Kilimanjaro-Day 5-the summit!

Day 5-The day started at midnight with a steep hike in the dark-the pace was slow, the guides would say, "pole pole" (pronounced pole-ay), which means slow and steady. Our steps were small, with the one foot not crossing in front of the other, and we had to be aware of our breathing because there was not much oxygen in the air, the slightest movement would get us out of breath.

The sunrise over Africa was amazing! We reached the 1st peak at around 8 am and had one final ascent to go, reaching Uhuru, meaning freedom, the highest peak in Africa at 8:30 am. The peak sits at 19,340 feet. All 9 people in our group made it to the peak, which is quite an accomplishment, there were groups after us in which the entire group did not make it. We were all blown away with the emotional rush at the top and felt that the hike was much harder than we could have imagined. The glaciers at the top were gigantic, rising 4-5 stories high.

Making it to the top was just the start of our day, we spent a half hour at the top and still had a long descent to go, one person collapsed on the way down and had to be carried to the next camp on a stretcher. The final camp was Mweka, sitting at 10,000 feet, we finally arrived at 7 pm after a long and amazing day of hiking.