Hello from the beautiful slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro!
Day 3 and currently sitting at 125000ft having just returned from an acclimatisation hike to 13200ft (roughly 4000 metres).
Some of us were definitely feeling the effects of altitude today with higher resting heart rates and pressure headaches (still currently managing a headache) but our bodies are slowly adjusting and small doses of ibroprofen and altitude tablets have eased the discomfort (although that does mean that the need to pee is real!)
The first few days have been pretty brilliant. We’ve been getting to know our team of 40+ porters and learning Swahili, We’ve also been testing our kit and general drills (especially figuring out how best to stay warm on the mountain!).
I think we all paid lip service to the dangers of altitude to begin with but now the risk of dehydration, altitude sickness and exposure feels a bit more real. Especially knowing we have another 5 days on the mountain.
Uhuru peak is nearly always in sight teasing us but also helping with motivation.
We are doing our best to maintain walking pace discipline. “Pole Pole!” (Said polay polay which means slowly slowly) and our guides have been excellent at keeping energy levels high even when the pace feels lethargic.
Getting to know the other team members (we are made up of Americans, South Africans and Brits) has been great fun. Such a mix of characters, ages and backgrounds. But even more interesting is the variety of motivational drivers that have gotten people here. Mountains are great healers and the stories that are being shared are proof of this.
The scenery is, unsurprisingly, epic. We’ve already walked through 3 climates zones, spotted monkeys and been educated on the local fauna and flora (there are actually lions up here!)
We have a birthday today (my tent mate @binksontour) so finishing tent badmin and off for a birthday brew.
Badae (see you later!)
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