Trip Reports

Kilimanjaro - Lemosho Glades 5 - 14 September '09

Dawn on summit day - Kilimanjaro Lemosho Glades
Trip Report

Written by Team Member TOM WALKER, October 2009

KILIMANJARO - LEMOSHO GLADES
5th to 14th Sept.2009

Trip Report by Tom Walker:-

Day 1 - Sat. 5th Sept.
Most of our group of 12 met at Kilimanjaro airport along with Stuart McNeil (our team leader). We met Sophie and Peter at breakfast the next morning. You could tell immediately that we had a good group and that everybody was going to get on well.

Day 2 - Sun. 6th Sept.
We were all excited as we watched our transport being loaded outside the hotel. We set off about 9am for the drive to the Londorossi Park Gate stopping en route to meet and play with local children and also to take photos of elephants, zebra and monkeys. We eventually arrived at the park gate where we enjoyed our packed lunch. We were then dropped off in the forest where we awaited our next mode of transport that would take us to the start of our trek. This turned out to be a large, dirty 4x4 truck which would take us on an exciting, very bumpy, very dusty, never to be forgotten drive. Everybody struggled to stay in their seats and we were all eating dust! Also Sarah had to contend with the rucsacs constantly falling onto her from above. We eventually started the trek in the rainforest which took us along a track which eventually took us to Mti Mkubwa ( Big Tree Camp) at 2,800metres.

Day 3 - Mon. 7th Sept.
After an ecellent breakfast, we set off at about 8am for the trek to Shira One Camp. This would take us about 6 hours. Today's route started off by climbing out of the rainforest and heading towards the giant moorland zone. After lunch, we crossed the giant Shira Caldera which is a high altitude desert plateau. We eventually descended into the large Shira One Camp (3,500metres) at about 2pm.

Day 4 - Tues. 8th Sept.
At 8am, we set off on a 4 hour trek across the Shira Plateau heading towards Shira Two Camp. After a short climb into camp, an excellent view opened up, the plateau dropped away into the clouds and there was an excellent view of Mount Meru in the distance. We arrived at Shira Two Camp (3,800metres) at lunchtime where we relaxed in camp and adjusted to the higher altitude.

Day 5 - Wed. 9th Sept.
We set off at about 8am for the start of a full days trek (approx 7 hours). This was to take us through superb countryside climbing up to the Lava towers where we had lunch. We then traversed the south-western flank of Kibo then slowly descended into Baranco camp (3,900metres) at about 3pm. Todays camp was only 100metres higher than last night's camp but today's route took us as high as 4,600metres which was good for acclimatisation.

Day 6 - Thu. 10th Sept.
Today's challenge was to overcome the Baranco Wall. This looked intimidating from camp but we found it not to be too demanding and it never felt exposed or steep. The route continued from the top of the wall into Karanga camp (4,050metres). We arrived here at about 1230pm.

Day 7 - Fri. 11th Sept.
Today's route started at 8am and was a 3 hour hike up to Barafu camp (4,650metre) which is where we will start our summit attempt tonight. This was a short walk but helped to give us some pre summit acclimatisation without leaving us too exhausted. We arrived in camp at 11am where we ate, drank and relaxed in preparation for our summit attempt tonight.

Day 8 - Sat. 12th Sept.
We began our summit attempt at midnight. It was extremely cold and very windy as we left camp on the long steep climb up to Stella Point on the crater rim. This climb took us about 6 hours and everyone felt the effects of high altitude. From Stella Point, we turned left and continued along a path cresting the top of the crater which eventually led us to Uhuru summit after another hours walking. We saw the sun rising and had excellent views of the summit glaciers. The views on the top were excellent and I felt a huge sense of achievement on reaching the summit as did everybody else on the trek. We took photos on the summit then eventually set off on the long descent back to Barafu camp where we relaxed until 1pm. At 1pm, we set off on the walk down to Mweka camp via Millenium camp. We arrived in our last camp at 4pm where we had a well deserved beer then a meal and a good nights sleep.

Day 9 - Sun. 13th Sept.
We left camp at 730am for the 3 hour walk down to Mweka Gate where we arrived at about 1030am. Here we were entertained by all the camp staff and porters before leaving for the drive back to our hotel in Moshi. Once back at the hotel, we enjoyed showers and lunch before relaxing by the hotel pool in the afternoon. We then enjoyed tea before the drive back to the airport and the long flights home.

This was an excellent trip. It was well orgaised and ran very professionally. We were also very lucky to have such a good group of people on the trip who all got on very well together. I have never been on a trip like this before so I didn't know what to expect but I couldn't fault anything or anyone. I'm already planning my next trip in 2 years time (the trek to Everest base camp) and it will definetely be with Jagged Globe. Also we couldn't have managed this trip without the excellent help of the local guides, kitchen staff, and all of the porters who all did an excellent job. The food on this trip was also excellent and a special thanks should go to Jeff the chef and his assistants.

Also special thanks to:-

Stuart McNeil (Trip leader)
Chris Haigh
Sophie Farthing
Peter Farthing
Sarah Balls
John Connolly
Barbara Falkiewitcz
Derek Lord
Alyss Mantel
John Mantel
Becca Moon
Nick Witteveen

Eric (Lead guide)
Charlie (Local guide)
Paul (Local guide)
Lyimo (Local guide)
Jeff (Head Cook)

And thanks to the rest of the kitchen staff, waiters, dishwashers, camp staff, toilet guy, and all of the porters.

Also thanks to everyone at Jagged Globe for organising this trip.« | »

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