Trip Reports

Kilimanjaro - Lemosho Glades - 14 to 23 Oct '17

Written by Leader Max Hunter, October 2017

The adventure started for us all as we left our homes in Europe. Tara, Paula and Manu arrived at the Keys Lodge Hotel in Moshi, Tanzania first, and had a restful day before meeting Helen and I, who travelled from Scotland, the evening before the trek. Heather, Will, Ola, Irwin, Jenny and Zoe travelling from London, were ‘sent around the houses’, on re-scheduled flights, and only arrived on the morning of the trek at 7.30am, with little, to no sleep. As I met them, I got the news that Zoe and Irwin’s bags were missing, probably still in Istanbul. So, with 2 bags missing and 6 incredibly tired clients, we still prepped for starting the trek that morning. We borrowed, shared and found enough kit to enable Zoe and Irwin to start the trek. The team was already bonding.

The first day started with bag weighing (easy for Zoe and Irwin), driving and meeting our guides for the trek. We had an exceptional team of guides - Dawson, Anold, Steven, Charles and Thomas. As we were soon to discover, we had a brilliant team of porters, cooks, waiters, and camp crew - about to make our lives easy, clean and comfortable at the camps.

Even on day one the team were getting along brilliantly. Many of them had already met at the Pre-Trip Weekend. With such a good atmosphere it was easy for me to quickly introduce a ‘culture of honesty’, a ‘health buddy system’ plus 'health scoring system’, and an ‘open forum’ to discuss any aspect of the trip. This made it easy to plan for successful acclimatisation, maintain good health, and have fun every day.

On the walk through the rainforest on day one we saw colobus monkeys, and the Big Tree came was alive with the noise of the forest - so exciting. However for some, the highlight was the food upon arrival. The new daily ritual = popcorn with tea & coffee, followed by a huge daily meal of freshly prepped pasta, spaghetti, or potato (e.g. chips) based carbohydrate high meals, with fresh fruit for desert. The vegan, vegetarian, meat lover and nut allergy diets were all brilliantly well catered for. We had 2 food re-supplies during the trek, so this enabled us to have incredible meals on the mountain side - for example fried chicken and chips! Twice! Most meals were 3 courses, and it suddenly became a concern that we were going to put on weight! We often had packed lunches, and on a couple of occasions we had hot lunches to look forward to, on arrival at the camp.

The trekking days took us out of the exciting rainforest up to the Shira Plateau, where we started to get the mountain views we looked forward to. We started to get used to the rhythm of the mountain weather - views of Kili in the early morning and evenings, cloud developing during the day, and often afternoon showers. We fell into the luxurious rhythm of the camps too - with a huge mess tent, toilet tent and generous camping tents. What more could you want… clean water to wash in, every day (hands+face etc) - we were even given this.

We had challenging weather as we summited Cathedral Point, and even more challenging weather as we passed over Lava Tower Pass the following day, but we found it easy to stay motivated and happy, in such a positive supportive team.

At the Baranco camp - a very exciting delivery was made - Zoe and Irwin got their bags back (delivered by porters, organised by the Keys Lodge). So their happiness immediately went through the roof, and they suddenly felt prepared for the summit day, fast approaching.

Many years before, Jenny had got sick (and had to go down) at the Baranco Wall, so she was very excited to be successful with the Baranco scramble on the next day. This was a highlight for several in the team (who love scrambling), and a challenge for some others - but we all stayed together and got to the top. We had a mini celebration, and went on to the next camp.

By now, we knew how we were getting on with acclimatisation. There were a few people with a little nausea, and occasional headaches, but generally the team was doing well, and mostly feeling happy and well.

On day 7, we unpacked and packed at camp as usual, but had a very early evening meal, and went to bed to get some ‘excited sleep’, ready to wake up at 10.30pm, breakfast at 11.30pm and walking for our Summit Day (night!) by 12.10am (on day 8). There was initially a little snow on the floor as we started, and we were soon all walking in our personal head torch glow. Tara decided she preferred to walk with the head torch off - similar to the guides and our 2 ‘summit porters’. Helen found the ‘Pole Pole’ pace a little slow (she likes to run), but everybody else found the slow pace and regular stops welcome as we walked into the night. Soon there was a awe inspiring sunrise and then we were all at the Stella Point and able to see the entire Kilimanjaro summit crater.

Zoe had a rough walk up, being sick a few times, but had received exceptional support from Steven (Guide) who made it possible for her to summit to Stella Point. Manu, Paula, Helen, Tara, Ola, Irwin and Jenny all got to the Uhuru Peak. Heather and Will got sidetracked between Stella Point and Uhuru Peak, as Will found a private place to propose to Heather. This was my moment of the trip, and I was privileged to be there to take photos and film the proposal. She said yes, and happily engaged, they walked back down to camp.

We all walked off the mountain over the next day and a half. My next highlight was our ‘tipping ceremony’ at the park gate, where we were treated to a song from our porter & guide team - a special moment for all of us.

We had one final celebration at the Keys Lodge, as certificates were given out and we were able to share our success with our 5 brilliant guides. Thank you to them, the porter team, the Keys Lodge, and the 10 exceptional clients who all gained the top of Kilimanjaro to see the summit crater, and the top of Africa. It was an expedition I will never forget - thank you.

Max Hunter - Expedition Leader

Kilimanjaro - Lemosho Glades

14th - 23rd October 2017

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