Good bye, Kibo (by Darina)

Saturday 25th September 2010

Our last day on Kilimanjaro starts early at 6 o'clock. It's still slightly dark but soon we can see the the sun rising and casting its rays around our camp. We're still fairly high (3700m) and the view over the clouds is magnificent.

We are enjoying the last day of the routine - tea to the tent, green washing bowls, packing the rucksacks, going for the breakfast. But that's where the routine ends. After the breakfast all the porters and guides are waiting for us outside the tent and the tipping ceremony starts. The porters sing a couple of songs (and the national anthem) and then Nilam and Jason present our tips. It's quite emotional when you realise our whole trip was dependant on these people. And they took an excellent care of us - feeding us, supporting us, carrying our bags, building our tents. I am very grateful to all of them for making it possible for us to have this fantastic experience while spending our time in the Kilimanjaro National Park. Thank you!

And then it's time to get on the route down. We are leaving Kibo and Mawenzi behind us, still standing there - proud and majestic. The route is a totally different experience and not only because we're walking downhill. We are now on the Machame Route (also called Coca-cola route) and we are passing people who are on their way up. This feels strange. After four five days of meeting very little people on our route, the traffic on this one seems enormous. Our normally very well organised group is not organised anymore either. We are walking more or less on our own, occasionally meet altogether and then splitting again, depending on the pace which everybody finds comfortable. We are walking through sunny and cloudy patches, at one point it looks like it's going to rain. The vegetation is changing too, the bushes are replaced by little trees and bigger trees and by the time we reach our half-way point - Mandara Huts - we walk through the rain forest. What a change this is!

We have a short break at Mandara and some of us get really excited as there is a little shop there selling Coca-cola (hence the nickname of the route). I am happy with just a little bit of a sit down as the constant downhill walking is killing my knees (even though I wear the knee supports). The path wasn't as pretty as on the picture, most of the way it was just stones, rocks and tree roots. But we made it up to here and there is about two three more hours of walking to Marangu Gate, our ultimate goal of today.

Mandara has a special feel for me for another reason. It's a place when my phone finally gets a signal and manages to send a few texts - to my father, to my friends and to Chris Powell who has been a valuable source of information and support to us! And what's more, we get a response from him - unfortunately being denied to climb to the top of Zugspitze due to bad weather. Still it feels like his spirit is here with us!

And now it's time to continue with our track, through the forests and on the paths that are a little bit more enjoyable and comfortable. The nature around us is rich in colour and very lush although I am starting to be a bit impatient and hoping for getting to the finish of the route soon. I am really looking forward to having a beer too. I am dirty, full of dust and dirt, sweaty and thirsty. Although I have enough water in my Camelbak I don't feel like driking it, I had enough of water in the last few days!!! The route seems to be never ending but finally we do get there and we walk through the Marangu Gate (usually the starting point) and we are back to civilization!

There is a registrations office at Marangu gate where we have to sign a ledger to confirm we made it back ok - as I expressed it "We have just logged off Kilimanjaro". It's a bit sad moment as this is where it ends. We are officially back and out of Kili, the special place we had the honour to visit and experience. But we are grateful for being alive and being able to have a little break. We shop in the souvenir shop, we get beer and we sit down. What a feeling!!! Congratulations everyobody, you've done well!

Our certificates are being prepared while some of us are shopping for souvenirs, some of us are having more beer, some of us are sending postcards. Our guides are there too, we even meet Salomon again, who looks healthy and ok. This is a bizzare moment but we are all very happy!

And then our bags are loaded on the bus and we all are on the way away from Kili...

First we stop in the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort where we pick up our luggages that we left there almost a week ago and we are also re-joined by Gary who so mysteriously left our camp on the summit night. He doesn't mention anything about that night and we don't ask. We are now on the way back to Arusha and the Moivaro Lodge. Some of the guides are in the bus with us and we drop them off on the way, depending on their places of living.

We reach Moivaro Lodge in the early evening. It's dark. Everybody is looking forward to having a shower so we agree we meet again for dinner in about an hour and half. It's strange to be back here, in Moivaro where we started a few days ago. At that time we were full of expectations, maybe a bit scared but a lot more excited and now we're a few days older and full of amazing and unforgettable experience. We've made new friends, we achieved something great, we fulfilled a dream, we overcame a challenge...

I just hope the shower is not going to take away the little dust speckles of Kilimanjaro memories...

The re-union at the dinner (sans Gary) is like a glamorous makeover. Everybody squeaky clean and in different clothing than Berghaus/Helly Hansen/North Face outdoor kit. The beer is being ordered, the burgers are being eaten and we have our own little Certificate ceremony. (It's necessary to note that the Niagara guy whom we met again at the Marangu Gate was on the bus with us to Moivaro Lodge but then he disappeared and we never saw him again). More beer, laugh and talking about Kilimanjaro. That's our last evening together in Africa...

From the roof of Africa with love (part 2) - Uhuru is not just a lager (by Darina)

Friday 24th September 2010, around 7:30am

Nothing like to be sitting around half past seven in the morning on the lower top of Kilimanjaro, taking in the beauty of the sun’s warmth on your face. One thing I am noticing is that there is no snow. We can see glaciers but there is no snow otherwise and that was one of the things we were prepared for. I am very grateful that the weather was so kind to us.

I could probably sit here forever but we need to continue to Uhuru and then rush back to lower altitude. After a short panic episode (me going over the rocks to send an email and then not being able to put my third trousers layer back on therefore me just standing there alone, breathing heavily, being not able to move and not able to think what to do… for about ten minutes!) we set off.

The path is much more pleasant than the nightmare from Jamaica Rocks and is rolling up and down slightly. Still it’s a long way to go, especially when you’re only living on a bar of Cadbury milk chocolate and water (the pipe still frozen so still using the back up water from the bottle). The sun is pleasant but makes me feel sleepy again. At one point I just want to sit down and sleep but Robbie, who’s our guide from Gilman’s Point, keeps saying we’re close. So I keep shuffling and shuffling. People passing us from the other direction, coming back from the peak, keep saying “Well done, keep going” and “Almost there” and similar nonsense as we’re still NOT almost there. It feels like another marathon and we need to make several stops to refresh and de-layer before we finally get to climb the last very slight hill that leads us to another wooden sign!

The first thing that comes to my mind is that this is not what I thought it would look like. It’s a wooden post standing at the end of the road, it’s not like a peak of a mountain at all. But then I realise we’ve arrived, we’re here, we’ve made it and everything else is gone! The tiredness, the hunger, the frozen pipe, the numb toes, lack of sleep, all problems and little troubles vanish because we’re standing on the roof of Africa and what’s more important, we are all ok and enjoying this moment immensely! I feel great. It’s like I am a new person. My breathing is fine, the air is wonderfully fresh. I feel energised and all the tiredness is gone. We all hug, we take pictures, we laugh… It’s an amazing moment.

There is a long way back ahead of us now. It’s hard to believe it’s only half eight in the morning, we were walking for more than eight hours and there are another three hours back to the Kibo Huts for lunch and then three/four hours to our last camp expecting us. It’s not as much fun but the excitement of our achievement is pushing us to move on. The route back is the same up to the Gilman’s Point and through the rocks and stones above the Jamaica Rocks. Then we divert towards a very steep downhill slope of scree. We can either walk it in zigzags or slide which sounds like fun and looks like a fast way how to get down. It’s unbelievably exhausting too I find out very soon. My knees are complaining already, they don’t like the downhill trek at all. I end up falling on to my bum several times too but who cares, there is a lunch awaiting us at the bottom of the hill!

When we finally get to the camp, I just lie down in the tent and lie and lie. We’re covered in fresh dust from the scree adventure. Trying to get rid of it seems like an impossible task as it’s very windy and the dust is just flying around. The camp is very quiet, everybody is resting. Later I learn that some people – Ryan, Jason, Denise – made it to the Gilman’s Point and then decided to go back. I feel a big admiration for them as Ryan and Denise were climbing on an empty stomach and Jason was having big problems with his toes.

The atmosphere at the lunch is much more positive than our breakfast “last night”. I feel happy but also very sleepy and am sure that tonight I will be sleeping like a log even if the tent is suspended in the air somewhere. We get a little bit more time to rest after lunch before we’re rushed to walk to the next camp, the Horombo Camp which is in 3700m. The route is easy, slightly downhill on a pleasant track. We make it to the camp just after the sun set. Our last dinner together is cheerful but the tiredness is taking its toll and we all go to the tents to sleep fairly early. As expected I sleep like a baby for the first time in a week!

From the roof of Africa with love (part 1) - Up to the Gilman's Point (by Darina)

Thursday, 23rd September 11pm

“Hello”. It’s eleven pm and one of the guides is waking us up. No need to wake ME up as I was up anyway. It’s a big relief. I don’t want to think about the implications of the lack of sleep now as I actually feel energised and ready to go. It’s a hard work to get out of the sleeping bag, I am breathing like I’ve just finished a marathon. I start to dress, very slowly. Four layers on my legs – thermal, base layer leggings, thin trekking trousers, thick trekking trousers and waterproof overtrousers – and five layers on my upper body – long-sleeve base layer, long-sleeve technical T-shirt, two fleeces and waterproof jacket. Thin socks and thick socks. My head is covered in balaclava, fleece headband and winter hat, all glamorously topped up with a head torch. Undergloves and warm ski gloves are protecting my hands. Party, anyone?

Just before getting out of the tent for the breakfast I have a little problem with my Camelbak. It looks like one of the shoulder straps is ripped off. I panic as I can’t imagine how to survive the night without it, then I start to think about how I could sew it. Fortunately my brain is not totally frozen yet and after closer investigation I figure out that the strap is only untied. Easily fixed. Just to be sure I add a few pins to hold it all together. Time to go for a breakfast!

Or should I say hobble. It’s difficult to move in all those layers (can’t imagine what it would be like with the fifth layer on my legs) and when you add the lack of oxygen… It’s dark – despite the full moon – and cold – although not as much as we’re expected and were prepared for. For breakfast we have porridge and fruits, then Diamox and we get some chocolate for the trek. Sonja is already somewhere on the way up there but there is another person missing. Gary. We learn that he left the camp – rather mysteriously and in the middle of the night. The whole situation is a bit strange and surreal but at the minute we don’t have time (or energy) for any speculations. As….

… there is one very interesting hill waiting for us to climb it, so let’s go!

We walk very, very slowly, little shuffling steps, one by one. There are other climbing groups before us. We can see the flickering lights of their torches. The terrain is fairly good, it’s a scree, the stones are very small though and it’s easy to walk, no need for lifting knees too much. And the walking poles are helping to keep a steady pace. I don’t have any issues with breathing at this moment (the pace is very slow), the air is very fresh and sharp. The first few meters of the route is straight uphill but as soon as it starts to be too steep, we start doing the infamous zigzags. That’s where the mental struggle starts. Not straight away but the zigzags are going to accompany us for the next five, six hours. Some of the stretches are short but it’s the long ones that get you. You’re shuffling and shuffling, looking down on the ground, focusing on the walking poles and hoping for a little change in the direction. We should be going up the mountain, not along it!!!

My nose is runny too. It’s annoying as it’s a complicated procedure to get to the tissue which is in the pocket of my jacket but to get there I need to remove my hand from the walking pole, hold the walking pole in the other hand, remove glove, open the zip of the pocket… By the time I finish re-gloving, my nose is runny again… It’s a lost battle but very little problem in the greater scheme of things. As I am actually here, standing on Kilimanjaro….

In the first phase we all walk together, Obote being the main leading guide. Time to time we have a short break to sip water and get some refreshments. During the first one I find out my Camelbak’s pipe is frozen despite the fact it is insulated. Paul has a similar problem but soon finds a solution when he pulls the pipe through his jacket. I can’t do that but fortunately I have a half a litre of water in a plastic bottle which I’ve been dragging with me since our last hotel! I am saved for now.

As we continue I realise I can’t feel my toes. It’s strange and I am a bit surprised as my thick socks are good ones, specially manufactured for this type of situations. Why are they not warming my feet? As it turns out, Paul and Jason has the same problems. I am trying to exercise my toes which helps me with staying awake and after some time (could be minutes, could be hours), I feel them again. Not falling asleep is my other problem. I struggle to stay awake, my eye lids are falling down and I just keep thinking how embarrassing it would be if I actually fall asleep and fall down… I focus on the walking poles and wiggling my toes.

I have no idea how long we’ve been walking. Our group is now divided into two. I am not sure with whom I am walking as all of us our disguised by and hidden in the layers of clothing. We pass the sign marking 5000m. Meaning in another 100m or so we will reach Hans Meyer Cave! Sounds simple but it could be another hour of walking! (Note: Hans Meyer was a German geologist and the first European who got to the Kibo top). Looking up we can see the top, little lights dotting the route that we will walk in next few hours. It seems very close and very far at the same time.

We stop at the Cave for re-charging but we can’t stay long as it takes only a few minutes for us to start feeling very cold. So we continue, zigzag, step by step. I manage to wake up a bit and resolve my falling asleep issue. Zigzag, zigzag. The next important stop is the Jamaica Rocks in 5500m. The track up there is still the same, just scree – it sometimes gets very slippery but that’s probably because we’re not as fresh and focused as we were at the beginning – and dust. Some of the zigzags seem to be taking forever before we reach the bend and that’s when I realise how mental this walk is. It’s when you realise how ridiculous it is to be here at four am, in the pitch dark and cold night, walking like an idiot in a slow motion, covering the distance which is just around 1 kilometer in about a 4-kilometer zigzag detour… But hey, soon we’ll be standing on the top!!

At Jamaica Rocks we can see a little light peeking on the horizon. The morning is coming and the idea of the sun rising soon is filling me with new energy. Which will be much needed as the part of the route between the Rocks and Gilman’s Point is a killer. I actually feel a bit betrayed. After almost six hours of zigzagging and surviving the biggest mental challenge of my life so far, we are forced to start lifting the knees and very carefully find our way through the rocks and stones. The track is suddenly steep and occasionally we need to scramble. I realise for the second time that I cannot feel my toes, this time it’s difficult to exercise them and I just hope they will be sort out when the sun is out. This part is a real test. We can see the Gilman’s Point being just a few meters above us but it feels like miles and miles away. Despite of eating all the meals we had, I am starving and we’re not even there yet. It’s starting to be warm but it’s still cold at the same time. Breathing is difficult. The bloody rocks are everywhere. But then I look around and back towards Mawenzi which is now bathing in the morning sun. Is there anything more beautiful then this?

And then we’re there! We stand next to the wooden sign telling us we’ve reached the Gilman’s Point. I am not sure what I feel. I am trying to catch my breath and then I sit down. It’s a good feeling. We are here. We are at 5681m!!! The sun is up. We get tea and hugs from our guides. We hug each other – me, Paul, Nadia. Nilam and Salma are soon following. Obote shows us where the Uhuru peak is. We just need to walk along the crater and there it is! Just! Doesn’t look horribly far but it’s about another hour and a bit of walking. But for now we can just sit for a few more minutes and enjoy the feeling we made it this far....

Day 4 - Do you have any plans for tonight? (by Darina)

Thursday, 23rd September 2010

What are your plans for tonight? I don’t know about you, but I am going to climb the highest mountain in Africa!

This morning we are woken up at 6 and start our today’s trek at 8. First we need to climb up to get out of the valley. It’s pretty chilly but the sun is shining and burning against our layered backs. I am using the walking poles and after a few minutes of walking realise that the top of my hands are hurting. The first thought is that it’s caused by the cold wind but then I realise that they are actually burnt by the sun. After a mere ten minutes. I think it’s time for my silk undergloves!

The trek through the saddle is long, daunting and let’s face it, a little bit boring. There isn’t much to look at. It’s all stones and rocks, dirt and dust (there is only one distraction on the way – wreckage of a plane that had crashed here almost two years ago!!). The journey is also mentally exhausting as we can actually see where we need to get to but it doesn’t seem to be getting closer. What’s more, we all are very much aware that tonight is the Night! Kibo is just standing there in front of us, big and proud. I don’t know what the others feel but my feelings are mixture of respect, fear and excitement. Continuing on the trek towards Kibo Huts I also feel very sleepy and am trying hard to stay awake. I guess the lack of sleep is finally catching up. The closer we are to the final destination, the more the trek is dragging and I am very much looking forward to just sit down and do nothing for at least half an hour.

We are about a couple of minutes away from entering the camp when we encounter a proper reality check. Four porters carrying a stretcher are passing by. They are in a big hurry and we can see why. On the stretcher a body tied to it and wrapped in the sleeping bag is lying. It looks like a mummy, we cannot see the face but we don’t need to. It’s a victim of the altitude sickness, fighting for his/her life… No wonder the porters are rushing down… Just what we needed before entering the last camp before the summit night!

And now look at us. Mentally exhausted. Some of us can’t eat. Some us feel nauseous. Some of us have persistent headaches. But we’re here. And we’re determined to get to the top of the hill! Before settling in the camp we have to register in the reception and then finally we can rest a bit. It feels great. We’re at 4700m and any activity is a hard work. That doesn’t feel as great. But the excitement of being so close is immense. On the other hand, all sorts of thoughts are wandering through my head. Will I be able to cope with the lack of sleep, will I be able to breathe there, will I be too cold, will I be too hot, will my water freeze, will I be dehydrated, will I be hungry, what does it look like at the top, is it going to snow… neverending questions with no answers.

But first, time for lunch. During which we get a brief about the plan for the rest of the day. We eat. Then we sleep (or at least attempt to). Then we’ll have a dinner around five thirty in the evening. The detailed information will be given about the night ahead. Then again more sleep and wake up call at eleven at night. Woohoo! We’re quite chirpy at the lunch (although some of us our missing from the table…) and soon we part into our tents to get some sleep. But first we both (Paul and I) prepare our clothing and bags for the night. We only pack what we need for the night/morning as after the ascent we will be coming back to this camp so we don’t need to worry about our main rucksacks at the minute. I cannot decide how many layers to wear. It has not been as cold as I though it would be so far but who knows what it’s like up there? I prepare about five layers for the top and five layers for the bottom. Then I try to sleep. It’s not working. And the neverending trips to the toilet tent…

Dinner is at five thirty. Everybody is excited and the conversation is all about the adventure ahead. When Obote enters the tent with five other guides who will be going with us, the excitement reaches the max. It’s surreal. We’re all in this little tent almost at the top of Africa, eating beef kebabs and chocolate and listening to advice about climbing in the middle of night. Obote says it should be around minus eight degrees (Celsius) at the top which doesn’t sound too bad. He also says the lowest temperatures will be between three and six in the morning. A thought flashes through my head – what on earth will I be doing out there at three in the morning?? Then he describes the route. There are several parts – first bit takes us to Hans Meyer Cave (at 5182m), second part ends at Jamaica Rocks (5500m). Up to there the trek should be zig zag as it’s too steep to climb otherwise. From Jamaica Rocks to Gilman’s Point (5681m) it’s rocks and stones, more or less straight up. I am thinking – who cares when you’re so close? Obviously, I have no idea yet…. :) If we’re still lucid and feel up to it then we can continue to Uhuru Peak (5895m), the ultimate goal of this trip…. Sounds easy, non?

The mood after the dinner is not as chirpy as the weight of what’s ahead downs on us. I can’t sleep. It’s cold outside but it’s quiet. No wind although we’re in the open. It’s strange. Paul sleeps. I can’t hear voices of the others so I assume they too sleep. I travel to the cyber café and back. It’s ridiculous. I probably get twenty minutes of a nap and then wake up again. I hear Sonja being woken up – she’s starting the trek one hour ahead of us. So it must be ten pm. I am trying to push the minutes, to move faster as really, the only thing I want to do now is to get up and go and climb and be at the top of the highest mountain in Africa….

Day 3 - You spin my head right round, right round...! (by Darina)

Wednesday 22nd September 2010

Day three on the mountain was important to me for several reasons. It was the first time I had experienced a headache and the first time I had realised what being in high altitude meant.

The morning is chilly but beautiful with a view of the sun rising over the pink and white fluffy clouds below us. Again I couldn't sleep properly at night but still I feel fairly refreshed and ready for another challenge. Today shouldn’t be a long walk as we are supposed to reach the next camp (4300m) around one in the afternoon and then later we have an acclimatisation walk planned (up to 4600m and back to the camp). Obote and Lazarus are our main guides for today. The walk starts uphill and is uphill all the way. Thankfully we are again walking very slowly so the rocks and stones are not a big obstacle to tackle. The nature is changing around us, it’s mostly bushes which gradually disappear until we reach only stones and rocks with no green vegetation around us at all. We are passing the 4100m mark at which point I realise I have a dull pain at the back of my skull. It’s not huge but it’s there and it’s not going away. This is my first encounter with the altitude sickness.

We are steadily hiking up the hill, Obote is promising that our camp is basically at the top of the hill. I am not tired but a bit lethargic although otherwise still very well compared to some of my co-hikers. Every break is a very welcome opportunity to catch the breath and just sit for a minute and enjoy the fact that we are over 4000m. The sky is clear and it’s sunny and dry although the wind occasionally gets under the skin.

Eventually we get to the top and to the camp which is quietly sitting in the valley under the Mawenzi peak. From here we cannot see Kibo. The ground is fairly even so I am hoping for a nice good night when I actually manage to get some sleep. But now it’s time for lunch. There is more of us now having headaches and some people are not able to eat or just simply lack the will to eat. This is the occasion when the encounter with high altitude is very real. Simple walking or bending or getting down to sit in the tent is leaving us breathless. It’s difficult to get used to the fact that everything needs to be done in slow motion but the sudden rush into the head when I do things in my normal pace teaches me the lesson very fast. We have a lunch after which I am taking a couple of Paracetamols as my headache is still there and pounding. Then we rest before our acclimatisation walk.

The walk takes us up to one of the ridges of Mawenzi. It’s very steep and rocky trek but the views are incredible. Finally we see Kibo again and the path across the saddle from Mawenzi to Kibo Huts where we will be walking tomorrow. Although our group is now affected by various altitude problems - tiredness, lack of sleep, not being able to eat, headaches, nausea - we all are very optimistic when seeing Kibo in front of us. It feels quite surreal to be here above the clouds and looking at the impressive hill ahead.

The acclimatisation walk takes about two hours. After our return to the camp, the usual evening routine expects us, followed by the dinner. The weather changes very fast after the sun set and what was a pleasantly warm day transforms into a cold and windy night. Our faces that were very optimistic just a few hours ago are now showing worries and the fear of uncertainty. My headache is gone but I decide it's the time for Diamox. I don't have time to think about the side effects, I only keep thinking that I really really want to get to the top of the hill and I will do anything I can possibly do. At this point I have no idea what an adventure the night ahead will be.

One of the things that are repeated to us on a regular basis is that we need to drink as much as possible. It's fairly simple during the day (I think I managed to drink around three litres only during the morning trek today) when you have opportunities to go and send an email whenever you need to. It's a different story at night. You have to get out of the very warm and nice sleeping bag into a sharply cold tent, get dressed, get out of the tent, find your way to the toilet tent and then go back, undress, get into the sleeping bag. All this is causing you shortness of breath, not to mention the wind and chill outside is not very friendly either. I am aware that Diamox is making this even worse as one of the side effects is the need to go and send emails more often than normally. The only thing I can do about this is to limit my drinking before we go to sleep. I manage to fall asleep fairly quickly (I did try ear plugs too which helped a lot), unfortunately am woken up soon - yes, I need to send an email. There is not much I can do, so I undergo the whole daunting procedure. Then I realise I feel very very dehydrated (which is very unusual for me) so I dare to have a little sip of water from my Camelbak. Unbelievably I need to go get up again after an hour or so. And one more time later at night even though I didn't dare to even think about having another sip. One night when I don't have issues with falling asleep and I spend it travelling to the toilet and back... However ridiculous or silly this sounds, this was my worst experience from Kili.

But hey, the night is over and ahead lies the day D when we get as close as possible to the foot of Kibo and night N when we start our trek to the summit...

Day 2 - Holy Smokes, it's Kibo! (by Darina)

Tuesday 21st September 2010

We're woken up around six in the morning by one of the porter's deep "Hello". The following morning ritual is repeated every day - they wake us up and enquire about how we slept and whether we have any health concerns (head aches, nausea etc.) Then we're offered coffee or tea, straight into the tent! Two green bowls of water follow for the morning hygiene, then packing our rucksacks which will then be left on the big plastic sheet outside for the porters to sort out and finally the breakfast.

This morning I feel fine although I didn't sleep very well or very much. It's a bit chilly but the sun is already rising and just when we all meet at the benches and sip the hot tea - there it is! Kibo, proudly showing itself in the morning sun. Finally, after three days in Africa, we can see the destination of our trek. Such a beauty!

The breakfast is surprisingly tasty (again) - porridge, eggs, bread, even bacon! And choice of hot drinks - tea, coffee, chocolate or an energy drink Milo. What a luxury! Before we set off - our today's guide is Robbie - the porters fill our Camelbaks with water. We have a long way ahead of us so Robbie is rushing us a bit to leave the camp as soon as possible. As promised, the route is not very difficult to walk on and we walk very slowly anyway. Soon the porters are passing us, skipping like mountain goats although they carry possibly up to four times more weight than we do. The path is as dusty as it was yesterday, there are bushes around us that gradually become lower and lower as the path becomes more and more stony. The ever present Kibo is keeping us company, it's a little reminder of our final destination. So close but still so far, we're only a little over two days away from its top!

It takes around four hours for us to get to he Second Cave camp where we stop for a lunch. It's been a long morning for some of us and not everybody is feeling very well. There are reports of headaches and tiredness but still we're keeping our spirits up and stay cheerful and optimistic. We are currently in 3500m. The lunch is delicious (avocado salad, vegetable soup, chocolate, banana) and fuels us for the upcoming trek that will takes us up to 3750m; our overnight camp however will be in 3600m.

The path is starting to be a bit difficult as it's full of stones and rocks and at times it gets very uneven and slippery. So far the weather was warm and dry. During the afternoon the sun starts to hide behind the clouds now and then; the difference is remarkable. Suddenly the air is chilly and the fleece becomes my new best friend. We get to the camp in the late afternoon. The view is quite something. On the right side is Kibo that seems to be more distant now then it was in the morning. On the left side is Mawenzi, the twin peak of Kibo. And our camp is just between them. The tents are built already so we can get inside and have a little rest before our washy-washy bowls are brought to us. Our tent is on the downhill slope so it's going to be an interesting night!

The atmosphere at the dinner is a bit tense tonight. Some of us are very tired, some are not feeling well thanks to the never-stopping headaches and the temperature outside has dropped a bit lower than we expected. It's very windy too which doesn't help. The dinner is brilliant though (although from now on I have no recollections of what exactly we were eating - purely because I didn't make the notes); in conditions we currently find ourselves we couldn't have wished for better food! One of the guides tells us about tomorrow - it's a short trek towards Mawenzi (up to 4300m), then in the afternoon we'll have an acclimatisation walk to 4600m. At this minute, everybody seems tired and not very excited about tomorrow and soon we all part into our tents.

Before I hit the sack I need to go and send an email. It really is quite unpleasant outside and what's more, somebody is already busy in the cyber cafe so I stand outside and look around the camp. And then it hits me! There in the distance, in the dark, but illuminated by the almost full moon was Kibo. The sky very dark shade of blue, with thousands of stars, enveloping Kibo whose glaciers are glaring into the night. My heart misses a beat at this moment, this must have been the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It seems so peaceful but still so noble! I suddenly forget all the little issues like cold, full bladder, fears of altitude sickness and realise that I am very lucky - I don't have any headache, I don't feel tired, I don't have any muscle soreness and I can be here, in this magical place, seeing this beautiful picture. I am silently thanking my guardian angels for letting me experience this moment. (Now back in the real world, I would also like to thank Jason who took a picture of Kibo that night. I am very grateful for it...)

The night is very windy and at times I am worried that our tent is going to fly away in the direction of Kenya. Again, I can't sleep; it's partially because I keep sliding towards the bottom part of the tent, due to our unfortunate location. It is a bit annoying but I am surprisingly calm and manage to get at least a few hours before another morning comes.

Day 1 - Pole, pole (by Darina)

Monday 20th September 2010

Grateful that the morning is finally here, I get up at seven thirty and have my last shower for next six days. The breakfast is short and sweet and then we all meet in the reception, just before half past nine. Oh, btw. the morning is cloudy again so although Kibo IS there, we still can't see it! Our luggage is weighted in the reception; mine is 15 and half but still pass without re-packing (little sigh of relief!)

The cars that are taking us to the start of the route are already here and we also get pre-packed lunch boxes. The atmosphere is a bit rushed so nobody has time to be worried or scared. Until... there is a lady sitting in one of the armchairs in the reception room and she wishes us good luck. She is also saying that she had to come back from Kili the second day because she woke up in the morning blind! I am doing my best not to freak out. Blindness?? She was told it was due to the altitude sickness but really? Trying to think logically I am calming myself thinking that nobody ever mentioned blindness to be a symptom of an altitude sickness and on the second day morning she couldn't even be in a very high altitude? The next think she says - and it's an advice too - is to be prepared that from day one we will be covered in dust and dirt. Before we even have a chance to ask more, her sister comes to the reception - unfortunately another unsuccessful story; she came back on the third day because she couldn't handle the dust and while now safe in the hotel, she still can't talk properly and her coughing is right scary. Right, ten minutes before setting off, two bad stories are something we don't exactly need... But it's too late for anything anyway, we are being called to get into the cars as all the luggage has been loaded.

According to the itinerary we were supposed to go first to the Marangu gate where everybody entering the Kilimanjaro National Park needs to register. Marangu gate is about twenty minute drive from the hotel. As we're now driving for more than a hour (the driver estimates two and half), I don't think we're going to stop there. As it turns out - we don't bring us to Marangu but Marangu brings itself to us. At the start of the Rongai route - at Nale Moru village - there is an officer waiting for us and we all have to register into his ledger book.

The drive was about hour and half after all as some parts of the road are now tarmac and therefore easy and fast to drive on. Still the last bit coming to the village was quite rough and we were all quite grateful for our 4x4. So here we are. It's around eleven in the morning, it's us here, another group from Exodus company and many porters and guides who are sorting the luggage. We have some time so we take the opportunity and offer our best smiles for a group picture:

Please meet - Salma, Jason, Nilam, Nadia, Sonja, Denise, Darina, Ryan, Paul, Gary and Katherine. All happy and smiley :-)

Soon after our registration, Niagara guy - who is here with us but is soon coming back to the civilisation and beer - is introducing our dream team: lead guide Obote and three of the other guides, Dixon, Robert and Salomon. We greet them happily and I am thinking that these are the people in whose hands our lives are now. For some reason I feel ok about it.

We set off around 12 noon. We're currently at 1950m amsl. Our today's guide is Salomon. The porters are still sorting luggage and other stuff they need to carry while we're on our way to the first camp (2700m). Salomon assures us that the porters will soon catch up with us, pass us and then arrive into the camp hours ahead of us. No wonder, as from the first minute we walk very, very slowly. While it can look strange to some, I think it's a clever way how to get us used to walking slowly before we get to the high altitude.

We are walking through a forest - I could say a common forest and we could be anywhere in the world. It's strange to be walking on Kilimanjaro but still we didn't see any of its peaks. What's even stranger though is the fact that our conversation turns to the topic of toilets (don't ask). Salomon is teaching us new vocabulary - apparently on Kili you don't say you need to go pee (or otherwise). You say you "need to send an email" (or "make a download") and the toilet is a "cyber cafe". Very neat! Needless to say it doesn’t take too long for us to implement this system :-)

From the forest we get on the path leading us through corn fields where we also come across some of the villagers. The field is the place where the dust first introduces itself. The lady in the hotel was truly right. The dust is soon covering everything we carry (including ourselves). Thinking back about our preparations we realise that in no book or blog we have encountered anybody complaining about dust or warning us to be prepared for it. I wonder if that’s because we are in the middle of the dry season…? Maybe?

We stop for a lunch in another forest and can see monkeys in the trees (apparently waiting for what food we leave behind). There is also a first attempt of some of the ladies to use the famous SheWee device, I’d rather not go into any details as I am risking some leaking myself as at the memory I still have to laugh hard… From there we continue slightly uphill on a neat (dusty) path, small trees and bushes around us. It’s like a Sunday afternoon walk, no rush, just a slow pleasant walk. We arrive to the camp in the late afternoon, Salomon says it’s called Simba camp. There are other groups of climbers too, already settling for the evening. We only have a brief rest before Salomon takes us for a short acclimatisation walk, up to 2850m. The path is now mainly bordered by bushes and grass and we can see that soon we will be walking in and above the clouds.

Our first evening on Kili starts with green bowls. In the Kili language they are called “washy-washy” and apparently these green bowls with warm water are our new shower system. It’s hard to use the water from the bowls to wash all of the body, fortunately we have more than plenty of wet wipes which are working perfectly (at this altitude at least; later, when the dust gets too deep into our skin, the wet wipes only re-distribute the upper layers of the dust but don’t actually clean much :-))! Another funny business is our toilet tent. Oh yes, we have our own toilet tent – which is basically a bucket containing chemicals with a toilet seat over it. Believe me, compared to the “general public toilets”, ours one is a luxury!

Satisfied with the result of the evening hygiene routine I join the others in the dining tent. We have popcorn! Unbelievable. I don’t normally eat popcorn but this one tastes soooo good. For dinner we have some sort of vegetable soup, fish and roasted potatoes. I am not sure what I expected but this food has definitely exceeded everything. Yum! After the evening Salomon comes in the tent to greet us and tell us about tomorrow. Apparently, the second day is very hard. Actually somebody says that there are two very difficult parts on this trek. The second day and then the summit night. Hmmm. Shall I be worried? So far I’ve been feeling great. And we stil haven’t seen either Mawenzi or Kibo peaks!!!

Soon after the sun sets, our tent is in the dark. Turns out that Niagara guys forgot to bring lights so we’re sitting by the candlelight. Very romantic! Unfortunately it makes us asleep – at least I feel like that – so soon we separate and go into our tents. But before than we are warned that the camp has an armed guard (I believe this is because we’re very close, if not on the border with Kenya) and if we have a need to visit a cyber café during the night, we should have our torches with us. This way the guard will know we belong to the camp and won’t shoot us… Touching, non? J

I feel asleep but cannot sleep. There is noise coming from the other groups’ camps and the porters are awake till late night. When I finally fall asleep it feels like a few minutes before the morning knocks on the tent…

Where IS the hill?? (by Darina)

Sunday 19th September 2010

Although I have problems to sleep if I am not in my bed, last night I slept like a log. The morning is a bit cloudy and cool. When we walk to the restaurant to get the breakfast I notice that the immediate surroundings of the hut looked better in the dark. The garden around the main building is very pretty and colourful though. As for the plan for today, we don't really have any. Visiting Arusha could be an option but do we have enough time? Our itinerary is saying we should be picked up at 3:30pm. We go to the reception to confirm this but the receptionist is responding with a laid-back: Yeah, it could be one o'clock or two o'clock. Well, this isn't very helpful...

Stuck in the hotel we decide to go for a walk around it and the coffee plantation, in the middle of which the lodge is situated. I realise I actually didn't notice any coffee plants, which of course could be because I have no idea what coffee plants look like :-). The walk is pleasant - it leads through the forest around the lodge and occasionally we see some colourful birds - but not very long so we end up back in the hotel. At least we make some use of the sunbeds at the pool and enjoy a nap breathing the fresh air around us.

As there is nowhere to go, we have a lunch at the hotel too. The lunch menu is on a laminated sheet of paper but doesn't offer much, the dominant item is without doubt a selection of three burgers. I am thinking about last night's very tasty dinner and am decided to go with the meat today and order the cheeseburger. As it turns out in a few minutes, it was an excellent choice! After lunch another nap outside and then our driver is here to take us to Marangu, Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort, where we spend our last night before going on Kili.

On the mini bus from Moivaro we meet Gary from Michigan. He arrived to Moivaro last night too and he's one of the members of our climbing group. Apparently his travelling from America was very adventurous after his first flight was delayed so he then missed all the connecting flights. Fortunately he made it ok and on time to Arusha so now we are heading in the direction of Marangu. First though, we stop in the lodge near the Kilimanjaro Airport to pick up another two members of our group - Nilam and Salma, both girls are from London.

And from there it's a pretty straightforward and simple route. The whole trip from Arusha towards Marangu is basically one straight road with one roundabout near town Moshi. We pass villages consisting of simple houses and huts but plenty of bars (with plastic chairs for seating outside). People don't seem to be doing much. They are hanging around the bars or shops, occasionally we see women selling bananas and other fruits on the edge of the road. We see kids herding goats or donkeys. There is the one and the same Coca-cola poster everywhere. Advertising signs of Zantel and Vodacom are glued on every other building. My favourite ad is Kilimanjaro lager though. It says: It's Kili time! Make the most of it! And that's certainly what I am planning to do. Just one little detail - where IS it???

This is our second day in Tanzania and we still haven't seen a glimpse of Kilimanjaro. Gary asked the driver and the driver points in a general direction of ahead of us. Hmm, thank you. We still can't see it, it seems to be fairly cloudy in the distance too so maybe we won't see it until tomorrow?

We arrive to Marangu and the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort just before six pm. The hotel looks very pleasant and apparently from our room we can see Kibo!!! If only the clouds would go away... After a very fast check-in all the members of our group are meeting with a representative from the African Walking Company. His name is Nyattal - or something similar, we call him Niagara guy. He's quite funny but very very confused. From the beginning he insists there is twelve of us when apparently there is only eleven people sitting in the meeting room. He's got a genius idea. He will just read our names from his list and check if all of us are here... Brilliant. Only he omits to read at least one of us present in the room. Never mind. Then he manages to re-name Sonja to Norma (seriously, how?!?!) which obviously is her nickname for the trip duration :-) now. Another confusion arises while checking the equipment that we have hired in advance. Paul and me hired two sets of walking poles and mattresses for the tent but Niagara guy only reads one set under Paul's name. A few minutes later when he's distributing the equipment, he calls mine name and eureka - my walking poles are actually here... We are a bit worried and we hope that Niagara isn't one of our guides on Kilimanjaro. He later confirms that he isn't and we all sigh deeply with a relief...

All the confusion and paper shuffling apart, Niagara is giving us some important information about the organisation of tomorrow and briefly tells us about what is ahead of us in the next few days. Suddenly the fact that we're starting our trek tomorrow is very, very real. It's the third day of our holidays but only now I fully realise that we are actually going to be on Kilimanjaro tomorrow... And there is no way back!

After the briefing we all go for a dinner. We all sit at the same table which is set for 11 people, yay! Somebody got it right! The conversation flows, the food is nice, Kilimanjaro lager even nicer. I guess each of us is thinking about what expects us and how we're going to cope. Although the general mood is very humorous (Question: Why Kili? Answer: I was looking for some trip on lastminute.com and it there was either this or Mallorca available), a little tension hangs in the air. It's not too remarkable but it's there. Btw. our group consists of the following people: Jason and Ryan, Norma - sorry Sonja, Nadia and Denise, Katherine, Nilam and Salma, Gary, Paul and me. Gary is from US, Katherine lives in the Notthingham area, Paul is West Bromwich based, the others are from London. So here we are, the family for the next six days!

Just before ten I leave the group and return to the hotel room to re-pack the luggage. We are only allowed 15kgs for the main luggage (the one porters will carry) but fortunately we can leave the stuff we won't need on Kili in the hotel and pick it up on Saturday, on the way back. It's difficult to decide what we will need and what we can live without and I end up carrying quite a lot of stuff in my Camelbak. I am worried about how I am going to cope with the weight but at the minute there is nothing else I can do. At night I can't sleep. Although the bed is comfortable, I just can't fall asleep and my mind is creating all sorts of horrible scenarios that could happen on our trip. I am trying to shush myself and I start counting sheep but around 367 I give up. I manage to get a couple of hours of sleep but am up around five thirty in the morning, two hours before the alarm is scheduled to go off... I can't stop thinking - what's expecting us in there? What's it going to be like? Will I be able to breathe? Will I get sick? Am I fit enough for this?

Just a few more hours and I will find out...

The first night in Africa (by Darina)

Saturday 18^th September 2010

Saturday is mainly spent by travelling, leaving Amsterdam around 11 am. We fly with KLM which is a delightful change for me as I’ve been using the so called low-cost companies for my flights to Czech during the last few years. It is very pleasant to be able to get food and drinks on board for free!

We are seated on the left side of the plane. This was carefully managed by Paul during online check-in because we were advised that if we wanted to see Kilimanjaro from the plane we should sit on the left side. A very wise advice. Unfortunately at that time we didn’t realise that the landing time was scheduled just after 8pm and therefore it would be dark. And therefore we wouldn’t see Kilimanjaro anyway… Never mind. It was there. Somewhere.

We are indeed landing (at the Kilimanjaro International Airport) around quarter past eight in the evening and yes, it is dark outside. The air is pleasantly warm though as we proceed to the Immigration check building. It’s not a big building and it’s quickly filled by the passengers of our flight. We have visa and we filled our landing cards on the plane so can join the passport check queue straight away. After around half an hour we’re ready to go and meet…. Alex! Our driver who will take us to the Moivaro Lodge near Arusha.

Alex is very friendly and is trying to teach us some of the Swahili words. Paul chats with him, I am just looking into the dark behind the car window, thinking what’s awaiting us here. The road from the airport is a good one and in around an hour we should be in the hotel. There isn’t much to see, only occasionally we pass lights coming from villages (I assume). What puzzles me though are all the people that walk along the roads. Where are they going? In the dark, without any torches, where there aren’t any visible signs of life anywhere? As we get closer to Arusha, we come across little villages (I assume that’s what they are) with shops and bars and many people hanging around.

Alex suddenly turns the car sharply to the left and we leave the main road. Now we are driving on a very uneven, stony track. If I was feeling asleep before, now I am fully awake holding to anything there is to hold on in the car. There are banana plants around us and a few simple huts and houses occasionally peek through them. I wonder where exactly Alex is taking us. Fortunately, at the end of this funny road there is our hotel.

(http://www.moivaro.com/pages/moivaro_lodge/lodge.htm)

We are welcomed with a warm and wet towel to refresh our face & hands and a glass of juice. This ritual is repeated in any of the hotels and lodges we visit during our trip (apart from the Dhow Palace in Stone Town, I think…). After the formalities our luggage is taken and we follow two of the hotel’s employees into our hut. The path is only lit by small round lamps which create a mysterious and romantic feel around us. Our hut is very nice, simple but friendly. The toilet is moving a bit while seated but fortunately stays in one place. There are mosquito nets covering our beds, a good reminder to splash some repellent on our arms and face before we go back to the main building for dinner.

For the dinner we sit outside on the restaurant’s terrace as it’s a warm and nice evening. The waiter asks if we wish anything to drink but there is no drinks menu on the table so we have no idea what’s available. “What can we have, what drinks do you have?” I ask and the answers: “Beer,” which is followed by a substantial pause as if he couldn’t remember what else they have. “We’ll have beer,” Paul “interrupts” the waiter who happily skips away inside the building. Soon we have two bottles of Kilimanjaro premium lager. Cheers!

The dinner menu is printed on a crumpled piece of paper but offers two choices of each of the starter, main dish and dessert. I am a bit wary of eating meat so am ordering some vegetarian stew, Paul is having lamb curry (apparently the lamb didn’t really taste like one. I refuse to discuss more.) The food is tasting very good though and our first evening in Africa is very relaxed and pleasant. After another beer it’s time to go to get some rest before the real fun starts on Kilimanjaro. Lala Salama.

Amsterdaaaam! (by Darina)

Friday 17^th September 2010

Everything starts in Amsterdam. Actually, it starts at Birmingham airport where we meet around 4am but however hard I try I can’t write anything exciting or interesting about the airport, sorry. Oh, maybe just that I was faithful to my tradition of having a muffin and hot chocolate for breakfast there and also that we started are new Malarone regime (once a day with or after meal!)

So let’s go back to Amsterdam. We arrive early in the morning (around eight). After a little bit of waiting for Paul’s luggage we briefly stop in our hotel, Sheraton, which is situated straight at the airport - just to leave our (very heavy) bags there. And then we set forward to explore Amsterdam, starting at the Centraal Station. We don’t have an exact plan; we just walk the streets and little alleys, cross the bridges and breathe the atmosphere of early morning city life. The streets are very colourful, full of interesting and sometimes weird shops, massage parlours, bars and cafes.

Although our wandering seems aimless, we visit several interesting places. First, it’s the famous Dam Square in the heart of Amsterdam, with beautiful old buildings. Unfortunately the Koninklijk Paleis is covered with scaffolding which leaves us the National Monument, hotel Krasnapolsky and Nieuwe Kerk to admire. We continue through narrow streets and after some searching find a little shop called Wijnand Fockink. It’s currently closed but we later come back and find out it’s some kind of home-made liqueur bar. As all the menus are in Dutch I don’t dare to order anything.

One of the things I wanted to see was a Flower market (Bloemenmarkt) which was supposed to be floating too (wasn’t sure what to imagine as “floating”). In my head I saw a big hall full of flowers of all kinds – tulips, roses, carnations, lilies, you name it. Maybe that’s why we (or let’s say I) couldn’t find it and when we finally did it was a huge disappointment. The market was basically a raw of small stall which predominantly sold bulbs and seeds. Never mind. Afterwards I gave up giving directions!

So then we continue walking along Rokin and the streets around it, briefly visit Café Hoppe which apparently has been in the business for 300 years now!, and then return to the Dam Square to the restaurant called Majestic for some lunch and beer. The plan afterwards is to visit some of the places recommended by our guidebook – De Bierkoning, XtraCold, Puccini Bomboni, Tibet. Tibet is apparently a very good place to go for food; it’s located in the Red Light District though so we will leave that for the evening. De Bierkoning is a shop – not a pub as we hoped – where you can buy any beer from around the whole world (we should have checked if they had Kilimanjaro!!!). XtraCold was supposed to be a bar made of ice, it turns out that yes, one part of the bar is made of ice and for not exactly small amount of Euros you can spend half an hour in there and get two drinks. Pass! Not far from there though we come across a Czech-Slovak pub called “U Josefa” so we stop there instead and rest with some very good beer. And finally, Puccini Bomboni is a little shop selling heavenly chocolate bonbons of different flavours like white rum, Drambuie, cinnamon, nutmeg… We treat ourselves to five pieces each, ending up with a bill of twenty Euros. Delicious chocolate definitely is not cheap!

We then go back to the hotel to finish the check-in, have a nap and prepare for our evening adventure. Paul wants to go to the Red Light District but first we stop at the Czech-Slovak pub to have a beer. One beer then leads to another one, purely because it started to rain outside and it’s very cosy in the pub. The pub is owned by a Czech guy called – surprisingly – Josef; we chat a bit (I find it difficult to chat in Czech language), he’s been living in Amsterdam for quite some time now. He’s very friendly and at the end wishes us a good fun in Africa. By now it’s dark outside so we go looking for a place where we could have dinner. There were many places along the Rokin and other streets we walked but funnily enough we ended up in a small “kind of” Italian place – I call it Pizza and pasta place – just at the fringe of the Red Light District. (We never made it inside Tibet, it didn’t look very appealing). Having a pasta carbonara with a view of a sex shop and a lesbian cinema poster was a whole new experience! As was the district itself – all the women of different ages, shapes and sizes, romantically set along a canal inhabited by a flock of swans… Our visit of this part of Amsterdam was concluded by stopping in a small pub which name I cannot remember, unfortunately. Very cute place serving local and not so common beers. There we have realised it was well after eleven and we should be thinking about getting back to the hotel and having our last night in the Europe for next few weeks.

We did it!!!

We did it and it will take more than just say "we did it". We are freshly back and full of emotions and feelings which are currently difficult to describe but the least I/we can do is a big sigh of relief... and a picture of the certificate!!!

This one is mine, I am sure Paul will post his later:

Oh yes, the good African people thought I looked younger than my age and recorded my age as five years less than I actually am. The mountain has miraculous effects, apparently :-)

Plenty of blog posts will follow in the next few days, at the minute I am just getting used to be back to the civilisation, cleaning and de-dusting all my clothing and keep thinking about one very special hill in Tanzania...

1 sleep ahead...

So what do you do one night before your big departure? :-)

Trying to get some sleep but it's very difficult as there are so many things going on through your head. Do I have everything? Is it going to be enough? Is the rucksack too heavy? Will I wake up on time? Do I have enough Imodium tablets? Will I need them? Is it going to rain? Did I finish what I needed at work? And so on, and so on.

This last few days flew by so fast. And today! While still managed to do plenty of work, I also talked to my Mum, emailed Dad & my dear cousin Iva, printed out our boarding passes (yay!!!), I mixed and packed dried fruits & nuts for our energy needs, finished packing the Camelbak, coloured my hair (purely because if I didn't, I would come back grey from Africa!!!), charged all my mobile phones (I am taking four of them so I don't need to worry about charging battery and taking adapter), talked to my Czech friend living in Coventry, got many best wishes from various people, got very excited talking about Africa, got really scared talking about Africa, got a postcard from friend Will from Wales (very cute, thank you, Will!!!), got a call from my chiropractor checking on my hip and wishing all the best, felt stupidly silly about leaving my small but cosy room and about missing my bed... The mixture of feelings currently happening in my body is beyond describing.

Somebody asked me today what I was going to do when I get to the top of Kili. I wasn't sure. It occurred to me that maybe sit down and cry of joy would be a good idea but then crying in such a cold temperature is probably not the best idea :-) and the guide probably won't let me sit down either. So let's see what happens!

So now, just a few hours before getting up again (at 3 am), I am sitting here and sipping my last glass of wine and thinking about all the people who've been there and made it and thinking about the people who've been there and couldn't make it and thinking about the people whom we hopefully help by raising money for our charity. We've currently raised £1719 and I would like to thank everybody who contributed for their very generous help!

Ok, time to go to bed. Big adventure ahead but before then there is Dutch cheese and beer awaiting us tomorrow too :-) Bring on Amsterdam!!!

2 days to go :)

Another day gone, another day closer to the departure!

I've piled on some calories (as recommended by a friend from work) in the shape of cakes I shared with work colleagues today. I unpacked my rucksack and my Camelbak, then re-packed while ticking off every item on my list to make sure nothing was omitted. I am sure I've sweated out some of my cold through this procedure, what an exhausting (but exciting) task to do! But it's all in, hopefully within the weight limits. Two more nights!

One of my colleagues at work showed me a picture of his friend who made it to the top of Kili last week! The picture was great, it was sunny out there, the sky was blue and clear and the guy was smiling and looked very happy! I promised in a week and a bit I would have on of those pictures too! :-) (It's amazing what people will endure to go to a top of a hill to take a picture with a wooden sign...)

There are a few things left to do tomorrow but for now I am in bed, enjoying a glass of red wine and letting my body to fight off the cold and relax before the action packed holidays! :-)

3 days to go!

Three days to the departure and I got a cold. Paul said it was a nature's way of protecting all the people around me from having to experience my over-excitement at going on holiday! :-) I just hope it disappears by Thursday night!

Everything seems to be sorted now, we will be able to swap our pre-2003 dollar notes at the Birmingham airport on Friday, Paul is finally getting his Malarone tablets - we need to take our first one on Thursday already!! -, I've visited all possible doctors I could (the dentist today) so everything is coming together :-) Apart from my runny nose and sore throat. At least it distracted me from my hip problem (does it by any chance look like I am falling apart :-D?) which is getting better, I hope.

Soooo... going to get some quality sleep time and sip Lemsip with honey and whiskey and hopefully sweat the cold out as next Tuesday I will be sweating from totally different reasons!

Good night :)

Packing!

Sunday 12th September 2010 @ 11:35am

It's Sunday but more importantly it's a Sunday before our immediate departure next Friday which means... it's a packing Sunday! This week we have sorted out our travel money and I have just found out that some of our dollar bills are old and wouldn't be accepted in Tanzania. Just when we thought everything was sorted, another little issue comes up. But back to packing.

I wonder why there is a little tension in my stomach when I only think about the packing... I know I've tried to fit the stuff into the rucksack before and it went more or less well but since then more stuff was bought and I've also realised another thing. It's not just packing of clothing and medicines and toiletries into a rucksack - it's packing of all the time we spent preparing for this trip and all the experience we have gained. The hours we walked and talked and discussed, the time we spent researching and of course the money we spent. We're now packing all the bits and bobs that got us here from spring last year when we started to plan this holiday adventure.

So here we go. I don't know where to start so I remove all boxed items like bandages (tubegrips), batteries, medicines and similar from their paper boxes and put them into a sealed plastic bags. While doing this I am developing (in my head) strategy as how to fit everything in and still be within 20kgs. I am fully in control of the situation :-) but what I need first is... a tea!

12:20pm

Two teas later. All little bits are now safely in plastic bags so I am ready for any rain that could sneak upon us. Having said that I have just re-checked that my rucksack has a big rain cover (as advertised) so all the stuff inside it should be safe anyway. Time for the big items. It's not just taking the clothing out of the drawers and stuff them into the rucksack. It's important to decide what should be in the hand luggage, what will I wear and what needs to be in the rucksack. For that purpose I have a colourful spreadsheet showing all items I am taking and which location I have appointed to them (rucksack or Camelbak). Sounds like stocktaking! :-D

Does it look like I am still in control?

13:30

Most of the clothing is in, some space is left, didn't have time to worry about the weight yet. Need a break. Tea and a bagel.

I checked the KLM website to find out that the allowance is up to 23kg. For hand luggage we are allowed 12kgs, however my Camelbak doesn't fit the maximum hand luggage restrictions so this is going to be interesting. It's only a few cms (1.6 to be precise), hopefully they won't notice. Although it's great that KLM allows generous luggage allowance we shouldn't forget that our porters are only allowed to carry 15kgs and the same we can take with us to Zanzibar. The more I take the more I will have to carry myself then. Who said packing for holidays was fun??

14:17

Ugh. Almost done. Space-wise ok. Weight-wise not sure. Going to put all the stuff I marked for hand luggage to the Camelbak.

14:35

Camelbak was easy, plenty of space left and currently only has 5 kgs. I shouldn't forget that with the full bladder it's going to be 8kgs though!!! Still am starting to be more positive about all this luggage thing. Also starting to appreciate porters' job! I have tried to put the rucksack on my back and lift it and boy what a struggle it was not to fall backwards! So that's packing for now, I need to call home and probably leave this until Tuesday/Wednesday evening. There is still some washing to do, I still need some strong(er) painkillers for my potential hip problem, oh and I need to prepare and pre-pack mixture of nuts & dried fruits!

One more picture showing a voodoo doll of a Traveller which I got from my dear cousin Iva for good luck on our travels!!!

Diamox part 2, Malvern Hills & will all this fit into my rucksack?

This week we have decided to try "the other" Diamox, meaning the tablets I got as opposed to the bright orange capsules Paul did. After that w

e went for a trek in Malvern Hills. The day started fairly bright with an occasional light shower. We didn't encounter any rain on the hills but the wind was very, very strong and on several places I saw myself flying away towards Hereford, it was so difficult to stand on the ground.

The trek was approximately ten to eleven miles, very hilly (as you'd expect :)) but pleasant. We started in the car park under the North Hill and then went through the Worcestershire Beacon to the British Camp and then back. We didn't do the full walk over all the hills purely because of the fact there isn't any direct transport back to Great Malvern.

We tried our Buffs, which are a multipurpose headware - you can use it as a bandana, beanie, scarf, balaclava etc. etc. (more information: http://www.buffwear.co.uk/pages/product-info/ways-to-wear.php) Seems very useful although you can end up looking very silly:

And one more picture from the area:

This week there were also a few more parcels for me. I now have all my batteries, all energy bars & gels, contact lenses and a running headband, specially shaped to cover ears. We are also recommended to have some reading materials as there will be plenty of resting time (during the first few days); for this occasion I have purchased a book called "Competitive runner's handbook" which has almost 700 pages and will help me falling asleep fast during the long evenings :-)

So now I've got most of the stuff, I thought - let's try to fit it all in the rucksack. I laid out all the clothing & toiletries & other bits and bobs on the bed and it looked like this:

Lots of stuff but it's a three week trip covering various climates and any possible weather conditions. Then I tried to pack it all in my red rucksack. It did go quite well although when I was trying to put it on my back and carry around afterwards, I have almost fallen backwards... I am glad my Camelbak Commander (daypack) is quite roomy and I will be able to accommodate some more stuff there. I just need to check what luggage weight allowances we actually have for the flights!!!

Another good news is that I am (after all) getting my (swine) flu jab! I got a call from the nurse earlier this week asking me if I still wanted the jab and if so, could I please come in on Tuesday morning? :-) Wonderful. It will cost me ten quid - I guess they realised they could at least earn a few quid as these will be soon discontinued anyway...

Less than three weeks to go!

Diamox party anyone? How about a nice 10-mile walk?

Time for partying? Not yet. But my GP recommended to try one of the Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets (that are used to prevent the altitude sickness) to see if I have any bad reactions to it. The list of side effects is quite impressive (in a bad way) so we both (Paul and me, not the GP) thought it would be quite a good idea to try one and see how it goes.

Paul got his prescription sooner than me (also his GP prescribed him 28 pcs, mine only 10. Are the GPs in West Bromwich just more generous?) so we tried one capsule (apparently Diamox comes in different shapes and textures too) each on Monday evening. And then we went to play squash... I regret that there wasn't anybody to take a video of us :). Paul claimed his fingers tingled (which is one of the side effects) and my throat had a weird metallic taste (another side effect) but we were not sure if we were just making these up (just a plain common paranoia) or if they were real. In any case our game was a bit of a comic tragedy starring a giggling five-year old (me), dizzy cows running around the field (both of us) and one very crappy performer (you see, Paul is usually very good in squash so he had to blame the bad game on something :-P). What a show though! Still giggling just thinking about it.

In summary we didn't experience any bad reactions which is a good thing as Diamox could be the trick up our sleeve to win the battle with altitude.

As a part of training we went for a nice ten mile walk this Friday. First we drove to Worcester where we left the car and took a train (had to wait for it for three quarters of an hour!!!) to Droitwich Spa. Our goal was then - yes, you got it right - to walk back to Worcester. We were following the canal walk (once we found the canal, you wouldn't believe how difficult it could be :)) which was not very physically demanding and a little bit dull (I do have this feeling that when we face the dullness of the higher stages of Kili, we will be happily recalling the memories of the neverending grass and lines of water plants though) but the weather was foul which was great. I mean, it was raining and normal average person would describe the weather as foul, but we were happy to be able to try our kit! Btw. I now know I am definitely not a rain stopper :-D.

The walk along the canal was a long drag, interesting at times, boring at others, then we left the route and hopped across some fields to join Northwick heritage walk along the river Severn. This eventually led us to Worcester, although the directions were not quite clear and at times not very useful either. I mean, what would you imagine under the term "elegant pump house"? And that's only if you actually know what a pump house is? The ugly building we eventually came across wasn't elegant at all and if there wasn't a big sign saying it was the pump house we wouldn't know anyway.

So after something like four, four and half hours, lost and found on several occasions, confused (both), tired (me a lot, Paul slightly), with a sore hip (me) but otherwise happy and ok, we got back to Shrub Hill train station in Worcester, got into the car and drove back home :)) Great experience and our kits are waterproof - tried and tested, yay! My hip is recovered too and I managed to walk three miles to War Memorial Park this morning, run 3 miles there and then walk another 3 back home without any big pains or problems! 27 days to go!!!