Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
When Jemel Liverpool invited his brother, Kareem to take part in a seven-day safari to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest free-standing and dormant volcanic mountain, with a group of close friends to celebrate his 40th birthday, he gladly accepted and began mental and physical preparations in earnest. This was over two years ago.
On 6th September, 2023 Kareem, 35, made it to Stellar Point, one of three official summits of Mt Kilimanjaro, but unfortunately due to low oxygen blood levels Jemel did not. The other two are Gilman’s Point and Uhuru Peak, the main summit.
It was a memorable trip and one of the best experiences Kareem would not want to repeat in his lifetime.
“On the night before summiting I was thinking, ‘Oh man, why are we doing this?’ As those thoughts came in, I quickly pushed them aside. There was no turning back with just one more climb to the top of the mountain. It reminded me of how important mindset is when the going gets more tough. It was a life lesson in itself, to keep on going despite adversities knowing the end result that awaits,” Kareem, a past Marian Academy student, told Stabroek Weekend.
The group of nine that included Kareem assembled in Maryland, USA then travelled to Kilimanjaro Airport, Moshi, Tanzania, arriving on August 31. It comprised Jemel and his wife Monique Cooper-Liverpool of the USA, Monique’s friend Kim Jefferson, the Liverpools’ cousin Frank Denbow of Jamaica, the Liverpools’ family friend and Roman Catholic priest Fr Carl Philadelphia of Guyana, and Jemel’s friends David Campobenedetto of the USA, Wassim Charifi from Lebanon and Jesse Bennet.
Charifi and Bennet live in Liberia. Seven of the nine completed the climb to the summit.
“The event was a coming of age and a personal spiritual growth for Jemel. It was for everyone invited to find their own perspective or take-away from it,” Kareem said.
The only advice Kareem got from his father, Lt Colonel (ret’d) Fairbairn Liverpool, who has had extensive training in the military was, ‘Enjoy every moment of it.’
Their goal was to reach Stellar Point with sunrise on the morning of September 6, Jemel’s birthday. Six days of climbing were advised.
The night before they set out, their tour guides checked their bags, clothing and protective gear to ensure they could deal with the terrain, changing weather and climatic conditions and everything that came with the climb. The tour group, Altezza Travel provided a 40-man team that included cooks, porters and tour guides.
As they left the hotel for Kilimanjaro National Park on 1st September to begin the climb they were excited. “The mood was one of nervous energy, anxiety mixed with excitement. We were optimistic about what lay ahead knowing there were going to be challenges,” Kareem related.
After lunch in the national park, they started out at 2,100 metres above sea level.
“It was a cold morning. That first day we did about 10 kilometres of climbing in about four to five hours. Something we heard very often on the trip was ‘pole, pole’ in Swahili meaning ‘slowly, slowly. Don’t rush. Take it easy’.”
Everyone was still in good spirits when they got to Shira 1 Camp, their first stop on the 70 kilometres climb to the summit along the Lemosho route, one of several to either of the three summits.
“We slept at different camps on the way to the summit. So our bodies had time to rest, recover and acclimatise.
“It was my first experience sleeping in that altitude and in cold air. Once we got into the tents and into our sleeping bags, it wasn’t too bad. Diamox helped with adjusting to the altitude but one of the side effects was frequent urination and having to get out in the cold air in the night,” Kareem said. “A lot of us did not sleep that night. The first two to three nights I didn’t sleep well because of the excitement and adrenaline. For the first two to three nights I was running on a total of about ten hours of sleep.”
Every morning and before every climb, the guides who are trained in first aid, checked the vitals of everyone to ensure they were capable of climbing and dealing with the high altitude.
From Shira 1 they hiked to Shira 2 Camp on day two for about another five hours through a steep rocky and sandy elevation. “It was windy from the start. We were lucky we had a lot of sun and no rain. But we dealt with a lot of dust kicked up by boots along the trail that affected a lot of people. We wore ski masks/balaclavas and that helped with the wind chill. Wind chill was one of one of our biggest opponents on the entire hike.”
At Shira 2 Camp, Jemel and Karim acknowledged they were already at a higher elevation than Mount Roraima, which is 9,220 feet (2,810 m); Shira 2 Camp stands at 15,190 ft (4,630 m).
On day three, the climb to the third campsite was about ten hours in changing terrain. “That was one of the most gruelling days on the climb. At one point we were climbing on rocks then descending to find areas in which to climb back higher. It tested our cardio and put a lot of strain on the legs and the knees.”
Sunrises, sunsets and nights with no obstructions to the sky above were beautiful to witness Kareem said.
“The higher we got we began moving through clouds that blocked out the sun. The clouds came with colder temperatures. Being in the clouds was like being in a fog. Once the sun was out it was strong.”
Challenging
From day three into day four, Jemel and Frank began to experience the high altitude effect.
During day three, Jemel experienced nausea and vomiting. “He questioned whether he would make it to the next camp. He was given oxygen and soup to re-energise. That was our first major challenge with someone suffering the effects of the altitude,” Kareem recalled.
The three women in the group, Kareem said, did well. “Kim was an inspiration. She stayed close to the main guide keeping pace with him and she kept the group going. We played music as background to the climb. Monique is Liberian and she played a lot of African music including