My first ever blog- created in August 2010 following my Kilimanjaro Trek
Mount Kilimanjaro
Trek August 2010
This blog
was written on a daily basis, sometimes under great duress, in stupidly cold or
hot temperatures, but starting on day 1, 6,000 feet up above Amsterdam on the
plane on the way to Tanzania, and culminating on the reverse journey...I will
try to entertain, but I can’t make any promises except an honest account of 9
days away from home, with one aim, to get to the top of the highest free
standing mountain in the world...and back down again. Alive.
Day 1
In one of
the early months of 2010 (I can’t remember which one, but I do know that today
seemed a hell of a long way off at the time), I and 4 other intrepid (read
naive) him!mers decided/agreed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for
Kidscan, a children’s Cancer charity.
The build up
to this trip has been...well, odd really, as I don’t think that I ever really
admitted to myself that it was going to happen. I certainly have done SOME
training, upping my usual 3-times-a-week-to-stay-a-size-10 gym routine, to a
more fitness and endurance led routine, aiming for 5 times per week. I have
also completed a long weekend walking in the peak district, and a preparation
weekend in Wales. I have spent the equivalent of a Caribbean holiday on KIT
(list coming up for the geeks amongst you). I have learnt that it really isn’t
that hard to cajole people that you know, and indeed people that you don’t,
into sponsoring you when there is a serious challenge and a worthy charity
involved.
So here I
am, Day 1, having just taken off from Amsterdam’s Schipol airport, where we
changed planes after our starting point of Heathrow airport. Firstly I should
introduce my climbing colleagues for ease of reference-
Mike Greene
- CEO of him! and general all round motivational, positive chap.
Tara
Benjamin - Programmes Director at him! tougher than she looks and a great
tent-mate
Lianne Piper
- Client Manager at him!, a wicked sense of humour and the ability to see the
good in anyone
Andy
Brookfield - Client Manager at him! with a great, dry Northern view on life
Nick and
Amanda Raphael - Married couple, Nick is a Director for Sony music, and
describes himself as an “ambitious little rat”, Amanda is his beautiful wife,
who on top of being an ex-model, has just completed a PHD
Steve
Fitzmaurice - Steve is a mixing engineer and producer with an eclectic and interesting
career history and an outspoken Irish charm about him
Rhian Morgan
and Jon Dunbar - Otherwise known as “The Doctors”, Rhian and Jon are such
genuinely nice people, both 3 years into their medical training
Patrick and
George Hudson - Father and Son, Patrick has a contagious laugh, and a great
knowledge of the world, having been bought up in Africa, George his son is
surely the kindest 16 year old you will ever meet
Ed and
Charlie Hudson - Ed is Patrick’s twin, and Charlie is Ed’s son. Ed has a
sensible side to him that can calm any situation down and Charlie is a
determined young man, who, like George is extremely mature and kind
We also have
a Team Leader, Andy Chapman, but more about him later...
So, I find
myself on the plane reading that the route we will take up Kilimanjaro, The Lemosho
Glades route is a relatively unspoilt trek which sees fewer climbers than its
rival routes, the main one being known as the “Coca-Cola” route. From what I
can work out, the trek is 5 days up, 2 days down...maybe, as Ted says, we can
“roly-poly” down. The 5 days up is to give us enough time to acclimatise and
give us a maximum chance of completion. Funnily enough, I hadn’t really thought
about the fact that I may not make it...perhaps this would be a good time to
start to consider the possibility.
So, for the
geeks amongst you, here is my KIT list, or what I can remember packing.
·
4 seasons sleeping bag (thanks Dad!)
·
Therma-rest- thin blow up mat to sleep on and
insulate your body from the ground
·
Yoga mat- more insulation, not for downward dog
manoeuvres in the morning
·
Thermal underwear
·
Walking trousers x1 that zip into shorts
·
Boots (kindly bought by boyfriend for my
birthday)
·
Waterproof trousers
·
Trekking socks x2
·
Liner socks x2
·
Inner gloves, mid gloves and outer ski gloves
(thanks Mum)
·
T-shirts x3, in my pink and grey colour scheme
·
Fleece x2
·
Scarf
·
Buff for fetching hairstyles and to keep the sun
off your neck
·
Duvet jacket- vile piece of clothing that does
what it says on the tin
·
Outer shell jacket
·
Thermal hat, sun hat
·
Water bottle, purifying and neutralising tablets
·
Foot and hand warmers
·
Toiletries, miniatures of everything used at
home, including make up- no need to let standards slip!
·
Baby wipes (for festival showers)
·
Walking Poles
·
Anti Mosquito stuff, after bite
·
Drugs, and not the good ones, just anti-biotics
etc
·
IPod, with new albums courtesy of Frank and Ted
·
Diary
·
Books X2
·
A Blackberry which will be of limited use
·
Solar powered charger that I got ripped off £66
for in Heathrow airport
·
Food- Boiled sweets, cereal bars, cookies and
nuts
...all
packed into two bags- one for me to carry and one for the Porters to lug up the
mountain....generally on their heads.
We arrived
at Tanzania airport at around 8.30pm, the airport was basic, with long queues
and no air con, but the 14 of us were excited, so through customs we went,
ignoring the outstretched hands requesting “tips”, and arriving at The Keys
hotel in Moshi at around 9.30pm to a good, but basic meal of soup, pasta, rice
and lentils.
Lianne, Tara
and I shared a hotel room, complete with mosquito nets, and I think that the
girls were only mildly alarmed when halfway through the night I sat bolt
upright in bed and asked “Tara, shall I get the snake out from under the
bed?”....apparently I sleep-talk through my dreams.
Day 2
Woke at 7am
to have our last shower in 8 days, re-packed bags, carefully separating
anything that will be needed for day to day use (sweets, camera, iPod) from my
heavy necessities. Good breakfast (hopefully a sign of things to come?) of
poached eggs, beans and toast. And then we were ready! 14 slightly nervous
trekkers, in box-fresh North Face and Berghaus gear, ready to tackle anything.
And tellingly, the first conversation that I had was with Nick and Amanda and
focused around Nicks toilet habits...an indication as to where the
conversational focus for the days ahead may lie. The journey was to take 3
hours to get us to the base of the mountain, and was slightly surreal. We were
driving through what looked like small, poverty-stricken villages based around
the dirt tracks which we were driving down, but some of the locals had TV’s in
these open-fronted village bars, where all the men were huddled round, supping
on a local beer and watching football. I thought of Frank and Ted a lot today-
especially when the village children came up to say hello whenever we stopped
to use a toilet (we used a local village bar’s toilet and had to tip them for
the “pleasure” of squatting to piss as accurately as possible in a hole in the
ground), and one came up to me and simply said “give me money”. I told them
that he would have to do better than that. It was about this time that AB
mentioned how lovely it was that every time we approached the villages, you
could hear the strains of traditional African music. He was crestfallen when I
pointed out that the music was coming from the jeep radio.
After around
2 hours drive, we checked through the gate at the foot of the mountain, and
then had another 1.5 hour drive up and down the roughest terrain I have ever
encountered- I thought that the car was bound to roll at any point. We ate a
packed lunch that the hotel had provided, chicken sarnies, boiled egg, cake and
biscuits etc.
Then the car
stopped, and we all piled out, chattering about the journey and ready to start
“The Climb”.
Now, those
of you who know me well, will be aware that my fear in life is spiders...and lo
and behold, I put my bag down on the floor by the car and the first thing I see
is a large African spider. Now an EX-spider (thanks for the quick reflexes
AB!).
We started
trekking on terrain that I could liken to the Peak District, for 3 hours. No
real break, but we didn’t seem to need it, adrenalin was kicking in. So off we
went, munching our way up the mountain, sharing sweets and cereal bars and
starting to get to know each other. I was expecting to see a lot more wildlife
than we did, but the monkey’s in the trees were very amusing, calling out to us
and waving their white, bushy tails below them. The vegetation is very rich and
lush, much like a British woodland really, and the trails are somewhat defined,
although slightly overgrown. The main issue for the first day was the thick red
dust that seemed to cover everything within minutes of being on the mountain.
We chatted all the way, pausing only for a soon to be familiar cry of
“porters!” as the Porters steamed past us in their Nike’s and jeans, carrying
our bags and supplies on their heads, and not even breaking a sweat.
We heard the
camp before we saw it, as a Canadian group had already arrived and their
Porters and camp staff were all dancing, singing and clapping in a traditional
African welcome ceremony. It was a great way to arrive at the first camp....in fact
I think it was only day 3 that it started to grate...!
So, we
sorted out our tents- I was with Lianne for the first night- and had a “moment”
when AC came over to speak to us girls to let us know that he “had the right to
make us sleep in a tent with a man if he was worried about us getting altitude
sick” We soon put him straight on that little power-crazed comment, and
explained that we were not the type of people who could be “made” to do
anything.
Anyway,
dinner, as always, except summit day was served at 6.30- Leek soup, followed by
Spaghetti Bolognaise. This is where we really started to get to know our fellow
trekkers, taking it in turns to tell stories, including Steve and the electric
toothbrush and Andy and the infamous “Vegan” comment....
After a few
badly phrased lectures from AC (that man REALLY needs communication training),
we headed off to bed, satisfied that the first day was everything that we were
expecting. After what is now known as “Spidergate”, the removing of several
large spiders from my tent, we fell asleep for our first night on the mountain.
Day 3
Awoken at
6.30am by a group of Canadians after 2 hours sleep. Not the best start to the
day, but up I got, put on my pillow (duvet jacket) and joined the others in the
mess tent for breakfast, and a hot water and berrocca, which is to become a
saving grace as the vitamin count on this trip doesn’t seem to be that high...
So, a quick
wash outside the tent, contorting my body under a towel to avoid giving the
porters an eyeful, and then off we rambled. Todays trekking was about 6 hours
through some stunning giant heather, and a strong scent of wild sage which grew
along the pathways for several hours. One thing that has surprised me is the
lack of flowers on the route, I think that it must be something to do with the
altitude. The vegetation on the route so far has been lush and interspersed
with exotic plants, some small, red spiky ones, some that look like pineapples
etc.
And so the
walk continued, getting steeper and steeper, and we began to notice the
altitude effects. The path became rockier as we went along, and we gained and
lost quite a lot of height today, which will help with the acclimatisation. I
used my poles today for the first time, and they certainly help, they are great
for balance and also mean that you are using your arms to take some of the
strain off your legs. We had a couple of breaks today, and had lunch high on a
rock overlooking thick, green valleys of vegetation, cucumber sandwiches, how
civilised, chicken wings and the ever present boiled egg. The last part of
todays trek was pretty hard going, a LOT of uphill work, very steep, like
climbing an endless staircase, with a bit of a “don’t look down” feeling. We
reached camp by 3pm, filthy, tired and happy that we had done a good day’s
work. As we approached camp, we were met with the stunning sight of the peak of
Kilimanjaro for the first time. There was some cloud cover, but wow...how
humbling to be stood in front of the iconic snow-capped mountain.
The dust
over the last two days has been amazing- even things that you think are impenetrable
just aren’t- there is a thick red and grey coating over everything. Including
me. We were given a small bowl of washing water when we arrived at camp, and
with Tara’s help I decided to wash my hair, which was a surprisingly difficult
task. The camp is quite barren, with no noticeable wildlife, apart from these huge,
evil-looking crows, which come a little too close for comfort.
I have a
slight headache now developing, it feels like my head is being slowly squeezed
in a vice grip, a couple of paracetemol every few hours is necessary at this
altitude to relieve the pain! I listened to my Ipod (Vampire Weekend) for an
hour or so whilst I wrote my journal, which was great- two days without music
was starting to get to me.
Day 4
I am writing
todays entry from Shira camp. Last night we had a few disastrous attempts at washing
some clothes through as everything is so filthy, but we hung our t-shirts and
socks out to dry and forgot to take them in, so we awoke this morning to a few
frozen solid t-shirts. Dinner last night was meat curry, with the inevitable
soup to start, and bed by 8.20pm as after you have eaten there is little to do
and it’s so ferociously cold that your sleeping bag is calling. Last night as
we all traipsed to bed, we looked up to see an astounding night sky- clear and
crisp with copious amounts of stars- no light pollution means that the night skies
here are spectacular. The evenings are clear until about 7pm when the fog/mist
rolls in, which looks eerie and also makes the temperature drop quite
dramatically.
Something I
feel that I should mention here is the dirt- I think it’s getting to some
people now and I don’t mind admitting that I'm one of them. If I can even begin
to describe, I will start at the top and work down. My hair is matted together
and to my head with sweat, dust and general grime. My face has permanent black
streaks across it and my pores are ingrained with grime...giving the appearance
of a severe blackhead issue. I have a constant blurred vision from the dust in
my eyes; my mouth tastes less than inviting due to the chlorine purifying tablets
that we have to use in the water. My ears are, as everything is, blocked with
dirt. My shoulders are covered in blister plasters from the rubbing of my
rucksack. My armpits are starting to resemble those of a Mexican wrestler- as
are my legs- i.e., hairy and pungent. As we are wearing the same clothes for
days at a time, so the dirt never leaves you, you just add to it. Oh, did I
mention my nose? No? Oh, well it’s full of dust and the altitude is making it
run, so I have a black tar-like substance running down my face most of the
time. And then there’s my feet...although actually I think that they are
probably one of the best parts of me, and clean as they have been in socks and
boots all day every day.
So, back to
last night, and another side effect of altitude is the flatulence. So not only,
as you snake your way up the mountain do you often get a faceful of someone’s
fart, but ones tent is becoming unbearable after dark. You pray that you fall
asleep quickly, if only to avoid a face full of methane. But no such luck- last
night it took 3 hours before I fell asleep, another side effect of altitude is
the inability to sleep well- although it doesn’t seem to be bothering Mike, who
has had 8-10 hours a night since we arrived! It probably doesn’t help that every
time I lie down, I need to wee, so have to begin the rigmarole of re-dressing,
putting boots on and clambering out of the tent into the dark and the cold to
pee in a chemical toilet in a tent some distance away.
I slept
until 6.28am, and then the usual morning routine of a strip wash, Tara and I
giggling away behind a rock at our ingenious private washing positions,
followed by breakfast and then packing up your tent and heading off.
Todays walk
was relatively short, just 3 hours at a slight gradient to help with
acclimatisation. The best part of todays trip was that the peak was in sight at
all points, so it was satisfying (and a little daunting) to be stumbling
towards our challenge as it stood there so gracefully. I listened to my IPod
for some of the walk as I felt a bit sad today, so a bit of Prince was drafted
in to cheer me up. We arrived in camp and Tara and I set up our tent- we are
like an old married couple now, I always sleep to her left, and we set out our
bags and sleeping stuff with military precision. Then it was lunchtime,
chicken, pancakes and, of course, soup.
I am writing
this entry sitting on a rock, looking out over the desert-like terrain of
Kilimanjaro whilst listening to Mumford and Sons, and pinching myself to make
sure that it’s not all a dream. Steve is wondering around taking photos, Mike
is asleep on a rock, and the rest of the team are pottering around, trying to
fill the time before dinner. Tara and I decide to set up a beauty salon in our
tent and spend the next few hours talking, plucking, moisturising and putting
on make-up. Very girly I know.
As we sit
down to dinner the most spectacular sunset begins, it was so beautiful it was
almost hypnotic, every colour you could imagine, just what you think an African
sunset SHOULD look like. And because we are camping so high, the colours
reflect off the clouds, shooting shafts of light through the air. George,
Steve, Andy and I play a round of music quiz questions out of a book, and then
head off to bed.
Day 5
This day has
been marked out to be the hardest day on the mountain bar the summit day, so
beginning with only a few hours sleep and in a lot of pain from constantly
hunching my shoulders up in the night in a (failed) attempt to get warm. Still,
piling out of my tent at 6.08am in my thermals and duvet jacket to the sight of
the sun rising over Mount Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak was unbelievable.
Being above the clouds makes you feel as though you could throw yourself onto
them and simply bounce back. I wouldn’t recommend it, mind. Washing in minus
degrees out of a small, dirty bowl in front of your Chief Exec, colleagues, 9
strangers and 45 porters and camp staff, although not my favourite pastime, is
now the norm, and after breakfast, we head off into the morning sun, slowly
(Pole Pole as the guides say) but surely. We breaked regularly, but I found the
first couple of hours hard going. The altitude means that one is constantly gasping
for breath, and it takes a while to get your breathing into a rhythm. At this
point I did wonder whether I was capable of completing this challenge, but soon
snapped out of that mindset- you have to really- and the next 4 hours I really
enjoyed. We went to the highest altitude of the trip so far today- 4,500M.
Charlie vomited at the top, and there were a lot of headaches, nausea and
dizziness. A lot of the team struggled with today, but we all pulled together
and supported each other throughout the day. The terrain today was scree, stone
and sand and I slipped over several times, which unfortunately knocked my
confidence a bit. The views were stunning- especially the old glacier, which I
found slightly emotional as it is no longer snow-capped...global warming in
obvious action. The weather was cold but sunny and my burnt nose will look
particularly attractive later in the day! Getting to Barranca camp was hard- it
was as if someone kept moving the camp further away every time we got near. But
eventually we arrived, and Tara, Lianne and I had another successful hair wash,
and also managed to use the water to clean some knickers- bonus. Every night we
take water bottles to bed with hot water in (its boiled to sterilise it), which
also serves a purpose of keeping us warm...and if you wrap damp clothes around
them then they dry...this was the night that I dried my pants on Andy’s water
bottle....sorry Andy. Dinner was pasta and sauce (preceded by cucumber soup),
and after dinner, Lianne and I retired to our boudoir to read. And fart.
Day 6
Thank god, a
good night’s sleep- 9pm-1am and 2am-5.30am. 7.5 hours. Nice. Waking up to a wet
sleeping bag (frost!) not nice. Funny things happening because of the altitude
now, Lianne’s eyes puffing up, and this odd thing that we are calling word
substitution- where one seems to say the wrong word as your brain just seems to
be frozen! For example, Mike wondered off today to pack his cat. My eyes are
constantly weeping, which I thought was the dust, but AC seems to think that
people who have had laser eye surgery (as I did 4 years ago) sometimes suffer
at altitude. Today was, in my view, the hardest day so far. We left camp at
8.30am to being the climb over the fabled Barranco Wall. This is a hardcore
rock face that takes 1.5-2 hours to climb and involves some scramble climbing
(exactly what it sounds) Up until this point I have been more than happy with
my personal progress, and so proud of our team, but this day was so challenging
for me mentally that I struggled. The physical exertion side was fine, but climbing
the wall was petrifying. You had to balance across rocks with sheer drops down
and at one point (the point where I started hyperventilating through sheer
terror), there was a part where you had to cling to the rock face and work your
way around. It was one of the most terrifying things I have done and I'm not
even scared of heights. I just hung there, thinking that I couldn’t get
round...and then the lovely Rhian came to my rescue, a trainee doctor, she
dropped back behind Jon, her boyfriend to coax me round, and then for the next
half an hour or so, stuck with me, showing me every hand and foothold and
eventually got me to the next water break, where embarrassingly I burst into
tears. But my teammates were so lovely and supportive that it didn’t last long,
and scoffing a whole bar of chocolate soon made me feel better. I found getting
to the top of the wall pretty emotional, but I'm sure that I was just
physically drained. I spoke to my Dad, sobbing down the phone to him about my
achievement, who proceeded to tell me that he had managed to climb the stairs
on his own that day and that my 9 week old brother had done a poo. Helpful. So,
we carried on up the damn hill. One recommendation if anyone reading this ever
attempts Kili is to eat a fair bit on the way up- you really do need the
energy- cereal bars, nuts, cookies and sweets are perfect, and I got through
them like there was no tomorrow (there was always a chance that there might not
be!). It’s said that you burn 3,000-5,000 calories per day because of the
temperature and exercise.
Arriving at
camp, it began to rain- for the first time since we left the UK, so we spent a
fair bit of time in the mess tent, playing cards. I'm sleeping on my own
tonight.
We had our
briefing for summit day before dinner, so that we could work out what to
wear/what to carry and what to expect. We will do 3-5 hours walking in the
morning, spend the afternoon at camp tomorrow, try to get some sleep before we
get woken up at 11pm to start our summit attempt at midnight....and then we
have to get back down (approx 3 hours) to the camp and then trek 3-5 hours to
the next camp. Sounds horrid. But exciting!
Day 7/8
So breakfast
is getting a little boring now, my own fault as I am a creature of habit and
tend to have the same thing each day. One benefit if being in a tent on your
own as I was last night- I had space, and could wash in it. Nice. So off we
went, a merry band of trekkers, excited but apprehensive of the 30 odd hours in
front of us. The first hour of today everyone seemed to struggle with, but the
dulcet sounds of Nick’s belching were a strange comfort, and I am getting very
familiar with the shape and size of all of my fellow trekkers backsides, as it
tends to be where you look a fair amount of the time! We got to Barafu camp,
and I am with Tara tonight, well, I say tonight, but we aren’t really sleeping
for the reasons mentioned earlier.
Woken up at
11pm by Moses, our local guide, we layer up- 3 layers all over, plus foot
warmers, hand warmers, a buff, scarf, 2 hats, and then congregate in the mess
tent for porridge and lots of water. And then, with our head torches on,
looking like some strange giant glow-worm, we head to the start of the summit.
I am not
sure that I will ever be able to do justice to the sheer hell that some of the
team (and myself) went through on summit night, but I will try to give an
honest account without my usual over dramatisation!
The walk was
immediately taxing due to the altitude- we started out at 4,600M, so every step
was laboured, if only because of the breathing. We were walking “pole pole” and
it felt like we were making very little progress. The temperature got down to
about -10 degrees, so fingers, toes and noses were frozen from the start. Its
pitch black, so you are relying on your head torch and watching the person in
front of you. You use your poles and also your hands to scramble over rock and
flint and people barely talk (unlike the previous days!) as you simply can’t. You
can’t use an iPod unless you have had it next to your body as it will have
frozen (as will your drinking water), and when you stop for about 5 minutes in
every 45 minutes, you wonder if you will ever be able to get going again. I was
unable to go to the toilet, as there is nowhere private to go, so if you DID need
to, it was squat and go whilst the boys turned their backs like gentlemen- if
that’s not enough to give you stage fright, I don’t know what is! Passing other
groups on the way up, you soon become aware of the people who are suffering as
you hear the odd wretch as someone empties out the cereal bars and porridge
from breakfast, but seeing someone stretchered down is definitely not good for
the old motivation! So we set out at 12.08am and walked out of the camp into
the night, following Moses to begin a very slow ascent up from Barafu camp. The
first thing to note is that I wasn’t cold, which surprised me, but I had
obviously kitted myself out well- I have a fear of being cold, so had bought EVERYTHING
I could in order to avoid that- including self-heating hand and feet warmers!
It was amazing to see the snaking line of head torches behind and above us- the
ones above us looking like they are floating in mid air because of the steep
incline that they were slowly crawling up.
After an
hour, we stopped, having covered about 120M, we were climbing some easy rock
faces...but it isn’t that easy when you have so many layers, a backpack and the
air is so thin. Each break saw the guides checking each one of us over, making
us drink water/eat food etc. After 3 hours, my nose was running and the snot
had frozen to my face. I like to think that this was one of my most beautiful
moments. My fingers and toes had no feeling left, despite the “toasties”,
although part of this was rectified once Nick realised I was wearing my liner
gloves, not my proper ones! By now, I was counting every step, one per pound
that someone had sponsored me (I began to curse those of you who sponsored me
more than £20). After 4 hours, we were all exhausted but spirits were high. It
was the biggest boost to stop for water and see your teammates urging each
other on. Amanda was really suffering now, with altitude sickness, but she put
a brave face on it and soldiered on. Tara had hypothermia, Lianne had pretty
bad altitude sickness, Patrick was cursing like a trooper, Steve had a terrible
headache and nausea, only The Doctors and the boys, George and Charlie seemed
to be flying up. By now, every time we took a break, I had the urge to have a
“lie down”, all I wanted to do was sleep. By now I had Steve behind me, and
George in front of me, both giving words of encouragement and urging me on...I
don’t think that I was much use to them, but Steve did say afterwards that it
took his mind off what he was doing when he was helping me! By hour 5, I
decided that the IPod was the only way forward; I had a motivational playlist
all set up and ready to go. One problem. After 4 hours of walking up a hill in
minus 10 temperatures, my IPod had frozen. I think at this point I contemplated
hurling myself back down the damn mountain. We had been told that the sun would
rise at around 5.30, and then we would have some warmth and light, so I was now
on countdown, with “Here comes the Sun” going round on a loop on my internal
jukebox. Thinking that the sun would lift the unbearable cold and utter
miserable-ness of the situation, it became my focus- what could be better than
a beautiful sunrise near the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro? Liars. The sun took an
age to rise, eventually showing through at past 6am. By now I felt like I was
in a lot of trouble- physically I could have bounded up the mountain, but the
air was so thin, that every step I was trying to catch my breath.
I still had
George in front of me and Steve behind me, my personal cheerleaders, and the
three of us were stopping whenever we could to load up with more water and
glucose tablets. As the sun came up, I knew that we were about 1.5 hours away
from the summit, and we had been climbing for 6 hours. I really struggled to
find the strength at this point to carry on, I had to dig pretty deep to keep
going, but seeing Ed and Charlie laughing at the absurdity of it all, seeing
Nick urging Amanda on, watching Andy Brookfield listening to his IPod (how come
his worked and mine didn’t!!???) and still smiling was enough to keep me going.
We were now
at Stella Point, just an hour away from the summit. We couldn’t NOT make it-
all 14 of us were determined to summit, and I have never seen support like it-
everyone was helping each other, encouraging each other and pushing on up the
mountain. By now, George was walking BACKWARDS up the hill, urging me on with
every step- like some kind of motivational preacher, and Steve was telling me
that, despite my insistence that they go on ahead, that we would all get there
together.I kept trying to walk, feeling physically able, but it was impossible
to breathe properly- 5 steps, break, 5 steps, break etc...
Every turn
after Stella Point was SUPPOSED to be the summit, but it became a bit of a
joke, because every time we thought we were there, there was further to go.
Then, finally at 7am, we could see the summit and sign informing us that we had
reached Uhuru Peak. \Only problem was that it was 100 yards away...which took
exactly 22 minutes. We arrived just after Rhian and Jon and Amanda and Nick had
summitted, making us the 5/6/7th people from the group to summit. We
were followed by Andy and Mike, and then the rest in an order I can’t remember!
It was a
strange feeling getting to the top, not really a sense of euphoria, just
relief, a few hugs, photos and then a creeping realisation that what goes up,
must come down. After about 20 minutes at the summit, you can’t stay up there
for much more; we began the descent, me crying on Ed’s shoulder through the
sheer exhaustion of it all. We met Lianne and Tara coming up, and they summated
shortly after, following some hopefully encouraging words. The scree run down
was horrendous, with Rhian, Nick and Steve and I fantasising about helicopters
and plush hotels.
3 hours
later and nearly 11 hours since I left it, we arrived back in the camp,
battered, bruised, emotional and relieved. I collapsed onto my sleeping mat,
one of the camp staff, Charles bought me an ice cold glass of pineapple juice,
took my boots off and I promptly fell asleep. Ten minutes later, I woke to hear
other team members arriving back in camp and heard that all 14 of us had made
it. Brilliant.
The hitch
was that after lunch, we still had to walk to the next camp- further than
originally thought as there was contaminated water at the camp we had planned
to stay at. There wasn’t an option not to as it would have been dangerous to
spend another night at that altitude. However, there was a positive...a rumour
spread like wildfire that the camp sold beer. So off we trotted. 4.5 hours
later, having been up for 36 hours, walked for 16 of them and feeling like I
had nothing left to give, we arrived at our final camp, for a final festival
shower (baby wipes!), a beer, and......some soup. Again. However, this time it
was followed by chicken and chips. Bonus. A few of us stayed up chatting, and
re-living the experience and then I collapsed, exhausted into my bed for a well
deserved sleep...and some fantastic dreams....
Day 9
A
non-freezing awakening at 6.50am was a luxury, I guess we were all so tired
that we slept through the usual camp morning noises. After deciding to skip a
wash, we had breakfast and began what was being referred to as “The Long Walk
to Freedom”- the 3.5 hour trek through the jungle to Moshi Gate, at the bottom
of Kilimanjaro. The walk was awkward, a lot of mud and tree roots, just waiting
to trip you up- I was convinced one of us would end up breaking a leg! But we
managed to avoid the boulders that were lying in wait for our tired legs, and
there was a cheer when the gate came into view. So, 9 days later, The summit at
5985M achieved, and around 70KM trekked, we signed out of the gate (Katy Moses,
29, Cheerleader) and jumped on the buses back to the Keys hotel, salivating at
the thought of a glass of wine and a shower. The journey back was fascinating,
and hour through Tanzanian villages, where a lot of the locals were in their
Sunday best on the way to church. We had already given out all of the tips to
the porters and camp staff at the gate, but Moses, Dennis and Emmanuel were
joining us back at the hotel for lunch. My shower was...well, I don’t think I
can describe it...and slipping on a clean sundress, and sitting on the veranda
with a cold glass of wine was long awaited...but worth the wait! We had an
emotionally charged lunch, a lovely speech from Ed, and then certificates given
out by Moses. We all thought this might be a bit twee, but it wasn’t- the
celebration of what we had achieved was well deserved. We took a team photo,
and then spent another hour or so chatting and relaxing before we boarded the
buses for the journey to the airport.
And there
you have it, my trip to Tanzania to climb the highest free standing mountain in
the world, in all its gory detail. I apologise to my team mates if I have
forgotten anything or misinformed, it would have been impossible to really do
justice the relationships and bonds that we all formed, or to describe what
tremendous human beings I think you all are.
I enjoyed every second (yes, even summit night!) that I spent with you
all and hope that we all remain friends- I am proud of us all for what we have
achieved, and know that it was the support that we all gave each other that
enabled us to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, I had best go, before I cry, and
besides, I need to start my training for Cho Oyu....
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