'Life is an adventure, not a walk. That's why it's difficult.'

7th July 2017

Sunset and moonrise in the same photo

After the best sleep for a long time, I only woke at 11.15 for a pee and then at 5am when the camp guides and porters were starting to move about, we were up at 6.30am for breakfast at 7 and in time to set out at 7.30am.

The thing about walking up a mountain is that there is an awful lot of walking up hill involved.  But there are

also awesome views.  We got our first proper view of  Kilimanjaro today. 

Amazing to think that is still looks so massive when we have already climbed so far.  Today we climbed 2831ft over 5.57 miles. There were lots of steep, rocky paths to be negotiated, the boys didn't whinge at all.  Towards the end we crest


ed a ridge line and saw a snow capped Kilimanjaro from our campsite!  We are 'walking high and sleeping low' to help with acclimatisation - so we had 600ft of descent in our walk.

We arrived at 1pm for a hearty lunch and the afternoon was spent resting, but not sleeping.  You don't breath as deeply when asleep which means that you don't get enough oxygen.  

Tomorrow is an 'easy' day in that we don't gain mug elevation over the 10km but it will but it will be our first day walking at significant altitude (3610m and above). 

(The quote that I used as a title for this post is from 'A boy made of blocks' by Keith Stuart)

(Backup) Onwards

6th July 2017 (Belated apologies to Mrs McG, who is posting edited versions of this blog to the school website.  I haven't proof read these posts and I hate typing on an iPhone!)

Or 'twende' as the local guides would say! 

Firstly, I can't believe we missed a student's birthday yesterday! To be fair, he said that he had forgotten it too!  We've sung 'Happy birthday' and I've promised to get him a cake when we get down from Kili!

So we are at 'Big Tree camp' or Mti Mkubwa camp in Swahili at 2650m or 9082ft.  We had the shortest ever 7k walk from the Lomosho Gate - which was actually only 5k - a nice gentle start to our adventure!  

This was welcome as we'd had an early start and a long journey to get to Kili.  We'd stopped at a supermarket for the boys to pick up snacks and sweets for the journeys. The registration process was painful.  We had to provide passports (again) and fill in a register and then show show the passports again... it took over an hour and a half!

Lunch was provided - our tour operators had been informed that I had a nut allergy however the chocolate bar provided was a Snickers.  I swapped mine for a small banana and ate half a Twix from my stash. 

We were told that it was 7k to the first camp so we set off 'pole pole' (slowly slowly).  It was fairly hilly, but nothing too strenuous.  Porters were rushing past us carrying supplies.  The boys did brilliantly.  We saw monkeys amid the lush vegetation as we plodded along on our way.  

Arriving in camp the guides were keen to help set up our tents - which was actually more hassle than doing it alone as they tried to force the wrong clips together! Then there were hot drinks and peanuts (!) in the mess tent - I reminded them again that I can't eat nuts and fetched the second half of my Twix, meanwhile some ginger biscuits appeared for me in the mess tent.  

Supper was excellent - more 'roast' potatoes than we could eat and a flavoursome beef stew followed a soup.  After a few broken nights at our previous camp site I am exhausted.  Currently hoping that the camp quietens down so we can all get some sleep!  

Mti Mkubwa camp 2650m 

The day before we go...

A walk through the coffee plantation

A weird day.  Nerves starting to make themselves felt!

We went to visit a coffee plantation to fill some time this morning, it was fascinating and the coffee was amazing but 'Africa time' was in full swing so everything was running late.  

We got back to Weruweru 40 minutes late for our 12noon lunch, but that was ok because they hadn't started to prepare it.  We were to be briefed by our guides at 1pm, so that had to be delayed!  I'm not sure how much value any of the students took from it!  He derailed each day as follows: "On day x we will walk for around y hours before arriving at camp z.  When you are there you will register, be told where to pitch your tents, greet the camp manager, find out about service (evening meal) and after you have eaten there will be a briefing about the next day." 

Most of us haven't got our head around the idea that we are going to climb a mountain we have yet to see the top of due to cloud cover, repetitive, boring detail is not helpful!  

The guides then wanted to kit check all the students gear and they were p a i n f u l l y slow about it!  This meant that our plans to go to Moshi for last minute supplies and kit that was lost or broken were dead in the water.  A plan was hatched.  The expedition leader would stay with the boys and the teachers would go into town with the driver from Ahsante Tours.  

We assumed that we'd be dropped off and then picked up at an agreed time/place - but the driver had other ideas! He drove us to places he knew that felt very dodgy and we haggled to get some of the stuff we needed before deciding we could improvise the rest!  I sold my spare running sunglasses to a boy who had broken his (the alternative was US$50 for fake Oakleys that were scratched).  He should think himself lucky that I didn't bring my pink running glasses.  

Add caption

It was a stressful afternoon.  And we still had to pack our bags!  That's all done now, we are up at 5.30am tomorrow so it is early nights all round.  I'll have no internet access for the next 8 days but I'll try to write a few words each day and upload them when I am back.

Wish me luck!Neither of us teachers wants to contemplate not sunmiting - but it is very much in the back of our minds that one of us may have to come down with a student.  That is a bridge we will cross if and when we come to it!  

Chameleon 

When they asked me to make a cup of coffee I didn't realise I'd have to grind the coffee too!

What day is it today?

4th July 2017

I can't keep track of the days!  It is a bit like a week with a Bank Holiday in it but multiplied many times.

The absence of news from the outside world is wonderful.  I am resisting the urge to check the BBC news app in the hope that I will return to a Trump free world at the end of the month. 

So what happened on a day where two of the three leaders were convinced it was Wednesday until at least mid morning?

It was another day of travelling, from Monduli Juu back to Weruweru Lodge just outside Moshi.  We had a hair raising journey in two minibuses to Arusha where we chartered a slightly less rickety and larger minibus to  Weruweru.  Our budget for the trip, which took 4 hrs, was US$5 per head!  Our drivers had scant regard for road safety and speed limits, but we arrived safely in the sanitised, idealised Africa that is the Weruweru River Lodge.  The highlight of the journey was the coffee stop at Arusha bus station!  We had very limited time, but the three adults managed to down two cups of excellent coffee and a cake each!

As we got off the bus our expedition leader announced that the boys were to put up their tents and then stay by their tents while the adults went to shower.  This would be our first shower for nearly a week and to say that we were looking forward to it would be an understatement.  That said, I can't say I would ever have predicted having a shower while chatting to a work colleague and a man I only met just over a week ago!  They didn't get to share their shower cubicles with a gorgeous African snail though!

The water supply may have been erratic - but feeling properly clean was wonderful!  Clean clothes and a lazy afternoon followed.

We've been here just over a week, but it already feels as though we have done so much.  There have been ups and downs along the way but, for the most part, the boys have been amazing.  And I could not have asked for better adult companions - I think we all share the same slightly warped sense of humour, and we seem to work well together.  

We've had some issues with boys not eating properly, fussy eating means that some of them are not eating enough.  Here at the lodge they can buy soft drinks with their meals.  I suggested that they not be allowed to buy them unless they had eaten all their main course, including all the vegetables, one of the other adults announced this and my colleague enforced it - making him the most hated man in camp!  I nearly fell foul of this tonight as it was belly pork!  

Tomorrow we have a day to prepare for our Kilimanjaro ascent, so that will be 8 days with no showers and no internet!  I'll probably have forgotten what month it is by the time we get back!  Now, is it safe to have a peek at the BBC news website?

A quiet day in camp...

3rd July 2017

... for me anyway.

Most of the group have gone off for our final acclimatisation trek, I have stayed behind with our recuperating invalid.  He is doing much better, but he has barely eaten for the last four days so a five and a half  hour trek would not do him any favours!

We did go for a little walk though.  Just an out and back to the nearest village, Monduli Juu.  He kept up a fine pace and we stopped at the bakery on the way back to pick up our 'Happy Accident' ginger rolls and to show him some of the work they were doing.  He sleept well when we got back! I sat, alternately in by sun and shade, reading my book.

The boys did well on their walk, the cooler weather at the start seemed to help them and they walked steadily.  The enjoyed a hearty lunch and my addition of the ginger rolls went down well.

Engrossed in a game of bottle caps.

We discussed the issue that has been at the back of my mind for a while.  If one of the students can't complete the climb the one of the teachers will have to stay with them.  Reasons for this could be altitude sickness or the students not being mentally and physically prepared for the ordeal.  Either way it will be gutting to have come so far and not be able to make it to the top.  The thought of sitting around for days waiting for everyone else is not appealing. We'll have to find a fair way to decide who comes down, but the reality is that I probably only have a 50% chance of making it to the summit.  

How will I feel if I have to come down with one of the boys? Gutted.  Completely and utterly gutted.  I'd return home feeling as though I had missed out on something really special.  I'd definitely be looking into packages that I could book so that I could come back and summit in the future.

 

Great Rift Valley Trek and a project to promote sustainability.

2nd July 2017

Another broken night with our poorly student.  He still has diarrhoea and feels rotten.  He remained at our camp with the other teacher today while the rest of us walked.  A 'phone call, via the sat phone, to the operations centre resulted in us giving him antibiotics - let's hope he turns the corner soon.  I have to admit that I have really found it hard watching him suffer - bad enough to be ill at home, but this far away, living in a tent and having such basic toilets must be pure misery.  At one point this afternoon inspiration struck, and I taught him how to breath through the pain which seemed to help. Our expedition leader has been amazing, calm and reassuring throughout.

The rest of us walked to the Great Rift Valley.  This was a much gentler trek than yesterday, but longer.  The photo below shows the mountain we climbed yesterday (on the right hand end of the ridge) - it looks tiny! 

 

The horizons were vast and the weather was fantastic.  The inclines were gentle.  The boys were in fine form for the first half, lots of chatter  and laughter and admiring of the views.

 

The views over the Great Rift Valley did not disappoint.  The photos do not do it justice.  

 

The walk back was not quite so easy for the boys!  11.5miles in temperatures over thirty degrees was quite challenging.  Much encouragement was needed to get the boys back to camp for lunch.

 

After lunch a small group of us walked down to Monduli Juu village to visit a Canadian couple who have set up the Masai Bakery.  They encourage the locals to work sustainably.  They have been supplying us with bread rolls and our main aim was to buy some 'Happy Accidents.' These are rolls made with ginger rather than cinamon when Happy, a local girl, reached for the wrong spice jar.  We didn't get our rolls today as they had sold out, but we did order some to be delivered tomorrow.

What we did get was an insight into the rest of the work that they do, from rainwater reclamation (there is no mains water here and the locals have to buy in water) through finding alternatives to buying plastic and glass beads that have to be bought in from China, bee keeping and of course the bakery!  The rainwater reclamation set up is amazing and inspiring.  The boys who came with us to see them all commented on the amazing and innovative ways they were finding to help the locals become self sufficient.  This really is a case of teaching them to fish rather than giving them a fish.

Acclimatisation Trek Day One

1st July 2017

We had an eventful night! At 11.53 my tent nearly collapsed as a boy collided with my guy lines.  There wet cries of 'there are ants in my tent!' This woke up the teacher in our group, but not our expedition leader, whose super power is sleeping.  I'm not joking! He can (and does) sleep anywhere - in the back of a Land Cruiser bouncing across Tanzanian roads, anywhere he can safely shut his eyes it would seem.

Without leaving out tent we tried to assess the situation:

'What's going on?' 

'There are ants in the tent!'

'Can you just kill them and throw them out?'

'No there are too many!'

We struck a deal that I could  stay in my tent on the proviso that I'd be the one to deal with the next night time crisis.  I snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag (it is chilly here at night) and tried to ignore the commotion. Before much longer (probably as much time as it takes one person to get dressed and out of a tent) I heard 'Err, Miss, I think you need to get out here too...'

I stumbled into my clothes and out of my tent and was directed to look into one of the tents.  I couldn't see anything untoward - but then realised I didn't have my glasses on and couldn't see anything much at all!  Back again with my specs on and oh my God!  Ants everywhere!  Nasty big biting black ants! We got the boys out of their tents, with their kit, and put one in each of the other three tents.  This would make for a cosy night for all, but the idea of trying to clean, repair and move a tent in the middle of the night (while it wearing underwater!) didn't appeal.  

The boy who had discovered the ants, because they bit him, was ejected from his new tent almost as soon as he entered it, the ants were in his clothing and his sleeping bag!  We brushed him down and set to removing the ants, one by one as they grip the fabric, by the light of the dying campfire! Amazingly we were all back in our tents by 12.15am!  

A quick visit to our lovely long drop toilets resulted in me gagging and deciding to pee behind the loo block!  It seems that not only do at least two of our boys have Delhi belly they also need a lesson in aiming! (This is an ultra runner's blog - you knew there had to be a mention of poo at some point!)

This morning it was a relief not to have to pack our tents away, and after breakfast we set off for our first acclimatisation trek.  We ascended nearly 1500ft in less than 3 miles (there's a challenge for the guys at White Star Running!) over some of the trickiest terrain I have ever encountered.  The soil is wonderful and the vegetation lush and varied.  It is also like walking on sand when it is dry and slippery as anything when wet! 

I'm not ashamed to admit that I found parts of it really tough going! I was shocked at just how much impact being at this altitude had. We weren't walking fast at all, but I was always beyond relieved to get to a flat section.  The down hill sections were not always a respite as they were precipitous in the extreme. 

The views were amazing, our local guides were knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.  What the photos don't convey is the freshness of the air and the wonderful aromas of the herbs that were growing wild. 

 

After lunch we gave the boys a bit of free time and then most of them walked into the village.  I stayed at the campsite, with one of the boys who was feeling under the weather, reading my book, drinking coke and enjoying the view from under the tree in the last photo on this blog.  It is a hard life!