On a cold morning of the 8th of August, at around
7:30 a.m in the morning, In a group of 8 men and 1 lady, we set off to the base
camp of Mt Muhabura, the extinct volcano in the Virunga mountains on the border
between Uganda and Rwanda.
All wrapped in heavy clothes to provide some warmth, we arrived
at the base camp at exactly 7:57 a.m. Ready to get a small briefing about the
toughness of the challenge we had all deliberately taken, we sat on some
beautifully crafted wooden benches and our lead went on to have a little chat
with the Guides in charge. A guide made some quick key notes, handed each of us
sticks that he claimed would be very helpful, after which he declared that we
were ready to go.
Just about 8:30, we set off for the summit of arguably the
steepest mountain in East Africa that is 4,127m (13,540 ft) above sea level.
With one guide in front of the group and a porter behind us, we set out for the
first phase of the volcano, a massive forest which we hiked for nearly 2 and
half hours. After a tough climb, we asked the guide how far we were from the
first resting point, he bluffed and said not anywhere close. Four energetic
guys peeled off the group to climb at a faster pace. Shortly we could not see
each other anymore. Having a lady with us, we had to keep a low pace so that
she wouldn’t lose the motivation. We climbed climbed and climbed, but weren’t
getting any closer to the resting point. Finally at about 10:50, we reached the
first Hat, which the porter called the first resting point. I still had enough
fuel and had enjoyed the climb. We took several pictures here, gazed at the
amazing vegetation that surrounded us, sipped on our refreshments and were
ready for phase two of the climb.
Straight up, we continued the climb. Gradually the climb got
tougher and tougher, we started noticing the steepness as we were standing at
an angle of probably 60 degrees to the surface. The biggest indicator of how
tough the climb had got, was the silence, the conversations were slowly
collapsing and people were only concentrating on their steps upwards. One by
one we started complaining, Knee aches, Harm strings, Muscle pulls, Heavy
backs, straining calf muscles and lots of others. At least every one was
suffering some sort of pain. It got colder and colder, the heavy attire that
most of us had packed cause of the endless sweating became useful once again.
So people pulled out their sweaters and Jackets. One of us hilariously spoke
out his exhaustion and said, “THIS IS THE WORLDS BIGGEST MISTAKE, I UNDERSTAND
WHY PEOPLE HAVE NO DESIRE TO COME UP HERE”. As much as we were in pain, we
laughed and laughed and laughed. The pace grew slower, as we had began feeling
the effect of the high altitude. We got to the rocky part of the volcano that
seriously drained gas out of us. While staring at the beautiful landscape, we
crawled all the way to the second resting point. Here, I first laid my tired
body down, as others rushed out there cold drinks and frozen tasteless chapatti’s.
All we did here was to drink and eat. With little fuel left in us, we couldn’t
waste our energy taking pictures and reflecting on how tough it had been so
far.
After short debates of who amongst us were still up for the
challenging climb, with our worn out biceps, we continued the hike.
Surprisingly, the one lady we had was still on course with us. The weather was
already in-habitable for us, the wind whizzed by us non-stop. Surely at this
point I thought I couldn’t take it any further. Altitude sickness was in
control of my body and I was getting weaker, but I carried on.
We were making roughly 50 steps and then stopping, looking
in front and nodding our heads, then making another 50 steps. This went on and
on till some of us decided to create our own resting points. I had been left
with just the guide and my little brother, we stopped to rest via some ladders,
and were getting more and more worried at this point. The guide told us, we had
to be at the summit by 2 p.m so that we would make it back down before it got
dark, otherwise we would be required to turn back. So, we picked our weak
bodies up, and battled the climb slowly. Close to the summit, the remaining
third of the volcano was like a wall, It was so steep that if any one of us
made a slight off-step, they would fall backwards. I kept asking the guide how
far, and he kept telling me, to just move. The vegetation at this point was not
that tall, so at least we could see the peak. Despite the continued feeling in
me that made me think I would never make it, I pulled myself through the steep
ladders and finally arrived at the summit. At around 2:30p.m, the whole group
finally made it. We were all excited for the accomplishment despite the pain, I
took the last half of my frozen tasteless chapatti and finished my 500 ml coke.
We enjoyed it up there with the magnificent scenery of the Crater Lake and the
rare vegetation, took a few pictures and were ready for the return journey.
After a 15 minute rest at the summit, in the thick clouds up
there, we headed down at around 3p.m. This is when I got the first piece of
knowledge about climbing that I could pass on to someone else, “Never rest for
too long when hiking”. Having maximized the resting time up there, when i sat
for too long, muscle pulls started coming in, one by one, I couldn’t move 10
steps without squatting, and even when I would squat, it would still be
painful. The pain was simply unbearable, my calf muscles were not in condition
of any physical activity. We were all in bad shape. The slopping became serious
trouble, Indeed slopping was tougher than the climb. We moved like snails till
the first stop. The trail that we used on the climb seemed different on the slope.
It looked narrower and more slippery. I felt like throwing away the bag pack
and my phone, everything was heavy to carry. It’s only my Stick which turned
out to be the most useful asset as it was working as brakes and shock absorbers
for my wrecked body. In fact, some people peeled off and I stayed with 3 other
guys and the guide, lucky enough I had one of the fittest guy in the group,
Benjamin, Much as we were struggling, he didn’t seem to go through the same
pain as we all did. I made good use of him as he kept waiting for me with the
increasing stoppages. Later on, I gained
momentum and pushed my body, but still suffered every time we met ladders and
very steep paths. By the next stop, we were literally skeletons moving. The
guide didn’t let us stick around that long cause it was getting late.
Finally we found the zigzag gentle paths that we had longed
for on the way down, it clocked 6 p.m and we were still in the forest, the
guide had to call for some light as he anticipated that, it would get dark
while still in the forest. Three other guides came along with the torches, we
began hearing some sounds coming from down and thought that we were almost
there. Little did we know that, we still had a 40 minute stressing walk.
Annoyingly, the guides kept on lying to us that we were almost there, we turned
and turned and turned through the zig zag paths, but still couldn’t find the
base camp. After close to 5 hours, our journey back came to an end. We didn’t
even sit, all that we wanted were the vehicles we came in. A few minutes after
8p.m, we were back at the starting point, we just dived into the vehicles and
went back to sleep.
