well the first time from a distance mount kilimanjaro doesn't look real how
can such a massive layer-cake a volcanic rock shoot up from the Tanzanian Plains
and touch the cloud so high that its peak is snow-capped on the equator in
this video I set out to climb the largest freestanding mountain on earth
but first we need to flashback two days ago to Arusha where we are prepping for
the nine-day Trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro abadi Tanzania Eric Conover
here from the streets of Arusha I'm actually in a market right now or
getting all of our supplies for the hike of Chile tomorrow and we're with some
local guys are showing us around for the trek up Kilimanjaro we got lots of
veggies fruits and enough grains to last the nine-day adventure you know only the
essentials the best coffee I've ever had was from Costa Rica I just smelled this
coffee the best smelling coffee I've ever smelled million on bums and gear
guys it's good yeah yeah this is a Maasai doctors and the one we're using
the Masai Mara see a lot of people that used to come to buy the medicine see if
you have the problem you tell the doctor about them so this right here is the
machete I got yesterday at the Maasai market and it's funny because we were
walking around the market in Arusha and every single person was kind of giving
me like a head nod like when they saw my machete because this is the traditional
Masai machete so that's kind of cool but other than that we've stuck out like
sore thumbs like they say every day here but now we
are at will bird's house we just unloaded all the food for the trek
tomorrow this is all the food that you need to go on a nine-day Trek of
Kilimanjaro
back at the hotel we laid out all of our gear on the beds and divided the gear to
be put either in our day packs or our duffel bags prior to the trip kilee
warriors sends out a very very thorough gear list so you are a hundred percent
prepared for the track as you can see it all enough to show the new map of Mont
Kilimanjaro there are so many routes to the top of Kilimanjaro but that doesn't
necessarily mean they are all equal the most popular route is the majjhima route
which takes about six days and since it's the most popular it also has the
most foot traffic so we are taking the western breach route which is nine days
long and has a much much higher summit rate than the others the more time you
spend at elevation the more time your body has to acclimate to the conditions
hence a higher rate of success only a few Outfitters offer this route due to
the expertise required of the head guides and porters which means on our
summit we aren't climbing with any crowds we're gonna get a full night's
sleep and then tomorrow morning we set off for day one of our Trek of Mount
Kilimanjaro
day number one of a nine day Trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro biggest tip
Poulet Poland which means very very slowly also drink three or four liters
of water per day but this is it we are starting in the jungle day number one we
set off into some of the most lush and dense vegetation I've ever seen the life
in this place a sea of endless green all around as soon as you start climbing you
feel the altitude immediately I mean even right now I'm talking not really
short of breath but I'm feeling that we're at almost eight thousand five
hundred feet little weather update sunny skies no rain normally this is the
rainiest part of the climb but look behind me beautiful you don't even feel
like here on the mountain yet just because it's such a broad mountain you
know it feels like we're just kind of through the backcountry yeah but the
porters the porters are the real studs of this trip before we set out every
Porter's bag was weighed at the National Park gate any excess weight was taken
out in accordance with Tanzanian law what's the maximum weight that the
porters can carry compulsory with a mission above so they're only allowed to
carry 20 kilos sanzenin law it's a government law and it's the way of to
support the local community since like the mountain is an area the
way to benefit apart from the fuck did you get is to get a job
yeah when the clans will come I think for our Trek we have close to 20
Porter's there's five of us climbing up it's Pat and I a mother and her two sons
the honest truth is without Porter's making it to the top of Mount
Kilimanjaro would be nearly impossible you'll see as the trip goes on the
crucial role that the porters play in the summit we emerge from the rain
forest nine thousand and two hundred feet above sea level at big tree camp at
the lower elevations the body can still process most foods and we had an amazing
dinner by chef Luis food the food will dramatically change as we ascend the
mountain big meals like this will become very rare our drinking water we purified
from the streams nearby and now we're going to bed after successful day one
will see in the morning
it was a good night got a good night's sleep the tent smelled like she's a lot
colder this morning then we thought it was probably in the wood you said
mid-40s yeah we're going to Shiro one camp today we are sending from just
about 9,200 feet to a 11800 right we'll be reaching 11,800 but we'll camp at
eleven thousand five they'd like to say hike high camp below so every morning
the guys would sing like that when your crew is fired up it's contagious the
rest of us we just got that energy from them and it's one of those sins were I
know a lot of companies that do kilee Heights have this singing but apparently
Wilbert was saying that Kellie warriors they were the first company to start
singing on the mountain and you can tell when they sing that they mean every
single word that they're saying and with that we set back off into the rain
forest at some point you have to say goodbye to that canopy of shade and you
emerge into the Heather zona I've read about 10,000 feet rain forest stops in
the heather zone the vegetation becomes much much smaller and less dense there's
no more shade no more canopy
the rainforest yeah and that was critical and a lot of people especially
my Instagram like Eric why do you need that Indiana Jones hat for this you will
fry yeah for the Heather zone sunscreen wide brim hat glasses every hour every
hour and Walter today is actually easier than yesterday you know you get used to
the altitude pretty quick but there's this guy I know his name is Cedric he's
a punk he's the biggest punk on Kilimanjaro on
what's the biggest punk as we'll these are the studs right here the best guide
that can get you up killing jar we arrived at Shira one camp around dusk
kilimanjaro finally broke from the clouds and showed us its raw power up
until this point we hadn't seen the mountain yet we were absolutely blown
away at the site and for the first time we got to properly see what was ahead of
us knowing that we were at an elevation of over 11,000 feet grasping how high
and enormous the mountain looked it was truly hard to comprehend what was ahead
of us this is the point in the trip where it's gonna start here pretty ugly
at 6:30 in the morning we are both feeling the altitude woke up at 11:30
with the worst stomach ache of my life Pat over here I woke up at 11:30 - but I
didn't have the stomach ache would you have Erik sleeping next to me
the first night of actual labor breathing last night kind of sucked so
what Pat and I are experiencing is called high altitude sickness and this
is just the onset but two times daily we check our pulse and our blood oxygen
levels these will also drop significantly as we ascend and the air
becomes thin you set off the next day around 7:00 a.m. through the flat
moorlands trekking through the caldera of an extinct volcano we made it past
the climbing legend Scott Fischer's memorial camp so we've made our way
through the moorlands which is basically flat all day this is the first real
incline see right behind in the distance there she is
we're at 13,000 1,500 fit we out here for sure I feel much better than this
morning we're pushing on at a good pace or almost at the porter pace not quite
yet we got a long way to go this is our first point really feeling the altitude
yeah that was a heavy climb at how it's like our day today it's down because we
are very close to the camera as you can see we to take us like 10 or 15 minutes
to the camp so we'll knock down the day let's do it
let's keep pressing on whew then the kids might breath for a second
I have never felt the altitude this hard as I feel it right now
now Kilimanjaro has its own weather weather systems formed when the air hits
the mountain and uplifts and these thunderstorms pop up I know where I had
to put the camera down I had to focus on climbing this is the end of the first
Kilimanjaro video and the next one I will be standing at the top no matter
what happens with this storm I'm getting to the top of that mountain it's real go
down yeah we go down no option we go down just because of the way though
let's do it do we turn around because of the altitude sickness did the storm lit
up do we summit Mount Kilimanjaro you're gonna have to tune in to the final
episode of the Kilimanjaro series to find out the best is for last this next
video is unlike anything I've ever seen or anyone's ever done on YouTube so make
sure you subscribe and I'll see you for the final video