It is hard to believe that 18 months ago mum and i were sat filling out forms to climb a big mountain in aid of Marie Curie. Over the past year we have been purchasing all the needed equipment for the climb which filled a whole room in the house...yesterday was spent trying to pack this whole shop worth of goods into our 75 liter backpacks. We packed our bags, couldn't fit everything in so had to re-pack, rearranging everything to find it still wouldn't all fit...so packed again...and again. we got there in the end...just about.
Dad drove mum and i to the bus station so we could get the national express bus to heathrow terminal 4. whilst waiting for the bus to arrive, a young gentleman sitting opposite had spotted our Marie Curie T shirts and commented that he too was climbing the mountain...but for a different cause. Mum and I boarded the bus, ready for the 3 hour drive to Heathrow...what we werent ready for was the idiot behind me on his phone the whole way whilst some woman coughed her guts up.
On arriving at the airport, we didnt really know where we were going but we spotted a sea of blue in the distance and headed in that direction. The blue marie curie t shirts were a bit of a giveaway as to who was on our trip with us. we were introduced to our reps - kerry and richard and once we were checked in, mum and i headed for some lunch. our last proper meal :(. The t shirts brought much attention and admiration from the public so much so that even sitting eating our lunch, an old guy next to us, who mus thave been in his 70's began asking us about the trip and telling us stories of when he climbed the mountain 25 years ago.
We soon made our way through customs, successfully not managing to set off the detectors and joined the group in a bar next to duty free. Mum steered clear of the wine and accepted the pint of wate ri forced into her hands. It was here that everyone on the trip gathered, all 23 of us...mixed feelings of anticipation of not knowing what lay ahead of us, frustration that we werent there already, excitment at meeting all these new faces and a sense of pride that we were about to participate in a challenge for a very good charity. Also a sense of fear among the group whilst hearing stories and thinking to yourself, hav ei done enough training, do i have the right equipment, am i ready for this? what on earth am i doing here?!
The 8 hour flight on the plane ride to Nairobi dragged..but the food on kenya airways was surpisingly ok! i did my usual trick of starting to watch a film, then falling asleep...then waking up and going back to the beginning to then fall asleep again. i think mum was watching sex and the city 2...but the japanese subtitles took up half the screen. Once landed in Nairobi, we had to change planes to a 56 seater rickety old propeller plane to take us to Mount Kilimanjaro airport. It was only an hours flight (thank god) but ive never felt so unsafe int he air! the plane bobbed up and down, making your stomach churn and making mum flinch every time. Mum and i were sat on the left hand side of the plane which was great as we had great views of the snow capped mountain that was kilimanjaro. worryingly, the plane was flying lower than the summit of the mountain itself. mum commented 'it doesnt look that big' ...i just starred at her with a blank expression...having climbed mountains in canada i know it isnt until ur standing at the bottom of them looking up that u realise ur screwed.
We collected our baggage and threw it up to a little man on top of the minibus who strapped the bags down to the roof. we were to have an overnight stay in Marangu at hotel Impala which was a 2 hour bus ride from the aiport. that damn diamox made me want to pee so bad that everytime we went over one of the many speed bumps, i thought i was going to wet myself. The driver pulled over to give us a glimpse of kilimanjaro...unfortunately its so big, we couldnt see the top of the mountain as it was hidden by the clouds. Once reaching the hotel, we re-organised our backpacks ready for the adventure ahead. People in the MC group congregated around the pool side, being careful not to get burnt, and exchanged tips and stories about the mountain. the question on everyones lips were...do you think you will get to the top? of course no one knew the answer...at the end of the day it doesnt matter how fit you are, if you get altitude sickness, chances are you wont make it. Mum and i said to each other all along we would make it to the top, so i think its good to have a positive mental attitude and to know from the start what you are aiming to achieve.
After dinner we had a group talk from our leaders and we were introduced to Dom the doctor. Bit like tom cruise he was...same height too unfortunately but seemed like a nice guy who for the next week will have to put up with everyone whinging at him. Mum and i had to change rooms at the hotel as we didn't have mosquito net...we moaned about having to lug our luggage up the extra flight of stairs and then realised we probs should be grateful of the extra training for the week ahead. Everyone was in bed by 8pm, full to the brim with water to stay hydrated...yet peeing for Britain from the diamox. roll on 6.30am wake-up call!
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