My climbing Kilimanjaro ‘win-win’

I know most of us hate knowing the end of a story before we begin – but I’m going to break that for this story to explain the win-win upfront:

WIN: we got to the summit!

WIN: we raised over £5,500 for Living Paintings!

How it all began

Em and I have known each other for over 40 years – and whilst our adult lives took us off to different places, we’ve always remained the best of friends despite the distance and are now only a couple of hours away from each other and often meet for mid-way walks. So, last September, when shopping in Churchill Square, it was a sort of – but not altogether huge - surprise to read a short and sweet WhatsApp message from Em saying, “bit random, but how do you fancy climbing Kilimanjaro together next year?”. And so it was!

When you run a marathon (I did Brighton just before my 40th so Kilimanjaro just before my 50th seemed like a good way to follow…. 60th, what do you have in store?!). Anyway, with marathons, it’s fairly easy to find training plans – and adjust according to your training timeframe. With Kilimanjaro, it wasn’t so much of a plan, as a ‘I’m going for a walk’ type of approach. So that’s what I did – I walked to meetings, I walked during meetings (thank you to those ‘coffee and a walk’ meeting partners!), I walked the long route around Stanmer Park (sometimes doing 3 laps), I walked along the South Downs Way (from Woodingdean – really nice 5 hour loop via Rodmell), my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with more walks… you get the idea. I just kept walking!

There was no real science to it – although I did look for walks with hills generally – and my husband looked for walks with pubs – fair enough!). It was really just to build up to 6 or so hours in a go, and then back-to-back days if possible…. but really, it was about any opportunity to wear in my boots, prepare my feet and build up strength in my legs, to give me the best chance.

And the altitude preparation? Well, others may say differently, but there wasn’t anything we could do to prepare for this – and from all accounts we’d heard, it’ll either get you or it won’t…. so we left that one to fate! However, we did make a pact that we’d leave each other behind (quit the opposite of ‘no woman left behind!’– we just felt that, whatever happened, we’d be with experienced guides, so it was important to voice out loud that each of us felt the other must go on regardless.

After a couple of challenges, we were thrilled to eventually book with the British Expedition Company. Not only are they expert at sorting the logistics, but one of the best bits is the training weekend they organise for you, a couple of months before your trip, in the Forest of Dean. That’s where Em & I first met our fellow summiteers. It turned out we were the only females, and (almost!) the eldest in our group of 11 – but what we lacked in youth we made up for in spirit (well, that’s what we reckon anyway!).

As our trip got closer, it was evident to us both that we wanted to use this opportunity to raise money for a cause. To raise awareness and money for, but also to give us that extra bit of oomph with our ‘just keep walking’ training approach. If you’ve followed my journey, you will know that we chose Living Paintings as our charity, for reasons dear to Em’s heart in particular – but dear to her means dear to me too – so an easy decision was made.

When the day finally arrived, it was an emotional one – leaving our family behind for 12 days was a tough decision. But once through check-in, the adrenaline of what was happening really dawned on us. We loved our flights – endless movies, no interruptions! - even if it did takes us 24 hours via Doha to get there! You fly to Tanzania – to Kilimanjaro Airport - and the amazing thing is, as you start your flight descent, you can clearly see Kilimanjaro looming. That’s when the ‘what the **** have we signed up for?!’ thoughts officially kicked in!

A long, slightly fraught drive to Moshi (our base for the trip) complete, we were reunited with our 9 other trip buddies – it was so great to all sit around chatting about what was to come, knowing we were on the journey of a lifetime together. We ranged from 23 to 51 years old (we know that, because every time you arrived at a new camp, you had to complete a sign-in book with your name, group leader (makes sense) and age (still not too sure why!).

We clocked up approximately 43+ hours along 35+ miles of walking in our 6 days / 5 nights hike along the Machame Route. Our guides explained that the main routes are Machame (known locally as the Whisky route) and Marangu (known as the Coca-Cola route) – according to them, they got their names because whisky is ‘hard’ and coke is ‘soft’!

We started from 1,500m, at the Machame Gate entrance to the National Park. It’s very well managed, and you drive through lush greenery to get there, as the volcanic ash has made the surrounding lands very fertile. Bananas and coffee are the main crops.

Once signed in, the first (wet) leg of our route began, through steep, often slippery rainforest. For around 6 hours we trudged one behind the other – a pattern we came to love over the coming days – so much so, when we could spread out a little, we never did. One in front of the other was the way it was for 6 days! Our first camp was at 3,000m above sea level and night 1 was an eye-opener – the realisation we were in our tiny tents for 5 nights, packing and repacking our minimal ‘wardrobe’(!). It’s fair to say, this was probably the hardest night – you’re still not really in hike-mode, you haven’t worked out how it all works yet, there’s a lot of faffing about, and it’s actually fairly warm still (around 20 degrees), so your summit-protection sleeping bag is too hot!

By day 2, you settle into it – the trees begin to clear, replaced with heather and lower bushes, (with various large, strategically fallen (!) rocks to hide you on your wee stops!). I won’t go into the loo talk too much here – suffice to say, if anyone has questions or wants advice, feel free to get in touch for details! The best bit is, you get above the clouds, where you then are for the next few days. It’s awesome – peaceful, vast, clean, clear – and makes you feel like the tiniest of specks on this amazing planet. This day ends at Shira Camp, at around 3,800m high.

Day 3 is a long one, taking you up to Lava Tower to help with acclimatising to the altitude – at 4,600m – for lunch, before descending to Barranco Camp for the night (3,900m). The peak is ever dominant in your view – and seems forever extraordinary that we’ll be climbing it. This, for me, was where the sickness first kicked in. No headaches for me, just serious vomiting. The amazing team looked after me, but I just needed rest as I felt so weak. Thankfully, all was well the next morning….for now at least!

Day 4 – with a slightly emptier body – started with Great Barranco or Barranco Wall – a huge spur of rock created by Kilimanjaro’s last volcanic eruption. It’s 257m high (and by high, read pretty much vertical!), and includes what’s been affectionately called the Kissing Rock – because to climb it, you have to literally flatten yourself against it and brush past it with your face – so you may as well kiss it en route! The climb is crazy, but fun – you’re often using your hands to navigate and definitely have to follow your guide (you always do, honestly, but this one, and Summit night, were not ones to stray on). This night was to be our shortest – a few hours sleep at Barafu Camp (at 4,600m) before being woken at 11.30pm for summit night….

So, Day 5 begins at midnight – we set off from camp looking like the Michelin man (a dated reference?!) with 3 layers of trousers, even more on top, 3 pairs of gloves, a balaclava, hat and hood. It was freezing – around minus 7 at its coldest at about 03h00 hrs – but we’d been warned and were thankful we all had the kit. The idea is to see sunrise as part of your ascent, get to the summit early enough in the day before it gets too hot, and be back at Barafu camp before midday. And so off we went… snacks in pockets, waters filled, handwarmers ‘activated’! This is where the walking poles really came in to their own – anyone considering this trip, poles are an absolute essential. Not only for helping you get up, but for resting your head on when tired! I struggled on this night – I was slowing the group a bit, so I split off with another guide, and unbeknownst to us at the time, this is where Em and I would leave each other until the summit itself. I walked about 6 hours with just me and my amazing guide, Rama. He is the reason I made it - I was sick twice on the way up, from altitude. I was exhausted and kept nodding off, and he managed it so we slowly, slowly (“polé, pole” – as they say locally) put one foot in front of the other, head down, headtorch on, to get there. I remember asking to ‘go back home’ (camp!) a few times, but he knew… I’d come to get there, not to go home… and I’ll be forever thankful to him.

My certificate says I officially reached Stella Point, at 5,756m above sea level, at 09h18 that morning (24 June 2024) – a weepy, emotional high in every way! I was told Em had gone on to Uhuru (the second summit – Kilimanjaro is a volcano, so there are two summits around the crater’s edge), 100m higher. I had no legs, no energy and no desire (!) to carry on though – I’d made it, and that was enough!

Suddenly, I spotted her coming back – her speed and strength meant she’d been there and back whilst I was still summiting! – and I’m pretty sure it was the best hug we’ll ever experience!! Tears of joy, relief and admiration flowed – and a few photos caught the moment. It is all fairly short-lived however, as our guide insisted we get off the summit as soon as we could, due to the altitude risks. Never have I skipped more happily down a volcano than that moment!! Ascent: 9 hours, descent: 2 hours! Sharing tales of how we’d managed it, we were then overwhelmed by cheers from the porters and other groups congratulating us all. It really was the most exhilarating of feelings, and the pain of the previous few hours evaporated away. We were greeted at our camp with a mug of orange squash – akin to the finest champagne ever!

Our guide told us to “have a rest and we’ll have some lunch, and then it’s a 3-4 hour hike down to our camp for the night”! Believe me when I say, after what we’d just experienced, it felt fine – and although we were very ready to lie down that evening, the amazing thing was how well our feet and legs had carried us. Not a blister in site, no more sickness (Mweka camp is at 3,100m, back at the edge of the rainforest) and the knowledge that a shower and bed were both less than 24 hours away!

Day 6 was the last hoorah – we’d all agreed we’d get up early so we left by 07h00. Our send-off from here was emotional as our whole team of porters – including the amazing chef, the chief water sanitiser, our ‘head of hospitality’ who made sure we knew which tent was ours, and the amazing group who carried our main kit and guided us on our route – all lined up to sing us a local Kilimanjaro song. It was a farewell that will stay with me forever, all of us bursting with gratitude, pride and joy as we sang along together.

A steep, muddy and fairly hairy descent got us back to Mweka Gate for midday – the exit for us, and a chance to wash our boots and enjoy a cold Kilimanjaro beer!

Our trip ended with a couple of days in Moshi, including a safari to Arusha National Park – but with such an achievement behind us, the next 48 hour felt like quite a blur! We were tired, proud, and relieved.

And so it all came to an end – I’ve missed out so many details and amazing memories, but this story hopefully captures a little of what it was like. In short though – I’d recommend anyone to go for it. Be prepared, be fit, be ready to embrace being the great unwashed – and be open to the whole awesomeness of life above cloud level. And do it with your bestie – a more fabulous travel partner I could not have wished for. We did it, together. A win-win-win, you might say.