As my 50th birthday was approaching, I wanted to do something very “special”, something that would reflect my life with all the ups and downs and challenges yet achievements and happiness. I felt reaching to 50 was climbing a mountain, it was hard (a divorce, a serious health scare, moving from one country to another for my work while trying to build a new life each time) yet it has been an amazing, beautiful and fun journey (happily married and have two wonderful daughters). Some women want diamonds, some prefer all-inclusive vacation packages and I wanted to climb a mountain- Mount Kilimanjaro. It is the highest point of Africa and one of the seven summits of the world. That would be my legacy to my girls- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough- If their mom who is a middle-aged woman with a sedentary lifestyle could do this, they could do anything they want in life.
I asked my friend if she would want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with me. (Yes, I do have friends as crazy as me.) She said yes and our journey officially started in July 2020. Our goal was to summit Mt Kilimanjaro in June 2021 for my birthday.
When my friend Christine and I started our journey, we haven’t even realized what a big undertaking it was and how it would transform our lives for the better. We drove to Shenandoah National Park each and every weekend to hike and climb as part of our training. Imagine you wake up at 4 am every Sunday and drive to Shenandoah regardless of cold, snow or ice. Our drive took an hour and a half one way, and our hike would take around 4-5 hours- 10 miles with 3800 feet elevation gain. And we would drive back home for another hour and a half. Every single Sunday. I could not have done it without my wonderful husband who supported me very much along the way. I will not say it was easy, yet it changed me / us very much for the better. We laughed a lot, we cried a little, and we drove each other crazy sometimes. We even got hurt couple times. I broke my thumb trying to jump onto a slippery rock on a winter morning and fell in the ice-cold water. Despite all, I would never trade our early morning conversations and laughter while driving to Shenandoah at the crack of the dawn or the taste of juicy burgers after our hikes. We made many beautiful memories along the way. We became good role models for our girls, showed them what discipline and dedication and working towards a goal meant. We taught them to follow their dreams even tough as crazy as climbing a mountain. On top of all that fun, we both got healthier (lost weight unintentionally) and discovered a passion for nature. I do not even remember how many trees I hugged.
As we got closer to our climb, I increased cardio work outs four times a week apart from weekend hikes. I also continued doing Pilates twice a week. My friend already has been working with a personal trainer for months then. Couple weeks before we flew to Tanzania, I saw a travel doctor and got yellow fever and typhoid shots, a booster for Hep B, and pills against altitude sickness and malaria. (Just in case) I was ready to go and conquer the mountain.
We arrived in Tanzania a day before the climb and got acquainted with people in our group. Apart from me and my friend, there were four more people in the group. The climb is planned to be five days ascend, and two days descend. Our guides and porters were very nice and friendly. Each of us had our own tent. We climbed/hiked 7-8 hours daily. We went from desert climate to arctic climate in five days. Since climate changed every day as we climbed, our surrounding (flora) changed too. That was really a unique experience. Obviously, there was no heating or plumbing at the camp. We climbed day after day, we sang songs, we ate together and shared stories with each other. One common challenge we all faced was to be able to fall asleep in the cold. Thank goodness, our crew was prepared for that. Each of us was given hot water bottles before bed, that way we could cuddle with the bottle and get some sleep for couple hours. One other challenge I faced was going to the portable outhouse in the middle of the night. It was already too cold, and I was already too tired when I finally got hot water bottle and went in my sleeping bag but since I drank lots of water to fight against altitude sickness (to increase oxygen in my body), I needed to go to the bathroom at least once, mostly twice every night. We were instructed not to hold our pees to keep our body temperature in line. Getting out of my sleeping bag in that freezing weather, turning my head light on, putting on my coat and boots and gloves back on and getting my trekking poles just to hike to the outhouse on the hill to pee was an absolute torture. However, have you ever truly seen a dark sky? A sky where there is no light contamination? When I got out of the tent and saw the night sky on my first night, I had goose bumps. It was unbelievably beautiful. The amazing and beautiful sky with stars and constellations at the roof of Africa. I cannot even begin to describe that feeling…Just to see that beautiful sky, it would be worth to go through some inconvenience to get out of my tent at night. Where on earth could I ever see such a beautiful sky in my life?
The day of our summit, we started our climb at 2 am. It was dark and it was very cold. All I did was to put one foot in front of the other. After climbing for 4 hours, we took a short break so we could watch the sun rise. We were above the clouds and sun was slowly starting to lighten up. Oh, what an experience it was…That beautiful, gigantic sun coming out slowly on the mountain. I remember falling on my knees and opening my arms. I looked at my friend and saw her eyes full of tears. I thought of my family and told a small prayer. My daughters wrote motivational cards/letters and gave them to me before I left home so I can read their letters/cards every night before I go to sleep. They told me to open the last two cards at the summit on my birthday. I was getting anxious, tired, excited and very scared. What if I could not make to summit? When we finally reached to summit (19341 feet/5895 meters), I felt like I was in a dream state. Along the way, we have seen few hikers who gave up and returned, and even the ones who got altitude sickness and transported by a helicopter to hospital. Being there, reaching to summit after six months of vigorous training, five days of climbing and camping, I was finally at the summit. Then, I heard rest of the people in my group and guides singing happy birthday and looking at me. I won’t lie, I cried like a little girl. After lots of hugging and crying and initial shock, I opened two banners at the summit. One was for my girls “AINT NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH, MOMMY LOVES YOU VERY MUCH”, and the other one was to show my respect to the founder of our home country “Ataturk” “ATAM IZINDEYIZ”.
I will not write the rest of my story here not to take so much of your time, but I assure you it was as amazing as the climb. My friend and I stayed in Tanzania for another 4 days to rest and get to know Tanzania and its people. We have been welcomed and taken care of very well. The food, the people, the safari experience and everything else was beyond amazing. When my plane landed at Dulles airport, I had butterflies in my stomach. My girls had welcomed me with banners, and we had the longest hugs ever. The smile on their faces and that proud feeling I had in my heart was fantastic.
Do what you are passionate about. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep walking, keep hiking, keep living, keep pushing, keep loving life and have the courage to make your dreams come true. I climbed one of the seven summits of the world on my 50th birthday!!! (June – 2021)
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