We finally arrived at the Mount Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort in Tanzania at approximately 5pm on Saturday - after nearly 24 hours of travelling. We'd flown overnight to Addis Abbaba in Ethiopia where we'd had a fairly unpleasant few hours sat on plastic chairs (or the floor!) in a hot and dirty terminal waiting for our connecting flight to Kilimanjaro. What I hadn't realised was that it was not a totally direct flight - we had a stop off in Mombassa (I've never been to Kenya!), where we sat on the tarmac for an hour with no air con or water, whilst people got off and one or two got on. This was something of a chaotic flight as when we were boarding in Ethiopia the staff told us just to sit anywhere as there had been a problem with the seat allocation system. When we got on the plane, the staff we adamant that everyone should sit in their allocated seat. After a bit of chaos and shouting - everyone was indeed allowed to sit where they liked. Breakfast on the plane was.....chicken curry, but I was starving as there wasn't much food at the airport - and whilst it was on the upper end of spiciness for me - it was actually quite good.
At Mombassa there was a slightly worrying incident where a very rusty platform lift was put up against the side of the plane and a young African chap went for a walk on the wing...! Fortunately it was only another 40 minutes before we landed at Kilimanjaro airport. Before we even got into the terminal, airport staff greeted us outside and wanted to inspect our Yellow Fever cards. Technically, we didn't need this jab as we were only in transit in Ethiopia and Kenya, but there were threats to those that hadn't had jabs that they must go straight to the hospital and have the jab. I had chosen to go and spend £50 with my GP getting this done.
Then comes the standard chaos of passport control and getting a visa. Whilst you can get one before you go, most of us had waited to get it at the airport. It was actually quite quick and easy - and $50 later ($100 if you are Irish as poor Mary found out!), we were through and collecting our bags which by some miracle had all arrived and we met the rest of our fellow travellers that we hadn't met during the flights and our guide from the African Walking Company.
Most of the bags were put on the roof of the bus and a few extra inside - and we all bundled in for a 2.5hr drive to the hotel in Marangu. The roads were remarkably good for the majority of the journey and we whizzed through Arusha and Moshi. I've only been to Namibia in Africa before, but there was clearly much more poverty in Tanaznia. There were a lot more people just hanging around at the sides of the roads as apart from some farming, there is very little work here. When we reached Marangu itself we took a very bumpy track for around 20 minutes to our hotel. Some of the ravines at the side of the road were pretty steep - the best solution is just not to look - and it was definitely no worse than Nepal! We went past tiny little houses, markets, local butchers (with the days goat just hanging outside the hut ready for whatever sized chunk that could be afforded to be hacked off). The area was very lush and the hotel was in the middle of a banana (or plantain?) plantation.
The staff were very friendly at the hotel and clearly go through this exercise on a very regular basis. We were allocated our rooms, told what time dinner was and then given 30 mins or so to get ourselves ready for our briefing at 6pm. Mary and I just had to have a quick shower - the journey had been hot and dusty, and it was just what we needed to wake us up a bit. We then had a 1.5 hour briefing from our guide on everything that we could expect - and the rules for successfully climbing Kilimanjaro. These were:
1. Pole Pole (pronounced polay, polay) this means slowly slowly in Swahili and if you talk to anyone who has climbed Kili - this is something they will definitely mention. More on this to follow...
2. Proper Mountain Equipment - the guides took time to explain exactly what clothing we would need and were very clear to make sure that we had enough warm clothing and proper water proofs. It was also a good opportunity for them to rent out additional equipment to those that didn't have enough. I'm fortunate to have most kit already from previous trips - but I had been advised to hire one of their sleeping mats in advance. I brought my thermarest with me just in case, but when everyone saw the quality and thickness of their sleeping mats - and heard that we didn't need to pack them and they didn't count in our 15kg weight limit - those that hadn't booked - jumped at the opportunity. It was just luxury to reach camp every night and our sleeping mats where already put out for us ready to crash straight onto.
3. Drink lots of water - again, totally valuable information. I've always been pretty bad at drinking enough, but had bought a new, insulated camelback specially for this trip and some extra water bottles to make sure I got enough fluids. One of the effects of altitude is that it changes the PH of your blood - but by drinking plenty of fluids, you flush out the impact that this has on your body. It was recommended that we drink 4 to 5 ltrs every day. I did this and am positive this made a big difference.
4. PMA i.e. positive mental attitude! The guides constantly reinforced this on the trip. Whenever you tried to challenge them on what it was "really" going to be like, they would only answer "it's a piece of cake". Again, truly valuable advice.
So - there endeth the briefing and we dashed of for dinner which was a help yourself buffet for $15 in the restaurant. We stocked up on bottled water from the bar - and Mary and I disappeared off to room no 2 (we'd been moved from the first one they put us in - no idea why!) where we had a choice of 3 beds and a very nice, clean bathroom. Having faffed and sorted our kit for the morning - we tried to go to sleep in the sticky air and to the sound of critters and barking dogs. It didn't take long after our journey...
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