In October 2023, Charlie, Annabel and I went out to Tanzania to take on the challenge of getting to the top of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. It was a 6 day trek, with day 1 starting in the rain forest and finishing at Machame Camp at 2835m.
A couple of the biggest challenges were eating lots to keep up the energy levels which sounds easy but the higher we got, the more my appetite dropped. The second was keeping hydrated and drinking lots of water which I’m not good at! Day 2 ended at 3750m, Shira Cave Camp. Day 3 we reached 4600m at Lava Tower where we had some lunch and then continued but back down to 3900m and Baranco Camp.
Chris of Active Mountaineering, the organiser and main guide, explained that acclimatisation was key and going to a higher level and then back down, would help our lungs and bodies especially on summit night/morning. The morning of day 4 was the most technical of the trek, up Baranco Wall including the Kissing Stone and a bit of scrambling. After lunch at Karanga Camp, we headed to “base camp”, Barafu which was at 4673m where we ate and then had an early night and were woken at 11.30 to get ready to head off to the summit.
We then had 6 ½ hours of slowly walking up to Stella Point to try to get there for sun rise and then round the rim to Uhuru Peak which is at 5895m. Summit night was brutal, it was the hardest thing that I’ve ever done and I’ve run 7 marathons. The air is so thin and you are taking such small steps, you didn’t look to be getting any closer to the top as you zig zagged up the gravel trail with the odd rock thrown in that you had to try to navigate.
I felt exhausted at the top, physically and emotionally and am not ashamed to say that I shed several tears. Luckily going down was a lot quicker! An experience that I will never forget and would totally recommend to anyone that has the opportunity!”
