Uhuru Peak

Day 5
Barafu Camp (4673m) - Uhuru Peak (5895m) - Barafu Camp - Mweka Camp (3068m)

This was it. The day I'd either reach the top of Kilimanjaro or regret not making it for the rest of my life.

We were woken up at 11pm ready to set off at midnight. I didn't eat anything, and drank a few sips of water. I was so nervous, the last 8 months of waiting had come down to this. A final push to the summit. I packed 4 litres of water - 3 in the bladder and 1 in my bottle.

I had so many layers on - merino wool base layer/thermal, t-shirt, long sleeved top, fleece, down jacket, waterproof jacket as well as 3 pairs of trousers, 2 pairs of gloves (one liner, one thick), a hat, a balaclava, and socks with toasty-warmer things inside my boots. I was still cold while standing still.

So we set off at midnight - we had extra guides and porters with us for this day to help us. Us girls were put ahead of the boys to begin with. Immediately it was tough - the cold got to us all, as did the steep incline. After about half an hour, girls started dropping back in the group - either to have a drink or to have a break as they needed a rest.

Around 1.30am my bladder (camelbak) froze solid, which really scared me as I could no longer get water easily. My bottle that was inside my bag was still liquid so I had a drink out of that when the group stopped for a rest. As everyone was mixed up now, the guy behind me offered to carry it for me on the outside of his rucksack and walk in front so I'd have easy access to it, which I agreed to. Everything had become such an effort - putting a glove on made you out of breath.

I later started to feel very sleepy and started hallucinating! I'd been following the guy in front of me's feet (as that's the only thing I could really see with the headtorch), and his feet turned into snakes!!! These snakes were leading me off the main path (which when thought about later was really dangerous!). The rocks around me turned into living rooms and kitchens(?!) and I only 'woke up' when I hit my head on an overhanging rock. A very scary experience that was a mixture of tiredness and altitude.

Throughout the night I had moments where I genuinely thought I was going to quit. I was struggling so much, and as soon as you got over one ridge, the next seemed so far away, then another and another... It was awful. People were vomiting everywhere. I dropped back in the group as I couldn't cope at the front, I needed to rest a bit. A porter took my bag from me and carried up - this made a big difference, I felt soo much lighter.

After 6 hours of very slow walking, the sun began to rise (we were meant to reach the summit for sunrise) but we plodded on. The last bit before reaching Stella Point (5739m) was awfully steep - I cannot explain how much I struggled on this last hour. It felt like I was taking one step forward, two steps back. Every part of me ached, and I just wanted to give up and go home.

But I did it - I made it to Stella Point! And from here we could see the Uhuru Peak sign - this spurred us on to carry on right to the top (they said it was an hour away). I made my way, initially with a small group but soon fell behind, towards the summit. We were walking on solid ice all the way and I slipped several times. Every step I took I was out of breath - it is so difficult to breathe at this altitude! Though apart from tiredness and breathlessness, the altitude hadn't affected me at all (I was so lucky in this respect).

At 9.25am I reached Uhuru Peak - the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. And this is myself at the top with my Welsh flag! Photograph taken by one of the Exeter girls.

By far the most difficult thing I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. I cried quite a bit, and then had to descend quickly as it's dangerous to stay at this altitude for too long.

I feel like I've written such an essay here, and that was only half the day. We descended a long way after reaching the top. First back to Barafu camp, and then after a quick rest to Mweka Camp. I will explain more about this decent on the following blip.