Day 1 & 2 - 17/18th October 2014
Today is the start of the big adventure. Knowing we had a long journey ahead of us just to get to the pre-trek hotel I thought I would turn my alarm off so as to get a couple of extra hours sleep. No such luck, like a kid at Christmas I was awake at 4 a.m. full of nervous anticipation.
Having packed everything the night before I made my way to Lime Street Station where I met Paul the first new face. We had arranged to meet Alison and Michelle at Euston Station around 2 p.m. and make our way to Heathrow together. I already felt that I knew Alison quite well having chatted online quite extensively over the previous few weeks. Michelle hardly at all as she had only really made contact a couple of weeks before. On meeting at Euston her first question to Paul and myself was to ask if we though this trek was going to be tough. Michelle seemed to be ill-informed and unprepared and this was to be the start of a theme though not a hindrance to her progress through the trek.
Struggling across London with our main kitbag's and rucksacks we got the train to Heathrow and promptly lodged ourselves at the bar, got a drink in and waited for the rest of the party. Mark was first to arrive followed by Roz and then Val. Having made contact online it was easy to strike up conversation. We started telling each other a little bit about ourselves and spookily as I was telling the others a little bit about myself Janet rang me to wish me luck. Even more spookily she was at Heathrow in Terminal 5, being on her way to a a holiday a tad more luxurious than the trip we were taking.
Realising that there were 2 Marks in the group it was decided we needed to have different names. Roz decided that I was to be called Mary. Clearly someone has been blabbing about my secret weekend activities.
Getting our tickets from Charity Challenge we booked in for the flight and headed for security but not before Michelle somehow managed to lose her boarding passes and passport in the ten feet between the e-ticket machines and the bag drop. Minor panic over, a mini competition started over who had got their packing right and kept their main kitbag's under 15 kilo's.The answer was none of us but I was closest at 15.2 kilo's.
After navigating security we wanted to get something to eat as none of us were hopeful of the quality of food on the flight. The first challenge of the trip was to do just that as Terminal 2 is a joke for finding something to eat. Caviar bars and a Heston Blumenthal restaurant. What's wrong with a basic cafe or a Burger King? We settled on a sandwich, buying an extra one for the flight to Addis Ababa.
Just as we were about to set off for boarding Dr Doug turned up, the trek doctor. We were fortunate that on this occasion Charity Challenge had secured the services of a doctor to accompany us, and as it turns out Doc had climbed Kili before so knew what to expect, his input and advice was to be crucial as the trip went on.
The food on the flight was actually a really tasty chicken curry, or at least myself and the Doc thought so. After managing to get a couple of hours on/off sleep on the flight the approach to Addis consisted of the most spectacular sunrise and a surprisingly lush countryside. We only ever hear about famine in Ethiopia so this was a pleasant surprise. The sheer size of Addis was a surprise too although why I don't know, it's not as though I had any expectations.
Leaving the plane at Addis we were screened for Ebola even though we were further away from the infection zone than when we had set off from London. Africa is a very big continent after all. Whilst in transit another theme of the trip was to emerge, the ability of Doc to get a few minutes sleep in at very opportunity, we would become very envious. Following a short transit period in Addis we boarded the flight to Kilimanjaro where there was another nice lunch, according to Doc and myself, but tough luck if you were a vegetarian as in the case of Val and Alison.
The mountain was covered in cloud as we arrived so did not get a view of it and because of the cloud the landing was very rough. I did well to hold my lunch down, one of our party was not so lucky. Leaving the flight we had to queue outside in the heat to get into the terminal. We were to be screened again for Ebola and as this involved looking for increased body temperature we kept being reminding to stand in the shade, it was only just about possible.
Feeling relieved that we hadn't caught Ebola in the 4 hours since we were last screened we were met at the airport by the Tanzanian Travel Company. We were introduced to Daniel who was to be our guide to the summit.
We arrived at the hotel 33 hours after I had left home, 35 in Alison's case, where I was pleasantly surprised to be given a room on my own. Mark and Paul were the same age so I presume that is why they were placed together. The Doc needed to be separate in case he was ever required so that left me to myself. This would be a blessing all round as I am so disorganised I would get on a room mates nerves very quickly before we even get started on potential snoring issues.
After a quick freshen up we met in the bar where Daniel gave us our first briefing. We must eat well, we must take on as much fluid as we can as often as possible 'Sippy Sippy', we must walk slowly 'Pole Pole', get rest in at every opportunity and hygiene around food was vital to avoid stomach upsets. We would be provided with a cup of tea in the morning and some warm water for 'washy washy' before breakfast. Cooked breakfasts, lunch and evening meals would be provided, drinking water at every camp would also be provided. The most important thing though was to concentrate only on that days trek, do not focus on the summit until we get to summit night.
We lapped up every piece of advice asked questions to get our heads round what was to come. Val and Roz, who had met on a previous trip to Peru, advised that we may as well leave any potential embarrassment behind as within a couple of days the lack of home comforts and consequent drop in cleanliness wouldn't be an issue, and altitude would have effect on our bodies too. The Doc then gave us a briefing about what to expect as we got to high altitudes, that we should start taking Diamox as soon as we were about to start trekking, although we could expect symptoms of excessive peeing, and tingling. The latter came to be known as the Diamox tingles.
Finally Daniel asked about any particular dietary needs, or in reality what things wouldn't we eat. After about fifteen minutes of various things from various members of the group he had almost but not quite lost the will to live. As it turned out he needn't have worried because we were all to eat well although Mark won't mind me saying he was bit more of a challenge for the chef's.
All that was left was to have a meal and a good nights sleep and we were ready to go.
Day 3 - 19th October 2014
After a very good nights sleep we met for a very decent breakfast at 7.30 before meeting Daniel in the lobby. Separating clothes out for our return from the mountain, so that we would have something clean to put on, our kitbag's were weighed to ensure they were below the 15 kilo limit and we made our way onto the minibus to be taken to the national park.
By this time we were all looking forward to getting going although probably still a little bit nervous about what was to come. Driving to the Marangu Gate to get our permits for entering the park we passed through many villages where the scenes were everything I expected of Africa. Women dressed in bright colours, people carrying heavy loads balanced on their heads, fresh faced and bright eyed children everywhere and lots of people waving at us as we went past. Churches bursting at the seems with people, it was Sunday morning. There were also two lorries that crashed into a ditch that had attracted quite a crowd.
Heading to the Park we got our first 'Wow' moment. Here is a photo I took from the minibus.
Now it was real, no turning back and we couldn't wait.
With the permits secured we drove to our starting point where we were provided with a very nice lunch while the porters went about getting everything packed up to take to the first camp. We were astonished at the amount of kit these guys, and one girl, managed to carry. Our kit bags, our tents, their own kitbags, all the food for the trip. We were expected to carry daysack's weighing up to about 7.5 kilo's. The porters would be carrying 20 kilo's at least and going faster than us.
There were several groups waiting to go taking different routes and schedules up the mountain. Ours appeared to be the longest route giving us plenty of acclimatisation training. We met a very nice Irish couple who were climbing the mountain for their honeymoon. They would be at the first camp we had overnight but after that were on a different route.
With the porters packed and off and running we set off on our first tentative few steps up the mountain.
Very quickly we came to realise that Pole Pole meant very very slowly. Although the path seemed easier than many walks we had done in the UK none of us felt the urge to go faster than the guide was leading us. It was obvious right from the start that none of our group was going to do anything other than take on board every last piece of advice given to us. If the guides had told us to put our left boot on first we would have done it.
The first trek lasted about 3 hours through rain forest. Passing though a remote village where the locals led a very sparse existence and a small group of children were waiting by the trail to ask for chocolate, we didn't have any. The villagers had set up a little stall selling drinks to the porters and some of the guides and porters where waiting for us there and burst in to song. We passed on through using the gentle start as more time to get to know each other better. Talking to Val about the sparse existence she remarked that in some ways they probably led a more carefree existence than us and I couldn't disagree as everybody looks happy.
On the way to camp some of the guides introduced themselves, Ben, Farouk and Lassara where to be our main guides. 'Small Daniel' also introduced himself. He was Daniel's brother and his real name was Felix. We were to learn that Felix was the main focal point of the camp, he would wake us up, bring us our tea and our food, and was always laughing and joking. At times for all we know he could have been insulting as as he bellowed at us in Swahili. Even if he was we didn't care because he made is laugh at the same time and he never let anyone's spirit's drop.
We reached the camp at a height of approx. 2600m in good spirits and were shown to our tents. We had gained around 650m in height during the afternoon. We were brought our first washy washy, a very small bowl of warm water and a small piece of soap to last the rest of the trek. When I say a small bowl of water I am talking about enough water to barely wash your hands in.
Milling round the camp and chit chatting to the others I suddenly realised I was standing on an ants nest and dozens of the little biting buggers were making their way up the inside of my clothes. Having managed to fight the buggers off I tucked my trousers into my socks to stop a repeat invasion. However, during the evening meal I did feel one of the remaining survivors getting very close to my gentleman's area and put a stop to it before it was too late. I am feeling a bit itchy just recalling it. Doc was very sympathetic, he thought it as very funny.
Our first camp meal was a spectacularly tasty Zucchini followed by a delicious fried fish with potatoes and spicy vegetables. We were all very impressed. I started as I meant to go on by drinking black tea with my meals. A small sacrifice on my part, being a non tea drinker, but vital as it was to get progressively colder in camp over the coming days.
Daniel gave us our briefing for the next day and the Doc gave us his most important piece of advice so far. If you need to pee in the night don't lie there holding it in as you won't rest, just 'Man Up' and go the loo no matter how cold it is outside.
As it turned out as soon we returned to our tents it started absolutely belting it down. This was followed by thunder and lightning. With the Diamox having the side effect of wanting to make you pee all the time, and the sound of water running down the outside of your tent the dilemma of holding it in or 'manning up' became acute. Fortunately the rain stopped before it was too late so I made a dash for it. This was to be the first of many dashes on the first night. By the end of of the night I couldn't be bothered getting fully dressed and just went for it in my boxer shorts. It was fairly warm so it is not as brave as it sounds. It would have been a sickening sight for one of the ladies of the group though if they had ventured out at the same time.
While the constant peeing did mean a bit of a restless night it also meant that about 3 a.m. when the rain had stopped completely, and the sky had cleared, I was rewarded with the most spectacular night sky I had ever seen. With little or no light pollution the sky was was filled with bright stars, a site we just don't get in urban Britain.
Apart from that the night was spent to trying to work out how to get comfortable. Although I had purchased a nice warm sleeping bag and a thermarest mattress, it was till a tad uneven underneath so manoeuvring your body around the lumpy bits was vital to get comfy.
My tent is the one on the right that appears to be levitating. It wasn't!
Next up - trekking to high altitudes, watch this space.
If you have been 'enjoying' reading this blog please consider sponsoring me by visiting Marks Just Giving Page
Having packed everything the night before I made my way to Lime Street Station where I met Paul the first new face. We had arranged to meet Alison and Michelle at Euston Station around 2 p.m. and make our way to Heathrow together. I already felt that I knew Alison quite well having chatted online quite extensively over the previous few weeks. Michelle hardly at all as she had only really made contact a couple of weeks before. On meeting at Euston her first question to Paul and myself was to ask if we though this trek was going to be tough. Michelle seemed to be ill-informed and unprepared and this was to be the start of a theme though not a hindrance to her progress through the trek.
Struggling across London with our main kitbag's and rucksacks we got the train to Heathrow and promptly lodged ourselves at the bar, got a drink in and waited for the rest of the party. Mark was first to arrive followed by Roz and then Val. Having made contact online it was easy to strike up conversation. We started telling each other a little bit about ourselves and spookily as I was telling the others a little bit about myself Janet rang me to wish me luck. Even more spookily she was at Heathrow in Terminal 5, being on her way to a a holiday a tad more luxurious than the trip we were taking.
Realising that there were 2 Marks in the group it was decided we needed to have different names. Roz decided that I was to be called Mary. Clearly someone has been blabbing about my secret weekend activities.
Getting our tickets from Charity Challenge we booked in for the flight and headed for security but not before Michelle somehow managed to lose her boarding passes and passport in the ten feet between the e-ticket machines and the bag drop. Minor panic over, a mini competition started over who had got their packing right and kept their main kitbag's under 15 kilo's.The answer was none of us but I was closest at 15.2 kilo's.
After navigating security we wanted to get something to eat as none of us were hopeful of the quality of food on the flight. The first challenge of the trip was to do just that as Terminal 2 is a joke for finding something to eat. Caviar bars and a Heston Blumenthal restaurant. What's wrong with a basic cafe or a Burger King? We settled on a sandwich, buying an extra one for the flight to Addis Ababa.
Just as we were about to set off for boarding Dr Doug turned up, the trek doctor. We were fortunate that on this occasion Charity Challenge had secured the services of a doctor to accompany us, and as it turns out Doc had climbed Kili before so knew what to expect, his input and advice was to be crucial as the trip went on.
The food on the flight was actually a really tasty chicken curry, or at least myself and the Doc thought so. After managing to get a couple of hours on/off sleep on the flight the approach to Addis consisted of the most spectacular sunrise and a surprisingly lush countryside. We only ever hear about famine in Ethiopia so this was a pleasant surprise. The sheer size of Addis was a surprise too although why I don't know, it's not as though I had any expectations.
Leaving the plane at Addis we were screened for Ebola even though we were further away from the infection zone than when we had set off from London. Africa is a very big continent after all. Whilst in transit another theme of the trip was to emerge, the ability of Doc to get a few minutes sleep in at very opportunity, we would become very envious. Following a short transit period in Addis we boarded the flight to Kilimanjaro where there was another nice lunch, according to Doc and myself, but tough luck if you were a vegetarian as in the case of Val and Alison.
The mountain was covered in cloud as we arrived so did not get a view of it and because of the cloud the landing was very rough. I did well to hold my lunch down, one of our party was not so lucky. Leaving the flight we had to queue outside in the heat to get into the terminal. We were to be screened again for Ebola and as this involved looking for increased body temperature we kept being reminding to stand in the shade, it was only just about possible.
Feeling relieved that we hadn't caught Ebola in the 4 hours since we were last screened we were met at the airport by the Tanzanian Travel Company. We were introduced to Daniel who was to be our guide to the summit.
We arrived at the hotel 33 hours after I had left home, 35 in Alison's case, where I was pleasantly surprised to be given a room on my own. Mark and Paul were the same age so I presume that is why they were placed together. The Doc needed to be separate in case he was ever required so that left me to myself. This would be a blessing all round as I am so disorganised I would get on a room mates nerves very quickly before we even get started on potential snoring issues.
After a quick freshen up we met in the bar where Daniel gave us our first briefing. We must eat well, we must take on as much fluid as we can as often as possible 'Sippy Sippy', we must walk slowly 'Pole Pole', get rest in at every opportunity and hygiene around food was vital to avoid stomach upsets. We would be provided with a cup of tea in the morning and some warm water for 'washy washy' before breakfast. Cooked breakfasts, lunch and evening meals would be provided, drinking water at every camp would also be provided. The most important thing though was to concentrate only on that days trek, do not focus on the summit until we get to summit night.
We lapped up every piece of advice asked questions to get our heads round what was to come. Val and Roz, who had met on a previous trip to Peru, advised that we may as well leave any potential embarrassment behind as within a couple of days the lack of home comforts and consequent drop in cleanliness wouldn't be an issue, and altitude would have effect on our bodies too. The Doc then gave us a briefing about what to expect as we got to high altitudes, that we should start taking Diamox as soon as we were about to start trekking, although we could expect symptoms of excessive peeing, and tingling. The latter came to be known as the Diamox tingles.
Finally Daniel asked about any particular dietary needs, or in reality what things wouldn't we eat. After about fifteen minutes of various things from various members of the group he had almost but not quite lost the will to live. As it turned out he needn't have worried because we were all to eat well although Mark won't mind me saying he was bit more of a challenge for the chef's.
All that was left was to have a meal and a good nights sleep and we were ready to go.
Day 3 - 19th October 2014
After a very good nights sleep we met for a very decent breakfast at 7.30 before meeting Daniel in the lobby. Separating clothes out for our return from the mountain, so that we would have something clean to put on, our kitbag's were weighed to ensure they were below the 15 kilo limit and we made our way onto the minibus to be taken to the national park.
By this time we were all looking forward to getting going although probably still a little bit nervous about what was to come. Driving to the Marangu Gate to get our permits for entering the park we passed through many villages where the scenes were everything I expected of Africa. Women dressed in bright colours, people carrying heavy loads balanced on their heads, fresh faced and bright eyed children everywhere and lots of people waving at us as we went past. Churches bursting at the seems with people, it was Sunday morning. There were also two lorries that crashed into a ditch that had attracted quite a crowd.
Heading to the Park we got our first 'Wow' moment. Here is a photo I took from the minibus.
Now it was real, no turning back and we couldn't wait.
With the permits secured we drove to our starting point where we were provided with a very nice lunch while the porters went about getting everything packed up to take to the first camp. We were astonished at the amount of kit these guys, and one girl, managed to carry. Our kit bags, our tents, their own kitbags, all the food for the trip. We were expected to carry daysack's weighing up to about 7.5 kilo's. The porters would be carrying 20 kilo's at least and going faster than us.
There were several groups waiting to go taking different routes and schedules up the mountain. Ours appeared to be the longest route giving us plenty of acclimatisation training. We met a very nice Irish couple who were climbing the mountain for their honeymoon. They would be at the first camp we had overnight but after that were on a different route.
With the porters packed and off and running we set off on our first tentative few steps up the mountain.
Very quickly we came to realise that Pole Pole meant very very slowly. Although the path seemed easier than many walks we had done in the UK none of us felt the urge to go faster than the guide was leading us. It was obvious right from the start that none of our group was going to do anything other than take on board every last piece of advice given to us. If the guides had told us to put our left boot on first we would have done it.
The first trek lasted about 3 hours through rain forest. Passing though a remote village where the locals led a very sparse existence and a small group of children were waiting by the trail to ask for chocolate, we didn't have any. The villagers had set up a little stall selling drinks to the porters and some of the guides and porters where waiting for us there and burst in to song. We passed on through using the gentle start as more time to get to know each other better. Talking to Val about the sparse existence she remarked that in some ways they probably led a more carefree existence than us and I couldn't disagree as everybody looks happy.
On the way to camp some of the guides introduced themselves, Ben, Farouk and Lassara where to be our main guides. 'Small Daniel' also introduced himself. He was Daniel's brother and his real name was Felix. We were to learn that Felix was the main focal point of the camp, he would wake us up, bring us our tea and our food, and was always laughing and joking. At times for all we know he could have been insulting as as he bellowed at us in Swahili. Even if he was we didn't care because he made is laugh at the same time and he never let anyone's spirit's drop.
We reached the camp at a height of approx. 2600m in good spirits and were shown to our tents. We had gained around 650m in height during the afternoon. We were brought our first washy washy, a very small bowl of warm water and a small piece of soap to last the rest of the trek. When I say a small bowl of water I am talking about enough water to barely wash your hands in.
Milling round the camp and chit chatting to the others I suddenly realised I was standing on an ants nest and dozens of the little biting buggers were making their way up the inside of my clothes. Having managed to fight the buggers off I tucked my trousers into my socks to stop a repeat invasion. However, during the evening meal I did feel one of the remaining survivors getting very close to my gentleman's area and put a stop to it before it was too late. I am feeling a bit itchy just recalling it. Doc was very sympathetic, he thought it as very funny.
Our first camp meal was a spectacularly tasty Zucchini followed by a delicious fried fish with potatoes and spicy vegetables. We were all very impressed. I started as I meant to go on by drinking black tea with my meals. A small sacrifice on my part, being a non tea drinker, but vital as it was to get progressively colder in camp over the coming days.
Daniel gave us our briefing for the next day and the Doc gave us his most important piece of advice so far. If you need to pee in the night don't lie there holding it in as you won't rest, just 'Man Up' and go the loo no matter how cold it is outside.
As it turned out as soon we returned to our tents it started absolutely belting it down. This was followed by thunder and lightning. With the Diamox having the side effect of wanting to make you pee all the time, and the sound of water running down the outside of your tent the dilemma of holding it in or 'manning up' became acute. Fortunately the rain stopped before it was too late so I made a dash for it. This was to be the first of many dashes on the first night. By the end of of the night I couldn't be bothered getting fully dressed and just went for it in my boxer shorts. It was fairly warm so it is not as brave as it sounds. It would have been a sickening sight for one of the ladies of the group though if they had ventured out at the same time.
While the constant peeing did mean a bit of a restless night it also meant that about 3 a.m. when the rain had stopped completely, and the sky had cleared, I was rewarded with the most spectacular night sky I had ever seen. With little or no light pollution the sky was was filled with bright stars, a site we just don't get in urban Britain.
Apart from that the night was spent to trying to work out how to get comfortable. Although I had purchased a nice warm sleeping bag and a thermarest mattress, it was till a tad uneven underneath so manoeuvring your body around the lumpy bits was vital to get comfy.
My tent is the one on the right that appears to be levitating. It wasn't!
Next up - trekking to high altitudes, watch this space.
If you have been 'enjoying' reading this blog please consider sponsoring me by visiting Marks Just Giving Page
or TEXT code MPTC50 £amount to 70070 e.g. MPTC £5
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For more information about the Princes Trust visit the website at www.princes-trust.org.uk
Mark
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