Katie’s sudden departure left us with a spare bike and I really couldn’t face dragging it all the way down to South Africa with me. Seeing as how Herbert was the original starter and began the journey back on day 1, it felt right that I should continue on him and give Flashdance away to a worthy cause.

After considerable searching we stumbled on a tiny little orphanage just outside Arusha. They receive almost no support at all and after a short conversation with Father Zacharia I felt that this was a good home for Flashdance. She was bought down from Nairobi on the top of a car and yesterday I went round to the Huruma Orphanage to give her away.

It was a twenty minute drive out of Arusha up a long dirt track to reach the tiny little building that housed the children. Abdul, the director of Abrojaley Africa Ajabu Ltd. has very close ties with the orphanage and kindly offered to drive me up there. Although the building was in need of some considerable love and care the setting was absolutely breathtaking. There was a spectacular view out the back looking up at the mountains blanketed in foliage. There was a small old swing and a tiny little football pitch set in amongst the banana trees. From what Farther Zacharia explained the children lived primarily off bananas (which they grew themselves) and from milk that is produced by the two cows that has been given to them. As it stood the single building could only accommodate a maximum of 22 children, some of which are HIV orphans others have simply been left at the gate with no explanation. As we walked around meeting the kids I was told all about the dream of educating each and every one of them and I listened intently as he meticulously explained how he planned to achieve this right down to what crops he was going to plant where and how big each classroom was going to be.

I am no psychologist and I have not visited enough orphanages in my life to create a convincing case study but I have found that children with the least often have the most to give. I have no idea whether the unlimited levels of affection that they display is a way of compensating for the lack of love that they have received or whether it is simply a natural human emotion that manifests itself in times of need. Despite all this outward display of affection I couldn’t help but be left with a sense of emptiness as I looked around.

I asked Farther Zacharia what the bicycle meant to them and whether it would be of any use so far up this dirt track. In truth I was partly expecting him to say that it was a very kind gesture but that it would probably be sold to help feed the children. As it turned out he told me that the children had been praying for a bike for some time now. It is more than a 2km walk for them to collect water each day and on occasions when they could buy supplies it was a long an arduous walk back to the house and the bike would make their lives considerably easier. As I watched the kids race around on the bike I also suspected that it would provide them with a little entertainment from time to time, in between the daily chores.

After a healthy amount of hugging it was time to continue on my journey and as we pulled away down the hill I caught sight of the children racing around on Flashdance back in the distance. I have to say that I have had my fair share of disagreements with Flashdance, I’ve even come close to quietly pushing her off a cliff, but seeing how useful she really is to people in need made me forget all the quarrels we have had.

Day 4

With it being low season on the mountain and Katie picking an exceptionally beautiful and less frequently used route we have not, until now, seen a single other person on our entire journey. Yesterday evening we were joined at camp by another team compromised primarily of French people. Sebastien turned out to be a water purification engineer in Dar Es Salaam and I have arranged to try and meet up with him as I cycle through.

This morning we left camp at 07:15 just in time to see the other team emerge from their tents, only to be overtaken 2 hours later as they came almost running past us. It was no real surprise given their excessive speed that when we finally arrived at Kibo Hut they were all tent bound with splitting headaches! Unfortunately Sadie has lost her appetite this evening and has a bad headache, not a good sign considering we are making our summit attempt in a few hours! We are due to get up at 23:00 this evening and walk through the night so we have had an early dinner and we are trying to get a few hours rest before the walk.

Day 5

After a few measly hours dozing we woke up at 23:00 to find the landscape blanketed white with a thick carpet of snow. It was still snowing heavily at 23:30 as we set out after our cup of hot sugary tea and a few biscuits. Sadie’s headache has got considerably worse and after 40mins of walking she informed me that she had vomited prior to departure. She insisted on carrying on for a short while but at 5200m she began suffering from ataxia and extreme fatigue. If your read any high altitude medical book the primary symptoms of AMS are usually described as:

Headache, Loss of appetite, Extreme fatigue and Ataxia

It was very sad that she had to turn back but given her condition she made an excellent decision to turn back and in my opinion it takes a very strong person to accept the situation and make the right decision. Gerrit, John and I continued on after Sadie and Antonio (Our latest addition to the team and assistant guide) returned to BC and by 06:00 we had reached Gilmonds Point marking the end of the steep climb. After watching a spectacular sunrise we continued along the crater rim to reach Uhuru Peak (I believe this is loosely translated as Freedom Peak from Swahili) at 07:30. After a succession of photos and some filming I called Katie to let her now we had safely reached the top before turning round and heading back down. As is always the case with mountains the elation of reaching the summit if quickly overcast by the fact that you are only half way and you still have to get back down.

On the way down I spotted a man staggering around and after a short discussion with him it was blindingly evident that he was in no fit state to be were he was. It turned out that his guide was incredibly inexperienced and believed that people were paying him to take them to the summit no matter what. We finally arrived back to camp at 11:15 after almost 12 hours of walking and found Sadie curled up in her tent feeling very despondent but safe. I has also very relieved when the man whom I had spotted staggering around poked his head through the tent door to thank me. We had a few hours rest and a big hearty lunch before packing up camp and heading down the mountain again.

I have had a fantastic time on the mountain, and having spotted a few other additional challenges that the mountain holds, I am excited about the prospect of coming back with Katie. Kilimanjaro is one of the few extraordinarily beautiful places that is at the same time a great challenge, but also achievable for anybody (from a physical point of view). Whether you are looking for a first time challenge or the next one on the list then it is well worth the time. The only advice that I can give you is to pick your guide and company wisely!!! Easier said than done I know, but a good guide will make your trip whilst a bad one will not only break your trip but may put you at considerable risk at the same time.

Well Herbert is quietly calling me again and my journey must continue. I had almost forgotten that this climb was a break from the exhaustion of cycling. I will take a day to get back to Arusha now and sort out my equipment before getting back in the saddle and heading off on the road once again.

Cycling past the roof of Africa was too much of a temptation to simply bypass. It is also a welcome break from the saddle and the road. It’s not quite the same without Katie and it would have been a fantastic next step in her mountaineering experience. However, now I have first hand experience I will know what to expect when I bring her here. There are three of us in our group, in fact there seems to be only three of us on the whole mountain!!! We have yet to meet or see anybody else. In addition to Sadie, Gerrit and myself we have John, our guide and 6 porters come cooks.

Day 1

We met John (our Guide) in Arusha and after a succession of stops between there and the mountain we slowly accumulated all the members of our team. I think it was very much a case of picking up friends and colleagues with whom he has worked before. Once the Land Rover was uncomfortably overloaded (11 people in a car designed for 7) we merrily made our way to the main Kilimanjaro National Park entrance to sign in before heading to our star point. I wish I could say that this was all as smooth as the guide book in the pouch on the back of the seat in front described it:

‘The Rongai Route:

On the first day clients usually sign in at the main gate between 8 and 10 in the morning before continuing along the scenic route around the mountain to the Rongai Forest were the trek begins. Beginning shortly after lunch there is a short leisurely walk through the pine forests to first camp.’

If I had to write a description for a guide book based on our experience it would go something a little like this:

‘The Rongai Route:

On the first day you will be due to be picked up at 08:00am but all things being African, it will be closer to 08:45am. After a little delay at the main office, the journey to the main national park gates will take approximately 3 hours (allowing an extra hour for detours). After signing in the real adventure begins… You will spend almost 6 hours digging out various vehicles (including your own) from mud up to your knees in the poring rain (Incidentally Alex, our driver, was an exceptionally good driver). Arriving a few minutes before sun set means you will delay the short walk through the pine forest until the following day.’

Despite the slightly unorthodox procedures it was actually remarkably enjoyable. Our team is a fantastically eclectic mix of characters each with a slightly quirky twist to their story. In any case we get on very well with everybody. Having had to camp at the base of the route means we are camping at 1950m.

Day 2

Provisions are very tight as the logistics was carefully (or possibly not) choreographed so that we have the right number of porters and food to last us the 6 days we will be on the mountain. In light of this we have to make up the ground that we lost yesterday and have to walk all the way through to camp 2. The walk is only around 12km but we need to climb from 1950m to 3500m, so we will spend most of the day walking very very slowly, or as the locals say ‘poly poly’. As you would imagine the scenery made a dramatic change as we ascended, going through the pine forest we were meant to do yesterday, before crossing into the indigenous tropical forest, then in into the shrub land and finally into a relatively sparse grassland.

The team of cooks have managed to produce some pretty spectacular meals given the rudimentary utensils and equipment they have. For breakfast every morning they are proving us with porridge, fresh fruit, sausages, eggs and vegetable omelet. For lunch we get a small goody bag with all sorts in it and in the evening we get another fully garnished meal including soup, chips, vegetable stew, meat and a fruit salad for desert. The walking was relatively easy going and we took regular breaks filled mostly with a lot of drinking. For those of you unfamiliar with altitude one of the most important things to remember is to stay hydrated. I’m glad to say that the temperature has also dropped sufficiently and I slept like a baby (The first time since I was at 4200m with Katie back in Ethiopia).

Day 3

The other great rule of altitude is ‘get used to doing nothing!’ 90% of all your time at altitude is spent doing absolutely nothing. To be more specific you are actually acclimatising but in order to do that efficiently, you need to do as little physical excursion as possible. In a bid to keep to this theory we have covered an enormous 4km today and since arriving at 4200m we are sitting around in our tents doing very little. I have spent much of the morning filming and typing up this post, whilst Sadie and Gerrit are doing… errr not entirely sure but they are in their tent.

Every morning the weather is absolutely beautiful with crystal clear skies as we look out over the top of the clouds covering the Amboseli National Park down below. I try to do as much filming as possible at this time of day because by mid morning the clouds start to role in and a thick fog prevents you from seeing very much. In fact yesterday afternoon we heard a light aircraft flying incredibly close to us and this morning we heard via phone that it was on the news that a light aircraft carrying 4 passengers crashed into Kilimanjaro at about 16:00 yesterday afternoon because of the cloud.

We are due to make our summit attempt tomorrow night and I’ll write a short post from the top.