A Climbers Diary

Day 4 - 23/02/09
Trek Day - 08.00hrs 
Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort - Alt Unknown

We’re off……..well almost. After a drama on the balcony first thing this morning when Trev had a big flap and asked Guy “What the hell are we doing this for?” he has packed, unpacked, packed again, fretted, re-packed, lost sleep, panicked and packed again then stressed about what he has and hasn’t got in his bag. It’s still overweight by half a kilo (there is a limit of 15kg for the porters) and is causing him some degree of concern. Stan has come out with some absolute gems. Yesterday when paying the bill at Moivaro he announced “That can’t be right, it must be more than that” at the top of his voice but that has been capped this morning by “Your bags miles overweight Trev and you haven’t even got your sleeping bag in yet” in front of the head porter. My bag is actually 2 kg more than Trevs but what he doesn’t realise is that a lot of it will be taken out to carry in our day bags on the trek.

This morning was awe inspiring. The dawn over the twin peaks of the mountain was impressive and our rooms overlooked the mountain. After breakfast we jumped in to a land Cruiser for an “African Massage”, a pretty bumpy two hour journey along dirt roads punctuated by Stan flinging 1000 schilling notes out of the window to children that we passed on the way. We passed trough  some very  very rural under developed and impoverished villages  on a dirt track then on to a clean tarmac road that seemed completely out of place. It’s clear that the mountain is generating some wealth in the area and it is also improving logistics for the locals. We eventually arrived Shaken and Stirred at the start of the trek and very excited at the sight of loads of porters getting ready to go up the mountain. I was thankful firstly to have got out of the vehicle back on to terra firma  and secondly to have made it without Candice, who was sat behind me, having not thrown up over the seat in front!

Day 4 - 23/02/09             
The Trek Continues - 19.00hrs
Simba Camp - 2700m
Duration 5hrs - height Gain 750m  

Just settling into the tent after a good meal of fish and chips and I’m breaking wind like a veteran. It’s chilly now but not cold and Stan and I are tucked in listening to the hustle and bustle of the camp around us. Apart from our trekking party of 11 climbers, and 39 porters / guides, there is another group of German climbers and a couple of Sherman Tanks at camp as well . There was supposed to be eight of them in total but a lot chickened out so only two were left…….sounds like the septics.  Interestingly the girl we met supports Spurs and called her and her fella Septic Tanks as she knows cockney rhyming……Good Girl.

The walk today was………….interruption. Stans just let one rip on my back and it stinks! We’re both sleeping on roll mats on the floor about 6 inches apart so it’s very cosy. Anyway the walk today was fairly easy, a bit like a walk in the lake district. We walked through farmland and then into rain forest where unsurprisingly it rained for most of the afternoon and we all arrived at camp soaked. My waterproof Lowe Alpine jacket isn’t. We’re trying to dry off at camp and had a little break in the rain for the last hour before dark. Trev’s been fretting about the weather today as the bag situation resolved itself. He likes at least one subject per day to worry about and has clung on to the bag epic for a fair while boring anyone within earshot of his bag woes. Guy has been a star and has smoked about 5 fags today on the way up. Literally as soon as we pitched up at Simba Camp he flared up.

For the first time we could see the Mawenzi peak today as the clouds cleared a little and it looked impressive. We’re approaching from the north up the Rongai route so there is still a little snow on our side. Nothing for us under foot yet but we are still quite low. Kit wise I wish I’d brought my Goretex army jacket as the Lowe is not 100% waterproof. Mind you it was very very wet. Couldn’t get any blogs onto the site as there is no signal here. On the way up we saw some stunning wildlife. Trev was over the moon with his solitary Colubus Monkey falling out of a tree and another brief sighting of a tail that disappeared into the greenery.