Sunday 15th of October 2017 – Day 1 We arrived at Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort late on Friday 13th of October after a long flight, and a 2-hour car journey. We woke on Saturday morning opening our blinds to see the first glimpse of Kilimanjaro – complete with snow. It was the only time in our 7-days in Tanzania that we seen Kilimanjaro in its entirety like this so we were very lucky! It was a very surreal feeling to see the mountain and it had finally sunk in that we were actually here and about to embark on possibly one of the biggest physical and mental challenges of our lives. We deliberately arrived a day earlier to allow us to relax prior to our briefing meeting later in the evening where we would be meeting our guide Jacob and the rest of the team. Our team consisted of 12 people a mixture of Australians and the remainder from New Zealand. It was clear from the briefing meeting and initial introductions that we were probably the least prepared for Kili and the only members of the group who had never done a climb or anything remotely similar. Our group consisted of outdoor enthusiasts! One gentleman had just completed aniron man competition a couple of months back, a 60-year old woman who had done Everest Base camp only 4-years before hand and a regular hiker who also had more energy and enthusiasm than the entire group put together!!! Everyone else were regular runner’s / marathon competitors or had done similar hikes - perhaps not to the same altitudes but never the less were much more aware of what was ahead of us and the mental and physical challenges the climb would entail. I did mention in an earlier blog post that we had chosen to climb Kilimanjaro with Intrepid Travel. We also decided to go with the Marangu route. This is the most direct and quickest route to the summit undertaken over 4 full days. The success rate due the quick ascent of the route is 60 to 80%. We set off for Kili on Sunday morning after breakfast with a short 30-minute bus journey to the gates of Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro has 4 climate zones; rainforest which is warm and humid all year round and home to a number of rare species, Heath zone which is sparser and drier than the forest, then the alpine desert which is cold and dry with a rocky landscape, then finally the arctic zone with glittering ice, snow and glaciers. Day one was an 8km trek to the Mandara Hut. You know when something seems like a great idea at the time than when you start it you think why did I want to do this or put myself through this? – that’s how we felt on the first day. We felt un prepared, we had defiantly not acclimatised to the heat, and in the first zone we were sweating from the humidity and really struggling with the pace of the group. We sat and had lunch at picnic tables halfway through the trek, where we were informed that there was a toilet hut to the right. I genuinely thought that it was going to be a pee and squat behind a bush job the entire trek so hearing their was toilet huts was music to my ears! I went to the toilet with Heather and Bridget the two older ladies on our trip and I opened the door peeked in then round the corner and I turned to them and told them there was no toilet with a look of confusion. They both burst into histerics and pointed to the hole in the ground, with Heather adding; “That’s the toilet love, you have to squat over the hole. Just make sure you aim well as I have to go in next and I don’t want to be standing in your pee”. This was the part I had been dreading the entire trip, and worse still I had left my she-wee in my back pack up at the picnic tables. Surprisingly though the squatting and peeing actually didn’t bother me at all and after that I made a conscious decision that I wouldn’t bother with the she-wee for the rest of the trip. The first zone of Kilimanjaro was extremely tough, the jungle floor was full of rocks, and tree roots hidden by leaves, including dealing with the heat. We did spot the odd few monkeys along the trail! All the Australians and New Zealanders were firing ahead not fazed by the humidity. On day one Graham and I hiked together – I think this was because we were both in shock and fear was setting in about the toughness ahead of us. On reflection I found Day 1 the second hardest of the entire trip. By the time we got to the Mandara Huts we were both exhausted. We were split into 3 huts with each hut holding 4 people – and they were very small, clean and comfortable. We shared our hut with Heather and Bridget. All the other routes to summit Kilimanjaro are camping, and the thought of pitching a tent and taking it down every day along with the longer length of time on the mountain and roughing it really didn’t appeal to us at all, so choosing Marangu despite its lower success rate was more suitable for us. Another thing that concerned me before the trip was food – I LOVE FOOD. This trip involved so much food, you were constantly given snacks, lunch boxes and fed high carb and fat meals throughout the entire trek. I found it very hard to sit down and eat an entire meal they provided in one go as I am use to eating little and often and my stomach just didn’t cope too well with it at all. I knew that going forward I had to keep storing snacks from the lunch boxes and eating often throughout the daily hikes would be more beneficial for me.
We had only just settled into our hut, when Jacob our guide came to each hut and told us we have to do a 45 minute walk up the mountain to help with acclimatisation, then we would return to camp where we would be provided with a basin of hot water for washing. Afterwards we had to head to the dinner room for tea / hot chocolate and pop-corn, prior to our evening meal. Most evening meals consisted of a soup either rice or pasta, along with a stir fry sauce combined with vegetables and beef. On the first evening we had butternut squash soup with bread, and then beef, pasta and vegetables. The first night I struggled to get to sleep, all I could think about was needing to go to the toilet in the middle of the night and starting to doubt if I would be able to summit or not. Everyone else seemed so excited, energetic and had no issues with the first trek. I made a conscious decision that the next day I was going to take it slower and stay at the back. Everything I have done in the past in preparation for competitions I have taken the slower route and achieved great results. It's the story of the hare and the tortoise. Day 2.... Coming Soon
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It only seemed like yesterday that I was on the 12 week count down and now it's finally here!!! Zero sleeps!!!!
Excited, exhausted and nervous sums up how I am feeling right now. It's been a challenging 2 weeks finishing university, handing in my dissertation, ensuring all my Nemesis clients are happy with their current programs before I leave and also visiting friends and family prior to leaving - oh and my sister / nemesis coach Sharon giving birth to beautiful Orla. Both G and I have not had anytime to ourselves nor were we able to increase our training over the last few weeks despite our best efforts. We finally managed to get our kit list completed - huge thanks to all the readers who helped me compile the list along with their advice, it's been gratefully appreciated! We decided not to go all out and purchase the most expensive brands on the market, otherwise the kit list would cost well over £1500! Since this is our first ever hike we wanted to make sure we enjoyed it before splashing out. We ended up going for a mixture of under armour, Karrimor and Northface. The most important thing is we have all the right layers that can stand up to Kilimanjaro volatile weather conditions. Packing has caused us significant amount of problems. Although KLM allowed us 2x 23kg and 7kg hand luggage some of our internal flights only allowed one 20kg case. On top of this we are taking clothes for our hike, safaris, beach holiday in Zanzibar and spring clothes for capetown. The malaria tablets started yesterday and on Saturday we start our diamox which helps reduce altitude sickness. Our climb starts on Sunday with the walk through the national park before starting our ascent. The hike is 5-6 days - hoping to summit on Friday morning if all goes well. We will start the final ascent at 1am in the morning to reach the peak in time for sunrise. The next phase of our trip includes a couple of days in Nairobi and travelling through the Serengeti national park. We are then flying to Zanzibar where we are spending a couple of days in Stonetown before heading to the hideaway of Nungwi for a beach spa holiday for a week. Hoping to get the start of my diving practice in place with an introduction to scuba. We then fly to Johannesburg for a couple of days before starting our second safari at the Kruger National Park. Our final destination is Capetown. We haven't planned too much excursions in advance when we arrive in Capetown but cage diving with the Great White Sharks, Tabletop Mountain and Robben Island are top of the list. Then it's home for 15 days and to graduate before setting off four out next trip round Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Bali and the Philippines. I will be blogging throughout my entire six month trip so please come back and find out how I am getting on, you can also follow me on Instagram @elaineanderson83 Don't forget - Nemesis is still business as usual! If you fancy working with coaches whose passion is outdoors, fitness and a healthy sustainable lifestyle please get in touch via our website. We practice what we preach! |
AuthorsSharon & Lainey are Online PT & Nutrition Advisors with a combined 18 years experience in the Health & Fitness Industry. Archives
August 2018
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