Kilimanjaro's Summit: A Journey of Family, Spirit, and Near-Death
By Matt Clark, CEO of Ohana Kava Bar
How many of you have ever dreamed of  hiking one of the seven Summits, or all of them? I did after moving out here to Colorado about 15 years ago and began hiking our 14ers. I learned about the seven summits. The tallest peaks on every continent. One of which is Kilimanjaro. The highest mountain on the African continent located in Tanzania. Also the highest freestanding mountain in the world at 19,310’.
Background of the Journey
On to the hike of Kilimanjaro!
Now we’re just before Stella point the second highest point. I saw Dad was already coming back down this was around 5:45 am. When he saw me he looked me dead in the eyes and started crying saying Mom carried him to the top. I started crying too. How did we have the same hallucinations or near death experience?! The guides don’t let us stop for long. We hugged, took a quick picture and continued on. When I got to Stella point I started crying again.  Just standing there grossly weeping. The guide said let’s go. I said ok. He said let’s go again. I said ok. He eventually grabbed my arm and walked me over to sit me down to have some hot ginger tea and a snack. We then continued on the last 300 feet of elevation and I’m not sure how far but it took about 30 minutes and we got to the summit and took our picture at 6:36am. We got back down to camp at about 9:30 in the morning. I passed out for two hours. They woke us up for lunch and when finished they said we had 12 minutes to get out of there. I was like I’m gonna need at least 20 to 30. I’m exhausted. The three of us were dragging our feet the whole way down to the next camp, which was only 2 miles, but we had another 2 miles to go to the camp we’re supposed to get to. The guide wanted to stop and spend the night at the first camp since we’re struggling. I said give me 15 – 20 minutes to close my eyes and have some coffee. I took a coffee packet and dumped it under my tongue and chugged some water down and closed my eyes. I woke up popped a zyn and took 3-4 more to power me through on the way to the next camp that was another 2 miles down. Total of 5150 feet of descent this day. We had dinner. I laid down in my tent and put on a movie. A few minutes later, Dad hit me and said turn your movie off you’re asleep. I said no I’m not and then a few minutes later he said it again and I turned it off and went to sleep. It was a long two days.
We then suffered the 26 hour return flight to America. I struggled for a week being sick, jet lagged and readjusting to  crappy American food and lifestyle.