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What a week! After the now distant surroundings of our overland truck and tent, and a long, cramped and hot bus journey from Nairobi to Moshi in Tanzania, we spoiled ourselves rotten and checked into a nice hotel for one night before embarking on the hardest thing we've ever done. Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres above sea level was visible for miles around.
We booked the climb as soon as we got there, being informed that we had to hire not just a guide but four porters too! They would carry our big luggage, food and cooking equipment. I wasn't going to argue with that as we would need supplies for 5 days, and they agreed that we could enjoy our hotel to the full and have a lie in tomorrow before we got started.
After enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the hot sun by the pool, then a delicious curry at the hotel restaurant, we realised we'd missed a little pampering. But alas, it wasn't to last long for as soon as we checked out we were whisked off to the Kilimanjaro national park gates at 1,700 metres and were given a Chrisburger for lunch. We signed our names in the visitors book, our porters had everything weighed and we set off, the thick forest canopy providing shade. A path and gradual incline made the first stage fairly easy and we reached the first hut where we were provided with fresh popcorn and tea. We checked into our hut with four bunk beds - surprisingly comfortable, but we decided to ask for another hut when our fellow german walkers came in and one apologised in advance for his very loud snoring. Thinking we'd need all the sleep we could get, we were glad there was plenty of room so we had one to ourselves instead.
The porters brought us a bowl of hot water to wash, and then prepared us a big feast for dinner, after which we read and went to bed once everyone else had, worrying we didn't quite know what we were letting ourselves in for! Up early for breakfast, we saw the sun rise beautifully over the forest, and made our way out of it at first light. Ascending another 1,000 metres today to get to the next camp wasn't too bad, again a surprisingly well built path guided us there, and we reached the hut without too many complaints. We could feel the air was much cooler here, and kept our layers on throughout the evening. Got our first glimpse of the summit but still had a way to go!
Another early start awaited us, so we played cards, read and drank Milo (an energy drink) before bed. The next morning we washed, re-dressed in the same clothes inside out, and set off before the others again to make it up to the last hut asap. Our guide kept telling us to walk 'pole pole' (slowly) so we would not get too sick, but it can actually be quite hard to walk that slow - Chris is particularly rubbish at it! Passed lots of interesting tropical plants and flowers surviving somehow.
We stopped for lunch in full view of the peak rising out of the desert below, and could see the snow at the top that awaited us. It was difficult to see how it could be there when it was so warm where we were, but once the light faded it was definitely cooler. Made it to the refuge around mid afternoon, which was harder than we thought, but still looked like nothing compared to the angle of the summit.
The worst was yet to come - we were at 4,700 metres and preparing to leave at midnight to attempt the summit. There were three other people going at the same time with their guides from here and we were all sleeping in the same dorm room. We were provided with dinner then had to try and get some sleep so we weren't too exhausted later. We finally realised the altitude must be to blame when none of us could sleep (except one loud snorer!).
Got up feeling like zombies at 11.30pm (don't think I've ever done that before), and tried to freshen up. Had some tea and a sandwich which I really didn't feel like, then wrapped up in pretty much all of the clothes I had with me! We set off at midnight in pitch darkness with our head torches and guide to show us the way. After an hour or so I was needing to stop every few steps it felt like, and I've seen old people with zimmer frames walk much faster! We were both feeling sick and Chris had a headache, but we were determined to continue if we could.
The slope got steeper and more scree like the higher we went, and there was no sign of any light at the end of the tunnel. As we neared the larger rocks that required clambering over before the first part of the summit, it started to snow and was bitterly cold. It was definitely past the stage of being pleasant, but we hadn't paid a small fortune to give up so encouraged by our guide, kept moving, but he didn't need to tell us to go slowly any more!
We reached Gilman's point, the first part of the peak, around 5 am, then had to push on past the glacier through thick snow to the summit. It took us about an hour to reach the summit, losing our guide on the way as he'd gone on ahead to find out where the actual sign was and make sure we hadn't passed it - we couldn't see a thing! The blizzard like conditions in darkness were quite frightening at times, and we were relieved when we saw the sign, not to mention slightly disappointed that that was about all we could see! No beautiful sun rise awaited us as we'd hoped, but we still made it and have the photos to prove it (even if you can't actually see the mountain at all!).
Not sure we'll be in a hurry to do that or anything similar again, but we're glad we made it to the top of the highest free standing peak in the world and the highest point in Africa.
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