Day 5

This was the big day. We were all so anxious about the summit attempt that night, we hadn't considered the long steep slog to the next campsite! We left Third Caves Campsite at about 8:15am. A great sunny day though a bit cold. It was a steady uphill climb and we soon broke up into three groups. I hung onto the first group. Jane was quite ill and had to stop several times - I thought she might need to descend which would have been upsetting as this trip was for her 50th birthday. Camille also started to feel ill with stomach pains but some eload seemed to help, at least temporarily.

Here is a shot that shows how steep it was. It became very windy and the clouds rolled up, bringing a nasty cold damp. I just tucked my head down and kept going. I had 4 layers on and was just right. 4 hours later we were at 4722m at the School Huts. Jane somehow summoned whatever to get to the top. She came in about 20 minutes after me. Very very impressive.

A quick picture and then we went to rest until supper. The idea was rest, be woken for dinner, and sleep until 10:30pm when we had to get ready for the summit attempt. We were advised to sleep in our clothes so we wouldn't have to search for things in the dark. I slept about an hour in total. Still no headache but quite light-headed and everything seemed to take the wind right out of me. I was still hungry though which was a good sign. The porters were partying though and I found it impossible to sleep. I was also cold even though I wore 2 pairs of wool socks, long johns, ski pants, wool undershirt, light fleece, medium fleece, thick fleece, 2 hats and gloves on! Imagine trying to squish down into a mummy sleeping bag with all that.

Day 4

Woke at 6am to frost on the outside of the tent - 3 degrees inside tent flap. I had slept with my camera and batteries in the foot of my sleeping bag.

This morning my camelbak started leaking and I had to empty out all the water. Luckily most of my stuff in the pack was in ziplock bags. But that left me with only one liter of water for the day. (Ironically, I had originally packed a second water bottle for just such a situation but my bag was too full so out it came). In the photo you can see the path we initially followed; however we diverted to the right onto another trail about 1/2 way down. You may also be able to see a small white building at the base of the mountain if you click on the photo and follow the trail - that is Kibo Huts, where we later descended from the summit.

Jonas advised us to wear long pants as the Saddle gets very windy. Indeed I needed my medium fleece, hat, gloves and jacket and my ears were still cold. At 10:30 we came to the wreckage where a small tourist plane crashed in 2008. Kind of eerie, the scraps of twisted metal still scattered around there.

It was shortly after that we diverted onto an alternate route. At times I could not even see a path but then I realized there were piles of rocks marking the way. It was a long day and I was quite tired by the time we reached camp. People were very quiet at lunch (Leek soup, carrot/bean frittata type thing, bread and fruit). Thankfully we had most of the afternoon off and it was much warmer in camp, being in a sheltered location. I had yet another soap stolen by the same damm bird and tried to air out some of my socks.

I managed to fix my camelbak thankfully - had a screw loose. My camera battery was still holding up. I was thinking a lot about Cindy and her surgery tomorrow and wished I could contact her somehow. Cell phone service spotty at best. Some have managed to send text messages to their families.

Lisa and Jim started working out tips today. Tips are contentious here. I was glad they took it on. We decided to give a set amount as prescribed by the Porters' Association recommendations to each person (Guides get the most, then Asst Guides and the Cook, then Porters). And then if we felt we wanted to tip someone for extra personal service, we could do so individually. This made a lot of sense to me. And I had to laugh when Lisa told us she had 36 individual small plastic bags on her.

There were less people at this campsite. It was very barren - hardly any plants - just a lot of volcanic rock. As I fell asleep, I could hear other trekkers talking about the summit attempt and not knowing what to expect. I had a lovely view of Kili from my tent - it seemed still so far away. Hard to believe we were going up to the very top the next day.

Day 3

I had a bit of a dry throat this morning and tried to remind myself to drink more. One is supposed to drink at least 3 liters of water a day, plus absorb more through soup and tea at meals - to help with acclimizating to the altitude. I was only drinking about 1.5 liters.

Today was a short day with a morning hike, lunch at camp, rest and then an acclimization hike. Finally it was cool enough to wear a fleece - my one shirt was getting rather stinky! We left camp at about 8:15am. The landscape has been changing - more and more volcanic rock, less flowers and plants. The peak over my shoulder is where we were headed: Mawenki. Except thankfully we were not going to the top but rather a campsite on the side!

So far everyone is feeling okay. Some had started taking Diamox right away. After talking with 2 guides, I decided to wait as they suggested, to see how I felt. By the end of the day, I had passed my highest altitude level (Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail) and still felt pretty good.

The campsite was next to a small freshwater lake. From a distance, it looked green but this was just grass growing around the edges. This was from where we got our next day's water supply. It was very cold waiting for lunch - I had my windproof jacket, heavy fleece, medium fleece and light fleece on as well as hat and gloves and was still chilled. Several groups came in while we were having dinner and I felt very badly for them as they must have been frozen.

Lunch: Zucchini soup, fried chicken & fries, peppery vegetables, rolls, avocado, friend plantain (Immodium number 3).

After a rest, we went for an acclimization hike. This is a short hike to higher altitudes (I am guessing to see how your body reacts) and then back down to sleep where there is more oxygen. It was pretty cool looking down to the clouds and camp and then over and across to Kilimanjaro. The space in between is called The Saddle. While we stood and admired the views, Jonas, our quite stiff guide, suddenly started singing in a beautiful voice and the other porters joined in. It was very moving.

Today we also saw our first casualty of the altitude. A woman was being carried down on a homemade stretcher sling by 4 porters. It reinforced in my mind the seriousness of what we were doing. I found I was already noticing the effect of altitude - just walking to the loo and back left me breathless for a few minutes. At supper my oxgen level was down to 86. However this was still considered good.

By 6pm it was 5 degrees in the tent. Jonas advised us to wear our down jackets - mine was enormous. Dinner (pumpkin soup, spaghetti and cookies) and then bed at 7:30pm.

Day 2

I woke to the sounds of the porters moving about at 6am. It was 5 degrees inside the flap of my tent and outside the walls were wet. A great view of Kili from the first campsite. Gibson and Philipo first brought round a tray with coffee and tea, then a bowl of warm water for washing.

Breakfast in the dining tent: Porridge, eggs, hot dog, bread, peanut butter, jam, coffee. I did try the porridge as Jonas had said this morning would be challenging but just couldn't get it down.

We left camp at 7:30 - it was 12 degrees. By 9am, it was 24 degrees. By 11am, it was 30 degrees and I was sweating. I also was wishing I had packed another light shirt - I had been so focused on the keeping warm aspect, I had only packed one! Some quite nice views down to the valley along the way. It was steep and slow going to the lunch break at the Second Caves. Pole, pole. There were a lot of groups ahead of us. About an hour for lunch and then another 3.5 hours of hiking - much easier than the morning - but still tiring. We diverted at this point for the first time and managed to lose some of the crowd. By the end of the day I needed my fleece (We all carried our fleeces in our knapsacks as the weather waas very unpredictable). We were now at 3670m altitude. Already I was filthy. The dust on Kilimanjaro is something else and as it had been so hot, I didn't put on gaiters. (Tip: If you're going to use gaiters, put them on right at the beginning - day 1).

My first soap stolen. After washing, a big black bird stole my soap. This happened twice - I think the crew were wondering why I was stealing soap, lol.

This was the day Lisa's bag went missing. We heard a variety of reasons: The porter had succumbed to altitude sickness, the porter had gone the wrong way. It was getting very cold and we wondering if we would all have to crowd into one tent to keep her warm through the night. Finally it arrived after supper.

Supper: Coriander soup, beef stew with rice. (Immodium number 2).

I slept in long johns, wool top, fleece top, and wool socks. Got up at 3am to pee and looked up to see a sky absolutely full of stars.

Day 1

There were 10 in our group of trekkers: Lisa and Marilyn (UK), Camille (Fr.) and her husband Joost (Neth.), Michael (Mississauga), Jim and Jane (Tennessee) and Clive and Anne (Florida). Supporting us were Jonas the head guide, 3 assistant guides (Antony, Arson, and Ali) and "around" 31 other people. I say "around" as we never quite seemed to get a handle on how many were connected specifically with us... until tipping time, lol.

Day 1 of course I overslept but luckily I had packed the night before. I had my last smoke and ate as much as I could for breakfast. Here's me looking squeaky clean, all set to climb aboard our bus. We were picked up at the Outpost at about 8am and went round to the other two hotels to collect the others. It took until 1:30pm to reach the Rongai Gate. There was a pee break at 10 where I was introduced to my first squat toilet of the trip (no tp of course) and then we had a longish stop at the Marangua Gate where all groups need to register and pick up their permits.

Saturday was market day and the roads were full of people walking with a chicken dangling from their hands, baskets and bananas on their heads, loads strapped to bicycles.
But also the Rongai Route starts from the Kenyan side of the mountain so one has to drive around it.

We were given lunch (mushroom soup, tomato & cucumber sandwiches, papaya, bananas, avocado) and filled up on water. A table was set up in the "Tourist Shelter" with lawn chairs - very fancy!

We all lined up to sign the register with the park agent and were off. It took 3 and a bit hours to reach the first campsite. There was a short break every hour and 15 minutes or so. First we passed through farmland. Several kids came running out asking for candy. Then we headed into a wooded area. We saw some monkeys (black with white faces) but I couldn't get a good shot of them. A steady incline but not vigorous (yet).

I hope I didn't cause this fellow to capsize - he got tangled up between two trees shortly after this picture and some of the men in our group tried to right his motorcycle for him.

The first campsite was very crowded but Jonas had arranged for our group to be slightly away. We were already past the first level of clouds. It was still light but noticeably cooler by the time we arrived. Our tents had already been set up. First I was told to share with Lisa and Marilyn but Jonas wanted me to have my own tent as I needed "more oxygen".

Popcorn snack with tea, hot chocolate or coffee. Dinner: Curried cucumber soup, potatoes, vegetable curry, fried fish, cake. (Immodium number 1).

After supper Jonas came to measure our oxygen levels and heart rate with a nifty little gadget you inserted onto your finger. Of course I became immediately competitive about it, lol. Today 95 and 65. Bed by 9:20pm. 11 degrees. Slept in hat.

(Note: if you click on the pictures you will get a larger version)