Day 6, 4th July, back home for some...

Well, not quite....the group left to Nairobi as they were flying that night but i decided to stay for an extra week to go on a safari....I thought it would be a godd way to celebrate my 38th b'day.





The group dropped me at the Arusha Hotel. once they left I felt soooo lonely...i had just spent the last 7 days of my life with all of them and I guess I did not like the idea of being on my own.

That's me at the hotel (Dave took the picture from the bus)












Arusha






I spent he rest of the day in Arusha, mainly at the hotel doing the laundry and resting; i had a proper shower and slept in a decent bed which was just amazing.
I was not allowed to go out on my own...so they escorted me to the local supermarket to get water and toothpaste.
Arusha is very safe, but you would have 20 people following you trying to sell anything.

The morning after, I got up very early planning to visit the local Maasai market but again I was not allowed to leave on my own; I needed to get some cash and well, that was another adventure. I tried every single ATM within a 5 miles radius and I could not get cash in any of them. I had to go by taxi to some of them. We ended up in a local hotel getting the cash but being charged in USD but getting Tanzanian schillings...good business....

My advise...if you ever go to Tanzania, GET PLENTY OF CASH; don't rely on credit cards.


Lake Manyara

Day 5, 3rd July..the shower getting closer Nitaikosa Kilimanjaro

After breakfast we had prepared a small farewell for the porters and guides.
Sophie had also prepared a speech in swahili. Connie did the same in English. It was beautiful.
We wanted to thank them for their hard work, their kindness, help and ongoing smile; they never stopped smiling for a minute.


We had the pleasure, once again, to enjoy their singing and dancing....




















I got the most beautiful present from one of the porters, a 19 years old kid (you can see him on the pic wearing a redist top and black woolly hat) to whom i had been chatting the day before in Kibo; he told me he wanted to go to school because the porters' job was killing him.
I burst into tears when he gave it to me and I kept crying for the 2 following hours.
These people are the kindest I have ever met in my entire life.
Clive was fab with me and gave me some wonderful support; thanks for that Clive, it meant a lot to me!!

We continued our descend (6 hours), passing the Mandara hut, down to the Marangu gate through the rain forest.






















































At Marangu gate you sign your name and details in a register.

This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Those climbers who reached Gillman's Point (5685m) are issued with green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) receive gold certificates. Well, we actually received them at the celebration dinner back at the lodge.

We got back to the lodge to enjoy the first shower in 6 days...unfortunately it was not what I had imagined...it was cold water...





We had dinner at 8pm and my first glass of wine in over 2 months.



Sophie and Richard

Some of us had the privilege to enjoy Warren

Day 4, 2nd July SUMMIT DAY 5,896m and descend to Horombo Camp

It was finally summit day where we have to ascend from 4700m to 5865m (Uhuru Peak).

That night we left at 12am after resting for a few hours to make it to the top by 8am.

At 3am and at 5000m I wanted to give up but I got the strength from my guide, aka my angel, thinking about my dad and his strength and also Jesus Christ carrying the cross. The things that cross your mind are just extraordinary.

I can not really explain the pain, exhaustion, coldness etc etc; I guess for those of u that have made it will be easy to understand.

It was a very long night with our head torches being the only light we could see pointing at our feet; I did not want to look ahead as the row of lights going up could give you vertigo so I just kept walking looking at my own feet.

Approaching Gilman's point we enjoyed the sunrise....wow!!!

There was something I will never forget and it was the guides saluting the mountain...

Good Morning Kilimanjaro, Good morning Tanzania! I will never ever forget that moment.

Here with my angel drinking water (mine freeze)

Well, I made it to Gilman’s point (5671m) at 7:30am with Natalie, Joe, Peter and my angel.

I had to walkvery slowly as I had a pulled muscle (my adductor) and cause I kept stopping all the way up to take some breath and to help other people that had to stop on the way up or had to descend badly affected by altitude sickness and exhaustion.

Once there I started to feel great so we continued 2 more hours to Uhuru Peak only after Joe helped me to get some compeed as I could not move my hands any more as they were too cold to even undo my boots.

This pic does not really show how great I was feeling...

I am lost for words to explain the feeling up there, the challenge itself, the sunrise, the glacier, the savannah…you have to be there to know what it is like.

Finally we made it at Uhuru Peak, THE ROOF OF AFRICA!

Natalie and I feeling sooooo proud and happy!!

Right there I just wanted to call my mum to tell her!

Here I am with Natalie, my angel and Peter (the guides)

With Natalie and Peter

Another 3-4 hours to get to 4700m at Kibo Point (the point from where we started the summit). That was FUN....I kept falling over and could not stop laughing all the way down. My pulled mucle was killing me and at this time my knee too as I had to force it too much.

I had 20 minutes rest at Kibo and from there another 4 hours to keep on descending to Horombo camp at 4000m. I was exhausted and in a bad mood; I needed to rest. Nw that I thin about it I was probably in a bad mood cause I had no reception...could i be so silly?

Day 3, 1st July, Kibo hut 4700m

Today we get up earlier than normal as we want to arrive at Kibo Hut in good time. Its the usual breakfast and we set off about 7:30am, its a beautiful sunny day and everyone's feeling good.
We've been very lucky with the weather so far - my waterproofs haven't come out of my pack once.

The first part of the walk is fairly easy and soon the long path to Kibo Hut stretches out before us. It really doesn't look too far away and not that steep either - after all its only 300m higher than Mawenzi Tarn right?

After the first couple of hours,exhaustion sets in. My legs are heavy, every step becomes harder. It doesn't help that the Kili summit is right in front of us




We finally arrive at Kibo Hut some 6 and a half hours after we set out. Kibo is quite a big campsite with a mixture of huts and tents to accommodate all the walkers from the other routes who also congregate here before the summit attempt.





We're not allowed to rest for long as lunch is about to be served. Everyone is talking around what we'll be wearing that night. After lunch we're allowed to lie down for a few hours and even though I cant sleep at all, I can feel the energy starting to flow back into my body. Eventually I feel strong enough to sit up and start sorting out my gear for that night.

At 5:30pm we're called to dinner. No-one's really hungry but we all force down some food as we know what lies ahead.

After dinner, our guides brief us on the summit attempt so we know what to wear and what to take with us. By now its getting really cold and we're all wearing our down jackets even in the tent.

We're all back in our tents by 6:30pm to try and get some rest. I get up at 10:30pm to go to the toilet and for to be ready for the 11pm tea.
I get dressed, and put on nearly everything in my bag. 2 wool base layer, long sleeve polyester base layer, t-shirt, 2 long sleeve micro fleece thermal, windproof fleece jacket and down jacket. On the bottom I have 2 thermal leggings and waterproof trousers. I have a beanie, balaclava and headtorch on my head and heavy weight ski gloves on my hands.

In my bag I pack spare gloves, snacks and water.

About 11:30pm we gather in the mess tent for tea and biscuits. At midnight our guides assemble us outside the tent, ready to head off.... We all hugged and wished good luck to each other; it was the day!!!!