At the end of the summer term, 20 members of
King's set out on an adventure of a lifetime: to
climb Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania - not only
the highest mountain in Africa, but the highest
free-standing mountain in the world.
We left King's in the early hours, to catch a plane first to Turkey
and then on to Nairobi. This was followed by a ten-hour bus
journey to our hotel in Tanzania. After a couple of days of
relaxing by the pool, visiting Moshi, an orphanage, and generally
acclimatizing, we were ready to take on the mountain.
When we reached the Machame Gate, the start of our route, our
lead guide Bruce was waiting for us. Our expedition would be
going along the Machame route, and take seven days in total:
five for the ascent and two for the descent. After the first day
trekking through the hot and humid jungle, we climbed through
clouds and eventually camped at a height of 3,000 metres. The
next day we reached the wide-open plains and scrambled to go
and see the cave that the porters used to sleep in before they
were given tents.
The third day involved the highest ascent we would reach before
the peak of Lava Tower. Unfortunately this day was marked by
the loss of one member of the team, due to altitude sickness,
requiring an emergency evacuation back down the mountain
and then to the hotel. This led to low morale in camp that night,
as we all realized what a challenge we had taken on. But the
next day, facing the most technical section of the trip, the mood
lifted. We spent the morning using our hands as well as our feet
to ascend a vertical cliff face. After finishing the scramble we
arrived at camp.
The Final Climb
On the fifth day we headed off to the summit camp; this would
only be a small trek, as we would be leaving at 10 pm for our
attempt on the summit. By now a lot of people were suffering
from the altitude, however after a very early night, we woke at
10pm, ready to make the last hard push to the top. The aim was
to reach the summit at sunrise, so we walked solidly until 7 am,
scaling the 19,000ft of Uhuru peak. When we achieved our goal
we were rewarded by amazing views and an overwhelming sense
of accomplishment. After half an hour at the summit it was time
to start the trek down; we descended in one day what had taken
us five days to climb, and we found ourselves again at the edge of
the rainforest. We spent that night talking to the guides about our
experiences, with great pride in our achievement, whilst enjoying
a nice portion of chips instead of the usual soup and rice!
This was a trip that none of us will ever forget. We would like to
thank all the teachers for their help, especially Mr. Butterworth,
and our guides who got us up the mountain safely and put up
with us for the 7-day adventure.
Staf on the expedition - Christina Mann, Oliver Butterworth (tour leader) and
Jonathan Griiths
On safari at Arusha National Park after completing the climb
The King's group after climbing the exhilarating Barranco Wall
Arriving at Barafu Camp on
Day Four of the ascent
Trips
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