“Polley polley” up the Kili peak

After hiking above the clouds, battling harsh weather conditions and physically pushing their bodies to the limit – a group of 12 people conquered the highest mountain in Africa.

Proudly recounting his memory of the recent adventure up mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, RE/MAX Dolphin Realtors senior property consultant Johnny Mutton described the climb as similar to visiting the moon.

“It took us five and a half days to get to the peak of the mountain and only about eight hours to come back down. After the third day, all you can see are big boulders and a lot of dust. There is no sign of life but we were blessed with the perfect weather; no rain, no wind and no snow,” he said.

Mutton said that there were different camps sites to rest at when climbing the mountain.

“Each group of climbers has about 10 to 12 people. You have the option of sleeping in huts or sleeping in tents and we figured that we should get the full experience and camp. You are allowed to carry a mattress but they are very thin. It is like sleeping on rock.”

Needless to say, sanitary options were limited and this took some getting use to.

“On the climb, wet wipes are your best friend. Every morning before we left we were given a bowl which had about an inch full of warm water. If you did not wash within two minutes the water would already be cold.

“Because we had many woman in our group our main concern were the toilet facilities. The toilets at the camp were long drops and although they were cleaned, the smell was still bad. Thankfully we were advised by people who had already done the climb to carry our own portable toilets.

“That along with a Sta-Soft bottle to avoid those late night trips to the toilet, was the best decision we could have made,” said Mutton.

Two ushers are allocated to each group. They are in charge of carrying luggage and setting up the tents. The ushers constantly check on the hikers to make sure that they are in good health.

“You are advised to eat and drink your way up to the mountain. On the last day of the climb the temperature was about two degrees, so you could take a sip of water and as you looked at it, you could see it freeze,” he said.

As much as climbing Kilimanjaro is a physical journey Mutton said it was also a mental and emotional experience. One of his reasons for climbing the mighty mountain was to raise money for the Save the Rhino campaign, cancer research and The North Coast Courier Orphan Fund.

“It takes a lot not to give up. You look up as you climb and all you can see is what is ahead of you. We live in a fast paced world where we rush around all the time and this climb forces you to slow down. You walk in a line and you can only go as fast as the person at the front is going.

“ll you hear are the ushers saying “polley polley” which means slowly slowly. You try to distract yourself from the physical pain of the climb by thinking of other things. It gets emotional because you get consumed in your thoughts, you reflect on your life and the climb helps put things into perspective. Thinking about the different charities I would help, also motivated me,” he said.

Mutton raised about R16 000 through promoting the charities on social media.

When they reached the peak of the mountain, Mutton described the atmosphere as electric.

“You are not allowed to stay too long at the peak because the oxygen level is so low that it may cause nose bleeds, nausea and hallucinations but the sense of accomplishment you feel when you reach the top makes you believe that anything is possible,” said Mutton.

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