Trek day 2: Mandara Hut to Horombo at 3,270m: 11km & 1014m height gain

Today was a simple task: climb 1000m in 6 hours. But if you have been keeping up with our blogs you'd not be surprised to learn that nothing is that straight forward. We were seen out of Mandara huts by two White necked Ravens only for others to join us when we stopped for lunch. We rapidly left the rain forest and entered the bleaker open moorland which was to be the landscape for the remaining walk. Some of us even had the good fortune of listening to a Good Friday service emanating from a small transistor radio that one of the porters was carrying. Clouds occasionally enveloped us but when clear we had a fantastic view of Mawenzi, Kilimanjaro's second highest peak but far less accessible for the non-technical mountaineers, us. Ascents were often punishing and it became clear to all of us that it is going to take more than stamina and minimal altitude sickness to conquer Kibo, the ultimate goal of the expedition. Not withstanding the above It is going to be the mental challenge that has to be conquered. We always knew that we would face personal challenges on the mountain and these are starting to manifest themselves. Mild altitude sickness, Kilimanjaro belly and fatigue are surfacing: we look forward to our acclimatisation day tomorrow. We are bonding as a very close team as a result and this will help us through. My hut is like a girls schools dorm as the effects of the Diamox (altitude pills) is rendering some a giggling wreck. In the evening we had a spectacular view back down to Moshi, the African Plains and a top view of some of the lower volcanoes. And then the full moon rose in the clear African sky, the shooting stars gave a display and the southern hemisphere (just) night sky revealed itself and all in the world was fine.

Trek day 1: Marangu Gate to Mandara Huts: 2,720m, 9000ft

The day has finally arrived when we start the trek. For the  next seven days we will relinquish the relative comfort of the Mountain Inn in Moshi for the ultimate adventure that is climbing Kilimanjaro.  We left the mountain Inn at 9:30 in a bus having finally packed our day sacks and porters sacks and left any remaining non-trek gear in bags at the hotel. The atmosphere in the bus was electric as we drove the 40km to Marangu Gate. We past many villages with their road side industry from goat tending through bed building to coffin making and had great views of the African plains as we climbed. But for some  it also gave the first view of Kilimanjaro  and that was electric. It's snow capped peak beckoned but it soon disappeared and it will be several days before we see it again but the brief glimpse was enough to inspire and motivate us all. Check in at the National Park gate took an  hour at 11:35 local time we were off. Todays climb was billed as a 'walk in the park' with a height gain of 1000m, mostly through jungle or rain forest that we are now supposed to call it. But with steep ascents and 100% humidity it was a hard slog. Rain forest fauna was strangely absent but anything that might be easily visible can also be eaten  so we should not be too surprised. A spectacular close  encounter with monkeys was to wait for later. We finally arrived at our overnight stop, Mandara huts, at 3pm. After a brief kit change, a cup of tea and popcorn and dispensing with our day sacks we were sufficiently liberated to visit the nearby Maundi Crater, not bad for Maundi Thursday. On return we were entertained by a family of seven Collorbus monkeys, some carrying young, playing 5m away in the trees by the huts. Needless to say the unofficial paparazzi turned out to capture the thrill. After an evening meal and joke telling (it's best you weren't there) we  headed off to prepare for the next day: another 1000m climb over 5 hours but that can wait for tomorrow.  

Day 1 in Moshi; last day prep for the climb.

Today is the last day of our preparations and there has been much talk about how much people should carry from individuals personal entourage. Frankly rather too much detail about how often guys should change their clothes and what short cuts they are prepared to take to shed weight! So cases and ruck sacks have been re packed to ensure we stay below the porters quota of 10kg each. Moving on to less parochial matters three of us walked the 3.6km into the local town, Moshi, a no frills typical mid African town where Western faces, indeed tourists are fair game for hassle. The walk, for those of us that have not experienced third world life were both biblical and enticing in equal measure. Like a David Lean film where someone queues the boy pushing the wheelbarrow full of bananas in front of us, a little boy is seen rolling a cycle tyre with a stick and a noisy, seriously overcrowded bus screeches past us. In the afternoon the clouds finally lifted from the top of Kilimanjaro and it revealed its majesty and the task ahead of us suddenly became urgent and really exciting.

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Arrival in Moshi, Tanzania

We arrived at the Mountain Inn in Moshi at 9pm local time after a two leg flight from Heathrow to Kilimanjaro International airport via Amsterdam and a 30km rickety minibus ride. We caught a glimpse of the silhouette of Kilimanjaro against an electric storm sky but its full majesty will only be revealed in daylight and when the clouds clear from the summit. After a short trek briefing in the bar we were able to meet the six other members of our expedition for a well deserved drink (aren't they always well deserved) even though we we've not done any work yet!  We also took the opportunity to record a bit of video but it meant loitering outside the toilets (that was were the light was). Clearly, Wayne, our trek leader has our (and our nearest and dearest's) best interests at heart and will ultimately decide what we are capable of achieving if we can't figure it out for ourselves. We have been warned of all the creepy crawlies but they live here and we are the tourists so a big shake of all boots and clothing in the morning is advisable. And so to bed, happy to be here, to dream of mountains...zzz.

Fundraising progress, climb schedule and nicknames

SPONSORSHIP
This is an update of our current fund raising position:
The Shooting Star Children's Hospice: £29,913.  www.shootingstar.co.uk
Malaika-kids: building an orphanage in Tanzania: ~£ 1,500.  www.malaika-kids.co.uk
 Omwabini: "rescue steps" in Swahili, helping Kenyan orphans:: ~$21,000. www.omwabini-rescuesteps.org
Between six of us this is a tremendous effort and our extreme grateful thanks to all of you that have sponsored us to date and for your many imaginative campaigns to raise funds for the very worthy causes.

CLIMB SCHEDULE
In order to keep track of our whereabouts on the mountain we publish the schedule below:

Tuesday 7th April: flight to Africa via Amsterdam
Wednesday 8th, at leisure in Moshi
Thursday 9th, Trek day 1, Marangu to Mandara
Good Friday 10th, trek day 2, Mandara to Horombo
Saturday 11th - frAction man's birthday- trek day 3, acclimatisation day at Horombo
Easter Sunday, 12th, trek day 4, Horombo to Kibo
Easter Monday, 13th, Trek day 5, Kibo to Gilman Point  (for sunrise) and on to Uhuru Peak then back down to Horombo
Tuesday 14th, trek day 6, Horombo to Marangu
Wednesday & Thursday, 15th & 16th,  at leisure including safari on Wednesday and a well earned dip in the hotel pool
Friday 17th, at leisure in Moshi with flight home in evening
Saturday 18th, 13:50: arrive Heathrow T4

NICK NAMES
Each of us as 'earned' a nickname through reputation so we thought we should share them with you.
*Dalton = Major Major Major = after the character in the book 'Catch 22' who keeps increasing targets ("one last flying mission....") - refers to his constant increasing of the fundraising target for the team!
*Darren = Hair Flick = after the character Herr Flick from 'Allo 'Allo but, after a training weekend in the Lake District where it was very windy, changed the name slightly.
*Joycey = Sicknote = always getting injured as he's also training hard to run the London Marathon in aid of The Shooting Star Children's Hospice, just eight days after returning from Africa.
*Mike = Blakey = caught in a photo recently being the identical image of Inspector Blakey from 'On The Buses'.
*Phil = The Surgeon = his son bought him a swiss-style army knife which includes an instrument which would probably enable him to do neurosurgery.
*Nick (Paul nick)  = frAction man = into his detail! Has a spreadsheet which records in percentages how far he is with packing his kit, e.g. 95% means that he has the item but has not yet packed it!

Now you can follow the team over the next couple of weeks and see if they live up to their nicknames.
 

We're ready

Sicknote and Major Major Major embarked on their final training walk today on Box Hill - 3 and a half hours and 10 miles later, having taken in steep hills and rugged paths, they knew they were ready for the real thing in a few days time. The main difference was the lack of any wind and temperatures well above zero......... oh and plenty of oxygen! Otherwise, it was a realistic session for what they will face...

The banner, which will accompany the team as they ascend Kilimanjaro, enjoyed its first outing too.
 

Dalton & Joycey at Box Hill

On Sunday Sicknote and Major Major Major had a good 6.5 hours (5 hours hard grind walking) on Box Hill  while everyone else was in the Lake District. MMM is not normally one to sit on the fence so its an unusual photo.