached camp, we set our gear down and explored the area. This was the only camp that no other group came to; we were completely alone, surrounded by glaciers, rocks, and snow. From my tent, I could see Uhuru Peak, which we would summit the next day. I went to sleep early that night because we had an early wake-up call again the next morning.
As the porters came around the morning of our summit to wake us up, it almost seemed bittersweet. I had been so excited to finally summit and be done with the hike, but I knew how lucky I was to be there. It was such an amazing experience, but I had been so tired and homesick the whole trip. As we got ready, my aunt and I spent some time talking and praying before we went to breakfast. It was pitch black outside as we all got ready to begin the day's hike, lining up and talking with our guides and porters. This hike was 4 hours, under a mile straight up hill, through 5 feet of snow. We very slowly pushed our way up the trail to the peak. As we came over the edge to reach the flat of the peak, the sun began to rise. Our whole group reached the top, and we walked almost 50 feet to the Uhuru Peak sign, meeting about 40 other people already there. Watching the sunrise from the top of the mountain was one of the most surreal moments of my life. It was so incredibly rewarding to stand at the top of the mountain and soak in the view and my accomplishment.
We spent the whole day hiking down more than half the mountain, going much faster and in much more crowded areas than on the way up. On our final day, we practically ran down the rest of the trail because of how excited we all were to finish the trek. Every corner we went around, I was expecting to see the finish, but as my anticipation was rising, I felt more and more tired. We finally reached the point where we could see the finish, and my parents were waiting for us at the bottom. I sprinted to meet my mom, almost sobbing, as I reached the end of the trail. I would 110% recommend climbing Kilimanjaro to anyone; it is physically and sometimes emotionally challenging, but it is the most rewarding experience. This was not just a hike to me, even now, looking back on it 4 years later. Sharing this with my family was so special and helped me grow as a person in so many ways I didn’t expect.