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Diary on Climbing Kilimanjaro For Open Arms Malawi

An idiots guide to climbing Kilimanjaro

SUMMER 2013

It's sunny evening in a London restaurant, I'm with my daughter Emma and we are contemplating the menu over a glass of crisp chilled white wine.

"Mum have you ever thought about climbing Kilimanjaro? I look up in confusion; my daughter knows I don't do mad, energetic things, so why is she asking me this?

"Er no Emma, no I haven't"  There's a long silence whilst we both ponder; what I hear next coming from my mouth shocks me...  "but if you're asking me if I WANT to climb Kilimanjaro, I think the answer may be yes"

OMG WHAT HAVE I JUST SAID?

20th February 2014

It's 4am, I'm sat bleary eyed beside the taxi driver en route to Leeds Bradford airport.

"Holiday is it?  Somewhere warm and relaxing?"

"I'm climbing Kilimanjaro, in Africa" I mumble.

There's a long pause and then he asks "Why?"

"It seemed like a good idea and I'm raising money for charity so there's definitely no going back"

"Right, ok, well you're the first I've ever had in my taxi doing THAT!"  Oh great I think!  Clearly he thinks I must be REALLY nuts!

By the time my flight lands in Schipol and I meet Emma, who's flown in from Bristol, the excitement is kicking in, we're off to climb Africa's highest mountain, how amazing is that!  AND remarkably we have donations for our climb totalling over £1400.

22nd February 2014

Day 1  - Rongai  Gate 1997m to Simba camp 2635m, Ascent 638m Trek 7km

Our bus is piled high with camping equipment, rucksacks, porters (13 of them including a cook and assistant cook),  two guides, John and Alex, and three trekkers, myself, Emma and another climber Eric, from France, who has joined our climb at the last moment.  He's not doing it for charity, he's doing it because it sounded fun!

We decamp at the Rongai gate after a lengthy paper filing procedure first at the park's headquarters at Marangu Gate.  Our porters expertly pack kit into huge plastic bags which they carry balanced on their heads and we are left to carry just our water and daypacks.  John has instructed us that we MUST drink at least 5 litres of water a day to reduce the chances of altitude sickness so the water weighs us down, but it's nothing in comparison to the weights the porters are carrying.  Fortunately the Porters Union now restricts their packs to 25kg and carries out spot checks on the mountain.

Starting Rongai Gate 300X225

Alex leads our climb today, he's a man of few but very authoritative words.  We set off eagerly up the path and are instantly summoned back  "pole pole" Alex instructs firmly - slowly, slowly in Swahili.  He sets the pace, we follow, and this is the way the climb continues.  We walk SLOWLY, the reasoning being that we rise through the altitude more slowly and therefore allow our bodies a better chance to adjust to less oxygen.

It's a steady uphill climb through smatterings of rainforest, plantations and fields of corn, beans and potatoes.  In the trees we catch glimpses of blue and colubus monkeys, the sun is blazing and it's a lovely walk.  We arrive at Simba camp hot and just a little tired.  Popcorn and hot drinks are served as soon as we arrive.

This is our first introduction to the joys of Kilimanjaro's squat loos.....only 6 more days to go!

Bus 300X224

23rd February 2014

Day 2 - Simba camp 2635m to Kikelelwa camp 3675m,  Ascent 1040m, Trek 11.75km

We're woken at 6am, hot drinks are brought to our tents and we drink as we wake up curled into our sleeping bags.  Bowls of washing water arrive at 6.30 and we are expected to be packed up and in the mess tent for breakfast at 7.15am.

Breakfast consists of porridge and omelette with fruit.  We meet our team properly, William our cook is tall and elegant, smiling Lazaro his assistant seems to be busy constantly, we hear his name bellowed across the campsite regularly!  Dullah is training as a guide so walks with us on several days and will come with us to the summit.  John is our main guide but it soon materialises that Alex (nicknamed by the team Mr Alex for this trip so as not to confuse him with me, Mama Alex) is very experienced having been on the mountain over 20 years and is one of the few people to have climbed Kili's second ferocious looking peak Mawenzi.  Gideon is my porter, he has the misfortune to be lugging my kit bag, along with his own rucksack up and down the mountain for me, I shake his hand gratefully and thank him profusely.

We  set off for our second day's climb.  The paths are still well made, the day is turning into a scorcher, and we chat with some of the other climbers from different groups as we rest at intervals en route.  We jump off the path as the busy porters march through with their cheerful call "Jambo" (hello in Swahili) and reminders to us of "pole, pole".

Meet Team 300X224

By lunch of day two I am starting to suffer a small but nagging headache, which John our guide thinks is altitude sickness.  He hands me ibuprofen and insists I take them (to help stop further swelling of the brain), instructs me to drink even more water and takes my daypack from me and carries it himself.

When we finally pick our way through the bog on Kilimanjaro's lower slopes into Kikelelwa camp the sun is starting to slip from the sky.  It's been a long day and we are glad to see our little two man tents and cosy sleeping bags.

Overnight my headache abates but I notice I'm breathing fast and my heart pounds, even small tasks become difficult.  My appetite has completely disappeared and I have to force myself to eat.  "eat Mama Alex, eat" becomes a favourite saying amongst our crew!

Day 3 - Kikelelwa camp 3675m to Mawenzi Tarn camp 4302m,  Ascent 627m, Trek 3.75km

A short walk today.  We leave the green of Kili's lower slopes behind and now the narrow path is strewn with fractured boulders and rubble broken and blasted out during Kilimanjaro's last eruption (about 175,000 years ago).  Today we trek towards Mawenzi, Kilimajaro's second peak and arrive at Mawenzi tarn (just puddle) at about 1pm.  The sun is shining but as we arrive icy mists roll in across the dusty rocky landscape.

Lunch is fried chicken (how have they managed to keep it fresh for 2 & 1/2 hot days?) and chips!  Over lunch the discussion with the porters turns to football and before long we're clearing a dirt area of rocks for a game of 5 aside football.  The teams Mawenzi v Kibo battle it out.  Due to my struggles with altitude sickness I'm in a supporting role on the sidelines but Emma and Eric get stuck in and soon discover that fouling is perfectly acceptable... John looks on in horror as he contemplates whether Emma and Eric will suffer serious headaches as a result of so much energetic running around at 4400m, but eventually relaxes and tries to referee the match (unsuccessfully).  We draw onlookers from other climb groups who watch in surprise and are clearly rather jealous of our rowdy group!

Mawenzi win after a noisy and energetic battle that sees both porters and climbers collapse laughing and shattered at the end.  This is the time to break out the mint crumbles and percy pigs that have been  squashed at the bottom of my kit bag, much to the whole crew's pleasure.

It's a freezing cold night and we shiver in our sleeping bags waking to frost both inside and outside the tents.

25th February 2014

Day 4 - Mawenzi Tarn camp 4304m to Third Caves camp 3936m Descent 370m   Trek 11.6km

Today is a special acclimatisation day, we follow the climb high, sleep low policy that is recommended to allow our bodies a better chance of adapting to the oxygen poor altitudes.  We climb high on Mawenzi's slopes reaching 4614m before dropping back down toward Third caves camp and the significantly more oxygen rich atmosphere at 3900m.  We all finally get some mobile phone reception today from the Kenyan network, and eagerly send messages!  (Poor Emma's phone has died so she is left out of this).  As we plod through the day we walk closer to Kibo's foot.  Emma and Eric are now very keen to be climbing the summit; for me, it looks impenetrable.   I am still struggling badly with the altitude and John or Alex are carrying my daypack much of the time.

We arrive at Third caves campsite shortly before sun down.  The camp rests in a rocky plateau beside a dry river bed and intersects with the Lemosho route (climbed by the comic relief group), it's a busy site.

That night it's still bitterly cold but I notice my altitude sickness symptoms finally lessening and in the morning I feel so much more positive.  I convince John to let me carry my daypack again, something I'm delighted to do!

26th February 2014

Day 5 - Third Caves 3936m to School Huts base camp 4722m, Ascent 751m, Trek 4.9km

We're a cheery party as we set off, finally we're on the cusp of summit day and the excitement is building.  Even I am feeling positive and excited, although still nervous about whether I can definitely summit or not.

We climb steeply through a barren rocky landscape, up scree slopes and over huge broken lava flows.  En route we pass a remarkable sight,  a dead buffalo. The poor creature had climbed high to lick the salts from the rocks and become trapped, two years before.  It's almost perfectly preserved in the cold, oxygen poor climate.

We clamber into School Huts campsite at 1pm, lunch, rest, then take a short acclimatisation climb to 5100m and return to camp for our summit briefing.  John talks us through exactly what will happen, how we should prepare for the climb, the cold (it's -5 to -10c at the top) and what possible altitude sickness symptoms we may experience.  I comment that he is scaring me silly!  John reassures me but says it's better to know and understand what we are doing to our bodies as this is the surest way we can avoid any serious complications such as cerebral or pulmonary oedema!!!  Now I'm really worried....!  But I can't help but be excited too, I've imagined the summit moment for so many months now.

We tuck into bed at 6pm, already dressed for the summit and our daypacks packed and ready.

27th February 2014

Day 6 - To Uhuru Peak summit 5895m and down to Horumbo Huts camp,  Ascent 1073m, Trek 20.4km

At 11pm Gideon wakes me and helps me lace my boots!  I swallow a few mouthfuls of porridge and cake.   John and I set off for the summit, in the pitch black with only our head torches for company.

I am the slower walker so leave first; Emma and Eric, with Alex and Dullah, will follow an hour later, they should catch up with us somewhere on the scree switchbacks just below the crater rim.

We shuffle and clamber across rocky slopes for several hours before joining the Kibo huts summit path.  At this point I look up, above, just visible, are the lights of little lines of head torches weaving across blackness.  I look down and all I can see is little lines of head torches too!   It feels almost biblical and very surreal!

John and I climb for another two hours, stopping briefly for a flask of hot ginger tea at Hans Meyer cave.  We spot a line of four head torches zigzagging slowly up below us.  We call down and in the darkness get a shout echoing back up; Emma, Eric, Dullah and Alex are just below us now.  They catch up and together we scramble our way up the remaining scree switchbacks, clamber over the final lava flow and almost fall into the crater rim at Gilman's point.  We have reached our first point on the summit!

We press on eagerly across the icy path just inside the crater rim towards Stella point and ultimately Uhuru peak.  The sun rises over Africa as we start the final gently pull up to Uhuru peak, it's a thrilling and stunningly beautiful moment.

At 7am we reach Uhuru peak, I have been climbing for 8 hours by then.  For Emma and I the moment is overwhelming and we hug as we stand on the roof of Africa.

We've earned our official Kilimanjaro certificates and even better we fulfilled our promise to all our amazing sponsors.  For their donation to Open Arms, we would climb Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain.  I tug my Open Arms t-shirt out of my rucksack and we are photographed proudly holding the shirt at the Uhuru peak sign.  It's the proudest moment of both of our lives.  We did it for Open Arms and we're thrilled to have succeeded.  It's a first for an Open Arms T-shirt too!  Where could you take one?

Reasons 300X225

DESCENT - Days 6 & 7 from Uhuru Peak 5895m to Marangu Gate 1905m, Descent 3990m, Trek 20.8km

We descend  for the rest of day 6 and day 7 using the Marangu route, which allows us chance to see how beautiful the southern lower slopes of Kilimanjaro are; full of trees, flowers, birds, monkeys and streams.  It's a knee jerkingly painful descent!

When we arrive at Marangu gate we are required to sign the Park's official climbers book.  Shockingly I notice that many parties didn't make the summit and that some climbers having made it to Gilman's point didn't push on through the snow to the highest point at Uhuru.  Perhaps they didn't have all those sponsors to motivate them?  I am even more proud of my own achievement!

We finally celebrate with our team back down the mountain at a Moshi burger restaurant.  We receive our certificates and are delivered back to our lodges in Arusha for the eagerly anticipated shower!  BLISS!

Exhaustion 300X225

KILMANJARO CONQUERED!

After that initial conversation between Emma and myself that night in London, we researched, booked and paid for our climb.  It was at that point we both realised if we were going to do something this challenging we should use it as an opportunity to raise funds for charity.  Open Arms Malawi was our immediate choice because Emma had been taught by Mr Bevis and we wanted an African charity... if you climb Africa's highest mountain it HAS to be an African charity!

We set up a justgiving page and put notes in all our Christmas cards with a link to it.  We also added the justgiving "sponsor me" button to our email signature.  I emailed all my contacts and the walking and other social groups that I was a member of, Emma harassed her work mates for donations.

It was slow at first.  We thought we might not make our first target of £600 but as the climb date approached and helped by the Open Arms blog mention and our persistence with friends and family etc we rapidly increased donations until we shot through both our first and second targets and eventually raised £1400+ .  We have been delighted by the generosity and support of our friends and colleagues and even complete strangers.

If you're thinking of doing something a bit unusual then I would really encourage you to do it for Open Arms Malawi. You'd be amazed at the the support and generosity of folks, particularly if it's something they wouldn't chose to do themselves and they realise you're going out of your own comfort zone to do it.  It really is worth it, you raise funds for a wonderful charity, you've clocked up a lifetime experience and huge personal pride in your achievement..... Something to tell the grandkids about maybe!

And one final thought, where could you take an Open Arms T-shirt?  We challenge you!

Emma and Alex Gibson

Yes!  We climbed Kilimanjaro for Open Arms Malawi

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