I didnt sleep very well last night as mum woke up 3 times to go for a pee and made a racket rustling around to get dressed every time! We were up at 6am and today ate breakfast outside, basking in the heat of the sun that shone down on us. The group left camp in high spirits and were ready to do battle with the 5 hour climb to 4295, to take us to Mawenzi Tarn (the sister mountain of kilimanjaro). One of the guys had brought an ipod and speakers with him which he could charge using a solar powered disc - very clever! so we jigged along to music as we walked. we played musical statues whilst trekking and i started a mexican wave which worked its way, single file to the back and then from the back to the front again. simple things are so entertaining when your surrounded by miles of baron land! at times the path disappeared and we were on hands and knees clambering over big rocks. the sun was beating down on us and we had started to wonder why we had been told to wear wooly hats and dress warm...however 2 hours later, the sun disappeared and the cold hit us. No singing and dancing for us at todays camp...there has been a drought up the mountain so a lot of the porters had been sent back down the mountain to get water supplies ready for our next camp.
After lunch Dr Dom and our group leader, Rich, gave us a briefing about summit night. to be honest, they scared the crap our of me...quite literally coz this was the first time i had been able to go in ages! (too much info?) They took us through what was going to happen summit night...so the top of kilimanjaro is called Gilmans point (5680m). Most people aim to get to this point, and this is an achievement in itself getting this far. However, as kilimanjaro is a volcano, you can walk around to the highest point (which is an extra 2 hour walk there and 2 hour walk back) to Uhuru Peak (5895m). They were talking about signs of alitiude sickness - hallucinations, feeling drunk, vomiting, headaches etc etc. if this was to happen at any point, we might risk being taken back down...for our own safety. they pulled out a pressure bag thing that you could be put into and they could pump oxygen in to pring the partial pressure down to 1500m or something in 15 minutes. they asked if any one was claustrophobic but i kept quiet as i thought if im dying, im not going to put up a fight about getting into this bag! we all left the meeting feeling very shaken up about everything we had just been told...they had drummed it into us that this is not an easy stroll in the park. people die up here. we mus tbe honest with ourselves and know when its time to go back down.
After the de-brief we had an acclimatisation walk up Mawenzi for 2 hours...just to get used to walking on scree and also to get us used to this damn altitude. on walking back to camp, my head felt like someone was pushing my brain into a tiny jar. my headache had got so bad, i was feeling very down and negative about my success of reaching the top. Kerry gave me 2 paracetamol and the headache soon went but i couldnt handle eating much dinner. at this altitude no one was really hungry, it was all about forcing the food down you just because you know you need to keep your strength up. Unfortunately Tara didnt make it to Mawenzi, her sickness had got too bad and she had been taken back down the mountain before leaving Kikelawa camp. it was a big wake up call to everyone that not everyone on this trip is going to make it to the top and we mus tbe realistic in just how far we can push our bodies. morals were low over dinner until rich pulled out his ipod and we sang songs in the dinner tent and the porters moon walked to MJ. At 8pm we retreated for bed, cold but tired. One of the porters pulled me to one side and asked why i was sad. i said it had just been my head hurting...he said i must not have a negative attitude and i must think positive. I felt much better.
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