CLIMB KILIMANJARO WITH TOM and KEYSOC written by Tom

XVI. Last words

My last words on the trip

This trip has been one of the most unforgettable things I have done in my life.  Although I didn’t listen to my body I have learned so much more about myself and the warmth of the group made every day a joy.
The first thing I said when I came of the mountain was:  “I’ll never do this again”!!!  Many people said they were sure I would.  I didn’t see not making it as a failure and was just so glad I was alive and well but
the more I think of it I want to go back and give it another go.  I don’t regret turning back where I did because that was my only option but I do feel I have missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to stand on the roof of Africa.  That’s why I have decided to go back in 2009 before all the snow has melted of the summit. 

Because fitness wasn’t an issue for me I am going to try the Lemosho route which is physically more demanding but gives you more time to descent (7 days).  The altitude was my downfall this time but if I give my body more time to acclimatise and take diamox I think my chances will increase.  Though, First  I have planned some smaller mountains to tackle.  As you see this experience has given me a new interest and I am keen to keep this going for as long as I can. 

I hope we will not forget the charity that brought us all together for this amazing trip.  A documentary and a book are being made about the whole trip with as main objective raising awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.  If people are interested after reading this blog please have a look at KEYSOC’s website where you will be able to find more info on this silent killer.  There is a link on the right side of this blog that will open that website.  And with my final words I would like to say thanks to Kevin and Anne for inviting me on this trip.  Thanks to all my fellow climbers who joined me on this amazing experience, Rebecca for pre reading this blog and picking out all those spelling errors and helping me wherever my English let me down and you readers for showing an interest.  Thanks to you all and keep an eye on this blog as it wont be long before I’ve got another exiting trip to share.

XV. Mild amnesia

This post is going to be very short as I can’t recollect much of what happened on my arrival at the huts.     I can still remember wanting to sleep but I wasn’t able to as laying down made my breathing extremely
difficult and when I set up I was still dizzy and nauseated.   I also felt terribly cold.  Anne, Karen and her father Rainer helped me as much as they could but after a while they got the caretaker to assess me and it didn’t take to long before they got me on a stretcher for a rapid descent.

The stretcher has one wheel in the middle and is made of some metal bars.  4 or 5 porters where holding the stretcher and ran as fast as they could holding this stretcher with both hands so I wouldn’t end up in a ravine.  When I come to think of it, once I felt a little better, and this happened sooner then I thought, I realised that stretcher was the most uncomfortable method of travel.  It felt like they had put me on a mad donkey that was running uncontrollably down a steep rocky mountain. 
Karen and Rainer, bless them, followed me all the way to check on my condition and to help me out at the next camp, Horombo huts.  After about an hour on this stretcher we had descended to about 4000m altitude and apart from feeling week al my symptoms of the mean and much hated altitude sickness
had vanished.  My whole body was covered with blankets and duvets and I was tied down to the stretcher so I wouldn’t fall off.   “HELLOW!!!  HELLOW!!!  STOP, LET ME OUT!!!”: I was yelling but they didn’t hear me.  The noise of  these guys speeding down the mountain was to loud and my face being covered with several blankets didn’t help the reception of my voice.   But after about 5 minutes they stopped for a little rest and to take a look if I was feeling any better.  This is where I finally got of the trolley, thanked my porters with a tip, weighted till Rainer and Karen caught up with us and then proceeded on descending the rest of the trip to Horombo.   Rainer and Karen where amazed to see my condition had improved so much in such a short time, to be honoust I was surprised to.
Arriving at the camp I had a good chat with my two American heroes, had a nice bottle of coke, signed in and went straight to bed for a good sleep.

That evening we welcomed everyone back at the camp.  Everyone seemed to be exhausted but so pleased they had done it.  I believe 18 members of our group had reached Uhuru peak.  Some members had seen Marina, who collapsed on the summit, had to be administered oxygen and carried down the
mountain.  When I spoke to her at a later stage she told me she couldn’t remember a thing, not even reaching the summit.  That comes to show that the mountain needs to be respected.  Because it is a hike and not a technical climb a lot of people seem to underestimate the mountain.

That evening we had supper together and then we all went to bed very early as this had been a long night.  This was the first food I was able to keep in since the previous night.  I also tried to rehydrate myself by drinking as much water and tea as I could lay my hands on.  I was very pleased I didn’t have to sleep with the big bunch this night but instead shared a hut with 4 group members, much less noise.

The next day we left to the gates where the trucks picket us up and returned us to the hotel.  Finally we were able to take a nice, clean shower.  I think it took me more then a half our to get all the sand, insect repellent and other things that had accumulated in my hair, on my skin, between my toes during the trip.  And what a good feeling it turned out to be to have a cold beer at the bar after that lovely shower.

That evening there was a traditional ceremony where the porters and guides sung a song about the mountain for us.  Some of the ladies in our group had also made a song so we could thank and praise our porters and guides.  This was also the moment where everyone collected their certificates and Julie had even made certificates for those of us who were less fortunate and didn’t make the summit, like myself.  It was very touching when they called out my name to collect my certificate and everyone, porters, guides, hotel staff and my fellow climbers cheered and applauded me as hard as they could and they did this for every single member of our group.  It was beautiful.  We bought our porters and guides a few rounds of beer, they collected their tips and soon after most of our crew went home to be with their families who they hadn’t seen for a week.  I gave Stein, my young porter, a bag with some mountain equipment and clothes to keep him warm on his next climb before he took of.  Our crew was really amazing and I am glad they could now go back to their loved ones.

XIV. First pee

16^th February:  0130:  My first pee stop, brrr cold! 

No shortness of breath, no headache, slight nausea and dizziness but all and all I was feeling not too bad at this stage.  The lights up and down the mountain really were a beautiful view.

An hour later  I had to let some group members pass me as I was feeling very dizzy.  Then eventually it got pretty bad.  I felt as if I was drunk and I was not going to let a drunken like symptom stop me from reaching the summit.   I reassured myself by asking my guide if it was still safe to continue.  My guide said, in broken English:  “yes, dizzy, OK, you drink more and rest, then better”.  So, that’s what I did, but I didn’t really feel any better.  Still I continued not knowing that behind me, at the tale of our group, people were returning to the Kibo huts as they had reached their personal limit.

I saw Anita behind me having a hard time and she was clearly at the stage where she walked for 5-10 steps and had to rest.  I told her to follow me as I was also going slow and I said to her we’ll get there together.  Just before Hans Meyers cave, a small group with Kevin and Babs joined us.  I was very euphoric when we reached Hans Meyers cave, as I knew we were about half way to Gillmans point at this stage.  This was only a short positive note as the nausea and dizziness only got worse.  My vision at this stage was very blurred and I had difficulty seeing where I was going.  When we got to the zigzags, and I am sure this was the most difficult stage of the whole trek,  I had to walk in the back of our group, as I wasn’t a good pacemaker anymore.  I was even slowing the others down and I knew they were getting very cold with all the breaks I was taking.  After about half an hour on the zigzags, I was so dizzy everything started to do somersaults in my head and my sight wasn’t any better.  I knew this was the altitude that was giving me these symptoms but I still wasn’t going to stop, although I  remember Anita telling me I should turn back.  Babs gave me some Dextrose energy and I ate it like a mad man in the hope it would give that extra oomph to proceed but it never reached my stomach as I violently vomited my guts up.

A little later I found myself in a very awkward position.  My legs in the air and a porter sitting on my head!!  Apparently I passed out and the porters were trying to get some oxygen to my brain.  It was clear that I couldn’t make any intelligent decisions anymore because I got up and said: “lets go”.  And that’s what I did, for about five steps, only then I realized it was over for me.  It was the faces of my group members that made me realize it was over.  It was as if I could read their thoughts: “Silly Tom, turn back”.  Once I decided to go back, that was the only thought on my mind.  I could hear the other people in my group and the two guides calling me to wait for a guide to join me but I just wanted to get down.  The thought of passing out again and not getting down started to take over all my thoughts.  I realized I had made a few stupid decisions on my summit attempt and hadn’t listened to my bodies cry to stop.  I am a nurse, I know the signs of altitude sickness, but still I had been too stubborn to realize what I was doing was extremely dangerous.  I remember feeling embarrassed. 

Walking down seemed to take forever and I had to stop every 20 minutes to vomit and I wasn’t saved from diarrhea either.  The nausea, dizziness and diarrhea continued and I felt so empty, I had no more strength.  As the walk downhill took so long I asked my guide, ‘ ‘Where are we?  Are we lost?’.   He answered:, ‘No, we are not lost.’  I kept asking this as I felt I didn’t have the energy to keep walking.  The second time I asked the guide his answer changed to, ‘No, …I don’t think we’re lost’ and the third time he started to shine his torch left to right and aiming it to the ground to look for footsteps.  This made me panic and I remember getting very angry with my guide.  I told him to get his act together and take me to the huts. 

We carried on walking, well that is if you can call that walking.  It was more like a zigzag over the rocky ground, falling to my knees several times along the way.  I noticed my guide was getting very concerned about my condition and he also seemed distressed not finding our way.  My panicking and disbelief must have made him doubt so much that he was also convinced we were lost.  At one point he started yelling: “Hello…(pause), hello ….(long pause), hello… but it was of no avail as no one answered his call, just silence.  This is the way the guides communicate on the mountain. 

The guide didn’t want to leave me alone and wanted me to keep walking.  As I felt so empty, drained of all my energy and didn’t know where we were going I told him I would stay behind and wait for him.  I know that doesn’t sound like a clever thing to do but I was still having diarrhea and was vomiting like there was no tomorrow.

Against his will, but knowing this was the only way to find the Kibo huts fast, he left.

I don’t think I was alone there for that long but it felt like an eternity.  I was sitting on a rock, freezing cold and to top it off I had an other episode of diarrhea.  A human body is stronger then we think and I am sure I was nowhere near the point of loosing my life but the whole situation scared me senseless and honest to God I thought that was my last day on earth.  I could see the lights in Moshi (town below the mountain) and I could see lights on the top of the mountain, nothing in between.  I couldn’t walk to the light above me or beneath, the only thing I was able to do was wait for the guide and keep moving.  About half an hour later the guide was back and had found the Kibo huts.  We weren’t that far from the huts, thank god,  and had to walk for about half an hour to get there.

XIII. Day 5 on KILI

16^th February – 5^th Day on the mountain

45 minutes ago we were awoken by Elias and Papa.  If I did not know them, and the reason why we had to get out of our warm beds, I would have been furious.  I was in the middle of a beautiful dream with the “Timotei” lady described on page two, again it was all about the ambiance of the waterfall….well something like that!

We were given tea and biscuits and then got ready for the final ascent.  Fiona, one of the ladies who was not feeling well, was not able to eat or drink that much and was glad someone slipped a bucket next to her bed, as a sudden explosive vomiting started.   I was surprised when I saw her outside later on that night to join us on the summit attempt, this was clearly a lady with stamina.  Also Rainer and Marilyn who told us the previous evening they would stay at Kibo huts and not join us to the summit gathered outside and were all dressed up as if they were going to climb a mountain.  ‘What are you doing here?’, I asked Rainer.  ‘Well, Marilyn has decided she is going to give it a go, so I’ll do the same and join you guys’, was his reply.   Marilyn and Rainer were the two oldest members of the group, not that it showed as they seemed to have an endless supply of energy.

I think it was about 0030 hrs when everyone was geared up and ready to go.  Although I think it was only 0045 hrs when we left in a long line, all 38 of us.

Some of the events, and the timing of these events, I will be telling you about in the next few paragraphs might not be as correct as I would have wanted them to be.  This is due to the darkness, tiredness and the mountain sickness that hit me in the face.

We started at a very slow pace and were able to admire the lights from our head torches that formed a line from the Kibo huts pointing to the top of the mountain.  There were a few other groups that had also left from the Kibo huts this night.  We passed them, then they passed us, then we passed them again.  This seemed to go on for about an hour until they took off and the only thing we could see from them was their lights higher up the mountain. 

XII. Lyrics

Climb ev'ry mountain
Search high and low
Follow ev'ry by-way
Every path you know

Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Everyday of your life
For as long as you live

XI. Day 4 on KILI

15^th February

4^th Day on the Mountain

This morning we were woken very early, as we had to leave for the Kibo huts.  Most of us were feeling nervous and apprehensive, or at least I did.  Today we would be trekking for about 18 hours.  It takes about 6 hours from Horombo huts to arrive at the Kibo huts.  Then after a brief rest at Kibo, a further 6 hours to Gillman’s point and the last 1-2 hours to Uhuru peak before descending back to Kibo (about 4 hours).  This endeavor is not for the faint hearted.  

There were also some worries about beds at Kibo, as there were too many people on the Marungu route today.  This also happened to us at the Mandara huts, where we had to sleep in the porter’s accommodation as they had overbooked again.  The porters accommodation wasn’t too bad at all but at Kibo it was very important to have a bed, as those few hours rest were very important before our final ascent to the summit.  Papa was sent early in the morning to arrange those beds. 

Although my group was very helpful, and I enjoyed each and everyone’s company, climbing with a group as big as ours has its difficulties.  At 0845 hrs, eager to go, we set off for the unknown.  Or at least unknown for those of us who hadn’t climbed Kili before.  Today the trek started off steep and I remember feeling tired a lot quicker than the previous days.  For the first time on the trek, I had a difficult moment and about 1 hour before lunch, I felt as if I used up more than half my energy, but lunch did wonders and the weak moment seemed to be short lasting. 

The ground became very dry and there were no more plants or trees to be seen, only sand and rocks; a lot of rocks!  The weather couldn’t make up its mind.  When the sun was shining we would all be keen to take off our jackets but then putting them on again five minutes later because the clouds intervened.  It seemed to change all the time, it literally changed with the wind. 

I walked alone for a while and saw Kibo appear behind a rocky hill.  When I joined Karen, Raynard, Andrea, Heather and Jacky after a short tea break, I noticed Karen wasn’t feeling that good.  She had a bad headache and she was holding her head, as if it was going to explode.  I felt very sorry for her and offered her some painkillers.  Her father was also very concerned, and the feeling he couldn’t really do much to help her must have been painful.

The last half hour to Kibo was heavy and everyone seemed to walk very slowly.  When I arrived at Kibo I felt over the moon.  I registered in the log book, collected my backpack and looked for a bed, before they were all taken.

I remember feeling slightly nauseated and for the first time during the trek, I didn’t feel like eating at all.  When I went to the toilets (or should I say holes in the floor with edges covered in faeces) my long feared moment had arrived.  Apart from diarrhoea, I was sick and felt absolutely rubbish. 

Arriving back in our room that I shared with 14 of our group, I saw I wasn’t the only one feeling miserable.  Karen was still feeling very bad, Fiona had been vomiting, Jamie had a massive headache, and I am sure there were more people from our group not feeling their best.  I got some anti-sickness tablets and Dioralyte (salt solution) from my friends then tried to get some rest.  Not easy after I noticed Anne had put her, accidentally opened, water bottle on my mattress and need I say more.  No worries though as Jamie, the strong rugby player, got me another mattress. 

After getting Anne into her top bunk bed, which caused a lot of uncontrollable laughter, then getting all my stuff ready for midnight, I filled my water bottles and climbed into my sleeping bag and dozed of.  

X. Day 3 on KILI

14 February 2007

Third Day on the Mountain

On the acclimatisation day at the Horombo huts, some of us went on to climb a little further up the mountain, so we could walk high and sleep low the next night, philosophy of Anatoly Boukreev.  This is something you hear a lot of in the mountaineering environment.  This increases your chances of making it to the top, as it is the optimal way to acclimatise your body in this oxygen deprived altitude. 

I climbed towards zebra rock, where I laid down for about 15 minutes to admire the views and the beautiful sunshine.  Then I returned to the camp with about ten of our group.  Another five or six climbed all the way to the saddle, where they were able to see the Kibo huts.  This is where we would commence our final accent. 

It was a fairly easy walk and apart from the slight headache that had bothered me for quit sometime, I didn't show any other symptoms of altitude sickness.  I was feeling very strong and saw my chances of making it to the summit double or even triple.  Before, I didn't feel so confident, I had a lot of doubts.  Although I am a young person who keeps fit, as much as possible, and tries to explore his boundaries, I had a disadvantage that could make things very difficult for me. 

When I was in my teens I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that, unlike Crohns disease, only affects the large bowel.  After a three year treatment program with all sorts of medicines pumped into me, I had an operation to resect my large intestine and form a pouch made of my small intestine.  The large bowel is an organ needed for the absorption of fluid and minerals and has a storage function.  With a small amount of medication and a lot of oral fluids, I live a normal live.  I can do anything I did before the operation, or at least almost everything, and for that reason I am exploring my boundaries.  If anything else, just to prove to myself it hasn't affected me that much. 

The one thing that I feared the most was getting diarrhoea.  This would dehydrate me, with my medical history, at an extremely rapid pace.  Good hydration could, without a shadow of a doubt, make the difference of reaching the summit or not and could even cause severe illness at this altitude.  But, as I said before, I was feeling very positive about making it and a lot less worried about the other.      

That night we all turned in very early, as we knew a difficult day lay ahead of us.  Yet again I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted.  When you share a room with 20 other people, it just is not possible to get a good night sleep.  Some of them snore, some of them had to go to the toilet several times, including myself and the anticipation of what was to come was also not helping my much needed good night sleep.  At 0600 hrs I dragged my tired body out of bed to empty my bladder, clear and copious (evidence of good hydration), yet again! I was very pleased I did so after I saw the breathtaking sunrise; Quit funny to use the word breathtaking at this altitude to describe the sunrise.  It certainly was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen.  Although very brief, it put a smile on my face for most of the day.

IX. Day 2 on KILI

13^th of February

Second Day on the Mountain

The next day we left for the Horombo huts (3720m).  The landscape changed from rainforest to moor land and I was amazed by the sudden transition.  It was as if someone, all of a sudden, changed the background.  It was a very nice walk, strenuous but very enjoyable. 

Again the group split up very early in the walk, which is apparently quite normal when you go on a trek like this with a group of 39.  In fact 38 to be precise, we had lost one member of the group at this stage.  Laurence was a very valuable person in the group.  He earned a lot of respect being the oldest group member and having attempted the summit of Kilimanjaro not once but twice before.  On his previous attempts he made it to the Kibo huts and further, but this time Laurence hadn’t been feeling well from the start.  He had to make a very difficult decision, but knowing your body and acting upon its signs is very difficult when you really want to reach the summit.  Asking 100% of your body/strength/stamina every day is extremely arduous, something I had to learn the hard way three days later.

I was very pleased when I saw the Horombo huts, as I was so hungry I could have eaten a cow.  Fortunately, there weren’t any cows around or I would have gotten a big telling off by the chief guide!  My fellow trekkers had to laugh, as apparently, I mentioned being hungry quite frequently. 

The views from the Horombo huts were amazing.  At this stage we were well above the clouds and in the night when the clouds disappeared, we could see lights as far as Kenya and the sky filled with stars.

For some of the group, this is where the altitude started causing physical signs like shortness of breath, headaches and nausea.  We, about 20 of us, slept in a big hut above the dining room.  I was sleeping next to the staircase (simple ladder) and was rudely awoken every time someone had to pay a nightly visit to the toilets.  For some of us, this was a very frequent thing!  Some people were taking Diamox, a diuretic that stops symptoms of high altitude sickness but causes frequent toilet visits.  The ladder was only 12 steps high but when people got upstairs they would be out of breath.  This definitely frightened some of us; you just can’t imagine the feeling.  We normally take oxygen for granted! 

The food we ate, prepared by our guides, was totally delicious.  One day we had a lovely stew, the following we had a rice dish and the next day it was pasta.  Every day there was soup, with or without little flies and other sorts of insects.  These additional extras were free of charge!!! 

Tomorrow would be our acclimatisation day on the mountain.  Again, everyone went to bed early so we would have enough energy to get us to the top, something that seemed closer and closer to us.

VIII. Day 1 on KILI

Day 4 and first Day on the mountain Monday

VII. The camera man

VI.English breakfast

V. The airport

IV. Timeline

 Expedition timeline and flight information for our family and friends.

FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON
9th feb	10th feb	11th feb	12th feb	13th feb	14th feb	15th feb	16th feb	17th feb	18th feb	19th feb
			Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Transit	Moshi	Moshi	Mandara	Horombo	Horombo	Kibo	Horombo	Moshi	Transit	Transit
			Ascent	Ascent	Static	Ascent	Up & down	Decent
			3-6 hours	5-7  hours	xxxxxxxx	5-7 hours	18   hours	4-6 hours
Heathrow 1900	Nairobi  0635	Kilimanjaro 1010         1850							Kili    1940	Nairobi 2030     2340

III. About Kilimanjaro

"Mount Kilimanjaro is the crown of Tanzania.  At an altitude of 5895m mount Kilimanjaro is the highest freestanding mountain in the world and one of the largest volcanoes ever to burst through the earth's crust.  On a clear day it can be seen from more than 160km away, and although it stands only three degrees below the equator, its peak is permanently covered with snow and ice."(tekst from

II. About keysoc

KEYSOC is a registered charity that aims to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.  (KEYSOC= KEY Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer).  You will find more information on this charity and ovarian cancer on their web site: http://www.hants.org.uk/keysoc/index.htm 

I.Charity climb