Kilimanjaro 2014 !

We arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport to chaotic immigration and customs queues after 15 hrs of flights via Amsterdam. The sun had set, so no visual of the mountain yet, and it was to be only after two nights on the mountain that we finally woke to see the clear mountain in front of us. We had started to question if we were even in the right place ! 

We hiked the 8 day Lemosho route, chosen for two reasons, extra days of acclimatisation, and supposedly, a less popular route. It seemed like many other groups had the same idea this year, and the first few camps were busy ~ 200 campers !

The hike was tough - a lot more difficult than we had expected. Long, long stretches of uphill - the first couple of days in muddy, wet, humid conditions. And cold at nights, never really got comfortable in our sleeping bags and didn't get much sleep either. We had a terrific team looking after us, organised via Adventure Dynamics. A total number of 17 including two guides, chef, waiter, tent crews, and porters. The head guide Raj had summited over 370 times, and Edwin, the assistant guide, over 500 times.

Well, I am not embarrassed to say that I didn't make it to the summit, but Heather and Maria did. They showed real determination, especially on the summit day. I confirmed what I had suspected on our previous trip to the Andes in 2008, that my body does not respond well to altitude. I started for the summit, but turned back after two hours. I had been experiencing severe headaches and blocked sinuses for most of the hike. It was a very long day for Heather, summiting after 8 hrs, heading back to our last camp - 3 hrs, an hour's rest, and then a 3 hr hike to the next camp down.

 

The terrain and scenery was just spectacular the whole route, and the photographs don't begin to convey the vista's.