Day 15

“Mama! Bopa!”
It was Manas calling us to get up. Eleven o’clock had come round very quickly, but surprisingly we had slept and now roused ourselves and struggled into our top layers and our boots. Ugali was served in the mess tent along with hot tea; the platys were filled and stowed in our day sacks; then Hashim was waiting with Lucas to take us to the top.
We begin very slowly and can see a couple of sets of lights bobbing someway ahead of us. It is full moonlight, but nevertheless we have our head torches on to light the way as the path is quite rocky. We plod on at Hashim’s steady pace, but it is a steady climb from the outset. Looking back we can see a few tiny lights in the camp below us and further down in the valley, the lights of Moshi twinkle (some 5000m below us!).
Pole pole we go, gradually catching up with the lights ahead as people stop to rest; then we stop to rest and another couple behind catch us up. So it goes on, as we take turns in leapfrogging past. We are soon into the softer scree, which is tiring to climb. This is why we are climbing overnight, as the scree is frozen and not so slippy. For the whole trip, Hashim’s stops have been fairly regular at an hour to an hour and a half, but now I feel as if I need them more frequently; but I must keep going or we will never get there. Everyone is stopping more often as we feel the effects of the thinner air. Sips of water prove how cold it is when we discover there is ice forming in the bottles. Hashim is worried that mine will freeze solid as they have to sit in the outside pockets – the inner bit above the camera compartment is just too small to take a platy. Eventually he puts them in with the emergency stuff he is carrying. The giraffe legs help so much and almost everyone has two, so I am glad we were able to hire one at the gate. Hashim has adjusted them, so they are much longer than their usual height - and more comfortable on the arms.
I have no idea how long we have been walking, but now I look to see if there is a special rock I can walk to before resting. It keeps me going having that to aim for. Then I rest for a little and do it again. It’s very slow, but I take heart in the fact that the people around us are the same folk we were leapfrogging with earlier. Then I have to count a hundred steps to keep going before I rest. This goes on for ages, almost by remote control as I feel very tired, but suddenly Hashim leads me to a rock wall and a rock to sit on and Lucas is leaping about saying something. Alan tells me that we have reached Stella Point (5730m), which is the first part of the summit. Time for more water and a celebratory date. But no time to rest on our laurels as our aim is Uhuru Peak another 165m up. Alan sets off with Lucas, striding ahead and disappearing into mist! We are in clouds, which seems a surprise as it has been clear all the time. We are walking along a wide ridge, it appears, but it is dark and misty and I can’t see what is to either side. What are there are the crater to our right and the glaciers to the left, but even as the sky begins to lighten, the clouds persist, obscuring the view. It takes about an hour to reach our goal. This bit is not so taxing as the climb, I just need to keep Alan in my sights. Then, people are leaping about and shouting and I can see the sign for the peak ahead. Early summiteers are leaving already, having had their photos taken with celebratory cheers and grins. I try my camera, but it announces that I need to change the batteries – it is too cold, poor thing! Alan’s is OK, and someone takes it and we all line up for photos and I notice that Alan’s blue jacket is covered in white – is it frost? Well, no; it is snow! I hadn’t noticed that it was snowing!

We made it with our trusty guides

I was fine, they just decided I needed support!

Hashim decides its time to go down, quickly. He gives Lucas the emergency bag and takes my rucksack, putting one of my sticks down the side. He takes my arm and we start to retrace our steps, this time at speed, but we do stop to glimpse the glaciers through a break in the cloud. Then we rush on to Stella Point for another quick rest, before plunging over the side of the mountain. We are semi-running down the scree, which is softer in the morning sun. We are out of the cloud and as we rush down, more people are climbing up to make the summit, but most have made Stella Point before the sun has melted the surface. We take a few rests and at one point a kind man offers me some water. We forgot that all the water was now with Alan and Lucas, who were some way behind.
By 8.15am Hashim and I are back at camp. I sit on a rock and Manas brings water and squash. It is great to drink something and it feels wonderful to have achieved what we set out to do, although I don’t really feel that I was aware of it all when we were at the summit! After a quarter of an hour, Alan and Lucas make it back too. We climb into the tent, strip off some of our layers of clothing, then relax, lying flat out on our thermorests with sleeping bags thrown over us.

We wore our jammies as an extra layer!

At 11am, Manas calls us with some hot water for a wash; and for a late breakfast. I am not feeling great - a sort of sickly headache, but I wash and make myself respectable (with hair sticking up all over the place!) and stagger up to the mess tent. Then I have to dash out again as I feel I am going to be sick. This is not productive as we haven’t eaten since eleven last night, but Manas comes over and assures me that now I will be stronger. He could be right. Alan and I sit in the mess tent and breakfast of potato goulash is served. Luckily there is some toast and tea, which I manage, even though Alan assures me that the goulash is very tasty. I probably need the saltiness, but I decide that rehydration salts will probably be the next best thing and I do feel a lot better after that. Manas thinks we can probably have a couple more hours rest before we have to descend to the last camp, Mweka (3080m).
We are just pouring another mug of tea, and contemplating a slice of pineapple, when Manas rushes back to the mess tent with the news that they are expecting bad weather on the mountain. Consequently, Hashim has decided that we should get down as soon as possible to avoid a cold soaking. We have to pack up immediately and start down; so that is what we do. We are on our way by 12.15pm, not rushing as Alan’s knees won’t take that! We walk down out of the alpine desert with its sparse vegetation into the heath and moorland. Here we see again the tree groundsel and gradually the heathers cloth the hillsides, getting taller and taller as we descend. We also saw the sugarbush protea and kniphofia among the short grasses and Philippia bushes. By 15.30 we have signed in and are at our last camp on Kilimanjaro. We encountered the edge of a rain shower, but the worst of the weather was above us, so a good idea to move when we did. There is a large encampment of Tusker tour tents some 50m away from us. They are having a celebration as the porters etc, are singing and dancing for the tourists, congratulating them on getting to the summit. It all sounds very jolly. There must be 20-30 people in the group – sounds a lot. We manage an early dinner and bed, before we fall asleep on our feet!