Day 7 : Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

We woke up at 06:30 after almost 10 straight hours of solid sleep, I don't think I even turned over once.  I tried to write up my diary last night but I got about half way through it before I fell asleep so I decided to call it quits.  I can see in the handwritten diary where I was falling asleep because my handwriting degenerates into a scrawl.

We had all had a good nights kip and after the usual maltabella, which Andre is still steadfastly refusing to let past his lips, omelettes and bread all the camp staff gave us a bit of a sing-song which was much less tacky than expected and now that I have the tune in my head it won't get out.

The last days walk consisted of yet another 1300m of descent, our knees complaining all the way as, Andre put it, an avalanche of porters came rushing past us.  It is quite unbelievable how they jog down a slippery path with heavy loads on their backs or heads.  Although they almost never slipped there was the odd crash as something came loose and clattered down.

Today we were in the rain forest almost from the word go which after the barren vistas we have been in for most of the week is quite refreshing and very beautiful.

We also ran into the two betties whom we hadn't seen since the first couple of days; they had made it up to 5000m which, given their physical presence, was quite a remarkable achievement.

Simon decided to gap it and get it over and done as quickly as possible so we didn't see him at all and I was taking photographs so I was quite slow and ended up overtaking the same people repeatedly.

We re-met an afrikaans couple that we had first met on days one and two and had a good chat as we sauntered down the path and they piqued my interest in doing the Inca trail in South America sometime in the future.

Once we reached the road head we signed out and then had our boots cleaned.  I was a bit reluctant because I didn't want them wet since I had to wear them again tomorrow but I needn't have worried and $2 later I had a nice clean pair of boots.

Surprisingly the bus was waiting for us and we climbed on board but were then besieged by hawkers through the bus windows which led to a couple of fabulous interactions between Andre, Simon and the hawkers.  Andre completely bamboozled the hawkers to such an extent that they had no idea if they were ahead or behind on the deal.  I think what threw them was when Andre gave a shirt back which scrambled his accounting but in the end, the hawker came out way, way ahead not that he knew it while Simon and I had a very good laugh.  Andre got $4 plus 2 bangles, 2 banana skin paintings and two Kilimanjaro patches which the hawker got a well used hat, two walking sticks, a led headlamp and two gaiters from what I can remember.  It was a hilarious exchange with Simon getting in and out of the act and tried to swap his 3 day old underpants to another hawker who wasn't biting at all.  The teenage girl in the seat in front of Simon was in hysterics so he played it up a bit which everyone, other than the hawker, enjoyed immensely.

A short bus ride later we were back at Springlands and a welcome Kilimanjaro beer in our hands followed in short order by many Tuskers.  There is no wine at all to be purchased here so I am just going with the flow and drinking the beer. The whole afternoon was spent in the beer garden with intermittent forays into the room to shower and sort out the baggage ready for an early start tomorrow morning.

We met up with Marita and Petrie who had spent the week in Zanzibar so their trip wasn't without at least some highlights.  We sorted out the tips with Prosper which went well, Shirley, Cronje and Arthur had all left tips of the recommended $185 with the hotel and the three of us added $220 each which, given the amount of work involved by the porters and staff, still seemed very reasonable.

Simon asked Prosper to bring him his pack and to show him his gloves which only a picture can describe.  At this point Simon gave Prosper his gloves in exchange for Prospers gloves which was very kind of him.  Andre also gave his sleeping bag to Prosper so he did very nicely out us or, more correctly, Andre and Simon.

I spent most of the afternoon writing while Simon and Andre consumed vast, by my standards, amounts of Kilimanjaro and Tusker beer.  Somewhere Simon managed to find time to have a massage which he says was excellent, not just good, but really excellent.

Supper was very average but it was really nice to have a proper shower even though the hot water ran out 2 minutes into the shower and it was especially nice to sleep on something horizontal instead of constantly having to crawl uphill in one's sleeping bag.

So that is it, Kilimanjaro; tick with a capital T.

Day 6 : Barafu Camp to Mweka Camp via Mount Kilimanjaro

Technicall today actually started at 22:30 on the 2nd of August when we 'woke' up to start getting ready to leave by 23:30.  None of us had actually slept at all, possibly a little nerves or altitude or the cold or maybe a little of everything.  I don't remember being particularly nervous but I do remember never really getting warm and toasty in my sleeping bag.  I got dressed in hiking longs pants, thermal long johns, a shirt, a fleece, down waistcoat and a down jacket and this was only just enough.  We were quite lucky in that there wasn't really a wind blowing otherwise the long johns and walking pants would have been hopelessly inadequate instead of just mildly uncomfortable.

Immediately after we started walking there was a tricky rocky section to navigate where we had to use our torches but as soon as we were past this we turned the torches off and walked by the light of the moon.

I had put my water bottles and camera into the middle of my backpack in the hope that they wouldn't freeze but the camera was actually ok whereas the water bottles froze.  I also had some water in the camelbak bladder but it is really important to blow water out of the feeder tube after finishing drinking because otherwise the feeder tube freezes solid and then that is the end of your drinking water until you descend.  As it turned out, the bladder idea didn't work so well because the feeder tube froze solid without and water in it and stood straight up in the air so I couldn't draw from it in any case.

After the tricky bit it was just one long hard slog up a scree slope for 7 hours until we got to the top.  Andre was struggling to get enough oxygen into his lungs so every 15-20 minutes we would hear a desperate wheeze "a minute ..." which Simon and I were just as grateful for.  Being at altitude can be a very strange experience, it's hard to imagine tying one's shoelaces and then having to recover one's breath because of the exertion but that is what happens.

The scree slope means that for every step up you take you slide 1/2 a step backwards so it be more correct to say that we shuffled up Kilimanjaro rather than walked up it.  It sounds ridiculous now but but the heel of the foot going forwards would not or would only just pass the toe of the stationary foot.  One could take larger steps, the slope would offer you that but then you would spend a few minutes recovering from the oxygen debt.  When we stopped it could not be for more than a minute or two at a time because any longer than that and one starts to get really, really cold so it is better to keep moving with very short breaks.

As we move slowly up we would see headlamps appear below us and then slowly catch up and overtake us, it was all a bit surreal with this disjointed line of shimmering headlamps all the way up the slope.  I think we were about half way up when I looked up the slope and saw what I thought to be stars far above us overhead but they weren't stars, they were the headlamps of walkers above us, very far above us.  I couldn't believe that we still had that far to go and both Simon and myself were a little depressed at this point which I think was around 02:00 or 03:00 in the morning.  We continued with our 15-20 minute intervals thoughtfully provided by Andre and gratefully accepted by Simon and myself although at one point though Prosper wouldn't let us stop because it was just too easy to nod off, cold as it was, and freeze.  At about 04:00 to 05:00 when were about three quarters of the way up both Simon and I started to feel strong again and confident that it was now only a matter of time before we summited which we did  at 06:30 just 10 minutes before sunrise in the east.  What a magnificent sight, just spectacular.

There were a couple of things about this climb which people would find strange, firstly doing or finding anything is difficult because of all the clothes and absolutely everything is an effort.  Even taking off and putting the backpack back on it an effort that may require a few deep breathes to recover from.  The second is that walking by the moonlight is tricky because the shadows contain no details so one's depth perception is a bit dodgy leading to some severe balance problems. This could also be the altitude but I think it was the moonlight but either way I had Simon constantly warning me about "the edge" as I stumbled my way up.

We watched the sunrise over the glacier atop Kilimanjaro from Stella Point and then because we were all feeling good and more than a little please with ourselves we decided to continue on to Uhuru Peak which is the summit of Kilimanjaro proper.  The walk from Stella Point to the summit of Kilimanjaro is, or would be, a real doddle at low altitude.  At high altitude the gentle slope was quite and effort and all three of us ended up stopping many times to catch our breath.  I remember the sight of Andre flat on his back sucking in the air while Simon, leaning on his walking poles looked on while doing the same.

From where Andre was lying if he had just lifted his head he would have been looking at the photograph below which gives an indication of just how tired we actually were.

As tired as we were, we were far and away from being the most distressed.  There were other walkers having to be guided around and physically helped by the guides and who looked as if they had absolutely no idea where they were or what they were doing.

At the peak itself we had to have the obligatory photograph but none of us were in a particularly good state of mind so I don't think that we stayed there more than twenty or thirty minutes before we started back down.

By the time we got back to Stella Point I really needed a toilet break and went around a corner to find evidence that this was not an uncommon occurence.  It is so easy to dig a hole in the scree and bury it that I find it hard to think of any excuse for not doing so.  Not a great experience on top of an otherwise beautiful mountain.

On the way down I taught Andre and Simon how to 'ski' on scree which is great fun and only marginally risky and 01:30 later we were back at camp.  Andre and Simon both took minor tumbles on the way down but no damage was actually done and it is so much easier on the knees than simply plodding down a slope.

Back at Barafu Camp we had an hour before lunch to repack our bags ready for the 03:30 trek to Mweka Camp for the night.  We were all a little tired and not really feeling like yet more walking but there was nothing for it but just to get it over and done with.  Altogether we descended close to 3000m on the day and our knees felt every step of the way.  The only good thing was that as we descended we felt better and better due to having more oxygen available but we were all very, very happy to see the Mweka Campsite because our knees and feet were killing us.  Coming down was quite a kaleidoscope of terrains from rock and glaciers at the top all the way through to the edge of the rainforest at Mweka Camp.

We unpacked and I had the daily shower and then the usual soup, starch and vegetable gravy before we crawled  off to bed for a really, really good, exhaustion induced, sleep.

So although it was a really hard day in terms of sleep deprivation and exercise it was a thoroughly enjoyable day and one that I think we will all remember for as long as we have memories.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 17km
Altitude : 1200m climbed, 3000m descent.
kcal : 5256
heartrate : 128pm average, 153bpm maximum
walking time : 10:42 hours

Day 5 : Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

I had a so-so nights sleep; I managed to stay asleep until 03:00 but then couldn't get back to sleep thereafter.  We had the usual breakfast of maltabella porridge, toast and omelette.  We are still working on getting Andre to eat the maltabella porridge and although his standards as far as what is deemed to be consumable food are dropping fast it remains to be seen if he will plumb the depths of maltabella by the end of the hike.  We remain hopeful though.

Moonset over Karanga Camp early in the morning since I wasn't sleeping anyway.

Last night was quite cold but still not as cold as I was expecting and although the water outside Andre's tent did freeze, nothing else froze.  In no time at all it was time to depart on what was meant to be an easy day.  Although neither of them showed any indication of taking strain we were all pretty happy to get into Barafu Camp a few hours later.

Barafu Camp is located on the skyline top left and it is quite a steep climb up to the camp.  We were constantly amazed at the strength and endurance of the porters carrying what we would consider ridiculous loads so that we could have it really, really easy.

Barafu Camp is on the edge of a ridge so it is a very long narrow campsite and we had to walk through most of the campsite before getting to where we were going to camp for the night.  On our way up through all the tents we passed where someone had laid a donkey sized turd right in the main trail through all the tents.  One wonders about people sometimes but it is best to just keep on walking and pretend one hasn't seen it.  There is actually quite a lot of human waste along the trail, mostly out of sight, but the parks board really should be doing something to firstly discourage the practice and secondly to clean up the mess.

This is the communal long-drop which is a very, very long drop but to say that it is nauseatingly disgusting is a complete understatement.  If anyone is reading this intent on climbing Kilimanjaro, hire a private toilet; it is absolutely worth the money!

The views from Barafu Camp in an easterly direction above and a southerly direction below.

Because the walk was so short today we arrived before all our tents had been pitched so Andre and Simon climbed into their tents while I waited for mine to be finished.  I think that someone nicked my walking poles while I was waiting which is very annoying.

After a good lunch of spaghetti and vegetables we all retired  to our tents for the afternoon which I didn't really feel like but I did have a brief nap before starting to sort our everything for this evening.

Along the trail today there were loads of porters carrying 25l drums of water from below the Karanga Camp up to Barafu Camp because Barafu Camp is completely dry.  That would be a 750m vertical climb with 25l of water on one's back which is quite a trek.

In my tent  as I write this and prepare for this evenings exertions it is pleasantly warm as opposed to just outside where it is decidedly chilly.  The plan is to go to sleep at 18:30, wake up at 22:30 and start walking at 23:30 since we are still walking quite slowly even though the pace has picked up a bit as the party has downsized.  My feeling is that the chances of me getting any sleep at all between 18:30 and 22:30 is approximately zero.

I found my walking poles, they had been put into Simons tent for safekeeping and I shouldn't be so quick to assume the worst.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 4km
Altitude : 700m climbed camp to camp.
kcal : 1489
heartrate : 110bpm average, 150bpm maximum
walking time : 3:26 hours

Some parties don't overnight at Karanga but trek straight from Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp which is entirely doable but I was very happy to have two easy days instead of one hard day before what looks like a very hard day.

Time to go and try and get some sleep.

Day 4 : Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

Yet another eventful day, I really do seem to attract them.  Cronje seemed much better this morning, a bit of colour in his cheeks and he managed to get eat a reasonable amount of food for breakfast.  I ate about twice the amount I should have and I'm starting to feel much more organised and, at least thus far, really strong.

The Barranco wall starts just above the tents and is a bit of a scramble in places.  Even taking a diagonal line up the wall is pretty steep in places as one can see from the photograph below. 

The first obstacle of the day was the Barranco wall which is a bit of climb with a little bit of scrambling thrown in but we were going at Cronje's pace so it was really very easy.  Even though Cronje is definitely better than yesterday he was clearly in trouble and it doesn't look like it has anything to do with altitude sickness.

From the top of the wall we parted ways and they eventually ambled into camp and hour after we arrived, still clearly not very well.  Cronje was saying that as long as his heart rate didn't go above 145bpm he felt absolutely fine but if his heart rate went over that then he would get a strong pain in his chest and all the way down his left bicep.  During the walk Shirley and Cronje had talked to several doctors and nurses that happened to be hiking and had received conflicting advice and it didn't seem to be going anywhere.  When he described his symptoms to me I vaguely remembered that Rob had something similar so I phoned Rob up but it turned out that the symptoms were completely different but he did recognise the symptoms as being the same as one would get from angina which is a heart attack and suggested that Cronje descend immediately.  Thereafter followed a chaotic leaderless charade with Cronje, who felt fine unless he was working, thinking that we were all over-reacting.  Rob had given me a number for heart specialist and between many dropped calls the doctor convinced Cronje that he should descend as soon as possible and once the decision was made it all started to happen in a slow chaotic African manner.  Simon, frustrated with the indecision and pace, also entered the fray to give some direction which helped, not so much to change the direction but at least to speed things up and lend some urgency.  Shirley was beside herself with worry which was totally understandable but once a plan was decided she at least had something to work on and towards.  The plan was was that Shirley and Cronje would walk very slowly down to Millenium Camp which was 4km away and from there he could be stretchered or air-lifted out.  The doctor had prescribed 300mg of aspirin immediately and 150mg every day until such time as he reached a hospital.  At the moment we don't know how they are but we did see them crest the last rise after which there was only downhill all the way to the Millenium Camp.

I found it very interesting the different leadership styles between Simon and myself.  I am much more the co-operative, arrive at a decision together type which is fine in lots if not most situations but thinking back on this afternoon, this isn't one of them.  I think Simons command type leadership was more appropriate.  Anyway, they have gone and are hopefully at a hospital by now and I feel really stupid that I didn't take the symptoms more seriously yesterday not that it would have made much difference because they would have had to take the same route out in any case.


As soon as Shirley and Cronje had left the three of us took a hike up  a long hill up to 4263m and sat there and admired the scenery before descending before sun set.  I had a great shower just as the sun dipped over the horizon and then spent some time sorting things out in the tent ready for tomorrow.

We had tea and supper in the mess tent as well as a bit of a chat before Andre and Simon left for bed at 20:30.  All of us are feeling good and strong so we are looking forward to tomorrow although I will take another disprin even though the headache is barely there.  Having now seen two couples depart where the one partner was fit and strong but had to forego the climb out of consideration for the other partner we resolved that if one of us had problems, the others would still press on and climb and not feel regret at leaving the other behind.  I felt very sorry for Petrie and Shirley both of whom were showing absolutely no signs of distress on the walk.

I felt really strong on this afternoons climb so it looks like my body is finally starting to get into the swing of things.  I really enjoyed the walk this morning after we had separated from Shirley and Cronje and we could walk at our own pace and there were a couple of hills where I really enjoyed sucking in big lungfuls of air and going up at a nice clip.

Although I really enjoyed today I could have done without the medical issues; I don't go on holiday to make decisions and try to lead and it really felt like Shirley was looking to me to lead and because I'm not a doctor I felt a bit out of my depth.  I really hope that they are okay because they make a great couple.

The cell phone signal exists but it is very unreliable which was very frustrating but at least I did get hold of Rob and spoke to a number of doctors who all said the same thing.  It was a little like in a movie where someone has to tell another something really important ... and then the signal goes but this was real life and it was unbelievably frustrating.

Decorum is taking a bit of beating, at the start of the hike we would walk 50m off the track for a pee and every day this distance has come down until now when we just turn around.

Prosper came back from Millenium Camp fairly late where he had left Shirley and Cronje in the care of a doctor and they were going to sleep there and then continue down slowly.  Hopefully at lower altitude he will be able to manage his heart rate a bit better.  Arthur has been renamed "Pilletjies", I think he was hoping that quantity of pills would get him to the top instead of his legs; still not really sure why he gave up.

I spent a bit of time fashioning a strap for Andre's hat because the wind is bound to blow it away sometime.  After that I shortened the chest strap of my heart rate monitor because it is now measuring bubbles in my colon instead of my heart rate.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 5km
Altitude : 20m climbed camp to camp.
kcal : unknown
heartrate : unknown
walking time : 5 hours

The end of the day showing Mount Meru in the distance.

Day 3 : Shira 2 Camp to Barranco Camp

I slept so-so last night, I woke up at 02:00 and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours and I'm not sure if it was because I went to bed too early or if the altitude is starting to kick in.  I felt a bit hot so I opened the sleeping bag up and when I awoke again at 06:00 I was just a little bit cold.  The ear plugs really work wonders and I will never go camping without them again.

We had breakfast of maltabella porridge and onion omelette which tasted just great.  I'm sure that if I was in an actual hotel I would be turning my nose up at this fare but just at the moment, it is great.

By 08:30 we were off and trudging up a very long gentle slope that seemed interminable.  It wasn't long after we left that Arthur started walking slower and slower and finally stopped altogether and decided that enough was enough and that he was going down to the same exit point that Marita and Petrie had used last night.  I think that he had just run out of energy and it was very sudden, one moment he was fine  if slow the next he was heading back down so suddenly there were only five of us.  As it turned out, it was just as well because the hill only finally ended at 4600m which is a vertical ascent of 800m in a single hill.

The point of no return for Arthur.

By the time we reached the lunch spot just below Lava Tower at about 4600m Andre had a thunderous headache and Cronje was nauseous and was walking very slowly.  The rest of us were a little breathless and not feeling 100% but not quite sure how to describe it.  Dizzy is close but it didn't feel like I was going to fall down.  Shirley was very worried about Cronje so it was really nice to be able to get everyone out of the biting wind into the lunch tent and Simon playing pappa bear and making sure that everyone eats and drinks sufficiently.  Andre ate a little but not enough in my opinion whereas Cronje seemed to eat well and looked better for having a rest and some food.  He still didn't feel too well so Shirley and Cronje started straight down towards Barranco Camp while Andre, Simon and myself headed up a little bit to Lava Tower which is a relatively impressive chunk of rock.  In the picture below you can see the path leading up to Lava Tower which at low altitude would be a doddle.  At 4500m, it is a bit of an effort.

 

There is actually a campsite at Lava Tower which I am very happy not to be sleeping in because it is very exposed to the wind which howls through the saddle between Lava Tower and the Kilmanjaro mountain proper.

From Lava Tower it was all downhill all the way to Barranco Camp which really hurt all three of us and we finally made it into Camp at 17:30 expecting to find Shirley and Cronje already there but they were nowhere to be seen which isn't a good sign.

I solved the lack of vegetation problem for a sponge bath by temporarily evicting the toilet from the toilet tent and changing it into a shower house which worked splendidly well.  There is nothing that feels as good as being clean after a hard days slog and because Arthur hadn't arrived, there were four tents available which meant that each of us had a tent to ourselves.  What luxury!  When I opened my tent Arthurs bag was in it so I really hope that he made it off the mountain before night fall.  Spending a night up here without a sleeping bag would not be any fun at all.

Shirley and Cronje finally wandered into camp after dark, I didn't look at the time but I think that it was at about 19:00, with Cronje very much worse for wear.  The camp 'doctor' arrived to check and did a blood oxygen test and Cronje was apparently fine as far as altitude sickness was concerned.  The diagnosis was a touch of the sun as well as a bit of exhaustion so was sent to bed with a cocktail of ibuprofen, gaviscon and some diamox just in case.  We are all keeping our fingers crossed that he feels better tomorrow.  Andre also wasn't feeling too well and struggled to eat and I think he has a lighter touch of the same thing.  I am feeling quite fine as is Simon, tiny bit of a headache but nothing to speak of so I am having a disprin just for good measure.

We were sitting in the mess tent having supper listening to the party going on next door wondering where they get the energy from.  I think that the 20 years that they have on us has something to do with it but in the end they went to bed at the same time as us so maybe they were actually just as tired, just noisier.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 10km
Altitude : 200m climbed camp to camp.
kcal : 3300
heartrate : 110 average
walking time : 9 hours

The group is really starting to gel and the concern that Shirley is showing for Cronje is quite touching.  We were laughing a bit at lunch and a few tears came out which Shirley noticed; I said it was the wind but I'm not sure she believed me.  Andre reckons that this is the tiredest that he has ever been.  Simon is quite a star, in spite of being quite tired himself he never stops helping and making or at least trying to make them feel as good as possible.  There is lots I can learn from him.

We had an interesting discussion comparing France with South Africa and the contrast between sophistication and utilitarian and I resolved to make a French meal when I get home where everyone has to prepare something for the meal but in the same kitchen when I get back.

I have been carrying my camera over my one shoulder and it has gone into spasm which Simon sorted out with a great massage but I'm going to have to swap shoulders tomorrow.  The view from Barranco Camp which is in a gorge is quite spectacular and I spent about 30 minutes just sitting and looking out over the clouds.  Incredibly serene.

I finished the evening by taking some moonlit shots of the snow covered peaks above us.  It was a really tough day but one that I really enjoyed and at the end of the day, Prosper told us the names that the staff and porters had assigned to us.

Andre - Elephant - Tembo
Cronje - Buffalo - Nyati
Shirley - Leopard - Chui
Simon - Lion - Simba
Roland - Rhino - Kifaru

Time for bed since everyone else is asleep and even the youngsters next door are not talking anymore.

Day 2 : Machame Camp to Shira 2 Camp

I woke up at 06:00 because I had forgotten to reset my alarm from yesterday but as it turned out, it was just as well because I just made it in time to start walking with the others.  I had brought a filter to pump water through but this proved to be very awkward to manage trying to hold it as well as the bladder from the camelbak at the same time.

I found today quite difficult, it felt like we started off on a steep hill and it just kept on going from there for the whole day.  By lunch time I wasn't feeling so great with a bit of a headache but after some food (cucumber soup with spaghetti) and some water I started feeling much better.  Marita on the other hand was really struggling by lunchtime and just kept on getting worse.  I don't think that it was the altitude, I think she is just exhausted which is not a good place to be on day two.

After lunch the pace just got slower and slower as Marita struggled along until after a while one of the guides took her pack and Simon, Andre and myself took turns to carry Petrie's pack so that he was able to help Marita more easily.  The pace was still very slow but faster with Marita not carrying a pack.

As a result of the really easy pace, I could keep my heart rate very low and it allowed me to take loads of photographs but I'm not sure that any of them will capture the magnificent views which we are experiencing.  Talk also turned to food which I consider to be the first sign of homesickness and both Shirley and myself are determined to get Simons recipe for French onion soup out of him before the end of the hike.

We arrived quite late at Shira 2 Camp and after an hour or twos vascillation, Marita decided to call it quits which meant that Petrie would be abandoning the climb as well.  Marita was a bit emotional as one would expect having come so far and then having to abort.  I wasn't so sure that they were making the correct decision, I think a nights sleep, some food and water and Marita may have felt quite different tomorrow morning but their decision is their decision and I'm not a doctor either.  We all felt quite sorry for Petrie who wasn't struggling at all and was still having to come to terms with abandoning the climb.  I don't think I would have been quite so equanimous if I had been in his boots but be that as it may they started walking to a nearby pickup point at sunset and our party shrank from eight to six people.

That is the top of kilinamjaro in the distance behind the campsite which is a pretty barren place.

For some reason Simon had forgotten to bring a hat and got quite sun burnt while I had a low level dull headache most likely from the altitiude.  Andre crawled into his tent and had a sleep soon after arrival so I think that the day took it out of him as well.

I tried to take some photographs as the sun went down as well as in the moonlight with moderate success but I have taken 200 photographs in two days so I had better start watching out that I don't run out of space on my memory card.

Supper was a little subdued with the departure of Marita and Petrie but the banter and innuendo continued unabated nonetheless.  Arthur also didn't feel too great and had thrown up earlier and I hope that this isn't the beginning of the end for Arthur as well.  This is his second attempt and last time he got to within a few hundred metres of the top before giving up.  Shirley for some reason seems to regard me as the hiking guru when, in fact, it is probably Simon that she should be asking questions of.

Simon really came to the fore today with helping Marita and Pietrie, a kind heart beneath the black desert ninja suit of his exterior.

I really enjoyed having some time on my own sitting still and watching the sun descend over the horizon.  I particularly enjoyed my bath behind a bush away from the camp but I have a feeling that there are no more bushes in any of the other camps so I'll have to make another plan for tomorrow night.

After supper I sat writing up my diary by candlelight and I could see the steam on my breath although it didn't feel that cold.  I wasn't feeling very sleepy but everyone else had already turned in so I followed suite.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 5km
Altitude : 960m climbed
kcal : 2918
heartrate : 114 average, 151 maximum
walking time : 7:26 hours

It was really beautiful to see Kilimanjaro towering over us in the moonlight.  I've still go a little bit of a headache but it comes and goes and it's not too bad in any case.  Most of our meals have some onion in it somewhere which has led to an epidemic of "colonic bubbles" as Andre puts it.  His account of try to sneak them out in the thunderhut which is right next to Shirley and Cronje's tent was hilarious.

We saw the two betties again, still struggling on and I want to say manfully but it wouldn't be appropriate so womanly it has to be.

Day 1 : Machame Gate to Machame Camp

I had a good nights sleep with the fan going and earplugs in, I think the last good nights sleep I will have for a while.  Simon had a really poor nights sleep with a drunken party going on next to their room and Arthur coughing all night long.  I didn't hear a thing and I think earplugs are not an optional extra for camping, they are an absolute necessity.  We woke up at 06:00 and had what will be the last decent shower for a while before some last minute packing and then breakfast.  Breakfast consisted of maltabella and eggs on toast which went down very nicely indeed although the juice had a very strange taste to it.

The entire group met up in the courtyard and at the last moment I decided to hire one of the canvas bags that everyone else was using which proved to be a very good decision although I should have ditched my big bag altogether and left it at the hotel.  We met Prosper who was to be our guide and then later we met Arsenal who was our "official" guide which I didn't quite understand.  The party hadn't paid for the private toilet and oxygen so I paid for the toilet and I don't know who paid for the oxygen.

Back in the bus we trundled up the hills and into the mist, the driver had to use 1st gear on several occasions and if he had missed a gear change down I'm not sure we would have been able to get started again.  We finally arrived at Machame gate eager to start the days walking but we had to wait for what felt like ages while the porters were sorted out so we actually only started walking at 11:30.

The whole of day 1 was fantastic as we climbed up, into and eventually out of the rainforest. We spent most of the day in the mist which made for very cool walking which I in particular enjoyed.  When we started out, Andre, Simon and myself sauntered off ahead unintentionally; I think our natural pace is just a little bit faster but we were brought up quickly by Prosper and thereafter we trouped along behind him.  The motto that we all learned quite quickly was "pole pole" pronounce "poli poli" which means slowly, slowly in swahili and anytime anyone would speed on out front we would hear the admonition coming from Prosper.  As it turns out, Prosper's pace is perfect for me because I could stop and take photographs and still catch up easily without getting out of breath.

Note the difference between the backpacks the porters are carrying above and those that we are carrying below.  It is amazing the amount that the porters carry as well as the speed that they carry it at.

The group from left to right is Andre, Marita, Arthur, Simon, Shirley, Petrie, Prosper and Cronje.

The path itself was great, a nice gentle gradient with mostly small steps, one just needed to "hou links" (keep left) every now and then as the porters overtook us with all the camping equipment we would be using in the evening.

The whole experience was quite ethereal with the backlit mist and the trees fading away but we eventually broke through the top of the mist belt for our first glimpse of Kilimanjaro 3000m above us.  Quite an intimidating sight.

The whole party kept pace with prosper which bodes well and Simon, Andre and myself walked and chatted a bit with everyone so it looks promising on the cohesion of the part as a whole although time will tell.  The 'gay' jokes about spooning between Simon and Arthur are already starting to wear a bit thin so I hope they stop soon.

I absolutely loved the walk but I ate too much at lunch time since I felt obliged  to finish the lunch pack provided  but I won't make this mistake again.  Above the mist it was already late afternoon and with the sun scything through the rainforest it was just beautiful.

We finally arrived at Machame Camp at 17:30 to a warm bowl of water to wash with so I headed out of camp and had a sponge bath and it felt fantastic to feel clean, warm and dry.  The disposable towels that I brought as well as the cotton towels are going to work a treat and I think I have brought just enough to last the entire trek.

Back at camp supper was served in a tent with tables and chairs, all of which arrived today on someone's back.  This really is luxury camping; I could get used to it.  Supper consisted of cucumber soup as a starter followed by roast potatoes, chicken and boiled cabbage and a vegetarian curry all of which was quite tasty.  Andre and Simon have decided that discretion is the better part of valour and turned vegetarian for the duration of the hike so they missed out on the chicken but I am sure that the porters made sure that there were absolutely no leftovers.  Dessert consisted of oranges, bananna and paw paw and once this was consumed everyone went off to bed.  I stayed up a while longer to write up my diary by candle light.

The statistics for the day are:
Distance : 11km
Altitude : 1210m climbed
kcal : 2638
heartrate : 120 average, 149 maximum
walking time : 6 hours

Andre is still struggling with a bit of an uncomfortable stomach or as he describes it "Air bubbles all down the colon" and I had a very mild headache but nothing to really complain of.

Although we weren't the slowest today on the walk we were very close to it but I really liked the pace we are going at and I am looking forward to tomorrow.  We met a couple of overweight british girls whom we named the two betties and whom we gave absolutely no chance  of making it to the top given the difficulty that they were having on day one.

"mzungu" is swahili for "white man" which caused a fair amount of hilarity between the porters, staff and andre.

Hey ho, hey ho, it's off to climb we go ...

Andre and I left home at 08:00 and arrived at the Gautrain station just in time to see the Gautrain depart so we had to wait for 30 minutes for the next train. Grrr, trains aren't as frequent as they are during the week.  Andre had never been on the Gautrain so I think it was a pleasant surprise for him.  We arrived at ORT, wrapped out bags with clingwrap and then met some of the other members of the party.  There was Simon, a friend of  Andre's from the UAE, Arthur from Johannesburg and Shirley and Cronje from the Freestate.  Andre obviously does this travel thing a lot because he somehow forged ahead and was through immigration way before me and ended up waiting on the other side for me to catch up.  Immigration wanted to see my yellow fever card which was a bit unusual, they normally only want to see it on entry into the country and not on exit.  I think they just wanted to make sure that I actually had one in preparation for re-entry after the holiday.

Boarding of the flight was uneventful as was the flight and before we knew it, we had arrived at Nairobi airport which I have been to several times so we whiled away the time at the java cafe and chugged back a few tusker beers which I rather enjoyed.  There was one guy at the bar that kept trying to catch my eye, who knows what for so we moved down to the gate and sat down next to a french family who were nattering away in french unaware that both Andre and Simon can speak it.

We boarded Precision Air bound for Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) after a few more tuskers, most of them consumed by Simon.  We flew past Kilimanjaro on the right as the sun set behind it which was rather picturesque.  As we were looking out at the mountain, Andre said "There's Kili" to which I replied "Nah, can't be" but it was and it is a rather impressive chunk of rock.

On landing we had to apply for a visa, get the visa issued and then have the visa checked.  That would be three separate queues which was very time consuming especially with the visa issuing official typing with two thumbs and the power failure obviously didn't help but it all worked in the end.  It was comical from my point of view looking at Andre getting more and more exasperated with the inept official but he managed to keep it in and we emerged from the arrivals with our baggage which was a relief to meet the rest of the party.  Marita and her son Petrie who had just graduated as a qualified doctor.  Lots of joking around about Arthur and Simon spooning in their hiking tent which was very amusing since Arthur is 6'7" and Simon is 5'7".

We found the bus and driver and a bumpy hour later and a few close shaves with death, we arrived at Springlands hotel which is obviously a hot spot for Trekking.   Arthur had to tell the driver to cool it at one point when we had just missed a head-on collision.  Arriving at Springlands we had a short welcome introduction before we were off to unpack before supper.  Most people didn't eat the chicken and prawns on offer because everyone was a little worried about getting sick.  Arthur dispensed Travelan which is an anti-diarrhoea pill to everyone; I think he brought enough of it for it to be his primary food source for the entire trip.

Good to have arrived at last and the temperature is great, nice and cool.  I had a bit of a headache which I think was caffeine withdrawal and once we had redone all the packing ready for walking the next day it was sleep time.