I might as well cut right to the chase: Over the past couple of months I was blessed to have the best summer of my life! As you may know, the North American College asks its first year theologians to spend their summer between first and second years away from home. Obviously, this didn't exactly seem like a fun idea at first, either for me or for my friends and family back home. But God truly is full of surprises, and my experience this summer ended up being a truly remarkable and life-changing experience.
The adventure took place in Tanzania, a country of East Africa, notable mostly for Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Swahili language that gave us the phrase "Hakuna matata." In fact, "The Lion King" basically took place in Tanzania. While we unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) did not get to see any lions, elephants, or wildebeests, we did get to experience Tanzania's natural beauty on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, and tallest freestanding mountain in the world. I was joined by my St. John Vianney classmate and fellow NAC-er Vince Fernandez, who must be given credit for everything that happened this summer, since he took the initiative on making this adventure happen!
That's Vince. He's the man.
Our first order of business upon arriving in Africa was to promptly climb to the top of it. To put it bluntly, climbing Kilimanjaro was awesome. It was also one of the most difficult things I've ever done! The dormant volcano stands at 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level. Fortunately, because it is volcanic in nature, the ascent is pretty gradual most of the way, and could be called more of a hike than a genuine "climb." To be honest, our knowledge of this fact made us a little cocky. "Oh, it's just a really long hike, right? I mean, I can do that. Piece o' cake." Boy, were we wrong!
On day 1, we set out in the lush rainforest foliage with a nice brisk pace and a little spring in our step. Day 1: we made it to our first campsite, Machame Camp at 9,500 feet, no problem. Day 2, we set out from there to Shira Camp at 12,500 feet. Easy peasy. Day 3...well day 3 kicked our butts! We had emerged from the tree line and entered a rocky, more desert-like landscape. Fortunately, this gave us finally a beautiful view of the Mountain in front of us, but it also showed us that we had a really, really long way to go!
A view of Kili from our day 3 campsite...kind of a long way!
It was at this point that the mental aspect of climbing kicked in, and it was something I never expected. As much as we wanted to just be at the summit in a heartbeat, we had to realize that it would only happen one step at a time, one campsite at a time...Our two Tanzanian guides kept reminding us on days 4 and 5, "Don't think about the summit today. Today, think about getting to that camp and having a nice meal!"
Here we are with our two studly guides, Moody (left), and Nico.
So, for the next two whole days, we trudged on, winding our way through the rocky terrain, moving slowly so as to acclimate to the altitude, and trying to think only of next day's camp, while the mountain seemed to remain far away...Things got even more frustrating when, on day 4, our route to the campsite brought us downhill! We had arrived at 4,600 meters, our closest point to the summit, and yet we had to go down to camp! Obviously, we knew that this was to allow us to get used to the altitude changes, but it was still difficult to think that we were walking away from the summit! We weren't playing that mental game so well, but we were still in the hunt, and after, a long, foggy trudge on day 4 to our final camp, Baraf Hut, we were now able to put the summit in our minds!
Our final ascent began on Day 5 at the brisk morning hour of 12:30 am. After a few hours of sleep, our guides woke us up and gave us the pep talk. Now was the day to think of only one thing: the summit! After saddling up, we rolled out, with our headlamps lighting the way. The climb was still slow as molasses as followed a switchback pattern up the side of the mountain. Usually when you're at a high point, the best advise is "don't look down," right? Well, during the seemingly endless morning of Day 5, the motto was "don't look up!" The reason for this was that, if we looked up, we could see off in the distance the flickering lights of other climbers who had set out before us. The truth was that we had a very, very long way to go, but, in the dark the only way to actually understand how far we had to go was by seeing these little lights! One glance was enough to make us start thinking, "Man, this is going to take forever!"
So look down we did. We walked, drank boatloads of water, sang a few songs to make the time pass, watched as the sun slowly started to illuminate the sky behind us! As it grew lighter, we could see the vast, beautiful landscape below us. It was truly amazing; one of those moments where you realize that no picture could do it justice! Slowly but surely we trudged, as the sun rose and the hours passed by...
After roughly 8 hours on the trail, we finally stopped going up! We had arrived at Stella Point, marking our arrival not at the summit, but at the rim of the volcano. We could see the summit on the other side of the rim, not too far away, and we knew that the most difficult stretch was over!
Stella Point. Yeah, we were pretty wiped.
After another 45 minutes across the ridge, the ascent was finished! We arrived at Uhuru (Freedom) Peak at a little after 9 am that morning, exhausted, but grateful that the Lord had given us the strength to carry on! We knelt down with our guides (both of whom were Catholic!) and prayed two Hail Mary's: one in English, and the other in Swahili. What a blessing it was to offer the highest point in Africa to the protection of Our Blessed Mother!
The Summit!
A day and a half later, we were back at sea level, where we essentially slept and ate ice cream for two days while we prepared to launch upon the next leg of our summer adventure! Overall, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was an incredible experience, and while the jury is still out for me as to whether I would ever do something like that again, it was, in its own way, a great moment of growth. I learned, mostly the hard way, about the importance of taking the ascent one day at a time. The summit was always in mind, but in those moments where it was still far away, we learned the importance of taking it slow and trusting that we were making progress. I learned also that, in order to make it to the summit, you've got to want it! I'm thankful for Vince, as well as our guides, for keeping the goal in mind, especially during that 8-hour marathon of a climb. I could not have done it alone!
It was a blessing too to be united with a great man who has been a powerful influence in my life, namely, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati! He was a young Italian man who lived in the early 20th century, and was renowned for his deep Faith, love for Our Lord, and charity for his brothers and sisters. He was also a great mountaineer, and is known to have loved the Italian phrase "Verso l'alto," which means "To the heights!" He also said that, "the higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ." We all have to climb the mountain, and fortunately, God is with us at every step! We just have to take it slow, enjoying the beauty along the way, and trusting always in His love!
More to come about the rest of the summer, folks. Until then, know of my prayers for you all!
In Christ,
Colin
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