October 2001, Kilimanjaro.  Click on the pictures to see a larger version then click back to return to this page.

I am pleased to say that I reached the summit but it was more difficult than I expected.  I will not be going back to do it again.  It was only with the help and encouragement of my new friends in the group that I was able to make it to the top, thank-you.

The summit! 5896m (19343ft) which we reached at about 9am on Thursday 11th October 2001.

 
Here is the certificate to prove it.

To start with we drove to Marangu Gate which is at 1900m and started the walking through the rain forest.  The path is a simple climb but we went at the pace of our guides to help us acclimatise.  We reached the Mandara Huts (2700m) in good time and had a walk to the Maundi Crater.

It was an early start on Monday and the vegetation was changing.  We walked through giant heathers and found drier, warmer  conditions.





As we climbed higher we came across unusual vegetation: Senecio Kilimanjaro.  Our excellent guides can be seen in the photograph with me.  The Horombo huts (3700m) were reached in the middle of the afternoon.  Then on the Tuesday we climbed to Zebra rock and the Saddle before returning to Horombo.  We had hoped to get a view of Kilimanjaro but it was too cloudy.  Maybe it was just as well that we couldn't see what lay ahead.

On Wednesday we continued on our way up to Kibo huts at 4705m (15450ft).  Most of the trek was through this lunar, barren landscape.  Then it was time for bed at 5pm to try and get some sleep before the 11pm wakeup call, 11.30pm departure.  My pulse was 90 bpm at rest; usually it is 55 bpm.

The climb to the crater rim was very difficult.  There were times when each of us felt like giving up.  I found it very cold even with 4 layers on my legs and 6 layers on my upper body.  My water froze after 1 hour and then the batteries in my head torch packed up an hour later.  However the sunrise was really beautiful and gave us that little bit of encouragement to reach the crater rim.

Looking back down onto the Kibo huts some 7 hours after leaving them

The final climb to the crater rim at 5685m (18650ft)

Then it was a matter of deciding whether to go down or continue to the summit some 200m higher.  I decided with 6 others from our group to continue on this "easier" part of the climb along the crater rim to the summit which we reached at 9am.  Then it was the descent at last, part walking part ski-ing down from the crater rim to Kibo on the scree. 

After a short rest at Kibo we continued on down.

At long last we could see the whole mountain and could see what we had achieved.  Then it was onwards to Horombo where we arrived at 5pm.  After food we all slept very well even though we were above the dining hut and there was a lot of noise.

Departing from Horombo Hut.  Our last day on the mountain 3720m (12200ft)

Some of the amazing loads carried by the porters.

Everyone down safely to Marangu Gate for a late lunch.

Time for some of the local brew