Trip Reports

29 September - 8 October Kilimanjaro Lemosho Glades

100% for the 29 September team. All members on the summit of Kilimanjaro!

Written by Leader, October 2013

Our team was made up of:
Rachel, Lynn, Nicola & Victoria (all friends from Sheffield,) Iain, Mo, Rachel & Martin, Chris, Tim, Gareth and Emma.

Our team came together over 24 hours, with 5 of us meeting up at 4am in Manchester T3. We then met up with Chris, Emma, Gareth, Iain, Mo and Tim at the gate in Amsterdam airport. After a great KLM flight to Kilimanjaro Airport, a long visa queue, the arrival of all of our bags and then a 50 minute bus transfer, we reached the Keys Hotel in Moshi and met the last two members of the team, Rachel & Martin. After fantastic pizzas served up by the friendly staff at Keys and a quick briefing about the next few days, we all disappeared to our rooms to re-pack and sleep.

Day 2 dawned and we were all at breakfast for 7am. Over the next few hours the local team of guides arrived and started to get the equipment together for our adventure. Each member of our team had their bag weighed to make sure it wasn’t too heavy for the porters (12-14kgs) and after most people had removed several tons of chocolate, the bags were loaded onto the 4WD vehicles and we set off.

Having driven up to Londorossi Gate and signed in to the Park, we had a picnic lunch and a chat about altitude, while our guides Thomas, Charles, Danford, Isak and Faustine organised porters to carry all the food and equipment. Including our 5 guides, we ended up with a support team of 43 for the 13 of us. The drive from Londorossi gate to the start of the trail was ‘interesting’ and we managed to destroy the rear axle of one of our trucks, so had to walk the last 400m. Three hours of steady ascent on easy trails found us at Big Tree Camp. For 5 in our group, this would be their first ever night of camping. Several people had rented great sleeping mats and sleeping bags but it took a while to figure out how to inflate some of the mats! Everyone was in bed for 9-30 and fell asleep to peels of laughter from sisters Rachel & Lynn and friends Nicola and Victoria who were clearly finding their first night under canvas both challenging and hilarious!

Morning dawned and last night’s snorer was identified as Chris. We all spent the next few nights vying for the tent furthest away from Chris’s! Tim, who shared with him didn’t get this option…but at 25 as the youngest member of our team, we figured he could manage with the least sleep. Our cook team managed to conjure up great breakfasts from the first morning….as long as you like porridge and omelette. Over the next few days our routine was similar…up at 6-30 with the dawn, (Emma was always first up and ready) a relaxed breakfast and then steady hiking with several breaks for snacks, drinks, clothes faffing etc. The scenery changed slowly from forest to giant heather to savannah to arid plateau. We also had a mix of weather….thankfully everyone had really good waterproofs and duvet jackets!

The next few days saw some emotional highs and lows for many of the team. A few people began to suffer from various ailments: allergies, headaches, sore feet, lack of sleep (Iain, a retired surgeon, found himself quizzed about all manner drug combinations!) This was counteracted by our first spectacular views of Kibo under clear blue skies, a daily ‘favourite’ joke told by Chris from one of his hero comedians, the amazing camaraderie within our team, lots of laughter and everyone thoroughly enjoying the scrambling on the Barranco Wall… even Mo (with Gareth’s help.)

The end of day 7 found us at Karanga camp in time for a late lunch and an afternoon of loafing in tents trying to get some sleep despite being camped next to the main route to the long-drop toilets. We had a final briefing in which Nicola had everyone in stitches with her genuine question: “If it’s a 6 hour route up and a 2 hour route down…..why don’t we go up the 2 hour route??”....!!

At 11pm we woke, got ready, had a quick breakfast and set off at exactly midnight. Thomas led the way at a very steady (‘poly-poly’) pace. Leaving camp seemed particularly tricky clambering over all the rocks in the dark. Ahead of us up the mountainside and behind and below, we could see little trails of the head torches of other teams.

We made very good, steady progress for the first 5 hours, but slowed noticeably from 5200m onward. Some of the team began to feel nauseous with the altitude and sheer exhaustion was setting in for others. However both Lynn and Rachel felt better than they had on the whole trip to this point! The dawn was spectacular, but we still hadn’t quite reached Stella Point (5745m).

Over the next couple of hours, everyone dug very deep into their physical and emotional reserves and at 8am our whole fantastic team had reached Uhuru Peak and the summit of Kilimanjaro on 6th October on the anniversary of the first ascent by Hans Meyer in 1889. There were many tears and much hugging before the obligatory summit photos in which none of us looks very glamorous.

The next day we headed down and out of the Park at Mweka Gate and drove back to the Hotel for showers, food and beer (but not necessarily in that order). Everyone received their certificate, then 4 of us left to fly back to the UK and everyone else stayed in Tanzania to go on safari. Well done to our whole team…you were awesome!

Alex Langdon, Trek Leader « Previous report | Next report »

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