Hi everyone, finally managed to get round to up-dating this page but we're back and we successfully completed the trekk.  This site is still open and able to accept donations, we will keep this site open until the end of December; our story is below:

 

DAY ONe, WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

After a relaxing morning and making a last few check to ensure everything was in-place, we said good bye to our friends and left for Heathrow.  We met Michael Mapstone in departures before boarding the flight for our overnight journey which was approximately 9 hours.  The flight was pretty smooth for the most part and we managed to snatch a bit of sleep despite the turbulance over the sahara.  Nairobi is two hours ahead of the UK and we arrived at around 6am, thursday morning.  After clearing imigrationand purchasing our visas, we left the Nairobi safari hotel and arrived at around 8am, just in time to witness the morning rush hour.

 

THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

Our 1st full day in Nairobi and within five minutes of arriving at the hotel, we witness our 1st power cut which meant we had no aircon, things were going to get a lot harder before the end of the trek so I suppose it was a good start.  After a spot of lunch in the hotel's restaurant, we met a few other members of our party who had arrived from Japan on the previous evening and took a stole through the city with one of our local porters from the hotel.  We later returned in time to see more of our party as the majority of people had arrived by this stage and enjoyed an evening meal in the hotel's open air restaurant along with some live music.  We later took a glimpse of the city's night life by visiting the black diamond.  The taxi ride was interesting to say the least, but that was nothing compared to the club itself.  Its proximity in the centre of the street on what can only be described as Nairobi's answer to sun set strip.  We were subjected to an airport style security check before being subjected to a barrage of music.  All the speakers from every single club it seems were turned up to full volume as all tried to out do each other.  The atmosphere though was electric and we stayed their for a couple of hours before a further crazy taxi ride back to the hotel.  Some of the party decided to go onto another club and didn't return until the small hours, we finally turned in about 1am for a well earned sleep.

FRIDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

after breakfast, we met the whole of our group at around 11am in the hotel reception.  There were 24 of us in total, the trek leader having flown in that morning so he was feeling pretty jaded to say the least.  After a short briefing, we headed into a suburb of Nairobi to visit one of VSO's projects, the lea totto which is a centre established to provide aid to HIV children, many of whom were orphanned.  this was a very moving experience and I think everyone in the group were effected in some way but it gave us all the opportunity to witness 1st hand, some of the vital work of the charity and to come face-to-face with some of the people who have been directly effected.  After a talk from one of the social workers and a spot of lunch, we took a tour of the orphanage and had a chance to visit some of the homes.  There were approximately 250 shacks all clustered together in a very small area, its hard to imagine people living in such poverty and also quite sobering to think that these were the fortunate one's.  The smell was very unpleasent as there was no sanitation or drainage facilities so if it rained the areas between the shaks would just turn to mud.  We then got back in the bus and headed back to the hotel for a rest before the start of the long journey into Tanzania the following day.

 

SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2009

We left the hotel at around 8.00 AM in two buses with water and food for the journey.  It was already hot and so we all expected a long and tiring journey.  This is what we got as we travlled out of the city along tarmac roads.  It soon became apparent that this was as good as it was going to get as the road rapidly turned to dust especially as we headed towards the boarder.  The weather was hot and the ground was dry and so much water was drank during the course of the ten hour journey.  We passed through many small towns and villages along the way and it was rather interesting to see the people of this area going about their normal day to day routines.  We reached the boarder with tanzania at around 12 Noon and went through the checks needed to leave Kenya and enter Tanzania which took around one hour to complete.  We wre rather relieved to get through all of this as it was something that Michael Palin often talked about but we never thought we would have to do.  Anyway with stretched legs and big psys of relief we got back into our buses and headed into Tanzania.  Lunch was taken in the bus which was quite an experience as the roads were still dirt tracks and we were soon in the depths of the desert.  Dust storms blew up during the course of our journey and the bus experienced a fuel leek which required attention by the driver.  Strong tape was used to put the fuel pipe back in place and we were eventually on our way.  Later in the afternoon we stopped in a small town not far from our hotel so that those who needed to could get cash.  We opted not to do so which could have caused us problems but we were ok.  At around 6 PM we arrived at the Capricon Lodge Hotel where we would spend a single night before starting the trek.  this hotel was basic, or so we thought at this time, but it was comfortable and served our purposes.  The food was good and the company even better.  We'd only known each other for a couple of days but by this stage, it feltmuch longer.  There were 10 countries represented altogether so truely an international trek.  We also learned that we were in 3rd place with the fundraising and that the total raised in the group was by this stage over £80.000.  Quick phone calls were made back to London to give Tim the good news as he had worked very closely with us behind the sceens during the preparations.  After a final briefing and quick kit inspections, there was nothing for it but to catch a last night's sleep.  This was the best bit of sleep we would have for quite some time.

 

SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

11am departure from the hotel and the start of our journey into the unknown.  We were taken by busses to the entrance of the park, a journey of just over 1.5 hours where we met the porters and guides who would assist us during the climb.  After a spot of lunch and some further tedious paper work, we were ready to start the slow walk up the mountain.  the 1st day's climb was quite steady and we eventually reached a height of about 3,000 metres.  Kilimanjaro is a mountain of many contrasts and we witnessed quite a few people living on the lower slopes as they went about their daily lives.  There were 81 people altogether in the support crew and their role was to carry people's main bags, tents, toilets, food etc.  Howe they managed this along with their own gear was incredible considering each main bag must have been around 15 kilos in weight.  They carried these on their heads and it was incredible how these guys literally ran up the mountain.  4pm, and we arrived at the campsite, an uneven piece of land which sloped rather steeply.  Our tents were already pitched and we were eventually provided with water for washing and a deserved hot drink in the mess tent.  After the evening meal and further conversation, we turned in around 8pm.  There were several other groups in the vicinity so it was quite noisy and a couple of hours before the camp settled down for the night.

 

MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

0630 and the morning call with a cup of tea.  We'd survived the 1st night under canvas and the sun was starting to come up on what was promising to be another hot day.  It was amazing to watch the sun rise so quickly.  Following a breakfast of porridge which had the consistency of wall paper paste, we left camp for what turned out to be a 12 hour trek.  George had taken the decision to go to a higher camp to give people more time to experieince high altitude.  this was great in theory but we were completely shattered by the end of the day as we continually scrambled over rocks and negotiated endless ascents and descents.

 

TUESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

Already up at 0630 but no sign of the morning tea as yet.  George had forgotten to tell us we could have a lie in until 7am but lying on a stone floor is bloody uncomfortable anyway.  After another drink followed by the porridge and a spot of bacon, we set off again.  Generally, we tended to leave the camp before the rest of the group as we were pretty well organised.  The tarrain changed each day and it was quite hard going so the group usually cought up with us at some point as it generaly took longer for us to cover the milage but at least this helped us to become aclimatised.  We arrived into camp around 1.30pm and you could really start to notice the change in climate.  the 1st couple of days had been extremely hot as we passed through desert and rain forest.  By tuesday we were on mooreland and the vegitation was extremely sparse at this point.  The nights were also considerably colder some time to bring out the thermals although we'd need these for the night walk.  We were over 14,000 feet at this stage of the journey and the sense of achievement at the end of each day was great in itself.  After the evening meal, we turned in around 7pm for the night in the knowledge that Wednesday would be a rest day.  Something that I think we all appreciated as one of the effects of high altitude is lack of sleep.  the body copes quite well as you are resting but you certainly notice the thinner air.

 

WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

Following a breakfast of porridge again, think I'm getting used to it although there really isn't much else, we took a short aclimitisation walk before returning to camp for the rest of the day.  The weather changes incredibly quickly on the mountain and it is impossible to predict.  The day was very dull and misty so consequently, quite cold.

 

THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER 2009

 

 We rose at 6am and after another breakfast, left the camp at around 8am for the walk across the saddle and the base camp.  The saddle is fairly steadily sloping but not difficult to walk over but I remember feeling incredibly drained.  The two days at high altitude certainly helped but you really get the notion that things are starting to get very serious.  We arrived into camp at lunch time and prepared for a light lunch before some much needed rest.  The elements had sadly taken their toll on one of the party and Heather was forced to pull out of the night walk.  We were woken at around five for an evening meal and the last pre trek briefing.  that went well and so we went back to our tent and began sorting our kit out for the big push to the top of the mountain.  At around nine we met up with our guides before leaving cap at 9.53.  It was a clear moonlit night and extremely cold.  We both had many layers of clothing although it was not as cold as we had feared.  We continued up the sloaps which were very difficult to walk on as they were covered in loose scree.  It was rather heart warming when we reached the 5000 meter point at around 1 AM and so we just kept on going.  Throughout the night we continued up the steep track towards the summit despite falling over three times on the way we eventually decided to turn back at Gillmers point which is 5868 meters above sea level.  Our guides helped us both down to the base camp for some much needed rest and refreshment.  The other memvbers of the group also reached the same point as us with some deciding to go onwards to the second summit which we opted not to do due to fatigue and some degree of altitude sickness.  We eventually got back to the base camp shortly before six with heavy heads and tired legs.  We then spent the next five hours getting some much needed rest before meeting the rest of the group for lunch and the journey down the mountain.  Having left the camp at around 1.00 PM we crossed the saddle again and headed back into the rainforest for our last night.  Our guides were fantastic and gave us much support throughout the climb and decent.  This walk was not too bad as it was mostly downhill although we had to cross some rocks and a stream or two on the way.  Evnetually we reached camp and settled for the night after a meal and some banter with the others.  This would be the last night we would spend under the starts so we made the most of it by taking in some of the scenery and chatting to other members of our party.  The night was comfortable although thee toilets were becoming rather unpleasent by this time and we both had grown facial hair as we had no chance to shave during the trek.

 

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER 2009

 

This was the last day on the mountain and so after breakfast we had a traditional song which was sun to us by the Porters and Guides.  This was a fitting end to the trek and sent us on our way to the hotel.  After spending the day crossing the lower reaches of the mountain it was decided that we would be transported from the lunch spot to the gates of the camp by an ambulance which was rather interesting as we arrived before some of the group.  On arrival back at the gates we were greeted by other members of the group and consequently fell over a step due to our excitement.  After gathering our main bags we were taken back to the Carpricorn Lodge Hotel fora much needed shower and BEER.  On arrival that is precisely what we did and the relief at getting back in one piece was apparent for all to see.  Families were called from the hotel and emotions ran a bit wild at this point.  Anyway we all met up in the main hotel for a meal and presentations.  We both received two awards (one for the trek and the second for being the most determined people on the trek).  That was all very nice but not as nice as the beds which we happily climbed into later that night. 

 

SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER 2009

 

Well this was the last farewell and so, after breakfast the majority of the group left the hotel and went on the ten hour bus journey back to Niarobi.  We had decided not to do this as we had flights booked all the way from Kilimanjaro airport back to Niarobi and then onto London.  The day was spent relaxing in the hotel with lunch provided free of charge.  We were pleased that the bar rmained open all day as the rfreshment it provided was very welcome.  A taxi arrived at 4 PM to take us to the airport.  I feel that it is appropriate here to thank Charity Challenge as they paid for this and the extra day in the hotel.  The Taxi ride and airport were interesting to say the least but eventually we took off and headed to Niarobi.  When we landed in Nairobi we decided to upgrade our flight home which we did after some form filling and gentle persuasion.  The overnight flight was interesting as we were in Business Class all the way but were really treated like celebrities.  Apart from some terbulance over North Africa we had a very good flight and arrived back in London shortly after 6 AM. 

 

MONDAY 5 OCTOBER 2009

 

We arrived back in London and were met by Lee Carnall who had helped us considerably during the fund raising and helped to get us home.  At last we arrived back home shortly after 8 AM and so ended the trek successfully.  if only we could find someone to do the washing for us as there was plenty of that!!