Thank you for visiting my page. My name is Charlie: I'm 18 years old, I live in Swindon and I'm climbing in aid of Help For Heroes. This is because i am proud of soldiers who are every day lads yet they make tremendous sacrifices for us all, through spending 6 months at a time away from the families and missing out on their children growing up to more sinister sacrifices of limbs and/or other disabilities. Help for Heroes try helping those soldiers and their families who have been affected through combat and military related trauma.
Update: I have now climbed !
The ascent on the 7th day commenced at midnight (so that the loose grit and sand on the climb would be frozen); I reached Stella Point, Africa's second highest point at just around 7am and then went on to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro on 10th October at 8.15am. I have since said this was the proudest moment and the best experience of my life, to which a very close friend said "this is only the start of your life, but what a good way to start it!"
Thankfully I was apart of a fantastic group whereby we all kept each others spirits up when we were each down mentally or due to the altitude by singing, dancing and laughing or generally just bouncing off one another; consequently the days rolled by in what feels like now as a blink of an eye. My two brilliant ladies (Jackie and Jana) i travelled with soon established the three of us as the "three musketeers" and we were each others rocks. By the time we left the whole group felt like a new family and we especially had support from fantastic guides who we all hope to keep in contact with.
The first two days threw us in at the deep end as we endured torrential rain and hail in the tropical rainforest but it wasn't enough to dampen our spirits, our breath was still taken away by phenomenal views, black & white monkeys and the beautiful trees. The group naturally split into smaller ones and Jackie, Jana and I took plenty of photos and made friends with the guides. The night times were still relatively warm but once the light faded your only source would be a headlight so it was a rush to get back in time for "wash wash" (which was only a plastic bowl with warm water which you had to make the best of in your tent) and change into your thermals and Pyjamas. It was at this stage where the wildlife and fauna was at its richest.
The following three days began our acclimatization programme; we zigzagged up and down across Shira Plato, up the cathedral and back down to Shira 2 Camp, then up to Lent Hill and back down to camp at Moir Hut then up to and camp at Baranco Wall’s campsite. It was on these days I began to see the stars at night which felt like if stretched hard enough I could touch! Everyone at least got headaches and losses of appetite amongst some other more serious reactions but on the whole the group seemed strong and we were all so grateful to be above the clouds (above 3000m) not only for the beautiful views but for not getting wet!
The 6 day was a hard one whereby we had Baranco wall to climb which is steep and busy at the same time but numerous renditions of Michael Jackson songs and an hour and a half later all but 2 had made it to the top of the wall and it was this time we first felt close to the summit as it posed behind us in our photos- oh how we was to find out this was an optical illusion! We walked on to Karanga Valley Camp for a relaxing afternoon ready for the following night’s midnight rise so whilst some of the group opted for extra sleep others went to the mess tent in the warm sun for games of cards and later on after the dinner the thunderstorms over Tanzania lit up our sky in a spectacular display of oranges and yellows. It will be a moment which will stay with me forever!
We woke up the next morning to start the slow ascent out of our camp up to Barafu Base camp which was very busy and loud but the main purpose of being here was to get out heads down and rest, but it was hard as I think my adrenaline was starting to kick in and it was a very restless snooze. Then that night we woke up at 11.30pm for porridge (which I didn’t eat enough of and found at 4.30am I was walking on a grumbling tummy) and we plodded on with our heads down looking at the ground in a line one by one. It wasn’t the coldest of nights that the guides have had up there but as a consequence the ground didn’t completely freeze like they like it to which made it harder to walk on as you’re walking on steep uphill sand. Nonetheless, we still had 2 layers on our hands, insulated jackets, fleeces, layers on long johns and the water in my drinking pipe froze. As it neared 6am and we could see Stella point the African sky began to show its colours and between this and sunrise it showed bold purple, red, orange and yellow in something which looked like a masterpiece water colour painting. I sipped on what was now a cold hot chocolate whilst sat on a rock and took it all in before the final push to Stella point. I successfully made it in the first group and the adrenaline buzz is what I walked on for the following hour and a bit to Uhuru Point (the summit) which means freedom. We all had plenty of photos, hugs and tears before we had to quickly turn around and walk down to lower altitude. It was here that 5 members of the group needed assistance to be lead down from the seriousness of their sickness and unfortunately where two members of the group couldn’t reach, instead they managed to get to 5000m which was still a fantastic achievement.
We got back to Barafu at Midday for an hours sleep before lunch and packing up to walk a further 3-4 hours to Millennium Camp which was steep descent and hard going on the knees. The camp was lovely and it was our victory day to which we all slept very well.
In the morning on the 9 day, our final day, we woke up to the beautiful noise of the porters and guides singing as you could tell they were all looking forward to going back and seeing their children and family. After breakfast they all performed to us the “Kilimanjaro song” with their stunning voices. It rounded off a brilliant trip and it was a lovely treat. We walked down through the clouds and back into the rainforest again on another steep day of 5-6 hours walking. We had our lunch at the gate and said our goodbyes to the guides before we were set on our minibus back to . It was sad to end such a beautiful and wonderful journey, I’d made some life long friends and months of preparation had been finally put into practice. Meanwhile I’ve managed to raise money for a cause which helps the people I admire and have the utmost respect for, and that had been the most overwhelming factor of the whole excursion.
I want to thank everybody who’s supported me so far, especially those who donated prior to me leaving and showing they had real faith in me. Together we can all make a difference for our boys and girls: even just giving back a little in return for the amount they all give to us.
Many thanks once again,
Charlie Martin
:o)
