Kilimanjaro 5895m

Day 1
After a boat, taxi, train, tube, a couple of plane journeys & a hired driver we arrived at our lodge for the night & the following day while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

One of the most notable moments of the travelling was when the nasal voice of the pilot on one of our flights informed us that we were flying just under 18,000 feet due to turbulence, which was lower than we would be walking in approximately 5 days!

Once we'd sorted out our Visa's After driving up the bumpiest & possibly smallest, off track road in South Africa I was expecting to be dropped off in a
field with a shanty hut (and to be fair I would've been glad of anything after the travelling), but I was amazed when we pulled up at a peaceful, hidden oasis & to add to the excitement one of the first things we were told by the reception staff was to be careful to close the doors as there were monkeys in the area, woo MONKEYS!!!


Day 2
After one of the best sleeps of my life & a very tasty lunch in the hotel bar we decided to scout out the nearest town & check out some of the local sights & sounds, unfortunately we got told some slightly dubious directions i.e. left instead of right & we ended up walking through a local village / shanty town. This walk & subsequent travels around the local area made me realise just how lucky I am in my life. Although I care very little for possessions it's clear just how many advantages myself & most other people have in the west, everything from travel, clothing, accommodation. There is a pretty clear wealth divide, but the African people are very friendly & it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere.

We returned to our hotel & sat in the bar with an amazing view out across the local area & we were able to see Mount Kilimanjaro, it looked a long way away & very high up.

Later that day we met our fellow 'groupies' & they all seemed like a great group of down to earth people. We met our group leader Justaz & had the opportunity to ask some nervous questions about our upcoming ordeal & then proceeded to have a very nice meal & watch a less than enthusiastic England
performance against America, but it was a good chance to bond with everyone, especially jeering at how poor a football player Emile Heskey was - it's good to
know that no matter where you come from everyone has at least one thing in common.


Day 3
After a rushed breakfast & a last minute bag repack to ensure I would be under the weight limit we set off in a rickety bus, a feeling of anxiety & excitement was in the air as the group chatted about what we expected the tip to be like & along with general chit chat.

We arrived at the start base of our trek & as soon as we got out of the bus it immediately started to pour down, so I unpacked the waterproofs & got suited &
booted. Fortunately the rain only lasted about 30 minutes & as it turned out, would be the only rain we would experience on the trip.

After registering, filling up on our 3 litres of water & meeting our porters we set off through jungle/forrest type terrain. We were keen to see some of the local wildlife, especially monkeys, but unfortunately there were none to be seen, there was a great deal of different plant life, if that's the type of thing that floats yer boat.


A relatively easy start to the walk, with a 6 hour walk up to the first camp, where we got to see the first glimpse of the top of Kili, it looked an awfully long way away & helped to hit home what was ahead.

We were amazed at the quality of food & help fullness of the porters, and I was unamazed to be camping again, being cramped up in a tent I couldn't lie flat in, with wildly varying temperatures & sleep depriving noises took me back to the day when I vowed to try & avoid camping ever again - so much for that plan!

The first day went very well & I was glad I hadn't experienced any altitude sickness yet.


Day 4
Euughh, did I mention that I hate camping, struggling to get asleep & then once finally drifting off struggling even harder to stay in the land of nod. I couldn't lie down flat in the tent due to being a lanky bugger & with wildly varying temperatures & random noises from the campsite I was feeling over tired & a bit groggy.

We had another excellent meal & I made a point of eating & drinking as much as possible to ensure I had enough energy to last me until lunch. It was quite cold when we got up, so I got well wrapped up for the day ahead, only to take most of the clothes off in half an hour when the sun rose a bit higher.

We had been warned that today would be a steeper & tougher climb than the previous day, but that it would also be more interesting in both walking terrain &
views.

This proved to be the case with some truly amazing scenery & it was at this point that I was glad we'd decided to do the toughest route available to ensure that we would at the same time have the best views of any of the walks up the mountain. The scenery type appeared to change every hour or so, changing from jungle to long reeds, to rocky tundra. It was also the first day that we would walk above the cloud line, which was an experience in itself, with some breathtaking views.

We arrived at 'Shira Cave' camp, which after long deliberation I have decided is my second favourite part of the whole journey. We were there in plenty of time to relax & take in the unbelievable views. The clouds were rolling in over the peaks & there was just an amazing feeling of being on top of the world.

I distinctly remember thinking to myself, not many people in the world have experienced this & how lucky I was to be in a financial & physical condition to
attempt it.

We found a stick & decided that as we were 3940 odd metres high, we'd been walking & rock climbing for most of the day & there was considerably less oxygen than we were used to, that the only logical thing to do was play cricket! This is one of my fondest memories as we got the majority of the group involved & was a great way to have some fun & get to know people better. Looking back it was a little bit stupid to go running after a ball on the uneven surfaces considering how much further we had to walk, but it was great fun & I was glad we did it.

I experienced my first altitude sickness on day 4, with a rather unpleasant headache which felt like a lot of pressure on the temples are of my forehead.
I've been very fortunate to not suffer with headaches in my life (except with the occasional hangover) & this was very unpleasant, especially considering that I'd made sure I'd kept hydrated & the fact that I couldn't do anything about it other than hope it went away. Our guides suggested I eat more salt with my meals due to the high heats & potential loss from sweating, from that point on I made sure I made an effort to put salt on my meals.

I also got to use my first long drop (toilet), I wont go into too many details, but it involves a hole & a shed & some very unpleasant smells. I'd managed to avoid this delight until this point!


Day 5
Another restless nights sleep due to the high winds in the night (not Dave farting) & I was feeling extremely tired in the morning. Thankfully though the
headache had disappeared over night, apart from feeling like a zombie the body wasn't feeling too bad as I'd made a point of stretching before & after every days walking, along with feeling reasonably fit after all the training we'd put in over the last 6 months.

The majority of the walk was along very dusty rocky terrain, almost as though we were walking through a desert, with massive fields of boulders strewn as farn as the eye could see, with not much in the way of plant or wildlife. On the walking front it was getting slightly tougher the higher you went due to the reduced amount of oxygen, but it still wasn't too bad.


One of my main memories from this days walking was seeing a porter being carried down in a hurry because he was badly suffering from altitude sickness.
Later on we'd learnt that he'd been up to the top of Kilimanjaro several times & that made you realise that anyone of our group, including myself, could suffer & potentially not make it to the top.

Nearly everyone in the group had started to report some signs of altitude sickness, whether it be headaches or nausea / vomiting. I thankfully wasn't too
bad, just another headache in the same place as the previous day, but not quite as acute. Some of our group were really struggling & again it made me think
& hope that I would be able to continue all the way to the top.

We walked to a height of 4600m, a location called 'Lava Rock' which was a distinctive landmark on the horizon, had a packed lunch & then continued on, but this time heading downwards to our camp which was 3950m high. This felt a bit disappointing as we were camping 10m higher than we'd stopped at on the previous day, even though we'd been walking for so many hours. There was a plan however, as this was to help us acclimatise to the lack of oxygen & give our bodies the best possible chance of making it up to the top.

When we arrived at the Barranco or the better known 'Breakfast Wall' camp, we got a chance to see our challenge for the next day. It looked like a large sheer faced cliff, quite breathtaking to think that anyone, let alone our group would be able to navigate it.

I was really enjoying the group atmosphere when we sat down for our meals, fortunately everyone seemed to be up for a laugh & some banter & got on very well.

By now we'd had a chance to talk to everyone individually to get to know each other better & learn our motivations & reasons for doing this challenge, along
with peoples interests, likes & dislikes which helped to while away the hours walking!

After another superb meal I went to bed, but this time, there was a change (no, not my boxer shorts), but a pair of earplugs. These were AMAZING & I will forever be in debt for Chris for bringing along a spare pair & letting me have them. I slept like a baby, OK, a very cramped, lanky baby, but it was brilliant to be able to actually get to & stay asleep.

Day 6
A very early start for today's walk as we needed to get going & get up the toughest & most dangerous part of the wall before the porters set off, to avoid
people trying to pass each other on the narrow ledges.

Although terrifying to look at, it was a great experience & definitely the toughest conditions experienced so far. There were parts where you felt like you were clinging on for dear life & I was very glad that it wasn't too windy.

Once we'd got to the top of the wall we had a long days walk ahead of us, unfortunately not quite as exciting or dangerous, just trudging along dusty scenery with the snow covered peaks in clear view.

There was a feeling amongst our group that we just wanted to get to our final camp & prepare for one of the biggest challenges of our lives with the ascent to the summit.

After 7 to 8 hours walking we made it to the camp, it was noticeably colder as we sat down for our meal where we were told what clothes & equipment we would
need for the ascent. It was most of the clothes I'd taken with me & I was told I would need to have:

1 * baselayer trousers
1 * warm trousers
1 * rainproof trousers
2 * pair of thick socks
1 * baselayer shirt
2 * long t shirts
2 * normal t shirts
1 * fleece
1 * jacket
1 * gloves
1 * hat
1 * headtorch

There was a definite feeling of anticipation & nerves within the group, especially when we were told we would have just 3 hours rest before we got up at 22:30 to leave at 23:30. We retired to our tents & I was in preparation mode, making sure I had all my clothes sorted, bags packed etc.

Day 6 & a half / 7
Unfortunately I couldn't sleep, I was like a little kid at Christmas, just waiting for the time I could get up & take on the challenge. I was definitely feeling the altitude as both my stomach & head were painful & it was a struggle to force myself to eat & drink plenty at our final meal before we set-off.

We set off in the pitch black, everyone in single file & very quiet. It was tough to concentrate on where you were walking along with breathing properly due to the lack of oxygen. After a couple of hours it started to get really, really tough, so much that I was struggling to walk in a straight line & every time I took a drink from my bottle I thought I was going to die & had to take massive breaths in to compensate for the lack of oxygen. Another annoyance was my nose running like a tap, not only for the sake that I couldn't breathe properly but also I had snot running down my face for the majority of the walk (nice eh?).

I remember being incredibly glad when we stopped for the infrequent rest stops. Everything was in pitch black & it was just a non-stop trudge in the cold & darkness. I remember thinking back to something one of our group Sam had said on the first day, that he hoped it would be tough as otherwise it wouldn't be a challenge. Well he certainly got what he wished for, it was incredibly tough & you could understand how someone could very easily have given up.

Fortunately our guides were helping the people who were really struggling by either carrying their backpacks or by giving them a shoulder. I was never at that point, although I was getting that way before I was suggested to try a breathing technique by a fellow gorup member.

It made a huge difference, taking in massive breaths on every step helped to get more oxygen into the body & brain, along with concentrating on taking lots of very small steps instead of big steps made a massive difference, it made it possible to keep going. The trail just seemed to keep going & ended up playing on your mind as i seemed to be never ending, every time you looked upwards you would see lights from other groups in the distance & realise just how much further you had to go & I remember thinking we'd nearly made it to the end of the steep section at one point because I couldn't see any lights above me, but it turned out to be a ridge & there were lights miles away in the distance which just crushed your morale.

My hands, lips & nose started to freeze & I had to try & keep everything moving & covered up as much as possible to reduce the problems.

As we kept going I started to really concentrate on the walking, my breathing & the challenge I started tofeel better & knew that I was never going to stop, unfortunately this wasn't the case for the majority of the group, some of which were really struggling & I had seen stopped along the path while we carried on.

It started to get light & we were told how close we were to the top, a huge rush of emotions went through me at this point, I rushed onwards putting every bit of energy I had into getting to the hallowed sign. When I got there I just couldn't believe that we'd made it & had gutted out one of the toughest things i'd ever done in my life. I think I was on autopilot & didn't really know what was going on, but I can clearly remember the euphoric feeling & togetherness of the group as we all hugged & had our pictures taken.

We had about 20 to 30 minutes at the top, any longer & it would have been dangerous due to the lack of oxygen, so we were shooed along to make sure we started to descend.

Unfortunately this was the worst part of the trip for me as we had to go down some very steep slopes that were covered in shale. This meant that you had to slide along, bracing yourself in the attempt to not fall over, which put a lot of pressure on your knees (unfortunately i've had problems with my knees for years). The sun had come out & produced sweltering conditions that were nearly unbearable & definitely were until I took off some of the layers I had on from the ascent. I remember realyl struggling on this section as I just had no energy from the previous days walking & just wanted it all to be over with. I
was feeling the sun & the dehydration & remember feeling incredibly strange, as though I was watching myself in third person & although I was walking to people, it wasn't actually me talking.

We finally made it back to the camp we'd rested at for 3 hours the night before, where we were told we would have just 2 hours rest before continuing walking
to our final camp. I remember feeling very tired & annoyed at this point. After having no sleep the night before & completing such a tough task I just wanted to relaxe & sleep, now I understand that it was dangerous to sleep for a long period of time at that altitude but I would've given anything to sleep for a while & recharge.

Instead we set off to the final camp where I immediately went to bed & slept for about 13 hours.

Day 8
The camp we'd stayed at was 3100m high & you could really notice the difference when breathing. You had so much more energy because of the increased oxygen
levels compared to the top. We had a final meal, thanked & tipped our porters along with giving away any equipment people wanted to donate.

We set off on our final walk at a greater pace, returning to jungle type scenery with plenty of mud to traverse. We also got a chance to see MONKEYS! At
least 4 or 5 of them were jumping around above us at one point. We arrived at the end & had some local cuissine & then piled in the bus to be taken back to
the luxury of a real bed & a shower at the hotel.

Although shattered, it was a brilliant feeling to complete this challenge & I was gutted that I couldn't relaxe & have some alcohol even though 5 bottles of
champagne were bought by one of our very generous group members Derek.
Oh well, just 5 days to go until the Parish Walk & then it'll all be over!

***EDIT***
Andros, one of our group from Kili has made a brilliant video of our trip up the mountain & some of the sights we saw. I hope you enjoy it, just click on the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwZjT4JKbbc&feature=player_embedded