All language subtitles for Kilimanjaro To the Roof of Africa IMAX 2002 1080i HDTV EN Sub

[ insects chirping ]

[ mid-tempo music plays ]

Kyungai: this is the land
of our earliest ancestors,

Where the wild earth of long ago
lives on -- east africa.

[ elephants trumpeting ]

Beyond the abundant life

That flows across
these endless grasslands

There is one great landmark
of beauty and mystery

Revered like no other.

[ birds chirping ]

From the heart of africa,
it looms above the clouds,

A solitary giant, the largest
freestanding mountain on earth.

It is a mountain
of strange wonders,

A place created in fire
and crowned by ice.

It is a source
of ancient fascination,

A snowcapped volcano
at the equator.

People come from every land
to see for themselves this,

The highest mountain
in all africa,

And maybe even to climb
to the snows of kilimanjaro.

I have spent a lifetime
climbing this mountain.

I was born here.

My name is jacob kyungai.

I am a mountain guide.

I tell each traveler
who comes here,

To learn the secrets
of kilimanjaro,

We must begin
beneath the clouds,

Not in snow, but in mud.

[ bird chirping ]

Each group I guide
is different and the same.

People of every age
and origin --

Ordinary people, mostly,

But all drawn
to the magic of this place.

In this group, there's roger,

A scientist who understands
how this mountain was made.

Bilham: kilimanjaro
is the largest volcano

On any continent.

It is a tremendous attraction
for a geophysicist like me.

It's difficult to imagine,

Now that I'm here in the middle
of this incredibly lush forest,

That actually
I am sitting on the volcano,

That there's a half a mile
of volcanic rock beneath me.

Kyungai:
and there's audrey,

A writer who has read
about kilimanjaro for years

And has finally come
to see it for herself.

Salkeld: all my life, really,
I've written about mountains,

But rarely do I ever
get to the top of mountains.

And so it's hard
for me to imagine myself

On the top of this one,
but I can dream.

Kyungai: some come to see
if they can reach the summit,

Some to explore a curious world,

And some, like heidi, come
to learn if the real kilimanjaro

Matches the mountain
of their imagination.

Albertsen: I've dreamed of
coming here since I was a child,

Hiking in the alps,
pretending I was in africa.

I can't believe
I'm actually here.

I almost feel
like I'm in a dreamworld.

I asked somebody earlier
to pinch my arm

Because, like,
you're, like, going like this.

It's unreal.
It really, really is beautiful.

Kyungai: mostly,
I guide people from far away.

But this time,

The son of a good friend
here in tanzania has come along.

Hansi wants to learn
about the towering mountain

He sees from his backyard.

Mmari:
I want to climb kilimanjaro

Because I want my family
to be proud of me and...

[ clears throat ]

And I think I can make it
because I'm strong, you know.

Kyungai: few 12-year-olds
have made this climb,

But nicole
made her father promise

To show her the great mountain
he had climbed.

Wineland-thomson:
today has been really hard,

Going uphill in mud
for eight hours.

Everybody's
been telling me that, like,

"you're doing a great job.

Just keep on going.
You'll make it to the top."

I hope so, because I've always
wanted to see what's up there,

Especially the glaciers, ever
since my dad told me about them.

Kyungai: the climb ahead
is long and demanding.

In the coming days,
we will hike more than 45 miles

And climb to over 19,000 feet.

From here,
the route to the summit

Passes through
many different worlds.

We began far below,

In the humid rainforest
that encircles the mountain.

We will reach the unusual trees
of the heath zone,

Then grassy moorland and,
above that,

Increasingly harsh conditions.

There is an alpine desert
above 15,000 feet.

Higher up,
just below the mountaintop,

We will enter the arctic region,
windswept and bitter cold.

It is like walking from
the equator to the north pole

In only a week.

Now, at 10,000 feet,
we can see mount meru,

Kilimanjaro's
smaller sister volcano,

As darkness ends our first day
on the mountain.

Bilham: kilimanjaro is such
a vast and broad mountain

That it's hard to tell how big
it is when you're on its slopes.

You're such a tiny part
of the mountain,

But you begin to get a sense
of its immensity at every step,

As the mountain
slowly reveals itself.

And you begin to notice things

You could not
have imagined from afar.

Salkeld:
above 10,000 feet,

We entered the heath zone,
a kingdom of shrubs.

But even here,
there are splashes of color,

Like the red-hot poker.

They may appear fragile,

But they're exposed
to rugged extremes,

And they're tougher
than they look.

Bilham:
I wonder what early man

Thought
of this colossal volcano.

During the past
half-million years,

Our ancestors
would have watched its birth.

Scorching rivers of lava
poured down these slopes,

And eruptions
lit up the night sky.

Later people saw the great
mountain grow quiet and dormant,

As it is now.

Perhaps they, too,
were drawn upwards

To touch the icy glaciers
that advanced and retreated

Across its huge summit.

In recent times, the top was an
impenetrable shield of ice that,

As far as we know,
was unconquered

Until a climber
stood on its summit in 1889.

Kyungai:
there is an endless rhythm

To the coming of the mists
each morning

And their disappearance
each afternoon.

They bring enough moisture that
exotic plants can thrive here

In dry conditions that
would wither them elsewhere.

Albertsen:
the mist rolling in quickly

Changes the mood around us.

It shuts out the world, and
it feels lonely and mysterious,

As if kilimanjaro
is hiding its face.

As I climb with hansi and roger,

It seems like we are traveling
on another planet.

Everything is
on a different scale.

We have heather in europe.

You can pick it, and
you can hold it in your hand.

Here, it's giant
and over 30 feet high.

Kyungai:
3,000 feet higher,

The air grows drier
and colder still,

And the landscape
is transformed.

But here, I like to take people
to a place off the main trail,

Where melting snow

Feeds a special hidden valley
full of life.

Salkeld:
this is a most beautiful place,

And it comes
as something as a surprise

Because, suddenly,
you drop into this valley,

Which is walled in by mountains.

And best of all, it's walled in
by kilimanjaro's summit itself.

[ hammer banging ]

We're at about 13,000 feet here,

Which is quite high for such
a proliferation of plants,

And they're probably going to be
the last ones we see,

Because higher up
it will get increasingly barren.

It is a wonderful place.

All sorts of little streams
and gullies go off,

And you hear waterfalls.

And the plants
are absolutely fantastic.

Weirdest of all
are the giant groundsels,

Like great candelabras
with pompons on top.

Nicole and I went
to a little groundsel forest

On the other side
of this valley,

Which was pure heaven, really.

Wineland-thomson:
it was beautiful,

And it sort of felt
like I was in dr. Seuss land

Because, like,
the trees are so unfamiliar.

Jacob told me
that some of these plants

Are more than 100 years old.

They survive that long

Because they can shield
themselves from the cold.

When their long, green leaves
die, they don't fall off.

Instead, they wrap themselves
around the branch,

Insulating the plant
like a layer of fur.

Because I've never
seen them before.

Like the snow up there --
never seen snow with my eyes.

Just snow --
I've never seen it before.

Stepping on it,
I've never tried.

I've never even stepped on snow.
It's going to be my first time.

It's really great, you know.

Bilham:
up here at 13,000 feet,

The intensity of the equatorial
sun makes it summer every day,

Nurturing the plants.

But every night, it turns
to winter and freezes solid,

Only to melt
in the next day's sun.

In these extremes,

Plants have invented
ingenious tricks to survive...

...None more clever
than the lobelia,

Which wraps itself up to ward
off the night's biting frost...

Then unfolds the next morning

To absorb the warmth
of the rising sun.

Albertsen: how can we understand
the natural world like this?

To succeed up here, near what
feels like on top of the world,

You, your body, has to change
just like the plants.

The thin air
is what gets to you.

I don't know.

I think you can be
the healthiest person on earth,

But you might not be able
to make this mountain.

Kyungai: for most
who try to climb kilimanjaro,

It is the journey of a lifetime,

But only half who begin the trip
make it to the summit.

The great height of the mountain

And the thin air
force many to turn back.

Up here, you have to
pay attention to your body.

I make sure
everyone is eating well.

My role is to watch out
for their safety

In a world unfamiliar to them.

Nicole has her father, rick,
along to look out for her.

The real challenges
are just beginning.

Bilham:
climbing up the valley wall,

We could sense we were leaving
the pleasant regions behind.

It's beautiful up here,

But we're entering a harsher
world above 14,000 feet.

[ screeching ]

Kyungai: we have reached
the cold and barren zone

Of an alpine desert.

We are halfway now,
four days to the summit.

I tell them,
to avoid altitude sickness,

We must go slowly
and acclimatize

To the decreasing levels
of oxygen.

Salkeld: thinking how I huffed
and puffed up here,

I'm a bit worried about
how we're going to manage it.

But I guess if we take our time,
we'll be fine.

I sincerely hope
we all do make it up there.

I'm longing to see the crater.

Kyungai: the alpine desert
is a battle zone for plants.

During the day,
mist soaks the soil.

But overnight, the moisture
freezes into tiny ice spears

That shoot through the dirt,
churning it up.

It is hard to gain a foothold
in such an unwelcoming home.

And so we come
to a mystery of kilimanjaro.

There is little to eat
on the high slopes.

But a few animals come up here,
and no one knows why.

I know where an elephant died
far up kilimanjaro.

What made this elephant
leave its herd

And climb almost 15,000 feet up?

And it is not
only this elephant.

I have seen the remains
of antelope and a leopard

That climbed all the way
to the ice on the crater rim.

Why would such animals
climb so high?

What were they looking for?

The hardest moment walking
was probably going downhill,

And when I was going downhill,
I wished I was going uphill,

And when I was going uphill,

I was wishing
I was going downhill,

So it got really confusing,
and it was a -- it was a --

[ laughs ]

I've been thinking
that it's gonna be a very,

Very tough,
long journey to get to the top.

Albertsen:
lava tower is 300 feet high,

And it's right on the trail.

Roger wanted to study it.
I wanted to climb it.

Bilham:
at the top of lava tower,

Hansi and I talked about one

Of the most extraordinary
natural features of africa.

The mountain
we're sitting on exists

Because
of the great rift valley,

A 4,000-mile-long crack
in the earth's crust

That is slowly
separating east africa

From the rest of the continent.

We can't see
the subterranean violence,

But we can see the scar,

Marked by clifflike escarpments
walling these broad expanses.

Where the valley floor has sunk,

A chain of shadow lakes
has formed,

Many so poisoned
by volcanic acids,

They are nearly devoid of life.

The violent forces beneath

Have deeply altered
the face of africa here,

But they have also shaped
a land of mesmerizing beauty.

In some places, volcanoes
have risen and remain active.

Other volcanoes have collapsed

To become freshwater havens
for wildlife.

[ birds squawking ]

Long ago,
as the valley floor moved,

Molten rock beneath it
was squeezed out at the sides

And spewed to the surface,
producing volcanoes

That stand today
at the far edges of the rift.

The greatest
of these volcanoes arose

Along one branch of the rift
valley about 360,000 years ago,

A mountain so massive,

Its weight depresses
the earth's crust beneath it,

A towering island of stone

That would come
to be called kilimanjaro,

Meaning "mountain of greatness."

Kyungai:
at 16,000 feet,

There is only half
as much oxygen as at sea level.

This barren world is the last
outpost of life on kilimanjaro.

Albertsen: we are at arrow camp,
and we left great barranco,

Which is completely different
than this place.

I feel like this is ghost land
or something.

It's abandoned. It's just filled
with rocks and mist.

I'm a little worried
about the glaciers,

That they might fall
or something.

But I just can't wait
to get to the top and see,

Like, an open area
of white snow.

Salkeld:
I feel a little breathless,

Having got to a higher altitude.

And it was a bit sobering
when we arrived

To find that there's a memorial
to a young man of 27

Who died of altitude sickness
in this camp.

It brings home to you
what altitude means, really.

You can see the physical dangers
on the mountain,

But the scarceness of oxygen
to breathe is invisible.

Kyungai: the climb tomorrow
is the biggest challenge,

And it requires stamina
and strength of heart.

They won't know if they have it
until they need it.

Tonight, they think
only of the test ahead.

Mmm...

So, I'm really scared,
actually.

I'm not sure if I'm going to
make it up there.

Kyungai: 3,000 feet above them
is the edge of the crater.

Today, they must push themselves
up a sheer rock face

For seven hours

To reach the crater's rim
and the wonders beyond.

Salkeld: we set off this morning
in chilly dawn --

Really very, very cold but clear

With views
as far as you could see.

Wineland-thomson: at first,
my feet got really cold.

It was way below freezing.

But I was determined to see
the glaciers and the crater.

Kyungai: up here,
where the air is thin and cold,

I tell them, "keep moving.

One foot in front of the other,
and you will make it."

I stay close to the youngest
and say in swahili,

"polepole," "slowly, slowly."

"just breathe and climb."

I really got a hard time
getting up here, and...

[ sighs ]

...My legs are very tired.

My legs are, like,
just, like, finished, you know.

Salkeld:
it's very steep up here,

And I've been getting
increasingly breathless

As we come up.

I know there was a time
halfway up

When I wondered
whether I would make it or not.

And I certainly said to myself,

"you're a silly old fool
to be doing this

When you could be sitting
at home, all comfy and warm."

But now we're nearly
up to the crater,

And there's tiny bits
of blue sky showing through,

And I think I'm in
for a bit more of this yet.

Kyungai: this is my greatest
reward as a guide,

To watch as they climb
above the clouds

And enter the realm
of the crater,

A place
only a few people ever see.

This is the moment
they will never forget.

They have done
something remarkable.

They have reached
the snows of kilimanjaro.

Wineland-thomson:
it was beautiful,

And it was like arriving from
the amazon to the antarctic.

It was amazing how fast
it just happened, like, "boom."

It was the hardest and steepest
trail I've ever been on.

I was so happy
that we made it to the crater

And that we made it together.

I could hardly believe
a kid like me

Had made it
to a place like this.

Albertsen: while the others
went to set up camp,

Roger and I decided
to explore the glaciers.

Roger told me
the first european explorers

Who saw kilimanjaro
150 years ago

Reported that they had seen
a snow-covered mountain

Near the equator.

Nobody believed them.

Bilham:
the glaciers

Are a great part
of the mystique of kilimanjaro.

The ice looks eternal,

But it's the last stand
of a process begun long ago.

It's part
of a timeless earth cycle,

And it's astonishing
and a bit sad to think

That the glaciers
we marvel at today

Are only the smallest remnants
of the massive ice cap

That covered this mountain
thousands of years ago.

There's very little water
on the ground here.

That's because
the glaciers aren't melting.

They're disappearing
into the atmosphere

Because the solid ice
is turning directly into vapor

In a process
known as sublimation.

Albertsen:
in such thin, dry air,

This ice is completely exposed

To the intense rays
of the tropical sun.

That, along with
the sculpting force of wind,

Creates fantastic shapes.

Bilham:
as I walked with heidi,

We realized that we were both
thinking the same thing,

That this delicate fin of ice

Would be different
in a week's time.

In fact, in less than 100 years,
all this ice will be gone.

But glaciers
will inevitably reappear

During the next ice age, many
thousands of years from now.

Since on the climb this morning
he had hurt his knee.I,

He was trying to be so brave.

He didn't
want to slow anyone down.

[ cheers and applause ]

Mmari: I was just very tired
because the day was tough.

So when I get to the camp
and it was really hurting me --

I don't know why.

Did you take something
for it?

Do you want something?
I have something.

Bilham:
what's wrong, hans?

My knee.

Your knee, huh?

Mmari: I was just walking
in a lazy way,

So I just twisted my knee
in a funny way.

Kyungai:
we can only hope

That hansi's knee
and his spirits recover soon.

We are camping
at over 18,000 feet.

We still have to climb
to the summit,

Which rises
above the glaciers behind us.

But first,
roger wanted to understand

The shape of this great crater,

So I showed him the route
we've taken up to its rim

And the site of our camp,

And I promised to take him
more than a mile from camp

To the inner crater and
the great vent at its center.

Bilham:
early the next morning,

Jacob and I set off across the
vast expanse of the main crater.

It was well below freezing,
and we got very cold.

In the distance, we could see
the central volcanic vent.

As we descended the steep wall
of the inner crater,

The central vent itself
never seemed to get any closer.

It was difficult
to get an idea of scale

Because there were
no familiar objects

To determine
the size of the place.

It was like walking on the moon.

We finally reached
the rim of the central vent

And peered 300 or 400 feet
down into its depths.

Standing there,
I felt very small,

And I tried to imagine
the fiery and tumultuous forces

That had built this gigantic
mountain of lava,

All now beneath me.

We were at the very core
of the violence,

Where molten rock blasted out
for millennia

And where
just a few hundred years ago

Kilimanjaro breathed its last
breath as an active volcano.

The inner crater
surrounding the volcanic vent

Was formed during kilimanjaro's
last eruption

And is one of the most
perfectly symmetrical craters

In the world.

Mmari: I've been
on this mountain for days.

And I haven't bathed.
I'm kind of smelly.

And I think also
the others haven't bathed.

And I just want to get up there.
I'll be happy.

Kyungai:
hansi seems just fine.

But to be safe, I wrap his knee

For the climb
to the summit tomorrow.

I rise at dawn on the day

We will finally climb
to the summit.

I can see all the way down
to the clouds

Covering the warm forest where
we started 14,000 feet below.

For 30 years,

I've enjoyed bringing people
to this special place.

I have climbed kilimanjaro
more than 250 times,

And I don't know how much longer
I can keep guiding people here.

But I do know
that they will keep coming,

Drawn by its power
and its mystery.

And like my new friends,

They will find the strength
and the spirit

To make the summit
they have dreamed of reaching.

It is now
only a few hundred feet away.

Wineland-thomson:
yeah, sometimes,

I thought
that I wouldn't make it.

I thought it would be too hard.

Oh, gosh, it's just beautiful.

I'm thinking of
how happy I am to be up here

And that I'm here with my dad
and that I made it.

Salkeld: it was such a relief
to know that we had all done it

And here we all were
on the roof of africa.

Albertsen: at first,
I thought, "maybe I'll make it."

I didn't know.

But now I know,
and I'm a stronger person

Than I was when I came,
and I'm happy about that.

Bilham: I'm extremely pleased to
have experienced this firsthand.

Kilimanjaro
is a geological paradox.

And it's a really thrilling
feeling to be standing

Where all this rock poured forth
less than a million years ago.

Salkeld: it's the first
real mountain I've ever climbed,

And I'm absolutely delighted
to have done it.

I can't believe I --

I don't really think
I ever thought I would do it

Until we did it.

Mmari: when I reached the
summit, I pulled out my radio.

I told dad, "I'm at the summit
of kilimanjaro, top of africa."

After finishing that,
I sat somewhere,

Thinking about going down,

Seeing my small sister,
my dad, my mom,

Having a bath,

Having some hamburgers,
pizzas, yeah.

Mmm!

Kyungai: kilimanjaro is a place
where ordinary people come

To do something extraordinary,
to leave their daily lives

And stand in a place
between heaven and earth...

...A magical place
in the africa of their dreams.

[ mid-tempo music plays ]