Each of the 9 treks up Uhuru point, the roof top of Africa has taken something from me.
So how did it all begin, its early 2013 and I had been out the game for three years.. Nelson Mithamo (Nesh fellow mountain lover and good friend) from the Presidents Award (Kenyan chapter of the international award) scheme at Kenyatta University. He had just come from Kilimanjaro and I though that was such a great feat and I wanted the same so badly, the good news, he was planning to lead a team in August of 2013. 
I wrote on his facebook timeline ‘I will be in the next one’ and I would start my training in earnest, it was my return to the trails and I was aiming for the big one of Africa and more importantly my first experience in the high mountains..
The trek up was amazing .. met new exciting souls and most of them still very close friends to this day. I had very bad fall at Uhuru Peak as I walked towards the board to take a picture and nothing happened up there indicated that I will make mountain a huge part of my life. But it in August 2013 after crazy 5 days in the mountain I had arrived and was welcomed at the table of five thousanders.. and I can tell you its beautiful space.
Since this first ascent a-lot has happened, I left employment end 2015 and rearranged much of my life in many ways and most important spiritually. The mountain become an anchor and central part of my life starting mid of 2016 when we launched Hikemaniak. Here is are some of the teachings I have picked from going up Africas most coveted peak.
Connection
Some of the most meaningful relationships that I have formed and kept to date happened and continue to happen in the mountain, men and women of honor.Below is a picture of me and Kyalo during our first ascent. We attended same university, but its in this mountain that our friendship would flourish. We have grown to share more interests beyond the mountain especially in matters family, spirituality and nutrition. This kind of connection am convinced would only happen in this kind of space.. the mountain.
Patience
Yes with other people but even more importantly with self. In life as we work hard to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves or the ones society has set for us we struggle, we push ourselves to the limits.. sometimes we hit the goals ..other times not as fast as we wanted or we fall short and we fail hard. And at those moments its very easy to blame ourselves or others and we become impatient and we hit hard on ourselves for it. What I have learnt in the mountain is to be patient with self and to face forward and just make that one more step up. I keep telling myself the sun will rise tomorrow..that morning especially the walk to the summit, when I finally surrender after a long struggle up Stella or Gilmans point ..joy fills my every space and peace abounds..because the biting cold, the strong winds and the shiver only last for a few hours and when the sun finally pierces the edges of the earth, the warmth comes to fill my body and my heart. The beauty of the mountain cheers my heart especially looking at Mawenzi from Stella Point forcing a smile from the roof of Africa. With each step forward is a step towards the goal and finally the whole of Africa is below my heels, am here again.. that smile again.. the smile that says this is home.
Compassion
In my second trek up Kilimanjaro I wanted to do a comfortable trek, I wanted to erase the struggle and pain of the first trek through Marangu trail. I had trained well and walked many prep trails for both endurance and altitude.
This second attempt was through Machame and I was really excited to pass through Lava Tower , Barranco Wall and to finally face the steep ascent to Stella Point.
Compassion comes from the wells of patience, once you are patient with yourself you can share kindness with others; not only other trekkers on the trail but with even porters and guides.
This nature to look out not only for you but for others starts to grow, and for me being a last born its its something that was almost no-existent.
Equanimity
The first time I encountered this word was in a meditation center early 2016 as we looked to launch Hikemaniak. The simple meaning of the term here being to observe things in non-reactive manner. We all want to be happy and at peace with self and the world, but the reality of life has already shown us we may not always be in a happy bubble. Sickness, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce and may other unpleasant experience that visit the living will keep poking the happiness bubble. Just like the mountains the ups and the downs are all temporary.. the high and the lows will all come and go.. so don’t get attached to either watch them like you would watch and experience a stream of water in the wild flowing down the valley with a measured smile.
We are Perfectible
Every time I have struggled with a major issue in my life, the mountain has been the portal I plugin to help me sort out the important from a pool of the seemingly important things in my life. The human spirit is perfectible- the mountain has a way of refining us, by constantly keeping us in the present moment. Kilimanjaro has been that mountain for me, over and over I have become a better person.. a better father .. a better partner, a better business person, it can only get better. The more we feel of ourselves the more we understand what we want in life, the things that are important to us; the more we seek to do those things, to seek the truth of your heart and have the courage to follow it, that to me is the definition of a fulfilled life.
Embrace vulnerability
The photo below is of me at Stella Point on my 6th trek up. I have never found this place this white. The sunrise was magical as you can see..
The mountain has taught me to express myself more.. to say I am strong and I can go on when its so and to say am beaten and I need help when need be.
There are times I have reached on the rim of the crater empty ..zero; only remaining strong to encourage others… to see others achieve their goals of reaching the summit.
Allowing myself to be seen and really seen is the foundation authentic connection. This is the gift I keeping reaping from Kilimanjaro with each ascent.
To live life
Life is for the living; and we only have one purpose in this life- to live and live it well; There is no singular definition of how to live it well, the mountain has taught to define what living a good life is for me. Define what beautiful moments are, whether its the touch of moss covered trees of Machame or the cold granite rock in my hands as I go up Barranco wall or the beautiful sunrise above Mawenzi, or the view of Mt. Meru from Shira, the mountain has taught me to embrace the present moment, to flourish in it ..to Live it
Impermanence of things and situations:
Nothing in life is permanent not even life itself. In 2016 trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I dropped everything and checked into a meditation center for 10 days. One of the exercises was to sit in a certain posture for an hour without changing- we call them sittings of strong determination. The essence of the exercise is to sit through the discomfort for an hour in the sure knowledge that the pain will soon come to an end. The summit push up Uhuru peak in Mt. Kilimanjaro is a walk of strong determination, the cold, the pain, the discomfort are just a passing cloud. Then its revealed to me that peace and happiness actually be experienced amidst this turmoil of conditions and emotions.
Love
You may have heard of the hikers prayer ‘may we love the mountain and may the mountain love us back’ it is a short prayer that I first prayed in one our first hikes at Hikemaniak as we headed out to Mt. Suswa in 2016.
Love is the greatest lesson I have learnt from the mountain. To love and to beloved is the most amazing gift on earth.
The mountain doesn’t promise it will be good to you because you trained or because you took some certain medication. You have to believe, be stubborn in your conviction and tell it to yourself. To love unconditionally is to love without fear, its to give yourself fully to another person or to something with zero expectation of reward or reciprocity. This is the way of the mountain.
This has been Kilimanjaro for me the last 9 times in the last 6 years. What was/is Kilimanjaro for you.. share your experience in the comments.
By Gitonga Wandai
Founder Hikemaniak
