I went, I climbed and I conquered!
Jambo!!!
Mount Kilimanjaro
February 6th 2015!
How are we all doing? I am floating
somewhere out there in the universe as I am still absorbing the fact I climbed
and conquered Mount.Kilimanjaro! I can't stop smiling ....I feel so very proud
of myself and so incredibly proud and happy for Ali Smith and Becky
Templeman.....my two intrepid pals and climbing buddies......well done on the
fundraising for Cancer research girls too!
What an amazing time we three have had, we
have laughed and ribbed each other constantly the whole trip....and we have had
anyone whose come into contact with us laughing and smiling too. I would call
that a massive victory for all of us. The bonge amigos lived it large! Looking
forward to our next adventure in the future!
There will be a series of posts over the
next week or two that will tell more of our epic adventure, hopefully you won't
all be bored to death with it!
I did manage a couple of the promised
video blog diary entries and although it will seem strange, I will do some more
from home. It was really quite difficult to do them to be honest.....probably
more to do with the fact I was too shy to just set up and do where ever I was!
It was difficult to find time after a long hard day of climbing, to find
a quiet spot that made me slightly less self conscious ( but not
much!! )...and in some cases not enough light available. Within a couple of
days the idea of getting set up didn't cross my mind and then there was the
days of suffering with high altitude sickness......so in theory it was a grand
idea - in practice not so much.....so like I said I'm going to try force myself
to do some at home, I'll apologise now, me in front of the camera is not
good guys...you've been warned !
Our summit selfie! seems a good place to
start.....joking! this was the end result of the most amazing time on
Mount.Kilimanjaro, it was unbelievably hard and for both Bec's and I a rough
time with differing symptoms of altitude sickness to contend with as well. Ali
was so very lucky and didn't suffer with it at all. Although she thinks we were
better off as Chacha and George carried Bec's and I's day packs to the summit
and down for us!
Before I get into the actual writings of
the epic adventure and climb - I thought I would spend time on this first post
telling you about the company we used for both the climb and safari.
www.wildsecretsafaris.com - check
the link.
Wild Secret safaris - an amazing company
where you the client and your needs are foremost and nothing is too much
trouble. Mussa Gora will take great care of you and your parties needs. I
cannot recommend them highly enough!
I did all my dealing via email with Mussa
who came back to me promptly and was always the professional. He made our trip
planning so stress free and took on more than he needed to to ensure we had a
fantastic trip that ran so very smoothly. We booked our climb, our safari and
all our hotels while in the UK and we stayed in four different hotels over our
stay! Nothing is too much trouble for Wild Secret and I can't tell you how much
we appreciated all Mussa did. Above and beyond without a doubt.
Regarding the climb make sure you book Philemon
Chacha and his crew. They are simply the best, they will keep you motivated
throughout the climb, they sang every morning and had us up and joining in, a
superb way to shake off the chill from the night, warm up your muscles ready to
face the days strenuous climb. Don't think of using any other crew - you want
the best? look no further.
We three girls wouldn't use any other
company and if you are going to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount
Meru you know who to book with.
Wild Secret offer many safari packages and
whichever you choose, know that you will be with the professionals.
Bec's, Ali and I really can't recommend
them enough. Thank you guys for making sure our epic adventure was amazing and
so stress free and so very memorable!
Over the next few posts I'll tell you of
our epic climb adventure from the forest trail to climbing the great Barranco
wall at 14,928ft....a definite eye opener!!, our major acclimatization day at
the lava tower at 4600m, to the summit and the trail back down to the
finish at Mweka gate. About the singing with the crew in a morning and falling
into the tent on a night! Of our continuous laughing, the friendly insults that
started from our eyes opening to the altitude sickness that hit three of the
four of us!
Our most amazing day shopping for and
visiting Osiligi orphanage - and the fun we had with the kids - a truly
humbling but most rewarding day for sure. Of our three days of adventure on our
safari trip, the animals we were so lucky to see and in most cases get photos
of. The most wonderful friends we made on our trip and our sadness at leaving
and struggling to settle back in to life in the UK. The two day journey both
ways and our crack us up captain on one of the flights that had us giggling and
singing like deranged kids!!
I have definitely left a piece of my heart
in Tanzania where I felt I had known it forever and not as a visitor in a
foreign land - Mussa, Alphonce,Chacha and George made me and the girls so
welcome we really didn't feel like strangers visiting at all.....and to that I
am so grateful, so relaxed and chilled out, a truly amazing adventure and
hopefully will not be too long before visiting again.
There will be photos to accompany the
stories so you get to see what I'm trying to describe to you....well in most
cases!
I really hope you enjoy my account of my
challenge of climbing Mount.Kilimanjaro and I will chat to both Bec's and Ali
and ask them what they personally thought of the whole adventure and write
their thoughts and feelings in one of the posts.
I have finally caught up mostly with my
travel journal and now its just a case of the odd story my Jelly brain forgot!
And the most heart melting message my little buddy Molly wrote for me to take
with me up the mountain that I read all the time....it made me smile so much,
thanks crazy kid I love it!!
I find myself in almost constantly in a
state of surreal surprise - it's still sinking in exactly what I've done and
achieved this month! it even feels funny saying that....I went, I climbed and I
conquered Mount.Kilimanjaro this month!!! February 6th 2015!
I find I can't stop looking at the photo
above, I have made it my new profile picture on FB. I seriously cannot stop
looking at it, not because I'm vain ( everyone who knows me will be laughing so
hard at that, I barely remember to do something with my hair in a morning!! )
but because I look and feel myself transported back to that moment. I remember
resting and trying to catch my breath, trying to steady the dizziness and the
feeling of been light headed with dodgy balance and not fully in control of my
body. Trying not to move my eyes too fast and set them off rolling in the
sockets!.....of feeling even in rest mode my hamstrings and calves on full
stretch because it's so steep......and I remember lifting my head slowly up and
up until I could see the horizon and where the summit lay, and thinking....this
has been one hell of a climb! - that photo captures all of that so very clearly
I think.
And the feelings, all the memories slowly
surfacing from somewhere in my memory and it feels amazing, it feels like I'm
reliving it all over again, but this time the memories are staying clearer. The
more it sinks in the more incredibly proud I feel of my achievement - I find
I'm filling up and smiling at the same time. I found myself on this epic
adventure, a version of me that was lost for so long through diagnosis,
treatments and subsequent illnesses and problems.....a version of me I don't
want to lose again.
I set this challenge way back when I was
in hospital trying to come to terms with having my chemo cut short because of
the pneumonia and collapsed lung, it was my way to motivate myself back....and
as the years carried on and the delays kept happening for this challenge due to
the ongoing health issues I was having....it became everything to me....it was
for me the way to prove I could make it back after a very rough and frustrating
few years of complications caused by my cancer and the treatments - and I did
exactly that!
I have shown that even though I am
surviving cancer - it is only a small portion of the essence that's me....I
don't and have never allowed it to dictate my life and actions.....and
hopefully others will see it doesn't have to for them either.
I have proved in the most positive of ways
to anyone having a difficult time what I've always said - nothing is impossible
if you want it enough.....we can all set our own version of Everest, work hard
for it and revel in the feeling of achievement when you conquer your personal
challenge.
I hope you go out and set yourself a
challenge or two and I wish you all the very best of luck in conquering
them!
I've not really thought what I'll be next
setting for myself - I'm going to take my time and really absorb my success and
the enormity of what I've actually done first!
So the next post will get into the climb
adventure, I hope you look forward to it as much as I'm looking forward to
telling you about it.
And to Molly - my best little bud.....I
said I'd do it and I did - this was for both you and I....l love you crazy kid!
xx
Until next time
Tracy
Mount.Kilimanjaro one hell of a climb!
Hi everyone
This adventure, my challenge I set way back in 2010...this
enormous challenge to climb to the summit of Mount. Kilimanjaro....it was
finally here, I was so excited on the build up that I didn't sleep for three
days before we actually flew! I actually would shake with excitement and
anticipation and smile! on man I would break out into the biggest face
splitting smile every time my mind thought Kilimanjaro.....I was after so many
frustrating years actually going to be getting on that plane to Tanzania and my
mountain challenge was on! And now looking back - I still struggle to believe
what I've actually accomplished. I have stood on the "Roof of
Africa".....amazing and unbelievable.
Friday January 30th - 13.55pm and we were on the plane to Doha
airport in Qatar....the first leg of our journey. Suzie had driven Bec's and I
to Manchester where we met Ali. And from that moment we girls started with the
ribbing,laughing and joking.....this carried on for the whole trip. We landed
at Doha 11.50pm local time and then had over seven hours to kill before our
connecting flight to Kilimanjaro. The airport is out of this world, the shops
were designer, but we found a great cafe with wonderfully comfy seating and a
gorgeous hummus to boot! We got on our second plane and with great excitement
set off for Moshi and the challenge of a lifetime! We didn't know until the
flight had been under way for a fair old time ( it was an eight hour flight )
that we would be stopping at Dar Es Salaam first to drop off passengers. We
were to stay on the plane for the hour it would take to get them and their
luggage off. Then we were back in the air and onto our destination JRO
international airport.
The airport from the outside actually looked like someone's
bungalow! - it had what looked like well kept gardens!
Boy we nearly passed out when we got off the plane and walked to
the airport building. It was around minus 2/3C when we had left the UK and here
we was landing Saturday January 31st at 15.25pm to temps of 34C.....mental I
tell you!
We were through the airport in good time and was met on the other
side by Mussa our wonderful host from Wild Secret Safaris. And we were loaded
and on our way to the Keys Hotel in Moshi for our overnight stay before the
climb. We got booked in and taken to our rooms - which were little round huts,
loved them...simple but great! We then went to a meeting to meet our head
guide, chat about our next eight days on the mountain and to have our kit
checked out.
The meeting went well and our kit passed muster as it were.
Chacha, Mussa and Alphonce left us to get some food etc and said they'd see us
at 7.00am to load up and set off.
We grabbed some food and called it a night....we had two rooms
between us and said we would rota through so we all got a night on our own
unless it was a triple.
07.00am arrives and we happily had breakfast, sorted out with
reception for them to store our suitcases until our return and loaded our gear
into the van. All we needed now was a photo before we set off and we were ready
to hit the mountain!!
Ali and Bec's were full of beans and
raring to get this climb going on lol.....we had to travel to Londorossi Gate
which was about two hours drive away to register and get all the kit weighed.
It was really exciting and Dom an Italian who they'd asked could join our climb
was ready to crack on too.
A dreaded selfie and we were in the van
and finally on the move - watch out Mount.Kilimanjaro we are coming to get
you!!!!
Sunflowers - or more
accurately....sunflower crops! I'd never thought of sunflower crops but as soon
as I saw the fields of them it clicked and made sense. I was mesmerized by them
to be honest, these beautiful and magnificent flowers standing so tall and
proud facing the sun! I never actually got a picture.....something I regret but
it was fascinating to see them. I like so many of you will have only thought of
maybe a couple together growing not hundreds in one place. I couldn't stop
looking at them every time we passed a crop, I found it so simple and so very beautiful.
On the way to Londorossi gate we had a
puncture hardly surprising if you saw the potholes and deep ruts in the dirt
roads. Our climb crew of porters, chef etc passed us in their van while they boys
were changing the tyre. When we were back on the road we came upon our crew who
had broken down big time in the middle of the road. After Mussa and co chatted
with them we were off on route to the gate. They explained they needed to
organise the crew and gear to be picked up and brought to the gate for weighing
and would do so when we arrived there.
We went and sat in the shaded area with a
packed lunch while the guys organised for another company to go get our
crew.Firstly they were going to drop their own crew off at the gate to have
everything weighed, while that was happening they would go collect our crew and
bring them to the gate for the same weighing in process. They would take their
own crew to the start point in the Lemosho glades and come back to collect our
crew and take them to the start point.......well organised so far away from the
town, it was just going to take some time to do that's all.
We were just chilling and chatting among
ourselves and with Mussa, Chacha and Alphonce....the time passed quickly and
then we were ready to be on our way. Chacha asked if we had our headtorches in
our daypacks because we had a 3-4 hour climb ahead of us and it was after
15.00pm now. We checked and in most cases got out of our big packs ( we hadn't
expected to need them today ) and we were off for an approx drive of 45 mins
through a forest to the Lemosho glades and the true start of our epic climb of
Mount.Kilimanjaro....we were completely buzzing, I again was shaking with
excitement....it was here, and for all those doubters, I was here and I was
about to embark on an experience most will never have in their lifetime. I was
here and fit enough to be climbing, I had no matter what proved the doubters
wrong! Should never underestimate me and my determination that's for sure.
We were out of the van, smiling at our
crew who we would gt to know over the next few days and then we were off on the
first days climb through the forest. We were climbing up to Mti Mkubwa camp and
would be staying there overnight. Overall the climb wasn't too bad, we managed
to do some chatting and laughing on route. There were a few steep climbs that
had me completely breathless and I did think on one of them, oh boy this looks
like it's gonna be really tough especially with the scarring on my lung!
Chacha had said before we even left Moshi
the rules of Kilimanjaro are simple. In Swahili it's a saying Pole pole
Kilimanjaro which translates into slowly slowly Kilimanjaro.....it is so true,
you aren't going to succeed on the mountain any other way. He went in front to
dictate the pace which was a lot steadier than we had been attempting at this
height, it wasn't the altitude that was causing most of the problems but the
heat. It was in the low 30's C and it was having an affect on us, especially me
on this our first climb. Pole pole definitely worked. We made it to camp just
as it was getting dark, so no torches needed. Chacha was happy with us, we'd
done the first days climb in two hours instead of the 3/4 hours.
We were definitely happy bunnies and very
happily signed in with the officials at the camp.Our names are forever in the
records of climbers of Mount.Kilimanjaro - something I'm very proud to say!
We went to the tents of which there was a
single and a two man. Ali got the single this night and Bec's & I shared.
We put out our sleeping bags, made sure the tent was zipped up ( don't want any
unwanted visitors from the forest!! ) and went to the mess tent for our first
camp meal. We started with soup - cucumber soup made by our cook Job....it was
bloody delicious! Enjoyed our meal, had a cup of Yorkshire tea ( of course I
took some teabags with me!! ) and got Dom the Italian coffee drinker on them
and Chacha our head guide..... one cup and I'd converted them to the nectar
that is Yorkshire tea. My job was done for the day ha!!
An amazing first day walking in the forest
and of course all the excitement of the puncture and breakdown before that. We
happily chatted about our first day, the adventure and what was still to come.
We knew day two was going to be around eight hours of climbing, so a big day
ahead. We all called it a night around 20.00pm. We were getting a knock ( if
that's possible on a tent ) at 06.30am....so it was time to try sleep with the
sounds of the forest and everything that was buzzing in my head. I still hadn't
stopped smiling at this time....well apart from my first visit to the
toilet....an open at one end wooden structure with a hole in the ground. It
wasn't the squatting that bothered me I've done that before in India....it was
the rank smell, these things outside....leave a lot to be desired, but it was
what it was!
Until next time
Tracy
Mountain Day
Two…..
Jambo everyone!
I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!....the weather has been
great here in Yorkshire, the suns been shining and you can feel spring in the
air!
Our second day saw us leave Mti kubwa camp in the forest and set
off for Shira camp 1. This was a full days trek with an altitude gain of
2000ft. Not too long into the trek would see us leave the forest and into the
giant moorland zone.
Before we set off the crew did a song for us- wow, all I can say
is wow! it was amazing, great fun and really upbeat. We were all stood grinning
from ear to ear as we picked up a couple of words and tried to join in. We
danced and everything. What a fantastic way to start the day! We were full
beans and felt really honoured with our crew. None of the other climb crews did
that with their groups. We felt very special!
We were about to go when Chacha pointed out a Blue monkey in the
camp.....it is also known as the sky monkey. It had an injured back leg and was
roaming around the camp looking for dropped bits of food. It was in no way
phased by all the people in camp. It just did it's own thing.
We had managed to make it through the
night without any unwanted visitors in the tent - even after bathroom visits in
the early hours of the morning! It wasn't a great nights sleep for any of us,
the moon was really bright at one point, I actually thought it was near
dawn....it was about two am! Experiencing the loo ( hole in the ground in the
dark with a tiny torch wasn't anyone's idea of fun I can tell you )
So we got ready to leave our forest camp,
quite a few of the groups had set off for the full days trek already. We were
cool and relaxed and ready to start our day in earnest. Goodbye camp! Got a
happy smiling Bec's photo, she's ready to crack on for the day.
We set off on our first full days trek. It
was going to be tough with some very steep climbs ahead of us before we headed
down to the Shira plateau and our next camp for the night. It was a really hot
day and the sun was out in force....now this was going to add to our discomfort
as we hadn't had chance to acclimatise to the heat yet.
Some of the climbs were really steep -
George our assistant guide was setting our pace and thankfully we were on with
our Pole pole Kilimanjaro. Just as well I don't think any of us would have made
it otherwise. As we left the forest behind and entered the moorland zone, the
difference was amazing. We kept climbing a strenuous climb and would catch our
breath at the top...we were constantly criss-crossing with other groups, so
there was plenty of good natured banter and lots of joyful shouts of Jambo!
The going was really tough, especially
with the heat! Man!....it physically drained and zapped your energy quickly. I
was having problems with an intermittent pain in my right lung, when we were
climbing the steep inclines it was bothering me. But I recovered really quickly
when we leveled out or stop for a minute breather.....so that made me feel
good. George was brilliant - Hakuna matata he said....no worries! pole pole
hakuna matata - this was our mantra the whole eight days on the majestic and
magnificent Mount.Kilimanjaro. We were so lucky to have two fantastic guides
with us.Chacha & George...we wouldn't have made it without these guys and
of course the other 14 members of our crew. The most amazing set of lads
without a doubt!
Ali was having a tough day - it wasn't the
steep inclines....well no more than any of us were struggling with them.....it
was the heat. It was really causing her problems and made her feel drained. We
were all talking lots of encouragement, we were a team and we knew we were all
gonna have a day that was really hard, a day where you hit your wall as it
were. Today was Ali's, but she kept on, never a question of her not of course.
We were glad for a break when lunch was called!! We were at around 10,000ft
now.
We got settled for lunch and more
importantly more fluids on board - I don't ever struggle with my fluid intake,
I drink a major amount even back home. The girls and Dom weren't doing very
well with the drinking and Chacha and George were reminding them a lot to drink
more. We sat having lunch while watching a couple of white necked ravens having
a bit of a spat....sorting out the pecking order if there were going to be any
food about for them to get! beautiful looking birds....saw them quite a lot
actually where ever people gathered to eat....bit like the pigeons back in the
UK.
Our view from our lunch table as it were!
- pretty spectacular I'm sure you agree, we were just outside the Shira crater
here.....a very beautiful place to stop and enjoy our picnic lunch! It's
difficult to explain how you feel sitting there looking out over views like
this, it really does feel quite surreal, like you're not really there
almost....so much to absorb!
We set off after lunch on what was a
particular gruelling climb, it was long, hard and really steep, we were all
feeling it, my breath was a little laboured, but was still keeping the pace.
George said to us another 20 minutes and we'd be at the top....so on we went
pole pole Kilimanjaro. We made it up and then we hugged and fistbumped,
congratulations were given out enthusiatically , Chacha came to me and said you
are a really strong woman. I felt overwhelmed and proud to be honest, ha ha,
the praise made me feel really good I have to say!
We had a ten minute break and believe it
or not we were all recovered and ready to go on, we were now making our way
down to the plateau and camp. We'd been walking for some hours now but we were
still full of beans and definitely loving every minute if it. What a trip, what
a mountain, this so far had surpassed everything I imagined it to be, I knew
nothing about this would disappoint me, it wasn't going to be possible.
We stopped for a break not far from camp -
I filled up with tears, this was our first view of the summit, it was actually
Kibo in all it's glory. Sitting majestically in front of me the thing I've
concentrated on for four years,shrouded in clouds was the object that I had
concentrated all my determination and motivation into....the thing I had used
to get me on the very long road to recovery, the thing I said all along, I will
conquer Kilimanjaro.....and here was my first look at it properly, so yes I
filled up. I was emotionally a bit of a wreck ha ha, but got myself under
control.
We got to camp and I was sat in the tent
after nearly falling head first into as I tripped over the guide ropes much to
Bec's amusement, she was laughing that hard I thought she was going to pee
herself - ( did I tell you I'm very clumsy hee hee! ) it was before our
evening meal and my face was splitting with a smile that was almost a permanent
feature by now and the thoughts and words on a loop in my head were....I'm on
Kili, I'm on kili.....over and over and all the time I'm sat grinning like a
mad fool. And do you know what???? I didn't care!!!!!
We were here, we were on the mountain, I
was sleeping on my mountain!...I was going to conquer Kili and I was going to
have the adventure of a lifetime, a wonderful million memory making epic
adventure, it was already in the making.
Mountain day two - completed....BOOM!!!
Until next time
Tracy
Mountain Day
Three……
Jambo everyone
Hope you are all well. It's been nice out this week - really feels
like spring is in the air at last. Seems to have been a really long winter this
time, I think maybe because of all the snow? Anyway I saw some beautiful wild
daffodils today - made me smile, love that spring is finally getting here! - so
the crocus's and daffodils are shooting up and we all feel much brighter and
happier to see a swath of colours appearing in gardens and parks around us,
especially after the months of grey winter we've endured.
It's been an average 7c this week, and
when the sun's been shining I've had the jacket off and been walking in just a
T shirt. It's been a really pleasant change.
Onto the climb!
Mountain day three - Feb 3rd. Shira camp 1
to Shira camp 2 - 1000ft increase in elevation.
Today was going to be one of our easiest
days climb as in it was us continuing across the plateau to Shira camp
2. Believe it or not even though the terrain was flatter it took us four hours
to climb a thousand feet. It was a really amazing day out on the mountain, we
had lots of chatting and laughing along the trail.....it's much easier to
converse when not climbing ridiculously steep inclines, must because we weren't
struggling for breath! Chacha and George are great guys, great guides and great
fun to be around. The whole crew all contribute to making this climb so
special.
We started our day as always after
breakfast with our songs - the crew really enjoy this part of the day, you can
tell by the enthusiasm while singing and dancing. We were singing along, we had
learned most of the words to the Jambo song now. It's hard to put into words
how much it energizes you to sing this song with the boys. It definitely warms
you up after the chill of night under canvas on the mountain. It was getting
colder on a night, obviously as we were climbing higher. We simply had the best
gang of lads, always smiling, encouraging, laughing and congratulating....what
more could we want or ask for? All the guys together in photo below.
We were now in the alpine forest, this was
our third eco-system in as many days. It's hard to believe such diversity over
the three days, it was really nice in the alpine forest. It's like nothing I've
experienced before, hard to believe it's all on the same mountain.
We have so far walked in the Lemosho
glades ( Forrest ), the moorland and now our third day in the alpine forest.
The plan was after reaching camp and
chilling for a while to recover we would go for a walk for about ninety
minutes, climbing higher to help with our acclimatization, I was on and off
feeling some effects from the altitude, albeit fairly mild at the moment, they
were definitely there. Light-headed, dull headache, slight balance
issues....it's strange because my balance issues are taking me off to the
right ( had to be didn't it! - my weakest ankle after fully rupturing my
anterior talofibular ligament ) and Bec's had her off to the left! So that's
where we would be heading after a rest - up higher on the mountain.
It really was a great walk, it was nice to
be able to really absorb our surroundings, to stop have a rest, we weren't in a
hurry to reach camp, chat and of course laugh. We were learning more about
Chacha and George and they about us. Although it was more sedate regarding
steepness it was still tough. I think a lot of this is the tiredness, a symptom
of the altitude and lack of calories. Wasn't particularly eating well but my
fluid intake was absolutely fine. The pain in my right lung was bothersome
today, it never really eased off and maybe that's why I thought it was still a
bit of a tough walk. It is paining me when I take a breath in, hoping it goes
away. I've been taking some antibiotics Bec's brought with her, hopefully
they'll do the trick.
We were nearly at the camp and had to
climb a boulder wall ( really wish I'd taken photos of it! ) I followed Chacha
up the wall and it was definitely my own fault....I had my walking poles in the
wrong hand as I went for the final bit of the climb to the top.....I caught the
toes of my left foot just under the ridge and went spectacularly over the top
head first, Ali shouted as I went, I managed to flip myself over mid air as I
was falling.
Cha cha's eyes were like dinner plates,
that was all I could see and the blue sky, I'm now sliding down an incline,
Ali's shouting "bloody hell Tracy!"...."I'm okay" I shout
back as I'm still sliding to who knows where?!!!! I finally come to a
stop, luckily my backpack had taken the brunt of it as I flipped and slid down.
Ali's saying ...."Tracy you're shouting I'm okay to me and you were still
sliding down the rocks at the time, you didn't even know where you were
going!"
I'm up on my feet with a concerned Chacha
checking me over, we are grinning and laughing by now. Bec's said "you
okay?" I answered yes so she started giggling. She said the only thing she
saw because she was behind Ali was the bottom of my hikers and how they turned
mid air as I flipped myself over! I've battered myself up a bit but it
didn't even hurt to be honest....although it did later on. The initial
assessment showed I'd got grazes above and below my elbow on my right arm with
bruises with both that were about three inches in length. My left shin had a
graze and a bruise coming up the size of my hand and my right leg had an egg
come up on my shin and was looking like most of it was going to bruise ( it
turned out later that it was bruised from knee to ankle ). I didn't notice
until we were signing in at camp but my knee and had a flap of skin
loose, it was bleeding a bit. I was joking saying I didn't want to clean it
because it had Kilimanjaro dirt in it and I wanted to take it home with me!
When I later went to lay down I realized
I'd obviously caught above my left butt cheek and lower back, I was okay unless
I touched the bruises. Just glad I managed to maneuver myself and not crash my
head into the rocks.
I was scored an 8 for style and a 9 for
execution! - so with such high scores it meant I didn't have to go repeat in
the hope of upping my score!!!
So after we had chilled we set off on our
climb higher up the mountain for our acclimatization, we didn't take our poles
with us and scrambled between the rocks. It was a good climb and I was happy
because I didn't feel light-headed and my headache was gone. We came to a stop
and stayed there about 20 minutes. A couple of the lads from the crew had
decided to come with us on our little walk which was really nice.
Today I saw my first senecio tree, I love
nature but do have a fascination about trees. I was really pleased to see them,
they only grow over 3000m.....crazy!!
We slowly headed back to camp, our walk
had done what was needed. Right behind our camp above the line of rocks was the
summit of Kilimanjaro, today it was shrouded in the clouds, I hoped it would
break tomorrow before we left camp. I really wanted to get a photo, boy we were
getting closer!
I experienced my first Kilimanjaro express
today - OMG that was grim!!!....The Kilimanjaro express is the runs to which
you get no warning whatsoever. No griping pains, no buggy feeling. I didn't
have the express but unfortunately for me - walked into one of the toilets in
camp when someone had got it! I think I need therapy to get over it....they
poor soul had exploded and I mean exploded all over the place. The walls the
floor, they must have wanted to cry if they didn't actually!!! I opened the
door and then threw myself back out - OMFG the smell, the sight hit me, me
stomach immediately rolled and clenched....I nearly knocked myself out on the
door jamb trying to get away from it. I wanted to bleach my eyes
seriously....the grimmest thing I've ever had the misfortune to see and
experience! I don't ever want to see that again!
I find myself with an almost permanent
smile on my face, I feel so at peace and tranquil out here on the mountain.
It's everything I imagined and so much more. I know as I always did, somewhere
in my subconscious that I was meant to do this, this my personal Everest. Who'd
have thought I could be more relaxed and at peace than I am at home.
Next time we climb up to the Lava Tower -
the most important day regarding acclimatization at 4600m.
Until next time
Tracy
Day Four
Mountain Climb – Beyond excited – Lava tower at 4600m today!
Hello everyone
Hope you are enjoying the new Spring season - the weather was
glorious here today, mild even though it was 5c....I spent the day out in
shorts and a T shirt, did get some funny looks as I passed people who had coats
and hats on still! - I stopped and took five minutes to watch the little lambs
playing and bounding around....full of life and wonder. Was beautiful to see!
So before I take you back to the mountain for day four of our epic
climb I want to catch you up on other things first. I went to see my consultant
this evening for the results from my Dorsal spine MRI - for those who didn't
know or hadn't read about it, my consultant thought the pain in my left side
was possibly originating from my spine......the dorsal section to be precise
and after already have bloods, a colostomy, CT scans etc done, he booked an MRI
to check out his theory.
So results time, the MRI hasn't shown up anything that could be
causing my pain so this rules out a trapped nerve new or old or on a really
positive note nothing sinister on or around my spine. However this means we are
no closer after three years to pinpointing the cause of the pain and this also
means I am to be referred to the chronic pain clinic.
I feel so frustrated that the cause couldn't be found - afterall
if you find the cause there's a greater chance you can sort it out! I
have very mixed feelings about the referral, I definitely won't be taking
painkillers if that's what they offer, but I've been told they do many other
things to help elleviate the pain , such as specific exercises, acupuncture
etc. So although I have no idea how long it's going to take for the referral to
happen I will keep an open mind and at least go see what they have to say.
So three years on - I actually don't feel any closer to a solution to
leave me feeling pain free, but hey never say never - it can still happen and
to be fair I've had the issue for so long....what's more time! So when I get an
appointment I will of course let you know.
Mountain day four - February 4th. Shira camp 2 12,598ft - Barranco
camp 14,928ft.
I know I won't have spelled this song correctly - I actually wrote
it as it sounds so we found it easier to learn! here are the words to one of
the songs the crew sang every morning, we learned the words so we could join
in! So here you go....By the way I still sing it every morning on my on!
Jambo
Jambo
Jambo bwana
Habari gani
Zuri sana
Wageni
Mwa kari bishwa ( Yipoo )
Kilimanjaro
Hakuna matata
How cool is that! - I have to tell you hearing and saying in
normal conversation in the correct context Hakuna matata was absolutely
amazing!
This song is so upbeat, we all, including all the crew loved
singing this every morning - a great way to get rid of the chill from the night
on the mountain, warm the muscles up and prep us for the days climbing ahead.
Loved all the singing and dancing in a morning. So lucky our crew wanted to do
this all the time, some of the crews only did on the last day!!
As I said this is a major day on the mountain, it is our big
acclimatization day, intended to help us with what will be a few tough days at
high altitude. We would be climbing up to 4600m and having lunch at the lava
tower before making our way down the very steep descent to Barranco camp in the
Barranco valley for the night.
So day four on the mountain was the first climb high- sleep
low - intended to acclimatize us in preparation for the summit ascent. It would
also show us if we were going to suffer any altitude sickness symptoms. So
yes a very big day for our little group of intrepid climbers.
I had been looking forward to this for so long! - I
was going to finally get up close and personal with the Lava tower. The tower
is a volcanic plug that rises up 300ft into the air. The volcanic plug would
have occurred an age ago when lava was shot up through a vent at the base of
where tower now stands, cooled and hardened thus blocking the vent. So far this
"cork" which can build pressure in the volcano below hasn't woken
Mount.Kilimanjaro up! The Lava tower is in the alpine forest - sadly earlier
this year a ban was placed on climbing the tower because of safety concerns.
But at least I could still experience the majesty of this volcanic plug! The
last major eruption on Kilimanjaro was around 150,000 years ago, although some
activity was recorded 200 years ago.
Wow what a day it was going to be - I hadn't slept the night
before, and I have to say the lack of sleep and sleeping issues were definitely
the hardest part of the trip - well that and the climbing lol!
We set off after breakfast and our singing and dancing to the Lava
tower and our climb up to 4600m, none of us in the group had ever climbed this
high, but in fairness we three girls were setting new daily highs and had been
for a couple of days. And at 4600m we would be if on Mount. Meru the mountain
you can see from Kilimanjaro, the summit!
We were walking uphill at a fairly steady incline, it wasn't
uphill and down dale like we had walked, but it was continuous. As we carried
on walking I could see higher up on the horizon what I knew straight away could
only be the Lava tower and asked Chacha if that was the case. He responded and
said yes it was indeed the Lava tower . Even from this distance I could see how
impressive a rock formation it was. It was huge! And after all the time I'd
read about it and looked at photos of it, it doesn't prepare you for how
majestic it looked on the skyline!
I think the biggest potential worry for me as we continued walking
was that we wouldn't see it properly as the clouds kept closing in around
it....I really wanted to be able to get at least a couple of clear shots of it
all and not just the bottom part because of the cloud cover. So it was a case
of fingers crossed as we slowly climbed higher and closer to our lunch
destination.
It showed how massive the Lava tower is
when we could see it from such a distance and it took an absolute age to
reach it. On route we passed this sign post, I can tell you we were all really
excited to see this. It's weird how the smallest of things like this - bring
the greatest of pleasure. We were really close to our destination of the tower,
I had noticed my nose was bleeding, I didn't expect that, we were at an
elevation of around 4200/4300m.
I had noticed a while earlier I was
suffering with obviously High Altitude symptoms. I had a terrible headache, it
came and went in waves, but the intensity of it was bad!, I was having balance
issues, I keep losing my balance and staggering off to the right ( it was sod's
law that I would favour falling off to my right, my weakest ankle after
rupturing my Anterior Talofibular ligament, so I had nothing to stop my ankle
giving way.....but in fairness, nothing was going to stop it even if my ankle
wasn't weakened from an old injury ). I also felt a tad nauseous. So not
altogether fantastic in myself. I wasn't on my own suffering with the altitude
symptoms , Bec's was the same, we were laughing at the fact she favoured
falling off to the left. Every now and then I'd hear...oh,oh,oh as Bec's
staggered off while trying to regain her balance. At this elevation we were
able to regain our balance, this was helped by the sparceness of the rocks in
the alpine forest. She also was suffering with a headache and agreed it was
definitely not the best feeling at all! Dom's balance was okay, but again he
was suffering with a headache. The only one of us that was fine was Ali - she
was displaying no symptoms whatsoever ......lucky lass!!
You can see the path on the left of the
photos, the little sandy looking line. What it doesn't show is the incline
properly near the tower base. That was a tough climb up at this elevation,
breathing was tough as we exerted ourselves. When we finally crested the ridge
at the base, we were all lathered and out of breath. I will say our recovery
was really fast. As we all started congratulating each other with fist bumps
and hugs, I felt a bit overwhelmed when George our guide who is the epitome of
cool gave me a massive hug while saying "You are a very strong woman, well
done Tracy", this was repeated when I hugged Chacha. George had set our
Pole pole Kilimanjaro pace again for us today.....it's slow, small steps and it
really is all about the rhythm!
We followed Chacha to an area of rocks to
sit and have our pack lunches, there we a fair few other trekkers about, the
most we had seen on our trip so far. But the area is so big we could all have a
place to perch. I really wasn't feeling hungry, Bec's ( She was like our
chemist! ) passed some headache tablets and said it's time for some more
Tracy. I took them and sat down closing my eyes. My head was absolutely
pounding and all I could hear was the blood rushing through my head. It was
literally pulsing in time with my heartbeat. Chacha was encouraging us all to
eat our lunches, I managed a little food and said I needed to go to the
bathroom. Chacha told me there were behind a huge wall of boulders.
I set off to walk over to the wall and
round it to the toilets. I didn't take my poles with me, I was all over the
place, really light-headed, I must have looked really drunk, completely off my
head. I couldn't control my feet properly and I sure as hell couldn't control
my direction! I finally made it around the boulders and saw a line of toilets.
I was so light-headed just from walking over, it was crazy! I walked into the
open end of the toilet and round to the hole in the floor. OMG - once again the
sight and smell that hit me had my stomach rolling and trying to climb out of
my throat!
KILIMANJARO EXPRESS- again!!!! I spun on
the spot to get out of there, what little bit of lunch I'd consumed wasn't
going to be staying down that's for sure. My whole world went to hell at that
point, I was so light-headed so as soon as I spun around my head felt like it
became separate from my body.....my brain was rattling around in my skull, my
eyes were rolling in their sockets, it felt like they were independent of each
other and rolling in opposite directions. I frantically tried to grab onto something
as my balance went. I literally had my fingernails in the wooden panel, as I
was trying to grip on for dear life.
I could feel myself going and was leaning
over towards the hole in the ground...my heart was pounding as hard as my head
as I has a vision of the scene in Slumdog Millionaire where the young kid falls
through the floor and drops the 5/6 feet into the raw sewerage and I was
frantically screaming in my head on loop....no,no,no,please,no!!! I managed to
settle enough to straighten up and get myself moving in the opposite direction
and towards the way out. I got outside and promptly projectile vomited
all over the outside of the wooden panel. I eventually stopped vomiting and
heaving and moved away from the toilet all together. I was so shaky and
weak...I was bent over double resting my hands on my knees trying to catch my
breath, settle my stomach and calm my body.
I was like that for a fair few minutes and
then stood up making my way back to the others. I sat down shakily and told
them what had happened, they were sympathetic and grateful it wasn't them that
had gone to the toilet all the while laughing at my description of what had
happened - especially my fear of a Slumdog Millionaire reenactment ! Chacha
made his way over pointing to my lunchbox and opened his mouth to speak, I held
my hand up and said no way can I eat! he nodded his head and dropped the
subject.
We got up to make our way away from the
Lava tower and down into the Barranco valley to our camp for the night. My
memories of the Lava tower are much more varied than I expected when we set off
that morning hee hee! It was a long walk down to the camp. Very, very steep,
but amazing as well. We saw the giant senecio trees, our first on the mountain,
these ones exclusive to Kilimanjaro - they grow nowhere else on earth the
guides told us, such a strange tree and they only grow over 3000m and evolved
around one million years ago. I have a fascination for trees and yes these
really fascinated me! They can grow to 5 meters in height.
When they flower they grow even taller as
they sprout straight out the top! It was a tough day and we were shocked at the
steep incline down to our camp in the Barranco valley and we were told we would
be climbing back out of the valley the next morning and the path pointed out.
It was a humdinger! The altitude sickness symptoms eased but only very
slightly, the three of us didn't get rid of our headaches properly, and I was
still light-headed. I was out in the camp taking photos and trying not to fall
to the ground. At the time I was just praying they wouldn't all be blurred!
That's all for day Four, but I will be
back soon with the continuing story of the most amazing journey on a
magnificent mountain that can only be Mount.Kilimanjaro!
Until next time
Tracy
Day five on Mount.Kilimanjaro - Camp one.
Hello everyone
I hope this post finds you all well! - I apologise for the delay
since my last posting, I've had issues with my laptop and internet.....but all
is well again!! So onwards and upwards, we shall travel up the mountain, I hope
you are still wanting to come climbing with me!.
I've been re-reading my travel journal to refresh my memory and
while doing this I have re-read my message from Molly, her view of me truly
overwhelms me and quite rightly I feel humbled and honoured. I don't take any
of it for granted, this is my best little pal, my buddy who is coping so very
well with her alopecia and she looks upon me with open honest eyes of a
child that haven't been jaded by time and age. In her mind I'm showing her
through everyday life and actions that even though things can happen to us
which we cannot explain, that we don't necessarily understand, that can cause
distress and take some getting used to, we can carry on having a fun filled happy
life. We can go off and have adventures, that everyday is an adventure with new
experiences to have and beautiful things to see.....that our happiness we find
in a normal day actually make us feel great and builds our confidence up, which
in turn helps keeps us keep strong through the bad days.
I'm going to write her message here exactly as Molly wrote it...I
read it many times when I was away in Tanzania, this is most definitely a
keepsake for me and of course good for ribbing Molly when is is a bit older!!
Dear Tracy
Good luck I hope you have a fab time. I
will for sure miss you. You're brave I think I will not have the curige to do
that. That's why you are inspirational to me you are so brave and have a lot of
curige in you.
Lots
of
love
your best mate
Molly
xxxxx
xxxx
xxx
xx
x
No more words are needed.
Mountain day five - February 5th. Barranco
Camp - 14,928ft to Karanga Valley camp 13,000ft.
After we had reached the camp the night
before Chacha had a discussion with us on how we wanted to proceed to the
summit. The normal way this is done by all companies is to set off at midnight
for the summit and try to hit it for the sunrise. This means you are walking
five hours in the dark with head torches on. The other option was to walk two
camps in one day.....Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley and then from Karanga
Valley to Barafu Camp where we would sleep. We would get up at four am and set
off for the summit. This would have us only walking around a hour with the head
torches on.
We all agreed even though it would be two
tough days on the mountain we would rather go for the second option of
completing two camps in one day and setting off for the summit at four am. We
all had different reasons for wanting this, the common one was the walking in
the dark. I was really not good with my balance and the thought of walking in
the dark with just the light of the head torch for all those hours really
didn't appeal. Becs was also not having the best of time with her balance.
So we agreed to that and set our sights on
walking and completing two camps in the same day. Timewise it wasn't so bad,
although the terrain was going to be difficult and very steep at times. But
this actually meant nothing in real terms, because the reality was three of us
were suffering altitude sickness to some degree and differing symptoms, so it
was more a case of cracking on and making ot summit base camp Barafu for a good
nights sleep in preparation of our ascent to the top of the "Roof of
Africa" - exciting times.....we were finally on for it!
As we set off on the first leg of our
journey today to Karanga Camp I was not feeling good at all. In regards to the
altitude sickness I was still suffering. Poor Bec's was throwing up amongst
other symptoms including balance and of course the dreaded headache. I hadn't
slept well at all the night before, mainly due to my thumping headache - they
are almost migraine intensity and hit you in continuing waves of
pain.....almost imitating your heartbeat, pulsing away with no real let up. I
was also really having a rough time with the pain in my chest. Boy it hurt to
try take a deep breath, well actually it didn't even have to be that deep!
The plan was to get to Karanga Camp and
have lunch there and a bit of recovery time before we were off again to Barafu
am for the night. We weren't bothered that we wouldn't be at the summit for the
sunrise - as Chacha said anywhere on the mountain we were going to see the
sunrise. I was more than happy t experience it anywhere!!
The first part of our walk was really
tough, it was actually climbing up the cliff out of the Barranco Valley....it's
called the great Barranco wall....very steep and rocky on narrow zig zag paths
while suffering altitude sickness and balance issues was quite the challenge I
tell you!
We set off on the path to climb the Great
Barranco wall to then carry on for around a further two hours to Karanga Valley
camp. The going was very tough, it is very steep and difficult with he altitude
sickness. At this elevation it takes nothing to get you breathless. But
regardless of this we were our usual chirpy selves and as much as we could, we
carried on with our joking and laughing.
It's impossible to fully describe how
tough the Great Barranco wall is to climb up and out of the valley - but please
imagine out porters carrying all the camp gear and our bags out of it. Theses
incredible lads go the same route as we did....I will always hold every single
one of them and the mountain guides in the highest regard and utmost respect
for their abilities in the extreme altitude.
We were Pole Pole ( slowly slowly ) making
our way up the wall, when we got to a section where Chacha asked for my walking
poles, I did look at him with lots of confusion....I'm thinking we are around
15,000ft on a steep narrow rocky path and my balance isn't brilliant and Chacha
wants my poles?? We had in actual fact reached a section where we were
going to be rock climbing!! we had to scramble up the rocks and believe me - I
didn't ever think my first time doing this would be at 15,000ft with no rope or
safety harness while suffering with altitude sickness....well it's one off the
bucket list that I never put down ha!
We finally climbed over the ridge of the
cliff and was out of the Barranco Valley. I have to say it was so very
beautiful in the valley with the very steep cliffs....it was truly majestic and
regardless of feeling unwell, I really did appreciate it's beauty at the time.
Now we were out of the valley we would be
dropping in elevation as we headed to Karanga Valley camp - our drop would be
around 2000ft. I was hoping the drop in elevation would ease my headache and if
it didn't get rid of it totally, hopefully it would reduce the intensity. It
was a really tough walk to the camp, loose scree boulders and rocks.
In the distance we could see Karanga
Valley camp, it didn't seem that far, after out gruelling climb out of Barranco
Valley it was a welcome sight for sore eyes and tired legs. Well that was until
we got close enough to see that the camp was actually on the other side of a
ravine.
The closer we got, the more we realised
exactly how steep this ravine was.....OMG it was unbelievably steep! We were
then taking in the enormity of what we had to scale down......and more
importantly what we would have t climb up in order to make camp.
As we reached the edge and saw what we
were going to climb down, it even had my eyes watering at the thought of climbing
down the ravine. It was so dangerous climbing down, you were slipping all over
the place and trying really hard to not slip off the edge and down the side of
the ravine. It really was hard on hips. knees, ankles and toes. I can say in
all honesty it was the single hardest things I'd done up to this point on the
mountain. I'm not kidding when I say it took ninety minutes or so to climb down
and p the other side of the ravine. Bec's agreed with me when I said it was
bloody really tough when suffering altitude sickness and one of your symptoms
was balance issues!
We finally much to all of our relief made
it to the bottom, we took a little time to recover and calm our racing
hearts....that was a rough old climb down on very slippy scree which made it so
very difficult to stop when momentum was taking over So starts the climb
up the other side of the ravine to camp, oh my, my lung and chest were
absolutely killing me as we got climbing, I was so breathless, I was literally
gasping for breath. I was trying to calm my breathing to reduce my elevated
pulse as my heart was frantically trying to pump oxygenated blood around my
body. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears.....all the while my head was
pounding to this beat my body was pounding out. I kept having to stop to try
relieve the pressure a little. I was getting worried about the amount of strain
I was putting on my heart and lungs. I really was struggling up out of the
ravine.
Chacha and George were amazing as always -
they had us slowing more and more as we all struggled with the steepness of the
ravine.....we had climbed about two thirds of the way out of it when Chacha
took my daypack off me to try help me. Both he and George were gently
encouraging me up the ravine and finally I stepped off at the top....I've never
felt so happy to have completed part of a challenge. As we made off away from
the ravine a guide from another company and a friend of Chacha's congratulated
us all on completing the ravine and as I smiled and made my way past him he said
to me......you are a very tough lady. It would seem I and my story was
circulating the mountain teams.
Finally lunch! - we sat in our mess tent
recovering and talking about how hard that first part of our day had been, we
were hoping for an easier time when we headed of to camp two . We rested, ate
and replenished our fluids before gathering ourselves and gear together to
continue our trek on the mountain.
Next time we complete our trek to camp two
of day five in preparation of our summit ascent. Karanga Valley camp to Barafu
camp coming soon.
Until next time
Tracy
Mountain day
five - part two
Hello everyone
I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying the summer. My
last post saw us reach Karanga Valley camp from Barranco camp......if you remember
we had decided to walk two camps in one day so we could go for our summit
attempt through the day rather than climb it mostly through the early hours in
the dark. We had all agreed this was the best thing for us all....I for one was
grateful for this what with suffering with high altitude sickness, my balance
was shot and it was hard enough avoiding stones etc in the daylight!
Karanga Valley Camp to Barafu Camp - 13,000ft - 14,928ft - Day
five part two
It seems so weird that on day five we started at an elevation of
14,928ft at Barranco Camp to drop down to 13,000ft to then climb back up to
14,928ft.....but that is exactly what we did!
The really exciting thing about our walk to our second camp of the
day is that Barafu camp is the ultimate one - the one we will strike out for
our hopefully successful summit ascent. In less than 24 hours we would be
setting off to reach the "Roof of Africa"!
I got to tell you lunch break wasn't nearly long enough a recovery
time after the hardest and steepest descent and ascent up to Karanga Valley
Camp - that was the steepest ravine I've ever seen never mind climbed. Just
thinking about sets my heart off pounding as if it's struggling to pump the
blood around my body like it did on the actual climb!
So our climb again was going to be around the three hour mark and
I was expecting my altitude sickness symptoms to intensify the higher we
climbed. Expecting but hoping that they in fact wouldn't. This climb was quite
nondescript in the fact there wasn't anything really to capture my attention.
It was just a proper up hill and down dale walk. Very steep hills that were
totally draining, especially after the really tough first part of our day. The
higher we ascended, the more my symptoms increased, the pain in my lung/chest
increased as my breath became more laboured, my headache was becoming a
constant thud again and my balance was unsteady.....
It was a walk where it was so steep it made you breathless to walk
so talking was to a minimum, we were all trying to stay in the groove of Pole
pole Kilimanjaro ( not that walking any faster was an option for any of us! ),
so this left us all with time to reflect on what had already passed and what
was to come. It was really nice actually, to be able to take some time to just
try to absorb what was going on. It was so impossible to talk for much of this
second walk of the day unless you wanted to pass out from lack of oxygen. This
Mountain is definitely no walk in the park!
I found my mind wandering all over the place and just let it do
so. During these extended silences so many things mull around in your mind.
Different people pass through, some almost on a constant loop. The emotions I
were feeling at the time, overwhelming me on occasions as I looked around, at
what I was calling my mountain in my head. Overwhelmed at the feelings that
welled up in me as I said to myself....I'm here, I made it, I have finally made
it and I am going to conquer it! wondering what everyone back home is up to,
are they thinking about you....It's a constant and I have to say it's what
helps you get through the day at times. When things are hard and gruelling,
it's great having things to occupy your mind and in my case taking it off my
lung and how it feels like it's going to actually explode.
As I'm walking I'm thinking of my two buddies Suzie and Molly, how
are they, is Molly driving Suzie nuts asking how many more sleeps until I get
back home. Does she know where I am, have I climbed to the top yet. Molly
telling her teacher and class mates that her best friend is climbing
Mount.Kilimanjaro, but she doesn't know where I am exactly. The antics of Molly
are making me chuckle because as I picture her bombarding her mum with these
questions over and over.....I can envision her body language that goes with
them! Now I'm smiling like a lunatic!
I've been missing my two best buddies a lot, and it makes my heart
melt and eases my worries knowing Suzie is taking Molly dog out for me while
I'm away. I've really been missing my pooch, we do after all spend all day
together each and everyday......the joys of my been self employed and the
business I run!
Thinking about my mum, her birthday's Feb 10th, and thinking of
what I could possibly get her while out here in Tanzania - which is actually
pronounced Tan-zane-ia!! these thoughts and many more are going through my head
all the while we climb steeply up and down on the mountain while all along
steadily increasing our elevation towards camp.
I'm actually chuckling to myself as I think back to my head first
tumble and how I flipped myself over so my backpack took the brunt of my
landing....and how I was shouting I'm alright to the others as I was still
inactual fact sliding to who knew where....all I could see was blue sky and
Chacha's eyes....could have been heading towards a ravine for all I knew, but
I'm alright is what I was shouting hee hee....I do amuse myself with my own
antics!!
And finally we make it to our last camp on the ascent - Barafu at
14,928ft! - this feels such an accomplishment in itself - truly amazing to be
here on day five instead of day seven. I'm really glad we changed our plans
from the original - I dread to think how much time I'd have spent on the ground
from falling over rocks and slipping on the loose scree by climbing with just
the light from our headtorches for hours. My balance is terrible!
Wow this camp is very rocky, it's like a boulder assault course
just to get into it! the tents are all over the place, anywhere you can find
some level ground. Suffering badly with altitude sickness now, head pounding
away to the rhythm of my heart beat....thudding loudly in my ears, lightheaded
with bad balance. very tired and very relieved to have finally hit camp. Hoping
for a great nights sleep and a successful ascent for each and everyone of us!
Even at Barafu camp we cannot see the summit, we can see roughly
where we are going to be heading and how steep it's going to be, but no sign of
the summit. I'm so very excited to be this close to fulfilling my dream of
conquering Mount.Kilimanjaro....all those years in the making. the frustrations
of the delays, the ill health preventing me taking it on have now faded to
nothing....here I stand swaying looking around me knowing it's penultimate
night and at 4am we will be getting up ready to start our climb around 5am!!
guys.......it's nearly time!
I just wanted to lay down and rest my pounding head, again I
didn't want anything to eat. Poor Bec's was suffering with nausea and so food
was off the table for her also. We both disappeared into our respective tents
to lay down and try ease our altitude symptoms. I gotta say from all our hard
work on this climb and having to depend on our walking poles so much - I'm
gonna be mad if my bingo wings ain't gone....lol!
Next post is summit ascent day and all the dramas that went with
it. Hope you'll pop by to read what went on. Day six Summit day!
So me myself right now - I've been waiting since March to be
referred to the chronic pain clinic for my never ending saga with the pains in
my sides. I, who don't like anything medical voluntarily made a GP appointment
to see what was going on with my referral. I cannot carry on with the physical
job I do on an average of three hours sleep. The pains wake me constantly,
affect me obviously throughout the day. Sadly I started getting intermittent
pain in my right side again.....I had a good six months pain free after having
my gall bladder out, but it's all started up again. It's built back up in the
last eight to ten weeks to almost constant. At times the pain is very acute and
pretty unbearable. I even felt like I'd passed a stone a couple of weeks ago,
that's how intense the pain was. The really annoying thing with the pain on my
right makes me sick, I actually vomit because of it...so to cap things
off, I'm back to been sick daily and so the little food I do have isn't staying
down.
So being fully aware that I cannot possibly carry on covering the
mileage I do on next to no food and very little sleep and not expect to feel as
fatigued as I am starting to do I went to see the doctor.
He checked the system and no referral letter had been received so
said he was tied as to what he could offer me....after a fairly lengthy chat he
prescribed me Tramadol to take on a night to see if it would help my pains
enough so I could get some sleep. He said without seeing what my consultant was
saying he could do no more ( he wasn't even going to do that at first! ). They
didn't in fact work so I'm not taking now...I don't do tablets unless really
pressed.
I then left a message with my consultants secretary to find out if
the referral had been sent out. This actually took a couple of weeks to get a
response and only after I had phoned four times! long story short, the referral
was resent and I've finally got a letter so I can choose and book.
Three months to get to the point where I can choose and book -
ridiculous!....but at least now I can hopefully find something when dealing
with the clinic that's going to help me relieve some pain off so I can sleep
and eat better than I am now. I know my food intake won't ever be brilliant,
it's not been great since my chemo days. But if I can get back to keeping down
the one meal I actually eat a day - that would be a start!
Until next time
Tracy
February 6th
2015 - Summit Ascent Day!
Jambo everyone!
Mount.Kilimanjaro - one hell of a climb!
Five years of planning, dreaming, researching this incredible
adventure, this amazing challenge I set myself all that time ago. all the set
backs due to ill health, reactions to my cancer prevention drugs which saw me
stop taking them three years early, and yes knowing the possible consequences
of that...but I have always said it's quality of life over quantity, the
cascade of problems and new illnesses all appearing after starting chemo and
radiation therapy. My hard slog to get fighting fit after nine months of
invasive treatments, a collapsed lung and a near deadly bout of pneumonia.
Pushing and driving myself forward when at first after my release
from hospital with the pneumonia saw me having to stop rest and catch my breath
at least 4/5 times on my way to the bathroom....this all caused from climbing
up thirteen steps! Putting in 5/6 months of training to get fit for the
challenge I set of completing the London Moonwalk. The amazing unwavering support
of my best buddy Suzie throughout all of this, coming out training with me,
being part of our Team L'Oreal for the London Moonwalk......always just
supporting, never once saying...."do you think you've bitten off too
much." Crossing that finish line after power walking 26.2 miles in ten
hours...just over a year after finishing my radiation therapy holding hands -
my one wish....to cross the finish holding hands. Filling up, feeling
overwhelmed and smiling so big I thought my jaw was going to break, giggling at
Suzie who was crying ( I do call her cry baby Mewis...she cries at everything!!
)
All that hard work made easier having great friends and company
while out working so hard to get my stamina back up, turned it from a chore to
a fun outing. I thank you with all my heart Suzie for being my friend...you are
the best gal to have as a friend in the whole world. Very pleased and honoured
to call you mine!
And all my hard work, my fighting to get fit everyday - hell
fighting to stay alive everyday paid off, because here I am on the cusp of
completing the challenge that has driven me forward for so long. I am about to
embark on my ascent to the summit of Mount.Kilimanjaro......the Roof of
Africa....the world's tallest free standing mountain, the highest a human can
climb without the aid of oxygen...we are talking extreme high altitude...and I
am ready, I am ready to conquer my mountain! so to bed we go knowing when we
get up at 4am...it's game on!! Summit day here we come!
What a difference a few hours can make! Peter knocked us awake at
4 am for breakfast, I say knocked us awake when in actual fact I'd not managed
a minutes sleep. I had the most dreadful night, I felt like crying but it would
take to much effort and I don't think I could cope with my brain and eyes
rattling around from the sobbing motion.
So,so ill! the pain I'd been having for the majority of the climb
in my chest was so very painful, every breath really hurt. And because we had
camped at 4600m my altitude sickness was in full flow, I felt nauseous, my head
was still pounding to the rhythm of my heart beat, I was lightheaded,
disorientated, my chest felt like it was in a vice. I was feeling utterly
dreadful, so fatigued. Through the night as my symptoms kept increasing I was
honestly and truly convinced I'd be going down the mountain and not for an
ascent climb to the summit.
Emotionally I was a wreck trying not to cry through my puffy
almost swollen shut eyes ( no idea what has caused this ). I was completely
convinced me and my mountain had come to an end.
Ali and I were sharing a tent and she said Tracy its time to wake
up, I told her I was awake but couldn't sit myself up because of the pain in my
chest ( I'd not been able to even turn off my back through the night for the
pain ). Bless her she came over and gently helped me into a sitting position. I
sat there for a while trying to settle my symptoms and pain before managing to
get out my sleeping bag and into some clothes before heading out to the mess
tent.
There was no way again this morning could I eat anything, I felt
so nauseous, I did manage half a cup of black tea.....but that was my limit. I
was just sat there trying to get everything to stop spinning. I looked over the
table and could see Bec's wasn't fairing any better than me, One of Bec's big
symptoms was her nausea and throwing up....bless her, through the slits in my
eyes I could see she was green! Not how either of us thought summit day would
pan out. I figured I'd trying to reign myself and excitement in....not this,
never in a million years imagined this! Ali fortunately wasn't suffering any
high altitude sickness symptoms at all and had finally in the last couple of
days had finally got her appetite back!
The next thing I knew Chacha was getting me up out of my chair, he
had me stood while he zipped up my jacket, put my thermal hat on and
pulled it right down to cover my eyebrows and put my head torch into position.
All this was going on and I was trying to concentrate and not move my head much
so the spinning didn't get any worse. I leaned down to grab my backpack but it
wasn't there, I started looking for it but Chacha stopped me and said it's okay
Tracy, I have you pack. And there he was putting it on himself. I didn't
understand why, but was so out of it I didn't ask why. It turned out George our
assistant guide was going to carry Bec's pack for her. We were too ill to
manage our own.
Everything is in such slow motion, it's the most bizarre thing
really, looking around everyone seems to be moving extra slow - these altitude
symptoms are a lot to take in for sure. It definitely takes an age longer to do
the simplest of tasks and in some cases it was impossible to do them. I have to
say if I never suffer high altitude sickness again in my life I can live with
that ha!
Bec's was still feeling sick with a pounding headache, she was
feeling dreadful as well as looking ill. Dom also was suffering with a bad
head. Ali was the only one of us that didn't have any symptoms of altitude
sickness at all. We other three weren't fairing well at all.
I had a full on discussion with Chacha about my symptoms and more
importantly the pain in my chest. We chatted about whether it was still okay
for me to go for the summit or if I in fact needed to be staying in camp or
heading down the mountain. Chacha said he knew even though I was like I was,
that I could and would reach the summit. I was concerned about holding the
others back because I knew I was going to find it so hard, It pained me every
breath I took and I knew this was going to cause me to have to stop to catch my
breath. Chacha said it's okay, we will all be walking very pole pole....it's a
tough climb, but no rushing. He said for the umpteenth time - you are a
strong woman and then said it is impossible for you not to make it!
So after our discussion we were on our way, it was summit or bust
time. We set off out of the really tough rocky camp in the dark but torch
light, I was told to go behind Chacha as we to our normal routine walked single
file. It was difficult to see where we were going, mine made worse by the fact
my eyes were still swollen practically shut at this time. We'd actually set off
a little later than originally planned, so wouldn't be walking more than an
hour in the dark before our Kilimanjaro sunrise!
I really can't explain well enough for you how rocky Barafu camp
is, it's a full on tough climb just getting out of the camp and obviously
circumnavigating it in the dark was hard, thank goodness our wonderful guides
Chacha and George were there to lead us! we had to climb up onto some of the
boulders, it was almost like a very rocky plateau, very uneven to say the
least. I'm sure you can imagine what that was like when lightheaded,
disorientated and having balance issues.
We very slowly made our way out of the camp and on to the actual
ascent climb. It was starting to get light and it would soon be the new dawn,
our new dawn of February 6th 2015. My eyes were starting to open more, albeit
slowly, but I was starting to be able to see more of the terrain I was walking
on. The incline was starting to increase.....yep definitely game on now......
I was keeping pace with Chacha but it was hard going, everything
was a massive effort, I was really struggling with my breathing, my chest and
specifically my right lung were very painful and I was very worried as to how I
was going to cope the steeper the incline became and the higher we climbed. We
were on for a 6-7 hour climb to the summit, so a very tough slog ahead.
Dom and Ali were carrying their own day packs and as I said Chacha
and George were carrying Bec's and my packs. Chacha's younger brother ( we
didn't know it was his brother until later ) was climbing with us, and it was
his first time to the summit too.....what a fabulous crew we had!
The sun started to rise and we took a bit of time out to watch and
take in the most beautiful sunrise I so far experienced in my life! It was
obviously made so special because of where I was stood watching the new
dawn....such a breath-taking, spectacular, emotionally charged,
overwhelming sunrise...utterly magical! I remember leaning heavily on my poles
with Chacha rubbing my arm saying how well I was doing.
He knew where I had my adventure camera and he took it out of my
pocket and started to take some shots. It was very obvious that neither Bec's
or I were up to taking photos and that we'd be devastated if we came off the
mountain with no summit day photographic memories. He then passed my camera to
George, who had taken Bec's from her and that was it - George was graciously
going to make sure we got our memories. I said to him, George later on route
please take some shots of the clouds below us, I love that we are higher than
the clouds. His response so typical of cool George - Hakuna matata
Tracy......no worries!
Anyone who knows me will understand exactly how ill I was, because
I never not take photos of something or somewhere I am!
My eyes are still swollen and only
starting to open up.....
Then off we went to continue our long
climb to the summit!
Looking back down to Barafu camp.
We could now take our torches off, the day
was awakening and we could see without the aid of them. My eyes were still
opening more and more, it was just taking time. I couldn't tell you how many
times we stopped on the ascent, it was lots and lots for sure. On one of them
there were really large boulders near by, I had myself draped over one on my
front so desperately trying to ease the pain in my chest. Every single breath
was hard work, painful and gasped. Chacha came over and was saying over and
over...Tracy you are a really strong woman, I know you are finding hard because
you're ill, but you can do it....all the while rubbing my back, he just knew it
was hurting badly. I was drinking my fluids down every stop and a little in
between.
Off we set again, the incline was so very
steep and we steadily pole pole zig zagged our way towards the summit. Normally
as soon as I get walking I would be peeling a layer off and putting it into my
backpack, I'm always warm so it doesn't take much to get me hot, but summit day
I didn't peel anything off apart from my thermal hat, it was on and off the
whole day! But the rest of my stuff stayed on...very strange for me.
As we were walking I was actually falling
asleep, it's bizarre, really, I was actually walking and carried on walking but
eyes were closed and I was gone. Then you'd stumble a little or kick a rock and
you'd jolt awake. As the hours kept ticking away, we stopped for a break and
Dom asked Chacha why he was so sleepy and tired. Chacha said it's the altitude
sickness that's causing it. Bec's said she'd been walking and falling asleep
and then I said the same. Yet another symptom to contend with!
The altitude sickness was a complete
flipping nightmare, the last time I'd felt that ill was when I was having my
invasive treatments for my cancer. I was coming very close to saturation point
with Mount.Kilimanjaro....I kept wondering how different it would be to climb
it and not suffer the symptoms.
Barafu camp below.....
Above the clouds!
By now we had started to encounter
climbers on their descent, they'd set off for the summit at midnight and were
now making their way back to Barafu camp. It was fascinating watching them go
down the incredibly steep and slippy route back down the mountain, so many were
staggering all over the place with altitude sickness. I said a couple of times
that I couldn't go on, I was really suffering with my chest, I was literally
gasping for breath and of course each one really hurt. But the oxygen is so
thin at this elevation, you're not getting much from it to fuel your muscles
anyway.
I could feel how fast my heart was beating
as it desperately tried to pump oxygenated blood to my muscles. Lack of food
over the last couple of days wasn't helping me at all. I asked Bec's how she
was doing and so wasn't fairing much better than me. Ali was brilliant,
encouraging us and championing us to keep climbing no matter how slow. We were
definitely one team on this majestic mountain!
I was so very tired, no sleep the night
before was killing me, I was sure a quick power nap would see me right for the
rest of the ascent. We stopped for a break, Bec's was sat on a rock, her head
leaning on her hands on her poles trying to cope with her nausea and pounding
head, Dom was also sat on a rock rubbing his head which was also pounding. Ali
was sat down and I went and sat on a rock just in front of her. She put her
pack on her knee and said for me to lean back.
As soon as I did I went out, I relaxed and
fell asleep, I still had my sunglasses on and guess my mouth must have started
dropping open....unless I was snoring ha ha. The next thing I know is George is
shouting me to wake up! I sat up and looked over Georges way, big mistake as it
set my brain rattling around in my skull and my eyes rolling too, gosh it's so
hard to get them to stop once they start believe me. When I say George shouted,
he raised his voice a tad, George is way too cool to shout!
He told me I had to stay awake, that it
was too dangerous to sleep this high on the mountain. High altitude sickness is
a killer, an ave of fifteen people die annually on Mount.Kilimanjaro......make
no mistake, this challenge was extreme for sure!
The effects of high altitude sickness on
three of us, this shows how far from a walk in the park Mount. Kilimanjaro was.
Everything is in slow motion or so it feels. Such a continuously steep climb
really took it's tole on us all. by now we were all just wanting to hit the
summit, this was not fun, this was pure determination to reach the top, my tank
had been running on empty since we set off from base camp that morning. Not
really much more to give, but as I looked around at the others I could see I
was not alone with that.
Trying to catch my breath and ease the
pain in my chest. Dom was more than happy to stop and take a breather too.
We carried on making our way slowly up and
up towards our destination, it was a desperately hard slog and one each and
everyone of us were struggling with it. The air is so thin, it feels like even
though you're breathing that you aren't! Chacha told us we were really close to
the summit now, around ten more minutes.
I was by now struggling, my breathing was
shallow and I was starting to gasp. I was so very fatigued, head was pounding
and the blood rushing in my ears, it sounded almost like thunder. I dread to
think what my heart rate was, it felt like it was going to explode out of my
chest. If I'd not been so out of it - I'm sure I would have been worried about
it. Chacha's younger brother Kalebu was walking with me and trying to encourage me up
to the summit. Bec's and Ali had made it up the last stretch which was about 15
ft. I could see the summit Stella point in front of me. I was bent over almost
doubled over trying to force so much needed oxygen into my very tired, painful
and overworked lungs
Chacha walked down to me as I had stopped
again, I was literally stopping to gasp for air every couple of steps. He came
and started rubbing my back, boy it was aching so much. He had me stand
straight and then gave me some of his water. While he was holding his bottle
for me to sip from he said I had to drink to give my body some desperately
needed oxygen. He then put it away and said I want you to do nothing but follow
me and bend your legs I'm going to help you this last little bit. Don't use the
energy you've just got. He took my hand and led me up the last fifteen feet, I
was really struggling to breath and as we got to the top and he hugged me I
thought I was going to pass out.
Ali was there and we had a big hug, I
couldn't talk I was trying really hard to calm my breathing....it wasn't
working! I staggered over to the official summit board with help from Chacha's
brother and sat down on rock. Bec's was sat on one as well and had been
since getting up to the summit. I was gasping and looked at Bec's - saying I
can't breath! - she said you will in a minute, I couldn't when I got here but
I'm a bit better now. My breathing finally settled enough for me to take in my
surroundings.
Hanging onto the pole trying to stop the
internal spinning!
Now the hugging and congratulations
started in earnest now we had all caught our breath a little.We all hugged and
laughed with each other. We regardless of how ill we felt were all smiling.
Believe me the first natural one of the day. It had taken us a excruciating
seven hours to make it here. We had most certainly earned our smiles.
Chacha said for us to take our photos at
the summit because we couldn't afford to be here long, especially with three of
us suffering as we were.
We had photos taken with everyone from the
summit climb group, then I had photos taken with a message I'd done and
laminated back in the UK. Here's my message I wanted to share with you all.
George had taken some shots of we
three girls at the summit before we had to set off back down to Barafu camp.
Look at us, so relaxed and pleased at
reaching the summit.
Chacha told us we needed to make our way
back down the mountain to reduce our altitude symptoms. We set off down the
steep descent towards camp, we were told it would be around four hours back to
Barafu camp. This was by far the longest and toughest day climbing on the
mountain and we'd thought the ravine to Karanga camp was bad!
We were slipping and sliding down the
scree at a pretty fast pace. The momentum of the steep descent caused me to be
moving too quickly, so I would dig my poles in as hard as I could and the same
with my feet until I stopped slipping. Because of the symptoms I was suffering
I couldn't really focus on what was happening to me or around me. All the
motion was making my lightheadedness and balance much worse. I couldn't
keep myself on my feet, my balance as I said for the last couple of days was
shot to pieces, so that and the steep slippy descent saw me falling over and
over again, I continuously fell to my right, every single time. I would start
staggering to my right and wouldn't stop until I either hit a boulder, rock
face or the floor, nothing was stopping that from happening!
I fell around ten times on our way back to
camp - a very sore, achy body to look forward to tomorrow!
We weren't too far off the summit when we
came to some rocks we had to climb through. Dom just lost it and fell over,
stood up but went straight back down. He attempted to get back up but only made
it to his knees. George and Chacha's brother had to evacuate him down the
mountain. They had hold of him on both sides and literally ran him down the
mountain.....there is no doubt our amazing crew saved his life that day.He was
that out of it, he didn't really recall what had happened to him.
That left Chacha and we three girls to get
down to camp. He was urging us on at the fastest pace we could manage because
Bec's and I were still suffering badly with our altitude sickness, our hope was
it would settle a bit when we got back to camp and rested.
As well as all the aches and new bruises
I'd be sporting later from all my falling from been disorientated my toes we
really hurting, they were smashing into the front of my hikers, I knew I was in
trouble, I hadn't fastened them properly first thing with being so ill. I'd
barely fastened them at all really. I as going to pay the price but still didn't
have it in me to try and sort them, I really didn't.
We finally after I don't know how many
hours were nearing Barafu camp. It felt like weeks had passed since we had set
off this morning. But seeing the camp getting closer was a big relief....I just
needed to lie down, I was so very tired and still so very sleepy. I'd managed
to keep myself awake so had done well with that one!
Peter and a couple of the boys had come to
meet us with drinks and lunch if we wanted it......bless them! They were
congratulating us, fist bumping and hugging us, even though I still felt
absolutely crap it was brilliant, such a wonderfully warm reception from some
of the lads in our crew! We sat down on some rocks and had pineapple juice and
a cup of tea in my case and coffee for those who wanted it. Chacha asked if we
wanted lunch and we all said no not out here thanks. We drank our drinks, Bec's
couldn't drink her pineapple juice, said it was too sweet. I drank mine even
though I still felt nauseous and even had sugar in my tea - I just needed a
sugar rush I think. I've not taken sugar in my drinks since I was around eleven
years of age, but on the mountain I was taking more and more the longer we were
there. I guess my blood sugar was really low for me to be craving it so much.
So the last section to camp beckoned us -
we the conquerors of Mount.Kilimanjaro were nearly back in camp. I couldn't
wait to get into my sleeping bag, to try sleep off the symptoms I was suffering
and hoping that my chest was better and my breathing not only easier but less
painful, so still feeling absolutely dreadful we set off on our trip to camp.
It was still a steep descent into camp and then we had to navigate the camp
itself to our tents, that in itself would be challenging! The boys went ahead with
our day packs and Peter our porter come waiter would be staying with Chacha and
we three girls all the way back to camp.
I don't know where or when it went
completely wrong - one minute I'm concentrating on making sure my footsteps are
secure on the very rocky descent ( especially after all the falls I'd already
suffered coming down the mountain ) and the next thing my heads completely
gone, everything is spinning out of control, my eyes are rolling and my balance
has gone. I slip off the edge of the rock I was about to step down off and hit
the boulder wall to my left hard....this set me off to the right and I know
even though I can't make out where I am, I know that I'm in trouble, I can't
ever stop myself when I start falling off to the right. I manage to plonk
myself onto the rock I've just slipped off and as I carry on falling away to my
right I grab hold of the edge of the rock ( I know there's a drop to my right,
don't know much more than that ) and I'm hanging on for dear life.....my eyes
and brain are trying to catch up with the rest of me........
I don't remember this, but Bec's had seen
me and had shouted to Chacha - Tracy needs help!, he had turned around seen me
and came sprinting back up to me. He grabbed my arm as I was falling over and
stopped me in my tracks. He was rubbing my back all the time he was talking to
me, I have no recollection of what he said apart from shouting Peter over, he
came scrambling down to where we were. They got me stood up, Chacha took my
poles off me and they each held an arm and started moving me down towards camp
as fast as they could get me to go. I was completely out of it and was still
struggling to stop the spinning motion in my brain and eyes. I still don't know
how they managed to control themselves and me over the rocks and really tough
terrain, but that they did.
As we carried on down I started to get a
bit more control and so after a while Chacha deemed me safe enough to be left
in Peter's care. As we carried on down I know we passed lots of people. It turned
out to be a team from America who were going on a bit of an acclimatisation
walk as they were going to be setting off at midnight for the summit.
I remember been asked if I'd made it to
the summit to which I said yes and smiled, one of the ladies asked if I was
okay ( having a guide leading you down the mountain is a bit of a giveaway ). I
vaguely remember telling them of some of the altitude symptoms and
telling them I hoped they didn't suffer on their climb. Then Peter lead me away
towards my sleeping bag ( boy I so needed to lay down! ) I was so,so tired!
Ali & Bec's said all the drama started
after I'd been lead away, the group of American's started up, one woman in
particular who it turned out was a doctor from Phoenix. She was telling the girls
to get me further down the mountain. Ali told her she didn't know what was
going to be happening yet as regards our camp situation. The doctor again said
you need to get her down......Ali and Bec's were just looking at her as she
kept repeating get her down! then again get her down, she might not make it
through the night!! The girls then took their leave to follow me back to camp.
Peter got me back to my tent and I
literally fell through the flap into my sleeping bag where I passed out for a
couple of hours. While we climbers were out of it and oblivious to our
surroundings Chacha was sorting out an emergency evacuation of one of our crew.
He and a couple of the boys had walked back to the ravine at Karanga camp for
water, he had taken a tumble into the ravine, at this time it wasn't known if
he'd broken his leg....what was known was he was in a bad way. Mountain rules
state if someone is evacuated a guide must accompany the injured person. So
this meant George was to be going and that we wouldn't see him again.
Chacha insisted on us getting up to drink
and eat in the mess tent. He then told us about our poor injured porter and
George came and said goodbye to us, hugged us goodbye. He told me I was a very
strong woman and fist bumped me before going off to travel down the mountain.
Chacha was encouraging us all to eat
because some of us had not eaten all day and those that had, hadn't had much at
4am. I managed a little soup. I was shaking that hard I thought the soup was
going to end up all over me, I couldn't stop shaking. Chacha made the decision
that Bec's and I were that poorly and had not recovered in the slightest since
getting back to camp that we had to evacuate down to a lower elevation and the
next camp down. Millenium camp was around ninety minutes away.
He said for us to pack as quickly as
possible because it was 6pm and it would soon be dark. We set off down to
Millenium camp. The going was really tough for Bec's and I . She had to stop a
few times to be sick or wretch on route....me?.....I was still all over the
place and falling to the ground ( boy it was hurting a lot now! ). It was
steep, uneven and the scree was very loose and slippy. Walking on this kind of
surface is not only very difficult but it's very draining. When we set off for
Millenium camp we'd already been ascending and descending eleven hours. eleven
hours on the toughest and steepest climb to the summit and the most difficult
descent down on the steep loose scree....to say we were exhausted is an
understatement.
The sun was rapidly going down and we were
nowhere near camp, this wasn't good at all, more staggering about in the dark
ahead - deep joy! We had to put our torches on, but I didn't know where mine
was from this morning so ended up with a small one in my hand while holding my
walking pole...not the easiest thing to do. It was pitch black and so very
dangerous with my complete lack of balance. After I'd fallen a few times Ali
insisted I was to walk behind Chacha as I was making her uneasy and nervous
with all my falling.
We carried on plodding and making our way
down the mountain towards camp, it felt like we'd been walking for days to be
honest. Eventually we saw some lights in front of us, I was yay camp!...Chacha
said no not yet Tracy, it was actually some of our crew, bless them they came
out to meet us and see us back to camp. Then we thought, whenever they've come
to meet us it's not been long into camp. This lifted our spirits up a lot, we
are nearly there we thought. I hit the floor again and was groaning, I just
wanted to stay there where I lay until I had a sleep....I needed to sleep! I
needed to stop feeling so off balance, I needed myself and the world to stop
spinning just for a while.
It turned out the boys had come a long way
out to see what was keeping us, because it was about an hour after them meeting
us for us to hit camp. It took us around three hours not ninety minutes it
should have. I refused food and drink when we got to our camp, I didn't have
the energy for either, both Bec's and I went straight to our respective tents
and was out of it until morning.
So ends the most incredible day on the
mountain, a day that saw everything happening,suffering badly with altitude
sickness, successful ascent to the summit, an emergency evacuation from almost
the summit and a later one to camp for myself. An urgent evacuation to lower
camp and elevation to ensure Bec's and I were going to be okay and the altitude
symptoms would reduce and leave us feeling much brighter. One of our porters
taken off the mountain for medical assistance. 14 hours approx of climbing
and descending on the steepest and slippiest terrain.....and we
survived it!
The most incredibly hard but amazing day
in my life so far, an experience never to be forgotten, a proud achievement
worked so hard for in difficult personal circumstances...but even if I
could, I wouldn't change a single bit of it, the good and bad made the day what
it was.
To quote the legendary Audrey Hepburn -
Nothing is impossible the word itself says I'm possible
I came, I climbed and I conquered - Mount
Kilimanjaro my challenge set in 2010 conquered February 6th 2015.
Until next time
Tracy
Mountain days
seven & eight - end of an epic adventure
Hello everyone
So here comes the last blog entry for my Mount.Kilimanjaro
challenge. The last two leisurely days climbing down the mountain to Mweka Camp
to sign into the official register for the very last time. A time for us to be
able to fully enjoy the scenery, chat about what's come before and take in
everything on offer as we come to the end of a most magnificent adventure on
such a vast majestic mountain.
I learned not only things about this amazing mountain but most
definitely things about myself, I truly found myself on the Roof of Africa, a
version of myself lost when I started all my invasive treatments for my breast
cancer, the explorer me.....it got buried in the recess of my mind as I took on
my daily fight for all those months and not surprisingly with me - forgotten. I
was so at peace here on Mount.Kilimanjaro, a place that pushed me to the very
limits of my physical endurance.
I cannot think about this mountain without feeling so very
emotional - five years in the making to achieve my successful ascent to the
summit, such an amazing motivational challenge that saw me pick myself up, dust
off and start the very long and arduous task of getting fit and healthy enough
to take it on.
And take it on I did!
Day seven - Millenium camp
I felt so much brighter when I awoke. Yesterday's summit day climb
had been so very hard and then the evacuation to Millenium camp because Bec's
and I weren't recovering enough was the straw that nearly broke the camels back
as it were. It was a relief to wake up minus the horrible headache I'd had for
days. We hadn't set a time to get up as we were only going to be walking for a
couple of hours to the next camp. But we were awake by seven anyway. I was
stiff and aching, definitely from all my falling the day before.
We got ourselves out of the tent and into the mess tent after
surviving a toilet run. I managed a little breakfast and a cup of black tea
with sugar. Bec's was feeling much brighter too, no headache and no nausea, she
was very happy to eat food for the first time in a couple of days. We laughed
through breakfast the first time we'd been fully aware of ourselves and
surroundings in the last few days, for those who never suffer any high altitude
symptoms you'll never realise how debilitating they are and how lucky you are!
After breakfast Chacha asked if we'd like to walk the remaining
five hours down to Mweka Camp and save having another night on the mountain. We
all individually said no, my reasons were I wanted to fully absorb the rest of
our trip down the mountain at a leisurely pace, knowing today we'd only be
walking a couple of hours ( this is because of how we'd changed our Kilimanjaro
climb to cover two camps in one day and our evacuation down to Millenium camp
last night ) and to be perfectly honest I didn't think I'd survive walking all
that time with my poor feet - especially my big right toe. Boy it was inflamed
and very sore! I'd managed to get my hikers back on but it wasn't like wearing
my slippers!
So we all agreed we wanted to stay our full duration on the
mountain, if we were to complete our climb a day early we wouldn't have a hotel
for the night booked we told Chacha and Bec's told him about the state of my
toes. Chacha came back to us saying if we completed the five hour trek off the
mountain today, our hotel for the night would be paid for and an emergency
vehicle at the collection point would be waiting to take me off the mountain
with my foot. We all still declined and said we wanted to just stick with our
original itinerary.
I said to Chacha I walked onto the mountain and I'm going to walk
off it too, to which he capped his head!
So off we set on our two hour walk to the next camp, I knew
because of the steepness it was going to push my toes to the limit today, I was
a little weary as to how uncomfortable it was going to be. It was the same
terrain as the night prior - loose, rocky, slippy scree on a steep descent
for a big part of the walk. I was determined I was staying on my feet
today after all the falling down yesterday and I took "pole pole" to
a whole new level. This was fine as we weren't going to be walking all day.
Chacha set me off leading us down the mountain to our next camp,
it was fun and relaxing, we were all laughing and chatting our way down into
camp. There were some dodgy moments for me, my balance still wasn't right and I
did stagger a few times which were a killer on my poor battered toes, but I did
manage to stay on my feet - so that was a massive bonus! There were parts where
we had to scramble down some big rocks but overall it did get easier the closer
to camp we got.
We made it to camp with no drama and took to chilling out. The
girls sat on the mess chairs in the sunshine and I laid out in the tent with my
boots off - heaven I tell you. My big toes was very inflamed and sore, so the
short walk had been a godsend. I was glad it was only three hours tomorrow. I
love my hikers they are rally comfy but I was looking forward to taking them
off for the rest of the holiday until it was time to fly home.
We were watching people making it into camp most of them on their
last legs , kudos to them they had made it all the way down here from the
summit - now that's a long days climb and walk. In between people watching the
girls were reading and I was writing in my travel journal, I had a lot of days
to catch up on, I'd not written anything but bullet points since been hit with
the altitude sickness. We were all very happy chilling out around camp.
We went for an afternoon snack of a cuppa and popcorn - yep you
read that correctly popcorn!! We taught Chacha to dunk biscuits in his tea ( so
much fun! ) and he taught us to play Last card. Ali did really well with the
game. Everyone in our crew were chilled out relaxing sat around enjoying the
afternoon sun. A great day it was.
Tradition is for the climbers to do a ceremony on last night on
the mountain where you give a thank you speech to all the crew and hand over
the tips for the trip for all the boys. Our gang said I was to do the thanking
ceremony - lucky me ha!
We asked Chacha to get everyone together and I said our speech,
Chacha was translating into Swahili for those who didn't fully understand
English. I thanked them from all of us on their hard work and great efforts
carrying all the equipment, tents, food and of course our main packs up and
down the mountain. I thanked them for their enthusiasm each and everyday, for
singing songs each and every morning with such gusto, for laughing along with
us at our early attempts to join in and our dancing skills. I said we couldn't
have made a successful ascent to the summit without each and every single one
of them and we had no doubt we had been with the best climbing crew on Mount
Kilimanjaro. And lastly a big thank you for all the encouragement, fist
bumping, cheering and hugs we all received from them all at the end of every
day.
I then presented Chacha with the money for each and every crew
member, we gave the recommended daily allowance for all, they didn't know
what we had given Chacha but they were all smiling and thanking us. As they
were about to go I asked Chacha to call them back. I told Chacha we three girls
were so very impressed with our crew and all the fun and smiles they had given
us we wanted to give extra tips which we wanted to be split equally between
them all. Chacha said thank you and pocketed the money to sort out later. The
crew went off about their business and we were getting ready to go to the mess
tent for out tea. We were really giddy as we had asked Job our chef for chips
and homemade bread ( bit like chapatis )...we were hankering for a chip butty!!
The extra tips we girls had decided to give was what we originally
would have paid for just the three of us doing the climb. Then Mussa had
emailed asking if Dom from Italy could join us on the climb to which we said
yes no problem, so with him joining it lowered our total we would give in tips
to the crew. But like I said we stuck to our original budget which gave the
boys extra spending money. We were really happy to do it.
After our meal where we showed Chacha to make chip butties he told
us thank you for the tips and we girls for the extra - he said the guys were
over the moon and it would benefit all their families with the extra. We were
so happy they we happy with what we had given.
Day eight
So our final day on the mountain! - what a bittersweet day.....we
would finally make it to Mweka Camp and so officially completed our epic climb
and would get our certificate which was amazing but it also meant we'd be
leaving the mountain and this part of the adventure would be over. I knew all
along I was going to find leaving it behind hard but it was going to be.
So we set off on our final climb down the mountain, it was a three
hour climb. My right big toe was very,very sore and was causing me some right
grief. Only three hours but I figured it was going to feel much longer, I had
managed to get my hiker on but it definitely not comfortable.
After breakfast we gathered with our boys for a song. They we full
of it and sang loads! - it was amazing, vibrant and full of life. Other
companies were singing a song or two, but not our boys. We were partying! Bec's
recorded around ten minutes of it. They were using empty plastic containers as
drums...we were singing our Jambo song together, we danced and laughed it was
truly electric. Other climbers stood around watching us and our boys - I think
wishing they'd been with the best on the mountain with us!!
If I ever have the funds to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro again I would use
no other company than Chacha's climbing company which is Chacha Tours Africa
and Mussa's company Wild Secret Sarafis for safaris and anything else I wanted
to do in Tanzania. I wouldn't use anybody else and I recommend to each and
everyone of you.
We said goodbye to our crew with enthusiastic hugs and fist bumps
and set off on our last walk. Chacha once again invited me to take the lead and
again we were talking major slow pole pole! The pace was very slow but I wasn't
falling and I was making it down under my own steam. A way into the walk Ali
and Dom went off a it faster, Chacha had Pete go with them, I said to
Bec's to go with them....she was no I'm happy to stroll down with you through
the forest.
Bec's, Chacha and I strolled down laughing and chatting and
telling each other stories. We had such a blast, the time passed on so quickly,
the American Doctor who'd been telling them to get me down lower on summit day
recognised me and stopped in front of me ( I didn't recognise her ), she said
it was great to see me and she was checking me over and said I looked much
better than when she'd seen me last, she then carried on down the mountain.
We were getting close to the end of our last walk - a couple of
the lads came to meet us and I knew it wasn't far to go now, my toe was
absolutely killing me, I had stubbed it a couple of times on little tree roots
and stumps that were sticking up on route. I have to tell you I felt so
nauseous! I did manage not to be sick but had both Chacha and Bec's cringing
for me when I caught it.
We had laughed, sang all they way down, what a brilliant last walk
on the mountain....we literally strolled our way into camp.
We finally made it - Mount Kilimanjaro climb completed! Our whole
team had reached the summit and that was down to Chacha and the boys and of
course our own personal determination - you cannot do this epic mountain as an
individual, it's teamwork or bust for sure!
I had stood
on the Roof of Africa!!
I handed my walking poles to Chacha
and said can you give them to someone in the crew who wants some? He passed
them to the lad carrying my backpack who happily took them, job done! As we
slowly made our way to where Dom & Ali were waiting for us, over to the
left were all our crew who were shouting and waving to us. We happily waved
back to them, it was a brilliant feeling knowing they were so happy to
see us finish our climb. Mussa and Alphonce came over to greet us and
congratulate us, I said we are stinky and sweaty, they just laughed and gave us
a hug. The smile on my face was permanent and a mile wide, we made it under the
shelter and Ali said Mussa had bought us soda, which do you want. I looked and
said a Fanta please, boy those bubbles were amazing after all the water we'd
had with the water purification tablets in it! I sat down and said I've got to
check my toe, it's killing and I kept banging it. I loosened my boot and slowly
took it off, I pulled my sock off to check it....man! it was a real mess! it
was very swollen, inflamed and I could tell the nail was nearly off now! it had
the biggest blood blister at the base of the nail, I touched the top of the
nail and it rocked....the only thing holding it on was the skin at the side of
it. It wasn't good at all and looked infected. As soon as we hit town I needed
at least a trip to a chemist. I managed to get my sock back on and my boot
which I left loose and unlaced. I sat downing my Fanta - Bec's said Tracy your
toe is a right mess, yep I agreed but even with it like that, I'd traveled down
the mountain walking on it around twelve hours and it had hurt a lot, but I'd
made it all the way on my two feet and this made me very happy!
I slowly made my way to the bathroom,
on my way out I saw the American doctor and some of the women who were with her
when I passed them after the summit climb. They literally surrounded me and
were asking how I was ( obviously had left an impression when they'd seen me ),
I told them much better, they said I looked a lot better than the last time
they'd seen me. The doctor was really scrutinizing me while the others were
talking. I asked if they were going home or onto a safari, most were with one
or two going home. One of the women asked where I was from, I said Yorkshire
England.....they were all, Oh I love your accent!. I wished them the best for
the rest of their holiday and a safe journey home and left to go back to the
others.
We went and joined the line to sign
into the register at Mweka Gate - our last time. I feel very proud to know my
name is in every record book at every camp on Mount.Kilimanjaro. We were asked
if we wanted a drink while waiting to sign in, so we got a Kilimanjaro beer- it
had to be for sure!! Peter from our crew came over while we were drinking our
beers to say goodbye. We all had a hug and then Peter and I sang the Jambo
song, at the end people were clapping ha ha - rock stars!! We signed our names
and made our way back over to Mussa and the gang.
We were finally leaving
Mount.Kilimanjaro behind and making our way back to Moshi and our hotel. I had
said to Mussa and Alphonce that I needed a chemist for my toe and that it was
bad. They said we are booked into a restaurant and would take me after our
celebratory meal. We girls were a meal before shower????? they laughed and said
yes.
We got to the restaurant and we gang
of climbers insisted on sitting outside - I reminded myself of the character in
Peanuts who carries the blanket and has flies hanging around him ( we stank bad
after only wet wipe washes and a bowl of water for the last 8 days!! ) We had a
beautiful meal and champagne to toast our success - thank you Mussa and Wild
Secret Safaris for that, a wonderfully thoughtful touch from yourself and your
company!
It was decided to drop the girls off
at the hotel and then take me to the chemist, I'd have preferred it the other
way round, boy it was throbbing! Eventually I was off to hopefully get
something to give me some relief after shouting to Bec's to save me some
water!! We went into a chemist where Alphonce translated for me, they said I
needed to see the doctor around the corner upstairs, so Chacha, Mussa and
Alphonce escorted me up to the doctors. I paid the fee to see him and went it
practically straight away. He examined it and after congratulating me on my
successful climb prescribed anti inflammatory tablets and antibiotics, I was
told to try not burst the blood blister and keep a very close eye on it for
infection. So after picking up the meds I was finally on way to hotel for a
shower - a much needed and wanted shower!
I told the guys we'd see them at seven
am as were would be leaving Moshi to travel to Arusha for the next stage of
this adventure in Tanzania.
Next time - our Osiligi Orphanage
experience.
So five years after setting this
challenge and all the set backs with my health that kept seeing me have to
delay - it finally happened, the toughest endurance challenge I have done to
date by far, but the one of the things I am so very proud of accomplishing.
Putting out a positive message not only to others newly diagnosed, going
through treatments or surviving like me with cancer but any illness that we can
set ourselves personal challenges that will test us and push us to our personal
limitations. We can all challenge ourselves to our own personal Everest if we
set our minds to it. Go challenge yourself and see the pleasure you will feel
at the end.
I came, I
climbed and I conquered - Mount.Kilimanjaro February 6th 2015.
Until next time
Tracy