MEET OUR Mountain Guide:
Marwa Stephen Nyamasasi

My favorite route is the Lemosho Route; I walked for eight days. This route begins in the Montane Forest zone. You also get to experience walking on the Shira Plateau and enjoy visiting the famous Shira Cathedral – if your body has enough energy left at the end of the day. Also, on this route, you can see Kibo Peak, the summit and the final destination for all climbers. The Lemosho Route also allows you to witness all formations of the ancient volcanic activity on Mount Kilimanjaro. Lemosho Route has a high summit-success rate because it allows time for your body to adapt slowly along the trail.

Most trekkers do not expect to struggle with acute mountain sickness, even though they may come from high-altitude regions. This comes due to the location of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 205 miles from the southern equator and yet has snow/glaciers and extreme cold. The temperatures can drop from 20 Degrees Celsius to -15 Degrees Celsius. This is something unique that people do not expect.

On Kilimanjaro, when you talk about the temperature dropping, this may still be the normal temperature for some trekkers because they come from the colder northern parts of the world. However, on the mountain, when you talk about -15 degrees Celsius at 5500m above sea level, our bodies do everything slowly due to the lack of oxygen in the air. The oxygen level is only 75%. This is what makes the ‘temperature drop’ such a shocking experience. The lungs struggle to adjust and supply the body due to the reduced oxygen level at this temperature. The lungs constrict and produce mucus to protect themselves due to the dry, cold air. Due to that, trekkers can sometimes struggle to get to the summit of Uhuru Peak.

My favorite culture in Tanzania is the culture of the Maasai tribe. This is a tribe that is very famous in Tanzania because they preserve their culture and their fascinating, traditional ways. The lifestyle of the Maasai is unique. They do not like to live in urbanized areas but rather in remote and rural areas because they depend on their cattle that survive on the green pastures. As a result, they live close to the wild animals of Tanzania, as they also like these pastures. One of the main locations the Maasai live in is the Ngorongoro Crater.

The Maasai train their young to become warriors and fight and protect against animals and hostile human beings. The young Maasai are trained to protect themselves from dangerous animals by smearing oil with a strong fragrant smell on their bodies. This deters dangerous animals such as the lion, leopard, and wild cats from attacking them as they graze the cattle on the pastures. Once they reach 15, the young Maasai train in the forest to fight against potential human enemies.

‘Habari gani?’ which means ‘how are you?’

‘Nzuri Sana,’ which means ‘I am fine.’

‘Karibu’ which means ‘welcome.’

My biggest challenge during my climbs was on the Umbwe Route. This is a very tough route because the trails are very steep. The trekkers on this route do not get enough time to adapt to the altitude because the hike is only 5 to 6 days. The Umbwe trails are not friendly towards hikers, so the disabled, elderly, or children cannot use this route. Danger results from the possibility of falling rocks on this route.