Two Moorefield-area residents recently returned from the adventure of a lifetime in Africa.
Markus Frei and Bill Van Zwol climbed to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro and wrapped up a three-week visit to the Dark Continent with a safari through the Serengeti National Park.
The trip from Feb. 12 to March 3 was neither the first time in Africa, nor the first climb for either man. However, at nearly 20,000 feet above sea level, Kilimanjaro was easily the highest peak they had conquered.
Frei grew up in Switzerland and has spent time in that county’s mountainous regions every few years over the last decade. From 1975 to 1980, he did mission work in Tanzania through the Christian Reform World Relief Committee.
Van Zwol’s climbing experience was more limited, having once ascended a 5,000 foot peak in British Columbia while visiting his son. He also spent a week in Africa as a volunteer on a mission trip through the Christian Reformed Church about three years ago.
The trip was initiated by Frei’s zeal for the mountains.
“I like climbing and I like hiking in the mountains,” he said.
Van Zwol is a co-owner of Wellington Construction, where Frei works part time.
“Bill sort of wondered what my plans were because I was nearing my retirement. I said, ‘I have to keep working. I want to stay in shape. I want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro,’” Frei explains. “Well, he looked at me and said, ‘Are you sure?’ I said ‘yes’ and he said, ‘Well I’m coming too.’”
From there, the excursion expanded to include Van Zwol’s daughter and son-in-law, Val and Greg Huzarik, and Greg’s sister, Christa.
The trip also involved a total of 20 support staff, including three guides and 17 porters, all of whom must be certified by the Tanzanian government and adhere to strict regulations, including a limit of 20 kilograms beyond their own personal equipment that they are each allowed to carry on the excursion.
The large group is needed, Van Zwol explains, “because you have to carry everything you’re going to need in with you.” That includes tents, food, clothing, water and other supplies.
While the guides are able to access some water en route by boiling water from creeks and melted snow, a considerable amount must be carried to ensure each party member has access to the required four litres per day. Clothing suitable for the four climate zones climbers travel through also adds to the burden.
“When we started out it was 25 or 30 degrees and at the top it was minus 10,” said Van Zwol.
The first part of the trip involved travelling through the rainforest to reach the base camp.
“It was just like walking through the bush,” Van Zwol recalls.
Of course the walk turned into a 72-kilometre ascent of more than 5,000 metres over a period of six days, making Van Zwol glad he had done some advance training. About a half-dozen times he made the 16km walk from his home to church in Palmerston.
“If you want to enjoy the trip, it’s better if you’re in shape,” he said.
Frei had surgery about a month before the trip and wasn’t able to work out much in advance.
“I’ve never in my life been in worse shape for a climb,” he said, noting the lack of conditioning really hampered him for the first 1,000 metres of the climb.
Before tackling Kilimanjaro, the travellers began with a three-day climb up the smaller Mount Maru, “to get acclimatized,” said Frei.
Van Zwol notes the oxygen level at the peak of Kilimanjaro is exactly 50 per cent of what it is at the bottom.
“Your body will adjust to the altitude,” the question is how fast and how well, said Van Zwol.
Climbers who develop altitude sickness, symptoms of which can range from headaches to nausea, can be turned back by their guides if deemed to have a serious case of it. Fortunately for their group, only Van Zwol developed any nausea during the trip, and that only about a half hour before reaching the peak.
Frei says there were many highlights during the trip, including the chance to see exotic wildlife in a natural habitat.
“The whole trip up you see so much, you go through all of those climate zones, it’s an experience,”said Frei.
The final ascent begins at midnight, because the colder nighttime temperatures make the footing less slippery than during the day, when the snow is melting. The group reached the summit around 7am.
“Emotionally it was a high, because as a group we made it – yeah you’re on top of the world,” said Van Zwol.
Only a short time was spent at the peak as the group headed back down the mountain, descending from 5,768m down to over 2,000m by noon the same day. Frei estimates the group put in about 14 hours on the final day.
Following the climb, the men were joined by their wives, Mary Ann Frei and Ruth Van Zwol, for the safari, which provided a chance to see an even greater variety of African wildlife.
After the four-day safari, they spent three days with a missionary at the village of Mwanza on Lake Victoria. The missionaries were focusing on helping the locals with better agricultural techniques.
Frei and Van Zwol had arranged the trip through the mission leaders, who ensured they would be employing local people.
While not without risks and challenges, climbing Kilimanjaro is considered one of the world’s most accessible high summits, requiring more hiking than actual climbing.
“What amazes me is that the average person can do a trip like this” said Van Zwol.
“You don’t need any special climbing skills or ropes or picks or anything like that. It’s not for everybody, but the average person can do it with a bit of preparation.”
Both Frei and Van Zwol said they would be pleased to share information about their experience with anyone considering a similar excursion.
