Monday, Oct. 3, 2011
Horombo Hut, Tanzania, Africa
 

Everyone on the 2011 team has reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro! They reached Uhuru peak as a team on Sunday after a difficult 8.5 hour trek to get there. However, the pain, exhaustion and difficult weather they experienced paled in comparison to the sense of achievement they felt after having reached their goals individually, and as a team.  Their emotions could not be contained in the phone call home this morning from Horombo Hut by Marian Lowery to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. office.

Lowery called it “the experience of a lifetime”. She said the entire team was “totally moved when we got to the top.  It was just overwhelming for us,” she added. “There were lots of tears, there were lots of photographs of people doing special things with the flags they brought – we had some prayer flags and some shells that somebody had brought.”

Horombo Hut is the first stop on the team’s descent back down Mt. Kilimanjaro. When asked about the team effort, Lowery explained that working together physically was necessary at some points of the hike. “People really supported one another. Going up the last 45 minutes before you get to Gillman’s is not easy; it’s incredibly big steps over big rocks, twisting and turning. People put their hands on [others] backs and boosted and hauled,” she laughed. “It often means hauling them [the team members] up.”

Team spirit was essential to their collective success, as the weather did not make it any easier. At times there were downpours, thunder and lightning, as well as snow that covered everything. “It really is so difficult - it's night, it's cold. You're not sure that your clothes are working for you - maybe you have too much on, or too little on,” explained Lowery in reference to changing conditions.

However, she credited the team for coming together and helping to make it such a meaningful experience and feels it was all worth the effort. “It's just such a privilege to be able to see those glaciers from so close, and from above them.  It's just unbelievable, just gorgeous, such a beautiful view.”

The 2011 team will descend from Horombo Hut (12,000’), over the next few days before continuing on their African travel plans or returning home. Many will undoubtedly feel their emotional ‘high’ and sense of achievement for years to come.