To each and every one of our intrepid MND ‘mighty mountain trekkers’. . . . . heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your passion and commitment! What an incredibly surreal experience we’ve all shared!
Sincere congratulations and full admiration to each and every one of you – you are all such true inspirations to everyone who works for the Association for your sheer determination, courage and strength on conquering the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro!
Here’s a little write-up of the experience shared . . . . . . . . . .
“As with all of our challenge events, the group started off apprehensive about what was to come and naturally excited too about the adventure that lay ahead. Impressively, everyone arrived at London Heathrow in more than enough time and were all checked in and enjoying a hot meal and a cool beer by 5.30pm!
Our overnight flight to Nairobi therefore, proved to be a busy one with little sleep to calm our nerves. With everyone recommended to take diamox to help with the effects of altitude sickness, it was more a case of ‘when’ would people start to feel the effects as opposed to ‘if’. The adventure started with the transfer from Kilimanjaro Airport to the hotel with 1½ hours to take in the sights and delights of the ‘real Africa’ and watching folk wearing their ‘Sunday best’ to church as they walked along the roadside.
It was a hive of activity with shops and cafes and bars open for all and a very leisurely feel of how life is lived out there. Once checked in at the hotel, bags were packed and re-packed and weighed to take on the trek itself – with copious amounts of sweets and snacks having to reluctantly be removed to help with the weight requirements.
The option of a guided walk to the nearby waterfalls was taken up by most people, enjoying the wonderful new sounds and sights around us.
Our first nights accommodation in Tanzania saw us sleeping at 1,800m with the sound of both the generator outside and the local ‘cockerel’ to keep us entertained throughout.
The daily ritual following breakfast was to have a little warm up session to help stretch those much-needed muscles that would be put to the test each day – much to the entertainment of the porters and guides who on most days, liked to join in with us too!
Our first day of trekking started off with the coach transfer from the hotel to Marangu Gate to complete the formalities of checking in and signing up to enter through the park entrance. This took some time to ensure everything was present and correct before we were ready for the big off! Just before we headed through the gates – our Tour Manager Henk (ALL HAIL HENK!) introduced us to the many support staff who would be there to help us literally every step of the way up and down the mountain! From the experienced guides, porters and to the amazing chef himself – we were then ready to start our 4½ hour scenic trek through a rain-forest dirt trail to Mandara Huts at 2,700m.
Our second day started with our first participant Birthday on the trek – birthday banners and a badge adorned our ‘Birthday Boy’ Neil with the wonderful surprise of an incredibly tasty cake made by the chef Amadeus (who could most definitely bake and rock!) for us to enjoy later that evening– accompanied by the local Swahili sing-song of ‘Happy Birthday’ – how fantastic!
An uphill trail today of an arduous 8 hours trekking to the Horombo Hut (3,700m), where we saw the landscape take on a more rocky and rugged terrain – with the sights of the magnificent peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo in the distance.
Day three saw another participant Birthday to celebrate – this time the lovely Anna and once again, the Birthday banner was out as too was the ‘Birthday Girl’ badge and rosette. Today was an acclimatization trek of around 5 hours up through the Kibo trail taking us through streams and rocky mountain vegetation to see the stunning views of ‘Zebra Rock’ at 4,000m where we had our official team photos!
We continued onward to the observation point at 4,200m for further spectacular views of Kibo Hut, the twin peaks and the trail to the summit, returning once again to Horombo Hut for another tasty Birthday cake and sing-along!
Day four was a very arduous and long trekking day of approximately 8 hours in total – stopping for a quick packed lunch among the rocks before getting kitted out to brace the remaining 4 hours through the ‘desert’ zone and blizzard to Kibo Hut at 4,700m. It has to be mentioned here that the sanitary conditions were less than appealing to say the least as going to the toilet proved to be a regular challenge for us all to endure! All part of the bigger scale of the challenge of course, however, skills were mastered during these times and the ‘Kibo Squat’ should form part of the training schedule I think!
Day five was all about the big final preparations for the summit night later that day . . . . a
5 hour acclimatization trek to Williams Point at 5,000m – our highest altitude so far, followed by much-needed hot food and rest before we set off for the summit at 11pm that night!
Day six – the summit – a gruelling slog of approx 15-17 hours! Setting off at just after 11pm, we walked in single file under the gloriously bright moonlight and zig-zagged our way onwards and upwards, accompanied by not only the sound of our own deep breathing, but to the beautiful and melodic singing of the guides and porters who each made every step so utterly wonderful and surreal. Their motivating lyrics, good humour, help and encouragement to ensure we each made it to the top left us speechless and only able to soak in the atmosphere with admiration for them and one another for what we were all doing. I must also mention here the many games of A-Z that were played to help keep us focussed! Funny how we all had problems with ‘Q’ , ‘X’ and ‘Z’!
Upon reaching Gilmans’ Point at 5,681m we perched on the crater rim to rest and watch the sun begin to rise as we tried to take in what we had just accomplished. Everyone here qualifies to have climbed Kilimanjaro at this point – and that’s just what we had all done! : )
Continuing a further 2 hours through snow and wind to Uhuru Peak at 5,895m we had the pleasure of experiencing such an immense scale of stunning views of the serene billowing clouds and icy glaciers. A quick photo by the infamous sign with a small group of us before making our slow and steady way back down again to Kibo Hut.
If we thought going up was tough enough, the journey back down was so much harder as the reality of trekking for nearly 10 hours kicked in and our energy was completely zapped! Somewhere deep inside however, the strength is found to continue the gradual descent down the most difficult of scree sections back to 4,700m.
If that wasn’t enough for one day of trekking, after just a few hours of rest and hot food, it was then a further 4 hours trek to get back to Horombo Hut at 3,700m to spend the night resting and relaxing after our monumentous achievement! The reality of it all was now sinking in on what we had each done!
Our final day of trekking was a more enjoyable 6 hours in the gorgeous sunshine from Horombo Hut to Mandara Gate and back down to the Marangu Park Gate where it had all begun. Our guides and porters danced and sang for us as we made our heartfelt thanks and goodbyes to them all, leaving us with memories to treasure for a lifetime. It may have only been 7 days ago but . . . . what a week – what a journey, and what an incredible experience!
Conquering Mount Kilimanjaro was all that we expected and so much more . . . . breathtakingly beautiful with stunning glaciers overlooking the clouds leaving us all speechless. A truly surreal and unforgettable experience and a total honour and privilege to have shared it with such an inspiring and wonderful group of people.
I am so very proud of your passion, dedication and commitment to supporting people living with MND and for doing something so utterly amazing to help make a difference!
Trek Trudi will always be here for you and thank you for being ‘there’ for the MND Association!
Final good news for you all . . . . I have received today on good authority from both Lisa and Rebecca that they are ready and raring to go once again and will be signing up for the incredible LOST CITY OF THE INCAS - THE INCA TRAIL TO MACHU PICCHU – MAY 2012! If you’re interested in joining them on yet another epic adventure – please let me know! Let your incredible journeys continue together! : )
With love and best wishes.
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