yoga

12

december 2018 / january 2019

yogajournal.com.sg

ART CREDIT

few slices of pineapple, in fact, made me feel

better immediately. Night came early and

we woke up to high energy levels, ready to

climb 4,600m to Lava rock. The plan was to

then walk down to 3,900 and sleep at Camp

Baranco.

Every step of the way that morning, we

could feel a difference in temperature. The

Mooreland region was dry, rocky and dusty,

and there was a chill in the air. Unfortunately,

my daughter Saanya started complaining of

heaviness and constant pounding in the head.

The guides kept saying “pole, pole”, and we

slowly reached Lava Camp in time for lunch

and afternoon rest. By this time, Saanya’s

headache had worsened. It was important

to get to a lower altitude soon to ease the

headaches and altitude sickness that many

had started to complain about. The day was

brightly, watching over all of us.

We all woke up rested to a fresh new morning,

and climbed yet again the entire day, the

summit of Kilimanjaro at the far distant urging

us to move on steadily to her embrace. We

climbed holding rocks and crevices, diligently

paying attention to instructions by our guides,

and we slipped on sand, rocks, mud and sleet

as we went downhill towards Camp Karanga,

our final stop before the summit.

The Final Journey

This was our important day—we were to climb

4800m to the base camp, and then at midnight

we would head for the summit. We were

bound by the weather condition including

wind speed and the sun’s direction, and would

get only 30-45 minutes on the summit before

the scorches touched the peak.

We started the day “pole pole”, up and down

through hills and flat terrains in cold and foggy

necessary for us to acclimatize and get used

to the thin air— drinking lots of water and

a rhythmic breathing alleviated some of the

anxiety.

Saanya’s condition was deteriorating and

her oxygen levels were found to be low, so

the guide maneuvered his way down slowly

with her as we descended down a series of

rocky hills. I was worried for my girl, feeling

guilty and responsible for having brought her

with me. But the spirit of fellow mates who

encouraged my “Baby Simba” to be a trooper

filled me with gratitude. It is no wonder that

trekkers stick together during a climb. By the

time we reached the camp, the vegetation

had changed and Saanya was looking better

too. After dinner, I gazed again at the moonlit

sky while she slept soundly, connecting and

thanking Venus which continued to twinkle

Highs and Lows – Traversing the terrain and climbing up walls

“Pole Pole” – Preparing for

the big climb, slowly slowly.