ON April 15, 2012, 18-year-old Kai Fitchen and Jonathan Joseph said goodbye to family and friends. They heaved their knee-crunching 40kg backpacks on to the bus and hunkered down for the first of many 20-hour slogs. After two years of preparation, Kape 2 Kenya was finally a reality.
Climbing with a Conscience – that was the catalyst. The apex of the adventure was Africa’s second highest, and technically difficult peak, Mt Kenya (5 199m). But instead of flying, they decided to make K2K carbon neutral. That meant travelling the 14 000km from Cape Town to Mt Kenya and back by public transport – taxi, bus, bicycle and foot power.
The rapid retreat of Mt Kenya’s glaciers is vivid evidence of climate change, at least in part caused by carbon emissions. The glaciers provide 70 percent of East Africa’s water so the possibility of them disappearing was a good excuse to act.
Their route took them into Namibia then to Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya.
“Along the way we stopped at schools,” Kai explains. “I was 18 years old and just out of school myself so it was quite intimidating being on the other side of the table. The school activities were designed to promote the ideal of sustainability within the community. Our thrust was using Mountains as a Metaphor; we hoped that the kids we interacted with would want to go and explore, and really appreciate what they had. Once they started enjoying their environment, they wouldn’t want to lose it.
“We spent a week in Nairobi, where we hooked up with Garth Macintosh, Jono’s friend and cameraman. Our funds allowed us to hire two porters but that meant we’d still be carrying most of the food and gear – 40kg packs at high altitude was daunting.”
They didn’t have a guide for the mountain, but Kai had gained experience from the Mike Horn Expedition to the Himalayas and his ascent of Mt Elbrus. “As we started the trek from Naro Moru my lungs began to feel the strain of the 3 000m altitude and the heavy pack.”
The next day was a big push to Mackinders Camp (4 300m).
“Our plan was to traverse around to Kami Tarn, the official base camp. The route took us up Point Lenana (4 900m), the third highest point on Mt Kenya. Lenana was heinous. The guide ropes were snowed in so it was seriously scary but we made it to the top and down to Kami Tarn, where we rested, sorted through the gear and mentally prepared ourselves for the task ahead – an assault on the North ridge. We expected to make the summit and get back to camp in two days, so took two litres of water each and a couple of Snickers bars to power us…
“We climbed well, but we were slow. So we reached the famous Amphitheatre much later than expected… and settled down for an icy bivouac. With only our Therm-a-Rests, space-blankets, survival bags and one sleeping bag between us we shivered for hours and spent most of the night watching shooting stars…
“It was a relief to see the pink sky edge out the darkness. We fought to get warmth into our fingers and pushed for the summit. The climb took us into really exposed territory. We were still going incredibly slowly so made the decision to leave Garth secured on the route.”
Pushing for the summit they moved fast, feeling heavy fatigue in the thin air. “Suddenly we couldn’t go any higher! We’d made it to the top.
“We picked up Garth and started to abseil down. The temperature plummeted as night fell. The ropes were rigid from cold and the wind was brutal. Eventually at about 9.30pm we found a bivouac spot and the three of us crouched down and sat out the night.” - Cape Times
l Kai Fitchen was the Nightjar Adventurer 2013 Readers’ Choice, at an awards evening at the Cape Union Mart Adventure Centre. See www.nightjartravel.com/magazine/adventurer-2013