百年清华

机械系柳百成院士（1955机械）推荐来一篇英文文章，内容为他的同学张群华学长（1955机械）叙述自己今年1月在乞力马扎罗山徒步旅行的经历，并介绍说张群华是“登上非洲最高峰的中国第一人”！以下为文章全文：

Pole, pole * —— Kilimanjaro Chief Guide

My Kilimanjaro trekking is, in one word, grueling.

After comparing four Kilimanjaro trekking providers on the Internet, I chose Marangu Hotel as my host. Marangu Hotel was built on 12 acres of a previous coffee plantation, owned by an English colonist family.

Over thirty cottages scattered on an impeccably manicured lawn, among vibrant tropical flowers. The meals, from the morning tea to dinner, are served in the English style.

My trekking was a “pampered military operation”. “Pampered”, because the Hotel assigned four Africans to assist me: a guide, a cook, and two porters; and “military”, because I have to follow the command from my guide for the schedule and pace of the trek. I chose the 5-day Marangu Route rather than the 6 to 8-day options so I had only three and half days to the peak.

The first day we hiked under the canopy of rain forest in the pouring rain. The warm and humid climate plus a rich volcanic soil support the thriving tropical vegetation. The next two days we hiked to higher altitudes, and the plants became sparse and small. Close to the peak it was semi-desert, with no vegetation at all. In the meantime, the rarefied air forced us to slow down and breathing became laborious.

The final assault to the summit was scheduled on the first hour of the fourth day. That night we stayed in the Kibo Hut, a boot camp with no water or electricity. My room had ten co-ed bunk beds. I was waken up by my roommates at 23:00 after only 1~2 hours’ sleep. The trekking started at 0:05, January 5, 2010.

For the next six hours, we advanced non-stop at an excruciatingly slow pace to ascend the last one thousand meters. I placed one heel in front of the other toe, and stepped into my Guide’s footprint. Any attempt to increase the pace resulted in panting. I could only lean my chin on the hiking pole for a rest. Within 20 seconds my Guide would push me to start again for fear of my catching cold. During those short rests, I raised my eyes to the utterly unpolluted sky over equator, and saw the brilliance from the moon and stars which I had never seen before. My mind flashed back to the name and mythology of constellations that my father told me.

Snow reflected the moonlight. The awe of this grandiose beauty kept my headlight off the whole night. I resisted the temptation to look at my watch and kept on the monotonous “pole, pole” trekking till 6:15, when the first beam of sunrise burst out from the horizon below. Minutes later, we were at Gilman’s point (5685 m) – one of the three peaks of Kilimanjaro. At that moment I realized I might be the oldest Chinese ever to set foot on the crest of Africa. We were back to the Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park in the afternoon of the fifth day. I was awarded a certificate from the Government of Tanzania, the official recognition of my success in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Early next morning, Jane and I started on a four-day safari.

A Range Rover drove us through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Parks. Over the immense East African savanna decorated with flat-top acacia, hundreds of zebras and wildebeests roam. Lions, lionesses and their cubs play on the grassland. A zebra gave birth to her baby. Majestic giraffes stand against the horizon. A visit to the nomadic Maasai village. All kinds of exotic flora and fauna, including those expected, and unexpected.

Acknowledgments

※ to my last boss in Alstom, who kicked me out late September and freed me for training.

※ to Marangu Hotel Directors Desmond and Seamus, who organized my solo trekking and provided a very capable guide – Eliawni.

※ to my only professional alpinist friend – Heidi Lockwood, who warned me about the excruciating difficulty of Kilimanjaro (all turned out to be true) at first, then gave me detailed helpful advice after I decided to go.

Of course the key player in this adventure is I myself. No longer as strong as younger fellow climbers, my strong will power plus the endurance forged by 40+ years of jogging had made this adventure a success. When I was an avid distance runner decades ago, at the exhausting last section of running I often promised myself, “this is the last time. I won’t do it anymore”. However, a few days later, I found myself running again. Would Kilimanjaro be my last adventure? Maybe, maybe not.

Bob (and Jane)

* Pole: a Swahili word means slow, pronounced po-li