I am now back home safe and sound, after an absolutely amazing two months in Africa. You will all be pleased to hear that I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro! It was the most physically and mentally challenging experience of my life, but Uhuru peak (5895m / 19,340 ft) was reached at 7:10am on the 1st August 2008. The summit climb commenced at midnight and I climbed 14km through the night to reach the very top - temperatures fell to -20°C...it was absolutely freezing! I wore 4 pairs of trousers, 8 t-shirts, a fleece, a massive jacket, 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves and a wooly hat!
Apart from a really severe headache at one point, and the mad amounts of dust going up my nose, in my mouth and in my eyes...I was ok. There were people vomiting all over the place because of the altitude and some even had their own supply of oxygen. Unfortunately, a lot did have to turn back due to a combination of altitude sickness and general fatigue. Overall, Kili was completed in 5 days and I covered a total of 86km! I actually think the hardest thing for me was walking down from the very top - I only mentally prepared to reach Uhuru peak and forgot to consider walking all the way down again! One of the most astonishing things was to see the huge distance that I had covered during the night, in the daylight. My guide told me that there are two reasons why the summit climb is done at night:
- In order to see sunrise
- If people could actually see what they were walking, they would never make it!
So after walking those 14km back down, I was afforded a 2 hour break during which I felt the worst I have ever felt. As I had only managed to sleep 45 minutes before the climb, I had absolutely no energy left. But, after that little rest, there was then another 9km to cover until I reached the base where I spent the night. Starting at 6am the next morning, I walked down the rest of the mountain, which took about 7 or 8 hours.
The 4 nights on the mountain were spent in very small huts and the worst thing for me was drinking the most disgusting looking water! It was boiled and I put water treatment pills in it, so it was “clean”, but there were loads of bits in it: mud, little insects and G-d knows what else, but I still drunk it! Didn't really have a choice! The money is going towards two really important causes, with 50% allocated to each one: 1. Providing adequate healthcare for children living in extremely poor communities in Uganda. This will play a huge part in preventing the spread of disease. Money raised will also play a vital role in preventative health programmes such as the immunisation of children and the provision of counselling, care or drugs for pregnant HIV-positive women in order to improve their health and that of their unborn children. £2534 will help 125 patients get the medical treatment that they need. 2. Donations will enable community workers to help primary schools and communities in Tanzania to improve children’s health and to increase enrolment rates, attendance and performance. Health workers help to educate families about nutrition, as well as provide childcare assistance to expectant mothers. Food and nutrition programmes in schools provide children with snacks during break time. Also, teachers monitor children’s growth to make sure they are developing properly and refer any children who are severely malnourished to health centres for further help. Approximately £10 will make sure one child at school gets a well-balanced, nutritious diet, which they would normally not get at home.
I would like to thank everyone who has sponsored so far and to those of you who haven't, this page will be open to receive donations for the next year! Jordan
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