Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Day 6- Tuesday 11th August 2015, 3980m, Karanga Camp

Karanga Camp, 3980 meters above sea level.

Today was a lot better that I had expected. Same routine as every other morning. I felt quite sick this morning as I didn't sleep too well. I did manage to eat half a bowl of porridge and a drink of barocca, which was horrible.

The first part of the day was the Barranco Wall. From camp this looked terrifying. Once we had begun it was tricky but manageable. There was one bit in particular that I really did not like. I had to put my foot across to a higher rock and rely on one of the guides to pull me up as there was no where for me to hold onto. Good job the guides that take you up this mountain are so amazing! The rest of the wall, including kissing rock (which you have to hug to get around, so you don't fall off) was tough but enjoyable once you had reached the top.

After the wall there was lots of walking up and down hill. The biggest of these hills was right near camp.

We arrived at camp at 1:15 pm had lunch and a rest. At 4pm we went on an acclimatisation trek from camp up 240 meters. The view from there was wonderful you could see Mount Meru.

The trek up took 1 hour and the trek down took 30 minutes. We then had a wash (I checked the blisters on my heels and they have not got any worse) and then had dinner.

Today my porter had set up my roll matt which was wonderful. The small things really do make a difference and it was so kind of him to do so.

Tomorrow things are supposed to become tougher as we walk to the next camp. The walk there will only take about 3 hours 30 minutes but we will be going up to 4600m. We will have dinner and rest until 11pm when we will get up and trek to the summit (leaving camp at 12am) I am nervous and excited all at the same time.

The view from this camp and the sunset are out of this world, pretty sure the camera won't do it justice.

Right I am off to bed now because it is freezing!

Night x

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Day 1- Thursday 6th August 2015, Flight and Hotel.

In the last 30 hours I have had a 30 minute nap. I have just taken a ibuprofen to get rid of the tired headache I had, it is working.


I am sharing a room with another woman who seems lovely. We have organised our bags for the hike tomorrow. I am really excited and a little nervous about starting the trek and the challenge ahead of us. I really hope that the altitude does not effect me, as I managed to avoid it when climbing Mt. Kenya.

Everyone in the group seems really lovely and we are all getting on so well.


The flights went very smoothly. It was nice being back in Nairobi airport again, it brought back many memories of 2009. The flight from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro airport was AMAZING! as we got closer to the airport you could see Kilimanjaro above the clouds. The extent of the challenge really has hit home, I cannot wait to get started.

It is currently 3:30 and dinner is at 6. I am not really sure what to do for the next few hours, I am sure that I will be going to bed nice and early tonight.

I may add more later but for now I am going to go for a wonder around the hotel.

xx










(N.B. I never did go back and add to the diary entry for this day. Before dinner I sat outside with a few of the other team members and enjoyed the African sun, while trying to not fall asleep. We also, had a group chat about why everyone had decided to do the trip and the reasons they had chosen their particular charities. It was really lovely hearing everyone's personal stories, it made everyone more motivated to reach the top. We had dinner and everyone swiftly disappeared to bed.)