Gillman's point, Stella's point,....Uhuru!

This basically sums up my 2010. The three points on my trek to the roof of Africa, and what they represent through my struggle last year. I had the chance to make the climb up Kilimanjaro in December last year, choosing the easiest of the 6 roots aptly named Coca cola or Fanta route because of it's relative ease as contrasted by the Cognac or whiskey route that is supposed to be the toughest. Armed with the knowledge that I was physically unprepared for the excursion, I trusted my psychology to see me through. Having done several hikes before, I know that it is usually 75% psychology and 25% physical. The night before we left for Moshi, is when I was busy putting my stuff together...jacket-check, boots-..oooh crap ziko South-C, Sleeping bag - double crap..they're in Spring valley...what else did that list say?...oooh bother! Anyway I was busy running around Nairobi putting my ish together. I did not sleep, not until 2am. This basically explains my approach to life so far, random, unplanned and relying on the "government to plan that far ahead"....I really need some order in my life I think.

On to 17th when we were to depart for my 2010 crowning excursion. We were meant to meet at the rendezvous point at 7.30am...at least the one thing I pride myself is having a clock in my brain. If I hadn't had a detour and attempted to wait for someone, I would have been in at exactly 7.30am, but I barely made it at 7.45am as other travelers on our shuttle gave us the proverbial dagger eyes. We attempted to stall the bus driver for my pal Brayo who operates on GMT timing, but it was not to be..he would later find his way and us in Moshi that day.

Skipping the on-the-road happenings, which were whole new stories in themselves, we arrived at the "Gentleman's palace" in Marangu, near the gate to the Park, where we were to rest before setting off the following day on what brought us to the land of Mwalimu Nyerere.

Now Kilimanjaro is an interesting mountain. The Coca-cola route can be done by basically anyone...what i mean is that it is not a technical climb requiring ropes and those spiked boots we see rock-climbers using in the pictures. Good thing is some of the stuff can be hired at the gate. So there I was hiring them hiking sticks, and goggles (I forgot my shades, which are useful for the UV and reflection on the snow up there). We had 13 porters in our troupe of eight, including three guides.

We trudged along the trail up the mountain after some pep talk and paper work at the gate to get our permit........As the guides put it, "hamna haraka....tunaenda POLE,POLE!" Now that's what my lazy ass is talkin about. The pace was comfortably slow....that I could live with, not until one of the guides, Novatus (honest... that was his name) took us on a sprint up the hill when it started raining that day. The cabins at Mandara, Horombo and Kibo made for some fun camping-like atmosphere despite the below zero temperatures. Being out of shape, and ill-prepared for the climb brought its challenges....When summiting after day 3, I suffered what everyone is warned about and what I dreaded...altitude sickness. I was dizzy, nauseous and having a headache at the same time, and the thin air made breathing a task in itself. Like I said earlier, my take is that it is 75% mental and 25% physical, and this was one of the times I had to call on all my will to put my next foot forward, something I have learnt to do in life whenever faced with serious obstacles, expectations and mountains to climb. Granted I was the last one of our lot to make it to both Gilmann's and Uhuru, but I can say I made it to the roof of Africa. You get a certificate depending on which point you reached...Gilmann's point - 5685m, Stella's point, 5745m and Uhuru 5895m. Those 300m between Gilmann's and Uhuru are perhaps the most difficult things you will ever have to do....But you should try it!

Coming down was another issue in itself, what took others two and a half hours took me twice that time coz of my dizziness...I was snowed on on my way down and had no time to rest at camp as I found guys packed and ready to depart for the next cabins (Horombo, some 12km away). I got my scars from the mountain though (frostbites and fatigue that took me the Christmas period to shake off) and all I can say is it was worth it.

Next on my to do list.....deep sea diving! Let's see what that will be like.

For all those who made it to Uhuru, congrats, and for everyone else, that was fun!