QBLOG #43 Pole! Pole! Go down slowly...

01 & 02 Sep 2006, Uhuru, Kibo, Mandara Huts, Marangu Gate, Arusha.



"Pole! Pole!" This is what we are saying to people that we are passing as we head down from Uhuru (which we did not do slowly) to Kibo. When we reach Kibo we are able to grab a little bit of sleep before heading down to Mandara Huts. We are exhausted. We have a little to eat and drink and we are fast asleep. Thaddeus wakes us around noon so we can head down to Mandara Huts where we will spend the night. And though we tell others Pole! Pole!, to an extent, we do this ourselves. We head down slowly. There is an opportunity to see the ground we previously traveled. It is not disappointing.

We arrive at Mandara Huts, sign in and are assigned a cabin. We have a new roommate, Jacques from the French Alps. He is a ski instructor by trade and has just finished climbing Mt. Kenya. He is what you might expect a French Ski Instructor to look like. Boyishly handsome in his mid 30's, perfect teeth and ready to cook his own meals and carry his own supplies. He is friendly and conversation with him is easy. I tell him I am interested in going to Machu Picchu in Peru. He has been and tells me of the incredible feeling as he passed through the cloud cover. Suddenly these ancient Incan ruins lay before him as if they were built on and hidden by the clouds. His story stregthened my resolve to visit this fabled city in the clouds.



We do little more than eat and sleep. I am able to enjoy another night of clear sky, bright stars above me and glimmering lights below. Incredible. It is a sight that you wish you could take a picture of, but no picture could ever come close to relaying the beauty of the moment. We wake early the next day and we head down to where we began this journey; Marangu gate at the base of the mountain. We meet with our guides and porters, pay them and thank them for supporting us. We pose for pictures then leave for Arusha where we will spend the night. We arrive at the Arusha Hotel. We've used every piece of clothing at least once and maybe twice. Eddie does some quick hand laundry for us. We shower for the first time in 5 days. We go down to the restaurant for a wonderful dinner. The food and wine makes us sleepy so we head back to the room for sleep on an incredibly comfortable bed. We are in heaven.


Earlier I had some alone time and began thinking about our journey. We had quite a bit of assistance to help us reach our goal, Uhuru Peak. This caused me to consider the mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro as a metaphor for life, at least maybe my life. Life does not take place on an island as Thomas Merton titled his book, "No Man Is An Island". In the book and in life we are not singular. People touch our lives and we touch theirs in ways we do not always recognize or understand.

There are many people involved in our lives who assist us behind the scenes. We may or may not know their faces. We may or may not encounter them or acknowledge them. They do things that help us move through life easier. They may even assist us in reaching goals that they are unaware.. They have titles like custodian, colleague, clerk, assistant, parent, friend, mentor, porter, guide or boss. They do things like pick up trash, cook for us, take care of tasks, of our home our pets or help us keep our focus.


This trek, this Mt. Kilimanjaro is not only a metaphor, it is a reality check on how one is able to succeed. It is an eye opener on how much there is to experience when we take things slow. Pole! Pole! has taken on a new meaning. It is not simply to take it easy or slowly on a trek up or down a mountain. It is a statement a plea of why we should slow our lives down. To notice the things around us and take account of those "porters" who help us reach a goal. It is an opportunity to pause and consider those that have "trekked" before, leaving a path to follow. There is beauty at every level if one chooses to discover it. Sometimes it is difficult to leave the green of the jungle to the less green desert landscape and into the solitude of a seemingly barren landscape. Yet each has its lesson as well as its beauty. An opportunity presents itself each time we move into a new environment, to re-connect with nature, ourselves and thus the essence of humanity and its relationship to the world. If only we would slow down and take note.

This has also been a lesson in humility. To know that you are dependant on others and the environment. To be able to survive on less of everything and find so much more in the end. It is an epiphany to go beyond a point of exhaustion and find the energy to succeed when a moment earlier failure seemed inevitable. But someone had your back. They stopped you from falling further and let you know you could still move forward with less than you began.



This journey, this trek, revealed strength I did not know I had. Many worked to get me to that point. Some of that strength came from the porters, guides and from Eddie. It came from everyone back home who allowed me the opportunity to be in Iraq and thus be in Africa climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. The pictures I've shared are of the mountain and of myself and Eddie. There are many faces behind those pictures. People not shown but who provided strength and support that allowed us to summit Uhuru Peak.

Mt. Kilimanjaro. A mountain with a message. A metaphor for life, for success, for being humble. A trip that became a journey. A journey that became a symbol, a metaphor, a revelation.

May you find your mountain. I bid you Pole! Pole! as you begin your journey up...and back.

Blessings and peace,

Robert