Mount Kilimanjaro Expedition - Part One
Listen to Greenpeace
climate campaigner Joris Thijssen's account and view more photographs
of Part One of the expedition.
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Day One - The whisky
route and a stroll through the jungle.
Tuesdsay, 30 November 2001
Greenpeace
decided to go to Tanzania to document a clear example of the world's fast
disappearing glaciers. Mount Klimanjaro provides an all too clear example
of this impact of climate change.
Unfortunately Kilimanjaro's fate is not unique. It is not only in the tropics that glaciers are melting - around the world, glaciers are retreating. Other examples include glaciers on Mount Kenya, in the Himalayas, the Andes, the Spanish Pyrenees, Austrian Alps and Alaska (1).
The
expedition begins on Tuesday 30 November at the gate of the Umbwe route
into the Kilimanjaro National Park. This route is known as the whisky
route. Apparently we will soon to discover why - it's supposed to be the
steeper route. The Marangu route for example is also known as the 'coca
cola' route, apparently because of its more gradual ascent.
At the Umbwe gate, we meet our guides and the porters who will help us to safely climb the mountain with all our equipment. Two mountain guides and 13 porters are coming up with us, quite a queue of people.
Our guide promises that the Umbwe route will take us to places on the mountain where we can clearly observe the melting glaciers.
The
Greenpeace team consists of myself as the campaigner, Gavin Newman as
the cameraman/photographer and Florian van Olden as an experienced climber/volunteer.
At the beginning I feel very fit and the hike starts as a nice stroll through the jungle. We walk along a wide path through the rainforest, which judging from the tracks is also accessible by four wheel drive.
Around us we can hear the screaming of monkeys as they move through the trees, but unfortunately we never actually see one.
Two hours into the trek, we come across a sign pointing to the Umbwe route and from this point the wide track we have been following changes to a very narrow path on which you have to clamber from one rock to another.
Walking
is now comparable to climbing stairs two steps at a time and I'm starting
to feel my backpack. Not long after entering this path it gets dark, as
we began our ascent very late in the afternoon.
After walking in the dark for another two hours, we arrive at our first camp. The porters had gone on ahead and have already set up camp, including our tents and dinner is ready waiting to be served. Climbing Kilimanjaro isn't so hard after all…or will those be famous last words?
Day Two - Magical
moments on the way to Barranco Hut
Wednesday, 1 December 2001
In
the morning light I can finally see where we have camped - in the middle
of the bush. Surrounding us is a beautiful forest, with rocks scattered
between trees covered with thick moss. The moss gives everything a fairytale
atmosphere.
Because we started so late yesterday, today we have to catch up on our schedule. That means we'll be walking in one day what is normally done in one and a half days. It's going to involve ascending 2000 metres - from where we are now at approximately 2000 meters to 4000 meters.
We
climb out of the rainforest via steep and sometimes vertical paths. It's
a wonderful moment as we catch our first glimpse of the white peaks of
Kilimanjaro over the rainforest, a truly beautiful sight.
Kilima is Swahili for "mountain" and "Njaro" means shining, reflecting the white ice cap that when illuminated by the sun, is visible from great distances and neighbouring countries like Kenya.
Within some 20 years, however, Klimanjaro's name is likely to be a reminder of the shining snow cap it once wore. Scientists predict that by then, the mountain's ice fields will have melted as a result of climate change.
Coming out just above the rainforest, we can see the clouds forming above the trees and starting to creep up the mountain. Seeing these clouds forming and moving just tens of metres away from you is quite magical.
Eventually,
at the end of our second day, we arrive at Barranco hut where the only
vegetation is a few bushes. And don't think that there are huts or houses
at Barranco hut. Oh no! Only this hut to cook in and some toilets. We'll
be sleeping in our tents again and tonight's going to be pretty cold.
After nine hours of climbing I'm tired. Tomorrow we need to be up again at first light - that means six in the morning. So now, at only eight o'clock in the evening, I'm ready to hit the sack!
Day Three - The
hike to base camp at Arrow Glacier
Thursday, 2 December 2001
After breakfast we begin the last part of our hike to base camp. Walking along a mountain rim, we climb higher and higher. At times the path is only a metre wide, with dramatic cliff drops on both sides.
Unfortunately we have no view of the summit or valley - we're walking through a thick mist. The clouds we saw yesterday forming over the rainforest have already moved in.
During
our trek, we usually walk with one guide while the other guide joins the
porters. These porters are amazing. You give them a good backpack, lots
of stuff and what do they do? They pack the rucksack completely, they
tie some more stuff on the side, top and bottom and then they put on their
head and start walking - no, almost running up the mountain. Unbelievable.
The amount of air and thus the amount of oxygen we can get into our lungs constantly limit our pace at this altitude. Normally I live below sea level (I'm from the Netherlands) so at four to five thousand meters I don't have to do much before I'm gasping for more oxygen.
And then there's the fear of altitude sickness. Any person can get very ill at this altitude. It will make you feel sick, give you headaches, prevent you from sleeping and make you feel weak. In the worst case, fluid will get into your lungs which makes breathing even more difficult.
My
doctor gave me medicine for it with the remark that the side effect can
be same as the symptoms of altitude sickness! What a help.
After another six hours of walking we arrive at Arrow glacier hut at almost 5000 meters altitude. I'm feeling pretty bad - very weak, very tired, I've got a headache and I'm beginning to fear that I'll spend my days up here with altitude sickness. So again I'm heading straight for bed to try and sleep for a while.
Fortunately I do sleep for an hour or so and am feeling a lot better. Unlike our cameraman and videographer Gavin, who doesn't seem to be adjusting well to the altitude.
It's now late afternoon and our guide, 57-year old Wilson takes us to the Arrow glacier a few hundred meters from base camp.
He
explains that only 10 years ago, the rim on which we are standing was
covered with ice. On one side of the rim we can see the Arrow glacier
about 5 meters below. But on the other side of the rim there also used
to be a glacier. This glacier is completely gone.
The science reports are true and I am seeing it with my own eyes. In only tens years a whole glacier has disappeared and another (the Arrow Glacier) is melting at the rate of about half a meter per year. And this was just one of the many glaciers coming down from this immense mountain.
Our first priority is to get some good footage and documentation of the melting of the Arrow glacier so that we can communicate this to the world. We hold an interview with Wilson at that exact spot. After dinner it's time for another early night as tomorrow will be another early start - we need to get up at first light.
Check back in January for Part Two of the expedition.
For more information:
(1) Climate change impacts on glaciers around the world (pdf), Greenpeace briefing.
Climate change impacts around the world (pdf), Greenpeace briefing.
6 November 2001: Kilimanjaro set to lose its ice field by 2015 due to climate change
View the satellite images of Mount Kilimanjaro on the NASA site:
Kilimanjaro glacier
Nov. 1990 and Dec. 2000:
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?7636
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?7676
More snow and ice
images:
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/Cryosphere/Snow_Ice/