The One Thing I Wish I Did On Kilimanjaro

You just got back from your transformational journey to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. With all the downtime you had while on your climb, you did a lot of soul-searching and thinking about your life and future. This is normal. Many people do. In today’s society with smartphones, TV, radio, internet, and busy lifestyles it is difficult to find the time to just be alone with your thoughts and make plans going forward.

Sunset from Shira II Camp
Sunset from Shira II Camp

One thing you managed to accomplish in your hectic lifestyle was climbing Kilimanjaro. Many people climb Kilimanjaro, over 35,000 per year, but many people don’t. So congratulations on your achievement. On this amazing journey, you saw stunning views, ate mouth-watering food, and roughed it for many days.

You undoubtedly recorded a lot of this trip on your smartphone, GoPro, and DSLR cameras. We know you have a ton of photos of the rainforest with the mist floating through the trees. You may have even captured some Colobus and Blue monkeys as they scurried in the treetops.

Blue Monkey
Blue Monkey on Kilimanjaro

As you ascended the mountain you continued to record the otherworldly Shira Plateau, with its volcanic rock formations.

You shot selfies with your friends and took photos of your food.

You probably have many photos of the sun as it set over the summit and some long-exposure photos of the stars and the summit from Karanga Camp.

Long Exposure Photo on KilimanjaroYou may even have a bunch of photos of the porters carrying gear on their heads and if you were brave enough photos on the Barranco Wall, specifically the Kissing Rock.

Kissing Rock on Kilimanjaro
Kissing Rock

Porters on Kilimanjaro

One thing I wish I did on Kilimanjaro

But the one thing you do not have enough photos of and you presumably regret is not taking extensive photos and video from summit night.

All too often the difficulty of the steep switchbacks, cold weather, darkness and the sheer overwhelming magnitude of what you are about to do leads most people to forget to take a ton of photos and videos. Remember, you are ascending at a really slow pace. The guides and porters want you to stop frequently anyway, so while you are trying to catch your breath, record it.

Keep in mind, that this will be the coldest you’ll be on Kilimanjaro. This goes for your batteries as well. If you are using a camera with replaceable batteries, make sure you take several with you. Keep them near your body to use your body heat to keep them charged.

If you are only using a smartphone, then bring a power bank with you to keep it charged. The last thing you want is to reach the summit and not have a way to record it.

Finally, once you are at the summit, you’ll have plenty of time to walk around and shoot photos and videos from every angle. Once it is your turn on the sign, take photos of you and the guides together. Take copious amounts of you and your friends that climbed with you and the ones you made along the way. Furthermore, get extensive solo photos of you on the sign so you can change your social media profile picture.

A helpful tip is to shoot from every angle. The sun will be up once you reach the summit and the glare can really ruin your shots. This is especially true when there is snow on the ground.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, the number one thing I wish I did on Kilimanjaro was to take more photos and videos on summit night. Not only at the summit but along the way to the crater rim and back down to base camp. If you have already climbed Kilimanjaro, that is a reason to go back. If you haven’t then we hope this article helps you get enough photos and videos to remember every step of the way climbing Kilimanjaro.

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