Last knockings....and a pint or two

Actually our last day was one of the toughest in some ways that we had.  From Millenium to Mweke gate is a hike down a fairly good path through the rainforest again, all the way to about 1980m. 

Because it's a fixed path, there are steps all the way down which murder your knees...a good idea to make sure you have boots that are very well worn in too...if you are going to get blisters, then this is the day...although, to be fair...you probably won't care in the slightest!! 

But first we had to thank our porters.  Today would be the last chance we had on the trip to see most of them, and so there was a chance for Dominic, and Nelson to get everyone together for a final time.   A few speeches, and some more dance, and song...finishing our trip as we had begun it...entertained by a group, so fantastic on this mountain.  They had entertained, and supported us the whole way, and for many of us there are close friends that we have left behind. 

On the way down you have to check in at the Mweke hut first, (thats the rules) so a chance of a sit down, and a rest at about 3000m.  The hike takes about six hours, but after about 4 you reach the top of the road path.  We were met by an ambulance, which was a bit of a shock...and a man with some nice samosas to eat, and some mango juice.

We didn't know it at the time, but the ambulance was actually there for Cudgie, and Tim.....both suffered with really poor knees on this trip, and had fallen quite a way behind us on the way down...as a precaution, and to speed their descent, the ambulance was available. 

73km

5895m / 19340ft

7 days

1 goal 
and 20 amazing friends!!

 tick the box, we've done it.....all that remains is to take the dancefloor.


Oh...and to think about how on earth to beat that??   Thank you for reading.....my blog is now closed!

Reflections on the top of the world....Uhuru Peak 5895m (pt 2)

On the passage up to Uhuru peak, despite the extraordinary sense of exhaustion, we saw only a few signs that the dreaded AMS (Altitude Sickness) had got a real hold tonight.   Sure, on the way up we passed the occasional dark patches on the stones where noses had burst, and even the odd sign of sickness on the route.   But there were few casualties moving in the wrong direction, and overall, tonight in the battle between mountain and climbers....climbers looked to have won!!

Nelson, and Dominic, their teams, and our fantastic porters had prepared us well.  The Lemosho route we took was tough, but actually included plenty of time to rest, and plenty of opportunity to climb high, and sleep low...a key part in ensuring that we were as prepared as we could be. 

The advice we were given to drink loads, walk slow, and to eat everything we could physically manage was taken by most of the group...our result 15 of 16 to Stella Point, and 14 to Uhuru.  It pays to listen, when you have people around you with over 120 climbs to their name.   In our group we had a few headaches, and the odd nosebleed on the way, and for Richard, and Tim who at times struggled to eat as much as they may have liked, it was an exceptionally hard night, but ultimately successful. 

Tim, who had been encouraged by Son, and photographer Jacob all week was remarkable, despite being only partially sighted, and suffering with illness on the trip throughout, he managed to get himself to Stella Point, before being advised by the Doc that his race was run.... but he is a winner for sure, in a big way.   Richard too, who had 24 hours of nausea around day 3/4 was a victim of complete exhaustion, after we reached Uhuru.  The remainder of his trip would be complete with the help of our amazing porters, who supported him down. 

At the top it was a balmy -17 to -20 degrees.  Huge glaciers surround the top, fabulous colours, like marble extend through them.  We spent almost 20 minutes enjoying the world from 5895m, and the walk back around the rim to Stella Point was almost fun, suddenly some of the tiredness, and breathlessness was abating. 

Going down, we are not restricted to the path that we followed on the way up, and for long stretches we go down "off piste" down steep ash slopes, like sand dunes.  Jacob,  forever full of energy positively ran down some of these slopes, but for most of us, this was a knee busting fight, as we tried to ensure we remained upright, and did not slip on the scree.

Innocence, my own water man, took my bag, which was bliss!!  What a difference it made, and he accompanied me all the way down, and back to our camp at Barafu.  Gradually, as we decended my water began to thaw out, so I was able to drink too, which felt fantastic!!   It does not take long before, with the sun now high in the sky the temperature also soon heats up, meaning layers come off, and bags, which started empty get heavier with coat, and fleece.  

It took us just around 3.5 hours to get back to Barafu, where were would spend an hour to relax, pack our sleeping bags, and mats for the rest of the day's hike, and enjoy some much needed lunch of potato stew.   It's amazing how little now I thought of the achievement of our day.  Despite everything, complete exhaustion was my only thought, and it would be a day or so later before it would sink in.

Our day would not end until we finally reached Millenium camp, at just 3800m, a further 3 hours steeply downhill from Barafu.   In one day we had gone from 4600m to 5895m and now down to 3800m.   At the end of it, my knees were completely shot to pieces.  7 hours stomping downhill, was surely much harder than 7 hours creeping up?

At millenium, I slept!!  In fact, apart from an hour or so for dinner when I was shaken awake by Dominic, I slept from around 15:00hrs on the 24th all the way through until 06:00hrs on the 25th!! 

We Did it... Uhuru Peak 5895m (Part 1)

Summit Night - 24th February 2011.....in the dark....so few pictures now.... I hope you can see it through my eyes.

We awoke at about 11pm for some porridge and to depart at midnight.

Very nervous, but excited, I start the night convinced that I can do this.  The week has been incredibly tough, but I'm determined not to miss out.

Like yesterday, at first we start off by walking the 20 minutes through the camp site past all the other tents, some quiet, as people still sleep, and some already vacated as groups are already on their way.  This time we set of to singing, cheering, and chants from the porters who are fantastic, probably enjoying the fact that for once they are carrying nothing!

It's cold, but not too cold at the moment.  I have warmers in my gloves and in my chest pocket to keep my camera batteries warm on the way up. 

The camp looks very different in the darkness and at one point I thought I had missed seeing the camp master huts, where our group were checked in earlier.  I was already feeling breathless, probably nerves, because we had not even reached them yet.  

We made our way up the bouldering path as we had done earlier the previous afternoon, and then on up the stoney, and dusty path ahead of us.  Lit only by the stars, a waning moon, and the line of lights from the longest ant trail I've ever seen....Ahead of us we could see the headlamps from other climbers stretching far up onto the mountain.  

Like cars jostling for position on a motorway we passed a few of the groups in front of us, only to be overtaken again a little further on as we all reached our various stages of tiredness.  Nelson, at the lead gave us our first break on the hour.  Just 5 minutes.

This was the pattern we followed for most of the way up...5 minutes each hour to stop, rest, sneak a bite to eat, or drink.   The going was relentless, dust and stones, lit by a hundred torches, we followed the heels of the person in front of us, trying hard not to think about the time, or the difficulty that we must surely all have been having, but desperate to cling onto the shirt-tails of the person in front.  To lose a pace was dreadful, as closing any gap was impossibly difficult.  At times it felt like we were hardly moving at all, but for each hour we kept slowly climbing on between breaks, never wanting to break stride with the group around us.

As we got higher, Cudgie, Tim, his son Jacob and Loman, (the "Doc") began to fall off the back of the main group.  We didn't really even realise at first, but this was not a race...pole pole for sure and there was no time for thinking about what was behind, only to be certain of hanging onto what was in front!!

By about 4am the effort of placing one foot in front of the other was unbelievably hard now, but actually when Dominic told us the time I could hardly believe it.  Had we really been walking 4 hours already?  It had passed quickly, and this was quite a motivation.  We were at about 5200m now.

I remember that I could hardly breath at all by this time, and my water had frozen, so I was without from there on in, but still... the time and our height was a comfort, we were further on than I imagined, and now only just over 90 minutes until sunrise.

I stumbled on one of the rocks we stepped over, causing me to take 3 or 4 quick steps to regain my balance.  My heart nearly jumped out my chest, and my breathing was like I had just completed a 400m sprint, uphill, and into the wind!!  It was still pitch dark, and it seemed several minutes before I felt that my breathing had returned to some kind of normal.  This was completely exhausting.

I had been encouraged by the time, and for a while this kept me going, that and muttering inside my head ("it's just Ben Nevis now, you can do Ben Nevis"- Ben Nevis is just about 1400m, the scale of our climb today).  Sunrise was due at 05:27, and I'd hope that we would be very close to Stella Point by the time the sun came up.

As it turns out, the sun did show, and I sang...

Little darling, its been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here....Here comes the sun...
Here comes the sun, and I'll say.... it's alright!!

and it was... for a moment.... the sky behind us was slowly turning the most amazing, and beautiful orange, and reds, sillouetting Mount Mawenzi in the distance...it was fantastic...fantastic until Nelson told us we were at around 5450m!!   Only 5450m, I was gutted... My body was telling me now to stop...this was becoming incredibly tough, and only my good fortune to be in the middle of our small group helped... determined to keep close enough to the person in front of me, and desperate not to become the road block to the people behind me.  I did stop, just for a moment...for a rest, for a few short breaths, and to gather my thoughts...thoughts of home...I felt a hand on my shoulder...it had an amazing effect.  No words were said, but it said millions... it said, "I know how you feel, we're here together, and we'll do this together" 

Reassurance from the youngest member of our group, Angus, just 17 and the Doc's son.... It was an amazing moment for me, and I was immensly touched by the empathy that he showed.  (Loman, you have one very special son here!!) 

We moved on, slowly, and Nelson checked us off at 5500, and then 5600m.  The summit at Stella Point still looked a long way off as we had our final 5 minutes before we would make our final ascent.  Never have I felt so completely defeated by my body, I could hardly convince it to move at all, and even just 40 meters from the top I was not convinced I would do it.  Every step meant a huge gulp for air, we were moving in stages of 6 inches at a time by now!!

But we did make it... at 06:25 on 24th February, 2011 we reached Stella Point on the top of Kilimanjaro!!

Tears now, uncontrollable, relief, pride my head filled with thought of everyone at home...they have been with me the whole way, but for now I was surrounded by family...it was a great feeling.  We are on the saddle, at the top of this mountain,  I could hardly believe it.   From nowhere, our porters produced some flasks of tea.  Never has tea tasted so good.

We had a few moments to enjoy our sunrise... this magnificent, beautiful mountain was now beneath us, and under a warm blanket of the most amazing colour I've ever seen.   Breathing was still impossible, but we could see the way to Uhuru now, and there was no way that we could not make our way there.  Although it was another 40 minutes on, we had completed hardest stretch, and we would do the rest with the sun on our backs. 

We had heard, when we were at 5600m that Cudgie had decided to turn down...so close...he had reached around 5400m when he met his demons,  unfortunately his demons won the battle, and he had to concede.  

So it was an emotional moment when Trevor & Ceri made it onto Stella Point ten minutes behind us.  Mixed emotions of pride that he was there, but sadness too that our group would fall one short.  After a few more tears, Nelson put up the shout of "Twendai" (Lets go) and we began our walk round the rim of the crater towards Uhuru.

All the way, our porters, suddenly very professional again, ensured that no-one went close to the edge, for there are pitfalls here.  After the elation of reaching Stella Point we were quickly reminded of the hardship in walking anywhere at this height.  Small inclines seem like large hills, your lungs have the capacity of a pea, and every step is still a huge effort.  In the distance we can see a huddle of people...it's here... we are just 400 yards now from the roof of Africa, Uhuru Peak, at 5895m...what a feeling.... no tears this time, not relief, but joy now instead!

Even as we approached the final point of our upward journey, Kilimanjaro had one last attempt to disuade us.  An icy blast, picking up tiny particles and blowing them into your face, so hard it was painful to walk against, but it was too late now... we were at our prize.

A little wooden sign... nothing fancy, but in this completely enthralling.  Surrounded by 20 or 30 people each battling for their moment to capture their evidence... Nelson, now taking control managed to get us all into position as he reeled off, taking pictures with about 12 different cameras

Here Comes The Sun.....

I've just been looking, and I realise I wrote 16 pages in my notebook about our summit night??   If you can take it.... I'll give you it all...unabridged, but in the mean time....here's a peak (no pun intended).

Sunrise was due at 05:37 on Summit morning... we reached Stella Point at 06:20 and this was our view.  It made all the pain worthwhile.  Our summit night was the most amazing, exhausting, and thoroughly fantastic experience.  

This page is a tribute to my song for the week..... 

Day 5 - Barafu Camp

Another early start today, but a much shorter hike, just 4km from the camp at Baranco to Barafu, which will be our base camp before tonight. 

By now it was very barren at this height, just a few whisps of grass, and nothing else.  There was a real excitement in our group tonight, as we began counting in hours until our summit attempt, rather than days!! 

With it being a much shorter route today, we were able to complete our hike today as 1 group, which was nice.  In fact, we arrived at Barafu even before lunch-time, at just 10:30am.   Dominic thought it was a good idea for us to get some final acclimatisation before lunch, when we could then relax throughout the afternoon, and save our energy. 

Spot the Long Drop toilets at the
extreme right of the camp? 
Would you trust squatting here?

So, after a very short rest, most of the group dumped their bags and we set off for about 75 minutes through the Barafu camp, and on up the summit path that we would be walking later in the dark.  The camp at Barafu is much bigger than any we had been in before, but our tents were in a very private area right in the bottom corner of the site, away from the hustle of other hikers who were now arriving from both directions.... last night's arrivals returning from the summit, and todays, who would be filled equally with excitement, and butterflies!

I was really glad that we'd taken the chance to go ahead this morning, up through the camp, which took 20 minutes alone to clear completely, and on up a very steep path, with many obstacles, and quite rocky too.  I think this would be quite a shock to do for the 1st time in the dark!!

On our right we pass by Mawenzi, Kilimanjaro's third peak, and the 2nd highest of the 3 summits.  It's a dramatic mountain volcano, the top of which looks like craggy shards of rock, split by previous explosions. 

I think we probably gained about 300 meters, which would help us to sleep this afternoon, and we didn't have to spend long before we returned down, back to Barafu for lunch of spaghetti omelette, with a carrot & bean stew.  Today would be a complete overload of carbs..... our last chance to build up some reserves for when we would need them. 

During the afternoon, I sorted through my day bag for the final time, removing everything that I thought would not be needed tonight.  In fact, the only things remaining were my camera, and my water... (Not that this was very effective...as you will read later). 

Whilst I was lazing about this afternoon, Loman was called into some unexpected action. Unfortunately one of our porter group was taken ill, and seemed to be in some pain in the tent opposite mine.  Loman settled him down, and had to assist him with some painkilling injections.  We thought he may have possibly had some difficulty with appendix, but for sure his trip was over, and later he would be escorted quickly down the mountain and to safety. 

Our Team....

No words, (well maybe a few) just pictures required....This was our group. 

Oh what fun we had..... thanks to one & all for making the week the most fantastic experience imaginable.

Ceri - Our Welsh dragon.... well, actually not a dragon at all.  A great laugh, determined to dress all the porters in red!!

Trevor - Showing us an unusual way to look after his sunglasses?

Cudgie, our water buffalo,  unfortunately his knees gave out,  down, but not defeated he'll be coming back next February to do it all again!!  Mad bugger.

Katy, Hannah, Kerry, Ceri & Marie.... the best girl group since the spice girls...and these girls could sing!!

The "Doc" Loman, and his 17 year old son Angus... possibly the reason I got to the top.   
Imagine the question.... so what did you do this half term?   This father & son team the best since the Rednaps, Harry & Jamie.

Andrew & Richard... brothers, with a combined IQ of close to 5895.
Whether it was rock formations or constilations they were there to answer.   

Zoltan.... could he ever get any more relaxed?

A quite man who shed blood, sweat and tears on this mountain...especially blood!! 
Alan was determined to ensure that Loman was put to good use.  Unlike me, when Alan chose to be the only other hiker to fall over.... but unfortunately he got more than a dirty mark on his trousers!!  (Check the hand)

Tim - One half of the blind summit team, Tim is battling with a progressive loss of sight, but encouraged all the way by son Jacob he made it to the top, despite feeling ill for much of the week.  Fantastic effort, and a remarkable family.

Tim's son, Jacob.  BMX downhill racer, and photographer.   Made the whole week look like a walk in the park....

I'm sure he could have done it twice in the time it took us to hobble up!!

Finally, our group leaders....  Dominic from Action Challenge... just possibly the best view on the mountain, apart from the mountain itelf.

Nelson, and Valarian, our head guides.  Welsh nationals, and Manchester United fans...  ??


To every single person who pushed, pulled, encouraged, or just plain instisted that I climb that mountain in the moments when I didn't believe I could, and for the laughs, the games the songs, the total stupiditiy of it all I owe my thanks for such an amazing week in paradise.

Pole Pole Kamata Kima...Day 4

A really early start today, we were up at 05:00 for our ascent of the Baranco Wall.   It has a reputation of being a tough bouldering climb, and it does take you quickly up about 200 meters to around 4200m from our camp below. 

The previous night as we were looking at it, with clouds shrouding it with a bit of mystery it was tough to tell how the path would go, but the reality was much more fun.  It was really not as hard as it looked but there were a couple of places where a helping hand was needed from the guide above to pull you up.  There was only one place which was just a little more dangerous...the path around the kissing stone.

Ceri meets the Kissing Stone

A ledge about 12-18inches wide around the kissing stone that requires you to traverse it sideways, whilst hugging the mountain, and of course thanking her with a kiss on the way past. 

Everybody enjoyed the climb up Baranco today, and we were all up in about 90 minutes to the top for a well earned rest, and some photos.  The views were amazing...again!!



Two Cool Chicks Marie & Katy



After the climb, we were soon treking back downhill into the Baranco  valley, down a very steep rocky slope, parts of which were much harder work than the climb which preceded it.  

We took the day nice and slowly, following the advice of Nelson, our head guide..."pole pole kamata kima" (Slow slow catches monkey).  Ceri & Trevor enjoyed a short rendition of bring me sunshine, as they did their Morecombe & Wise impersonation.   Meanwhile Kerry made good use of her extra long legs to get down some of the steepest rocks.

A series of 3 or 4 hills & valleys to pass before eventually from top of our penultimate climb for the day we could see our destination.  Tonight our camp would be much busier, as we begin to converge with a number of other routes up Kilimanjaro.  Just 40 - 50 meters speeding up at the top of this hill left me out of breath, and reminded me once again how the altitude affects your ability to put one foot in front of the other. 

Jacob, doing what he does best



Just time to check facebook?







At the bottom of the final valley, a small stream, the last point on the mountain where water is collected.  On the other side, two paths to our camp....a longer shallow path, being used by most of the porters who were ferrying water in 25 litre drums up the slope for use at this, and future camp sites. To the right, a shorter, but much steeper path, almost deserted... this was the path we would choose.

That night over dinner, Loman, our doctor carried out some checks on the group to see how were coping with the rarified atmosphere at this height.  He took each of our pulse, and measured the oxygenisation in our blood.  84% and a resting pulse of 74, I felt good.  

The "Doc" Loman & Son Angus
What a way to spend half term!

Two of our group, Marie and Katy had an amazing oxygen count of 93%, not too different from what they would have had a sea level.  Our acclimatisation was clearly working well, and even Richard, who had been feeling a little ill was now eating like a horse like the rest of us... well most of us.... Unfortunately, Tim, who had been suffering with illness for a couple of days, and Cudgie were struggling with their appetites. 

Everyone was on a high though, with just one more day before we were going to be setting off for the summit. 

Please Sir, Can I have some more....

Heston Blumenthal (Michelin Star Chef) proves that British Airways can improve in-flight food standards

……Noting a flaw with the cooking methods of British Airways (and every other airline) who work around the logistical constraints of airplane galleys by pre-cooking food on the ground, Heston set out to cut out the reheating process, with a menu designed to be made from scratch, on board.

Back in the air, the aircraft galley was in disarray, as Heston and cabin crew struggled to cook the raw salmon and plate up the dishes for 30 business class passengers. While the feedback from passengers was uplifting, Heston’s mission failed, as the time-consuming preparation meant passengers didn’t eat on schedule.

Heston’s next challenge was to persuade an unconvinced Gate Gourmet head chef, Steve Walpole that food tastes different at altitude. The chef eventually sat up and took notice after being proven wrong in a taste and smell experiment in a pressure chamber….

Ok, so that explains a lot!!!

Over the course of this week I don't think I've ever eaten so much... breakfast normally gloopy porridge, (3 - 4 bowls of it!) a slice, yes a slice of omelette's some sausage, and some bread, cooked on the mountain. 

Lunch, (apart from a couple of days) would be soup, a variety of vegetable...with some bread, some rice, or pasta, and dinner consisted of mountains of rice....(if you have ever seen the mashed potato mountain in Close Encounters )?  You get the idea, sometimes some chicken, a bean stew, or a pot full of potatoes

We even enjoyed the delight of spaghetti omlette one night!!

The point here... I actually loved Eddie, he could have brought 16lbs of Jellied Eels, and a bowl of sprouts and I would have eaten them!!  

Why is this important?  Well...he has helped solve a very tricky problem at home.  If you have a food- phobic autistic child, just take him up a mountain to feed him!!   Thanks Eddie x

The food tent was a huge importance on our trip.  Apart from the obvious carolrific value, the food tent was a great source of general merriment, and team laughter.... I think I may put one up in the garden?.... of course...there were down sides too!!