What The Brochure Said

I thought it might be a useful exercise to go back and add to my previous posts, instead of re-writing them. Having done the trip now, it's probably going to be better to show you:

What The Brochure Said vs What Really Happened...

So go back as far as the 4th of February 2009 where our adventure begins...

Homeward Bound

After a very early breakfast, we'll leave Dar es Salaam at 07:25am for a flight to Johannesburg.

We'll have to kill a few hours in Jozi until our 16:25pm flight back to Cape Town.

After arriving in CT and transferring home, we'll finally be done travelling at 8-ish or so.

After another very long day of travelling, I think we'll leave the unpacking for a few days. Perhaps a hot shower then a cold beer and some delicious food will be called for?

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

We were collected at 5:30 so too early for breakfast. The airport, thankfully is just around the corner. By this point Marco and I were ready to be home. We were tired of lugging our gear with us from place to place.

We got to the airport with no Tanzanian shillings and to get a cup of coffee would have cost $1, with a minimum $5 spend on cards... so we waited till good old SAA served us in the air! (Have I mentioned yet the quality of coffee in Tanzania?? It's not that we're not willing to pay for coffee, but when it's really, really crap coffee - it just ain't worth it!)

We got to Jozi airport and headed straight for Mugg & Bean. We ordered the most delicious double cappuccinos and a range of items for breakfast! We pigged out and chilled out until about 4:30pm for our final flight to CT.

After a steers supper and a nice hot shower we were finally home SWEET home!!

And that... is what REALLY HAPPENED!

Ferry to Dar es Salaam

After breakfast we spend another leisurely morning in Nungwe

In the afternoon we check out and transfer to Zanzibar harbour. From there we will join the ferry from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam.

We'll be staying at the Peacock Hotel again, so in familiar territory. We'll hopefully be able to explore on our last evening

in Tanzania.

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

We did have a very relaxing morning. We packed our things, checked out of the room. We mostly chilled on the beach and took in the last few sites until our taxi arrived.

After a mini-panic where I thought I had lost not only our ferry tickets but our passports as well, we eventually found them and got going. 

After only a few minutes on the road we came across a very hectic accident. I won't go into details, but suffice to say, Pray to God that you don't end up in a road accident while out there. That pretty much shook me up for the rest of the trip - hence the complete lack of photos until we reached Dar again.

Also (to try and calm me down) Marco thought this would be the perfect time to teach me how to play chess. You know, on one of those teeny tiny magnetic boards. In a taxi doing about 100km's an hour in the pouring rain on very, very dodgy roads. 

I lost that game!

(Nerves wrecked..) we eventually arrived at the harbour with plenty of time to spare. 

On the brochure we were told we'd have to pay $30 departure tax, each, to leave Zanzibar. That must be an airline thing because we weren't asked for it (yippeee! & Score!!)

The ferry itself took about 2 1/2 hours. They did have air-con on the ferry but it was still unbelievably hot!

On arrival at Dar es Salaam, our trusty Leopard Tours rep met us and took us to the hotel. This would be the last night before heading home.

That night we decided to go to the hotel for dinner - we were both hungry after days of being ill and not eating much over the past few days.

We didn't realise until we were already seated that it was a buffet dinner. (Buffet included banana soup and goats meat.) (PS: banana is in EVERYTHING)

Anyway, aside from it being exorbitantly expensive (R1000 (US$100) for 2 bottles of (cheap) wine and a buffet dinner!) it was our last night and we were determined to have fun!

We had, after all just climbed Kilimanjaro!!

Exploring Nungwe & Stone Town in Zanzibar

Because you can't scuba dive within 24 hours of flying, we've taken the day off from scuba diving.

Today we can properly explore Zanzibar - check out the famed Stone Town and get our own impression of Nungwe - there are mixed reviews online; although some beautiful photos!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Wouldn't Luck Have It!! On the day that I am finally fit and well and we only have one full day left in Zanzibar, Marco gets sick! Something he ate the previous day gave him gippo-guts!! (It wasn't the pizza because I'd eaten it too and, thankfully, I was fine!!)

So we didn't make it out to Stone Town - which is a pity as everyone says it's a 'must' when going to Zanzibar. To be fair though - we weren't really all that keen on paying $60 to be taken 50kms up the road (that's the cost of a one way trip!)

So we mostly just relaxed at the trusted Nungwi Restaurant on the beach. 

We'd bought this cool game - which we've called Beads ('cause we can't remember the real name!) It has something to do with being entertaining but getting you nowhere. :)

We had walked around Nungwe a bit and were quite put off by the filth. The beaches are gorgeous, as is the water. But behind the beach side accommodation, in the town itself, it is pretty disgusting. Besides the excessive plastic pollution (all those water bottles go somewhere) you have to dodge the human excrement just on the ground all over the place. 

Don't get me wrong, I am from Africa. I know what poverty looks like and I am appalled that people in Africa still still in this depth of poverty. But what we experienced here was less poverty and more apathy. The locals just didn't seem to care about their own living environments. To literally shit on your own door step says a lot.

And so, after being a bit grossed out, we decided to keep our eyes forward - towards to beautiful beaches and views and sunsets - which is what we paid very dear $'s to do. 

And it really is so beautiful out there....

Scuba Diving in Zanzibar

If I have any readers left by now, I'd be amazed... yes I am still talking about our wonderful, relaxing holiday in Zanzibar.

Today is the last day of scuba diving that we have prebooked. Another 2 boat dives either here off Zanzibar or off Pemba Island.

All the stories and photographs will be added in here when I get home - so don't forget to check back!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Today we dived with East Africa Diving Company again. We arrived early and took a long boat ride out to Mnemba Atoll for 2 dives. The water is simply indescribable - clearer and warmer than any pool I've seen and this is the open ocean!

Both dives were spectacular. It was as if we were gliding through a huge tropical aquarium. Absolutely stunning, tonnes of tropical fish, coral and we even saw a turtle.

The trip back was gorgeous too. At one point we saw a school of dolphins and in our determination to go swimming with the dolphins we (nearly all of us!) managed a quick pic before bailing out of the boat and swam for our lives. 

Of course the boat went one way and the dolphins the other way and we had to wait to be rescued!  It was totally worth a try though! hee hee hee

When we got back, we wondered up and down the beach and finally found a little restaurant that wasn't too expensive and whose pizza's were wonderful. 

After nearly 4 days of not eating, my appetite was back and we'd found a lovely place to chill for the rest of the day. If you do go out that way, look for the Nungwi Inn, Restaurant and Bar. Highly recommended and right on the beach with stunning views!! (They also do accommodation right on the beach which is probably worth checking out if you're heading this way)

Scuba Dive Pemba Island

Today we have another 2 boat dives booked, although I'd really like to see whether we can get to Pemba Island for a dive instead.

For more info / images see here: http://www.swahilidivers.com/diving.htm

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Having still not eaten anything since my dinner on Thursday night I was feeling really weak and lethargic. None of the food in the restaurants was appealing to me and they were really expensive too! We'd seen a sign for a toasted cheese & tomato sandwich for $8 (that's about R80) 

Yesterday while I was in the room, Marco went for lunch on his own. He ordered a beef fillet for $15 and was given an over cooked minute steak.

I guess we were just shocked at the cost of bad quality food available from most of the restaurants along the beaches. We eventually found a stall that sold some fruit. We bought mangoes, papaya, oranges and had that for breakfast in our room.

I won't go into detail about it but there is a fly problem too and with all the restaurants being outdoor ones it makes having meals a bit challenging. The locals seem to think its hysterical that we keep swatting the flies away off our food.

We didn't make it to Pemba Island (unfortunaltey) but we did manage to go for 2 local boat dives today with East Africa Diving. They were very organised throughout all the dives, had excellent quality gear to hire and I would highly recommend them.

The water is just superb! It's warm and it's so clear. The dives were both fairly easy which is great. The coral, tropical fish, star fish, turtles and rays all make these dives unforgettable!

After 2 gorgeous dives we headed back up the beach. We stopped off at Linga Linga for dinner. This awesome restaurant is right next to our room (although not part of the same complex) and offer accommodation in addition to their very cool restaurant.

Marco enjoyed his dinner - and mine. I still couldn't stomach anything (although their food was very good).

We enjoyed some cold Kilimanjaro beers and a gorgeous sunset. After dinner we just headed back to the room for some more blessed air-conditioning!

Happy Valentine's Day

And what better place to celebrate it than in Zanzibar?  Last year we spent Valentines Day with Rex & Angelica in Kingston in the UK - movie and a dinner, I recall? 

Well I have to say that Zanzibar beats Kingston (sorry guys - but it's true!)

Today (aside from *celebrating* Valentine's Day) we have 2 boat dives planned.

The scuba diving in Zanzibar is supposed to be spectacular. See for yourself:

http://www.zanzibar-diving.com/pics_underwater.html

http://www.scubashackzanzibar.com/photos.html

http://www.scuba-do-zanzibar.com/PhotoAlbum.htm

Hopefully by this stage I not only have my little waterproof camera with me, but I also have the right memory in it and batteries that work!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID AND THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Unfortunately I couldn't do much *celebrating* on Valentine's Day. Thankfully we got the water turned back on and thankfully the room was air-conditioned. I spent most of the day in our room recovering. I could not eat anything; the very sight and smell of food made my stomach turn - which meant that I was a really shitty date. Literally.

There were some other romantic couples who hired some of the Dhow boats for cruises. Very sweet, the boats were decorated with red & white balloons, some of which ended up floating past our room.

The tide changes were pretty huge - over night the water was right up to our balcony. In the pic below, the water would rise to about 1/2 up that coral rock. During the day is went to low tide - low enough to expose this beautiful beach.

The water itself is AMAZING. It's very warm and very salty. It is so clear that we could swim out really far and still be able to make out every grain of sand on the bottom and every little fish, star fish, sea urchin and other little sea creatures in the water.

Due to being sick I forfeited my 2 dives that I had booked for today. Because Marco was looking after me he forfeited his two dives as well. Sux for both of us. The dive company did lend us snorkeling kit instead and we went out in the afternoon when I started feeling a bit better.

The Day After

This will be the BEST Friday the 13th Ever!

After breakfast, we transfer to Arusha airport for a 11:00am flight to Zanzibar.

We transfer to Amaan Bungalows to a gorgeous sea view room for the next 5 nights.

To quote their website:

"As we are on the north western point – we are able to view beautiful sunsets. As we are in Nungwi, the northern most part – we have wild tropical surroundings and pristine white beaches, and as we are on Zanzibar, we are surrounding by the unforgettable turquoise water of the Indian Ocean. A postcard picture for sure."

Um.. need I say more?

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID AND THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Hee hee - how naive! Friday the 13th - IS Friday The Thirteenth.

I woke up feeling a little 'weird'. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but opted out of breakfast.

We had most of the day to relax - our flight was at 3:30, so our driver was to collect us at 1:30. 

They (2 drivers) turned up at 10:30 (a little too early!) and kept asking to check my ticket, not entirely believing me that my flight was later in the afternoon (odd - because they were the ones who changed my flight from the 11:00am one to the later one - yup, good old Leopard Tours again...)

We wondered around the hotel, spent some time in the Internet cafe ($5 for one hour) and then had some coffee. Er for the coffee lovers.... this was great, they brought us a flask of hot water, 2 cups and a little plate with packet sugar, packet milk and oh yes.. packet instant coffee.... hmm not bad for a fancy hotel, hey?  :(

Anyway we eventually headed out to the Arusha airport. By this point I was feeling decidedly worse - I didn't know what was wrong with me... I was just feeling WeIrD.

Then, about an hour before we took off I headed to the bathroom. This was first of many, many trips over the next 24 hours. I had picked up a stomach bug of some or other description.

Lucky me - I'm squirting out both ends and just about to take a 1 hour flight to Zanzibar... not good!

Oh, and just before we left, we were told by a Leopard Tours rep that our baggage wouldn't make it on the flight. We were to take out all essentials and take them as hand luggage. They said that when we get to Zanzibar we'd have to fill in a form which would have the airport deliver the luggage the following day. 

Irk! To say the least - but there we are (for a second time in a week) unpacking our luggage and trying to fit the essentials into the limited hand-luggage.

So off we go...

I managed to sleep (or at least trick my body into thinking that I was sleeping) for the duration of the flight.

On arrival at Zanzibar (and it was very humid again!) I tried to find the 'guy' that I am supposed to fill the forms out with. He suggests we check to see whether or not the luggage actually made it. So back to the luggage retrieval area we go (there are no conveyor belts... only people throwing luggage around). And after 10 or 20 minutes - there was our luggage... all of it!

So why we were told it wasn't going to be on the plane is beyond me.

We make our way outside where we are supposed to meet another Leopard Tours rep (who was supposed to have our Ferry tickets for the following week) but he didn't bother turning up.

We were also supposed to meet the driver for Amaan Bungalows - who thankfully did turn up. We had a trolley with our luggage and as we were following the driver back to the car about 5 other locals followed us, all with a finger touching our luggage (which was still on the trolley!) all shouting out 'porter' 'porter'! They actually (all 5 of them) wanted a tip for following us and ensuring that our luggage didn't magically fall off the trolley. And then they had the audacity to get pissed when we didn't tip them!

Anyway we eventually made it to the sanctuary of the car which had the aircon on full blast, thankfully. I was feeling worse and worse as the day went by...

It took us a further hour and a half to get to Nungwi Village. Along the way we were stopped at no less than 5 military / police points. Some of them wanted to see the driver's permit, some were bribed, another demanded a lift in our taxi to the next military stop. All very odd...

On arrival at Amaan Bungalows, I was vaguely aware of my beautiful surroundings but I was just so ill that I went straight to bed.

I spent the next 18 hours between the bed and the bathroom... not pleasant At All.

Oh and just as a treat, they turned the water pump off so I ran out of water in the middle of the night... nothing to drink, no flushing, no cleaning... it was and I was really gross.

Day 7 of 7

Kilimanjaro Climb (7 day Machame route) Day 7/7

After a very good night's sleep, I imagine, and after a well deserved breakfast we will make the final descent to Mweka Park gate. This is an approximate 4 hours downhill walk. 

This is where we will receive our summit certificates for making it to the top. 

From here we will return Arusha for a celebratory dinner and overnight in our first real bed for a week.

Oh - and before dinner, there will be a lot of cleaning - it'll be our first bath / shower for over a week too (eeeuuww!)

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID AND THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

We had dinner at around 5:30pm the previous day and went straight to sleep. It had been a long day and although the camp was pretty noisy late into the night, we managed to sleep soundly.

In the morning we woke up early and enjoyed our last breakfast together in the mess tent.

We packed up our gear, gave the tips we had brought with to our head guide. 

**A word of advice: it would have been better to give each porter his own tip, however we didn't have the required change to do so, so left everything with our head guide who assured us that the tips would be split out accordingly.

We also gave away anything we thought they could use and we could do without. Our water bottles, my camp boots, Marco's thermal outer gloves, spare trail food, water purification tablets etc. The porters are very grateful for anything you can spare.

We started our final decent to Mweka Park gate. Arriving is a little surreal. After nearly a full week away from civilisation, we walk back into an area that is full of noise, trucks, cars, locals trying desperately to sell you curious, clean your shoes, just about anything to get money from you.

Below - this is me after 7 days of not bathing or showering and sumiting Kilimanjaro... Which is to say, filthy dirty... blagh!

We made our way over to the office to sign the book (for the final time - yipppeee!!) We collected our Gold Certificates and headed over to the now familiar Leopard Tours van.

The hopped in and together with Ali went to Moshi. On the way, we stopped and had lunch. The company paid for the food and we paid for the drinks (I say 'we'; actually Ali did - thanks for the beer dude!)

After that we dropped Ali at his fancy hotel in Moshi and then made the 1h30 min drive back to Arusha.

We drive right past the Outpost Lodge and get dropped off at the Arusha Resort (or some such place). This place (no offence to them) is an absolute dive. On arrival, I protested, saying that this isn't right. They show me my reservation and assure me, this is correct.

Of course it isn't! My 2 bags from Day One of our climb had been taken back to Outpost Lodge as that is where we were supposed to stay.

So, after 7 days of no bath, I am now stranded at a hotel with none of my clean clothes, non of my cleaning products (shampoos etc). I have been informed that Leopard Tours cancelled my reservation at Outpost Lodge and re booked me into this shitty hotel.

I'm dirty and tired and really, really not in the mood. So I get onto the phone to Leopard Tours. Many, many arguments and phone calls etc later I finally get LT to agree to move us. Myself and Marco as well as Andy & Deon, two other climbers who also got bumped down.

According to Arusha Resort, this happens ALL THE TIME...

It pisses me off because after all we had just been through, I now have to go to Outpost Lodge to collect my bags and then be transferred to another the hotel on the back of many phone calls and arguments.

We were (eventually) taken to the The Impala Hotel in Arusha. The hotel itself was very nice (and quite expensive, I think). Try as they might LT couldn't get us back into the Outpost Lodge so they had to fork out for something better in the end.

After much debate and messing around we eventually made it to a clean shower; there was soap, shavers, sponges, clean clothes! 

You simply would not have recognised us between the time of arrival to dinner time. We met Deon and Andy in the hotel lobby for drinks and a celebratory dinner afterwards.

The rate, initially paid to our operator, Destination Africa Tours, included a celebratory dinner on the last night. Once we were moved over to this new hotel, LT decided it was expensive enough for accommodation only so did not want to pay for dinner. They told me that if they paid "it would come out of their pocket". Oh shame. This has ALREADY come out of my pocket!!

But, (diligently) there I was on the phone again disagreeing and insisting that dinner was included. 

In the end we agreed that they would pay for dinner and we took care of the tips and drinks.

And so finally, we had a wonderful celebration - rehashing stories of the mountain and talking nonsense and drinking beer. 

It turned out to be a Wonderful Evening!!

Day 6 of 7

Kilimanjaro Climb (7 day Machame route) Day 6/7

This is it!!

From our Operator:

Around midnight (your guide will judge the time that is optimal for you based on your pace thus far) quit camp for the assault via Stella Point (5752m) to the summit. 

Tonight is very difficult - particularly the final 500m - and you’ll need to commit to fight for the summit. 

You will inevitably feel like giving up and going to sleep. This is normal and can be overcome with perseverance. When resting please ensure you only stand or sit and do not lie down or close your eyes. 

Please trust your guide; he is very adept at judging whether your condition will allow safe progress or whether you have succumbed to a potentially dangerous condition and to proceed will not be safe. 

Nausea and headaches are normal and around a quarter of climbers will vomit at or near Stella Point. While very uncomfortable, these are not symptoms that are indicative of being at risk, per se. The onset of cerebral and pulmonary oedema are marked by distinctive early warning symptoms that your guide is capable of identifying. 

Please maintain regular dialogue with him and frequently update him on how you are feeling.   When you reach Stella Point you will sit and rest. At this point the body often thinks you have finished your uphill fight and will be trying to coerce you into giving up and turning around. 

While you may genuinely believe that you have already exhausted your reserves in reaching this point, this is actually very unlikely to be so. 

Remember that you are only 143 vertical metres short of the summit, the journey from here is much less steep, and you have plenty of time for further pauses. If you do feel the need to give up at Stella Point please proceed towards the summit for just two minutes before making your final decision. 

In most cases this act of re-establishing momentum is enough to persuade the mind and body to co-operate with your intentions and you will ordinarily find hidden reserves for a final push, reserves that you were not aware you still had.  

Almost there!   

Keep your thoughts positive, as your thoughts become your words, 

Keep your words positive, as your words become your actions, 

Keep your actions positive; as your actions become your destiny you can do it!   

On the summit your guide will advise how much time you can spend there in consideration of your condition, your timings, and the weather. 

The brain does not function very intelligently at this altitude so please remember to take many photographs in all directions or you will probably regret not having done so at a later stage.   

From the summit you will descend to Stella Point and from here your guide may opt to switch left onto the loose scree, a departure from the ridge up which you ascended. 

On arrival at Barafu your tents will still be erected and ready for you to rest an hour or so before continuing the descent after some refreshments.   

From Barafu you will usually descend to Mweka Camp (3090m) for overnight. If your guide judges that a shorter day will benefit you and preserve sore knees and ankles, he may decide to stop short at Millennium Camp (3820m) instead.   

Distances on summit day 

Barafu to Stella Point: 3.3km 

Stella Point to Summit: 1.2km 

Summit to Barafu: 4.5km 

Barafu to Mweka Camp: 6.3km 

Total = 15.3km

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Following on from my last post, we climbed up towards Stella Point, thinking it simply would never end. As with everything... eventually it did!

We reached Stella Point at around 6 am. We'd been hiking vertically for 6 1/2 hours in sub-zero temperatures with only about 10% of the oxygen I am used to breathing at sea-level. 

When I got there, I promptly laid myself on the ground, hoping to stay there for a while and rest. Our guides had to have been the best guides on the mountain that night. At Stella Point they hauled out plastic cups and a flask and produced warm, sweet tea! 

How awesome to be sitting at Stella Point, watching the sun come up with a cup of warm sweet tea!

We were only there for a few minutes. I was ready to go back down (been there... done that...!) but Marco said we had to keep going. Just start walking he said - just get moving... If I had any more energy, I may have thrown a tantrum because he obviously didn't understand just how tired I was feeling... (very selfish of me, I know!)

Anyway, he was right. We got up and kept going. Although the elevation from here was nothing like that last bit up to Stella Point, the exhaustion and lack of oxygen was really getting to me. I was now taking 5 steps forwards, break for 10 seconds, 5 steps forwards, break for 10... and so on.

I had to go slow, but no one was rushing me, so on and on we went. Those that had gone before and were on their way back down were wonderfully supportive: "You're nearly there" and "Not much further!"

We eventually make it to Uhuru Peak (5895m) at 07:10 am. When we eventually got there we were buoyed up with adrenalin! So happy to not be walking up-hill anymore was enough to make us both feel fantastic!! 

Oh, we'd told Ali to go on ahead as I was taking an age to get there. He waited at the top for us and we celebrated the achievement together!

By now the sun was up and our surroundings were just incredible! One good thing about taking a bit longer to reach the top is being able to see all this. Some other hikers got up and down so quickly that they did it all in the dark.

We didn't spend too much time up here, by now Marco was starting to feel nauseous from the altitude, so we started making our way down again.

Now it was our turn to tell those behind us "Not much further now" "Keep going; it's worth it!"

This photo (above) is looking into the crater from the rim at Uhuru Peak.

Here you can see the glaciers meeting the clouds.  One of the main reasons you summit overnight is that the ground is frozen on your way up making the ascent easier. With the sun up the ground starts to defrost and the fine sand is up in the air and makes your downhill journey fairly treacherous. With each step you slip-slide down and have to be careful not to fall on your ass... which happens frequently to everyone anyway.

What goes up, must come down. Although it took us 8 hours to reach the peak, it took us 3 1/2 hours to get back to Barafu base camp. It is very, very hot up here and by this point we were so tired that we couldn't even be bothered to take the very much needed sun cream out of our packs and put it on. We just wanted to get back, so burnt our hands (everything else was thankfully still covered up) for three hours while we painfully made our way back to the camp.

Please be warned about this stretch of the little adventure. At 10:00am we eventually made it back to camp. We were far too tired to be elated with our amazing achievement.

We were told that we had 1 hour to rest, get changed and pack our things. For safety reasons we had to continue our decent as soon as possible. We were still at 4600m and not out of the danger zone for AMS.

We took an hour and a half to rest up and get our things organised. We had a quick lunch and then we were on our way again. Our porters packed up our tents and quickly passed us as we made our way downhill.

Below - that's me and in the background that's where I had come from only 4 or 5 hours earlier.

With our relatively quick decent the terrain thankfully changed. In the end we decided that we weren't all to fond the alpine desert part. Hot and boring! (Remember by this point though that we're so exhausted we don't even have any enthusiasm left... that will come later again!)

So as tired as we were we, stumble into Millennium Camp. The boys were so happy to have arrived. Spoil-sport that I was I had to dampen their joy by informing them that this is a 'trick' camp and we won't be staying. They of course didn't believe me and went straight to our guide Rayson, who confirmed that this is a camp for hikers who do a different route or who are very late in coming down the mountain.

So, after a short break... we continued down what must, for me, be the worst part of this entire trip. For a further 3 hours went down a dried up river bed. This is no path. We're stepping down, on, over and around small rocks, big stones, some secure, others loose. 

Every single step required attention. Every jolt sent pain up my knees and every foot forward felt my toes bashing the inside of my shoes. It hurt like hell and didn't seem to want to end.

The worst I think was just the expectation that was set. When we asked "how much further" (in the nicest way possible way, of course) we were told 40 minutes. After an hour we said... "so; how much further" and we were told an hour. 

Either time keeping in East Africa is nonexistent or its in a whole new dimension that we haven't yet named.

In the end... we got there! At 4:00pm we stumbled into Mweke camp. Realising that we had been walking from 11:30pm the night before, with only one real break of 1h 30mins... It's not surprising that we had been a little moody!

For the last time, we came to our camp with the wonderful singing and celebrations of our guides and porters. 

After taking our packs off and after a well deserved break at camp and with oxygen levels starting to rise again (we were now at 3090m, from this morning's 5895m!), we started smiling too. Finally we could look back on the day and the day's wonderful achievement.

WE MADE IT!!

Day 5 of 7

Kilimanjaro Climb (7 day Machame route) Day 5/7

We have opted for this highly recommended additional acclimatisation day at Barafu camp. 

To quote: 

"Acclimatization day at Barafu camp with additional acclimatization hikes up the assault path" (Assault path???)

Oi!

After that we will try to rest, have an early dinner and prepare for our summit attempt. The key here  is to eat if we can and go to bed as early as possible and rest as much as possible.

We will be woken at around midnight for our all night trek to Uhuru Peak.

Send us lots of love and good luck for this night!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

As mentioned in the previous post, we stopped at Karanga camp rather than going all the way through to Barafu. So instead of doing the hikes mentioned above, we hiked instead from Karanga to Barafu and stayed there for the day.

We got up at 7:30 again and left Karanga at 8:30. This was a fairly short hike seeing us reach the camp at 12:00. 

We've entered Alpine Desert territory and being so high up the UV is very strong. This was a particularly hot day. Notice the extreme weather variations from one day to the next? 

Because you don't know what you're going to get, you end up taking clothes for all occasions in your day packs, which the higher you go, the heavier they seem to get.

The campsite itself is very hot and very windy. Signing in at the campsite seemed challenging (I don't think my entries are at all legible)

The view from our tent and you can see Mawenzi, which is one of the 3 volcano peaks that make up Kilimanjaro. (The other two peaks consist of one we climb to the summit and the other is actually collapsed and is now the Shira Plateu)

The lack of oxygen here is really hectic. Moving from the tent to the toilet is exhausting. Taking my sleeping back out of my bag and getting it ready for sleeping seemed like an endless exhausting chore.

We had an early dinner (at around 5pm) and were told to go to bed and try to sleep. They were waking us up at 11:00pm and we should be ready to go by 11:30pm.

We were advised to pack everything we'd need for the summit and to sleep in all our layers except the outer ones and to wear all our socks and have our shoes ready so that when the time came we didn't have to do much. That was good advise!

Marco and I were both exceptionally lucky in that we managed to get some sleep before we left. Most people, I believe did not - again I have to stress the importance of the ear plugs and the blow up mattresses - I really believe they made all the difference.

At 11:00 we were woken up. We had a nice hot cup of tea and then had to begin our accent.

With the one day old full moon we didn't need our headlights in the end. Again, weather wise, we were superbly fortunate to have perfect weather for the entire ascent. No cloud cover, no wind, no rain... the previous night, we'd heard, people made their summit attempt in a blizzard... so I guess you just never can tell!

It was awesome going up by moonlight. There were lots of people on the trail with head lights on, so whenever you looked up, you could make out the trail by following the lights of those ahead of us.

For me, the first portion went well. I was surprised when we stopped for a break and even more surprised to learn that we had been going for 2 1/2 hours. We were going Very Slowly, but steadily. We learnt very quickly, however, that every time we stopped the cold seeped in very quickly. So our breaks were few and far between.

The next break was at 4am. Also, when I say breaks, I'm not referring to all the little ones where I had to stop for a minute to catch my breath. I am referring to the official 3-4 minute breaks where we could take our packs off.

From here it started getting difficult for me. I felt I needed more breaks more often. My breaks became almost as rhythmical as my climbing... 15 steps up, 20 seconds to break, 15 steps up, 20 seconds to break.

I was beginning to feel tired and so would look up occasionally only to see the stupid head lights still just going up and up and up... Where The Hell IS Stella Point??

So by now, I'm cold, tired and there just isn't any end in sight. I say to Marco - Babe, I don't have any more legs to keep going... Don't worry they say; just another 40 mins to Stella Point. 

Hmf. 40 mins. Those last 40 mins to Stella Point believe it or not were the steepest part of that climb!! Just when you think the elevation could not get any worse.... it does! 

Actually to their credit, we had 3 guides for the 3 of us and they tried their best. They joked with us, talked to us, sang for us. They were superb - kept our spirits up and distracted us from the cold and pain that was seeming eternal.