And so our relationship with the giant Kili began...

Okay so here I sit in an internet cafe in Arusha, Tanzania, just hours after saying good-bye to the rest of my fabulous 'Conquer Kili team' and just one day after having returned from what is simply one of the most memorable experiences of my life to date. Unbelieveable.

I was unable to update the blog while on the mountain (hmm no surprises there!) so what I did was write notes each day and now I will attempt to get the blog updated and complete within the next day or so (hmmm talk about a challenge!).

So here goes...

Day 1 of the Kilimanjaro climb

Today started with the 17 of us dragging our 15kg or less backpacks and our much smaller day packs into the main courtyard of the Marangu Hotel. We stood around with anxious anticipation, waiting for our bags to be weighed (they could not weigh more than 15kg as they were to be carried on the heads of our wonderful porters). On the opposite side of the courtyard stood a large group of porters and guides looking every bit as anxious as we did. Within an hour or so each of us were asked to locate our backpacks and introduce ourselves to the gentleman who was standing with our pack. He would be the porter that would be assigned to us throughout the Kili climb. My porter, Thomas, it turns out had been a porter for over 30 years. He spoke barely any English and seemed to find any attempt at all on my part to communicate absolutely hilarious.

We grabbed our packed lunches and crammed into the large Mercedes bus. The next hour or so would involve driving down a rather bumpy road to the entrance of the Rongai route. Squeeky clean and buzzing with the realisation that our anticipated Kili climb was about to begin we chowed down on our lunches, applied liberal amounts of sunscreen (speaking of such ... Sharyn did your clothes survive that rather thorough assault of sunscreen smothering??) and filed onto the beginning of the Rongai route. We were about to climb the magnificant Mt Kilimanjaro!

It is important to note that from the beginning of the challenge we had had drilled into us the importance of going 'pole pole' (translated from Kiswahili to English: slowly, slowly). The purpose of this of course being to somehow minimise the effects of altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was of course our biggest threat and something that would remain a point of concern for us all as we made our way into higher and higher altitudes. We knew that age, fitness and previous climbing experience were not factors that decreased the likelihood of getting altitude sickness. It was simply, the luck of the draw.

Passing by lush farmland, and moving into beautifully green rainforest reminiscent of the Pirongia's in New Zealand we completed our first leg of the Kili climb. Our porters had raced past us complete with our packs, camping equipment and a miriad of supplies packed onto their bodies, fairly early on into the climb. I had a feeling this would be quite the point of embarrasment throughout the climb. Arriving to our first campsite we all took the time to familiarise ourselves with our new living arrangments. It became clear that our dutiful guides were going to make this experience one to remember. Promptly upon arrival at our site we were given warm water to wash with along with a hot cup of tea. This camping thing didn't seem so hard! Our tents had been arranged prior to our arrival and our next meal was already in the works. Nice!

The one reality check that would remain with me throughout the Kili climb was most certainly that long drops are to be avoided and 'bush toilets' were to be embraced! In fact on that point, Jo Ward asked me to mention in this blog that she had 'success down the hole'. The key to a successful bush toilet experience we found was to find a bush sufficiently close to one's tent to avoid prolonged exposure to the elements at night and yet far enough away to preserve provacy.

We all hit the sack relatively early that night. The knowledge of the next days únrelenting uphill climb was certainly front of mind. True to form, I slept like a rock, despite this being my first night in a tent in what was already quite cold weather AND despite the fact that a buffalo entered our camp and ate grass for an extended period next to our tent. My poor, petrified tent-mate, Deborah, lay in silence as this occurred, convinced that the buffalo must just knock out a tent peg and cause attention to be drawn to our vulnerable bodies laying just metres away. Sharyn and Hannah were on a bush toilet excursion at the time when they heard the buffalo and scurried into their tent. I was quite miffed to have missed the excitement!

Our second day on Kili to come...