My experience of Kili.....hmmm...it was extremely tough! It was the best and worst experience ever! I think it was truly the hardest thing I have done in my life thus far!
The trek was organised through the Voluntary Services Organisation (VSO) with Accenture to raise money for VSO p
The trek was organised through the Voluntary Services Organisation (VSO) with Accenture to raise money for VSO p
rojects in Tanzania. We flew from London to Dar es Salaam via Amsterdam. We spent 2 days in Dar (stayed at the Peacock hotel) and then drove from Dar to the foothills of Kilimanjaro. It was a beautiful drive, with amazing scenery and lush vegetation.
The trek took 7 days in total on the Rongai route, 5 days to the top in order to climatise and 2 days down the Marangu route via Horombo (the coca-cola route according to the guides). We went through cultivation, forest, moorland, alpine, high desert, glacier/snow fields over the 7 days! and we had lots of amazing photos in the group; we were even above the clouds for several days. 
We had to camp for all the 7 days with no shower or toilets! The local Tanzanian Porters and Guides from the Tanzanian lift valley tour company were fantastic and well looked after (don't believe the article in The Times in May). I couldn't have done it without them!
Ah! but Kili was definitely an experience! squatting in the bushes! Walking for an average of 9 hours every day! We had a big group of 28 (excluding the locals) so at least I was able to talk to different people everyday, otherwise I think I would have pulled my hair out! It was back to nature - living in the wild! Needless to say I had the best shower ever and best sleep after the trek at the hotel, and we had a good celebratory dinner, award ceremony and party!!!!!!
We raised approximately £150,000 for the VSO through this trek. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, where over 50% of the population is classed as poor and over 3 million people are HIV positive – 9% of the adult population and 1.1 million children are orphaned as a result of the disease. We were able to visit a couple of VSO and the Human Development Trust projects in Dar es Salaam before we started the trek, it was great to see how the money could be used. The project that touched my heart the most was 'Association of AIDS Widows in Tanzania' where widows with HIV are able to meet regularly during the week to in order to make soap, arts and crafts which they sell for their livelihood.
A truly worthy cause!
check out my colleague's photos: http://www.kabra.co.uk/VSOkili/kili2008home.html
The trek took 7 days in total on the Rongai route, 5 days to the top in order to climatise and 2 days down the Marangu route via Horombo (the coca-cola route according to the guides). We went through cultivation, forest, moorland, alpine, high desert, glacier/snow fields over the 7 days! and we had lots of amazing photos in the group; we were even above the clouds for several days. 
We had to camp for all the 7 days with no shower or toilets! The local Tanzanian Porters and Guides from the Tanzanian lift valley tour company were fantastic and well looked after (don't believe the article in The Times in May). I couldn't have done it without them!
I don't think I would do it again and I couldn't/wouldn't recommend it to anyone! I think if I ever had to go again i.e. forced to, I would probably go as far as the Kibo huts but no further! I really did think I would get to the Uhuru peak but I couldn't feel my fingers and toes at one point, it was freezing - approximately -20C! I was also extremely exhausted on summit night - we'd been walking all night to Gilmans (couldn't see anything) - we left camp at midnight and got to Gilman's point at 6.30am!!!
The hardest bit was walking back down, we all focused on getting to the top, but forgot we had to walk back down! my legs gave way, and I felt really dizzy, that's when I began to cry! I want to go home!
Ah! but Kili was definitely an experience! squatting in the bushes! Walking for an average of 9 hours every day! We had a big group of 28 (excluding the locals) so at least I was able to talk to different people everyday, otherwise I think I would have pulled my hair out! It was back to nature - living in the wild! Needless to say I had the best shower ever and best sleep after the trek at the hotel, and we had a good celebratory dinner, award ceremony and party!!!!!!We raised approximately £150,000 for the VSO through this trek. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, where over 50% of the population is classed as poor and over 3 million people are HIV positive – 9% of the adult population and 1.1 million children are orphaned as a result of the disease. We were able to visit a couple of VSO and the Human Development Trust projects in Dar es Salaam before we started the trek, it was great to see how the money could be used. The project that touched my heart the most was 'Association of AIDS Widows in Tanzania' where widows with HIV are able to meet regularly during the week to in order to make soap, arts and crafts which they sell for their livelihood.
A truly worthy cause!
check out my colleague's photos: http://www.kabra.co.uk/VSOkili/kili2008home.html
No comments:
Post a Comment