Day 1 - Machame Gate (1830 m/6000 ft) - Machame Huts (3030 m/9940 ft)

We start our challenge with a relatively short day of trekking, around 6 hours starting from the Machame gate. After a few photoshoots on the gate itself, we waited while our porters and guides arrived, weighted our kit, and we were signed into the park.

After taking on some water and picking up a pack lunch we were off.

Remember pole, pole, slowly slowly. The pace was slow, although it was up hill from the start.

We trekked through the rain forests with porters carrying the camping kit and our night bags.



The forest is beautiful, a real fairytale forest, lush and deep and green. Moss and lichen are dangling from the tall branches, tree ferns shelter underneath and impatiens and violas are flowering on the ground. The path was easy to follow and we spent the morning chatting among each other, and happy that the trip was now properly underway.

An hour or so in, we saw our first monkeys, long white tailed variety, jumping from branch to branch. So this was the reason for the rabies jab and if they were going to bite me they would need very long teeth at that height!
It was about two and a half hours to a lunch stop in a clearing near a stream. Here we opened up our pack lunches that had been provided earlier. It was clear that chocolate and other sugar products were a stable component.

After lunch the same format again through the same terrain, however the descent did get steeper and the path became dustier. We arrived at the first camp mid afternoon, where we signed into the camp and then went in search of our tent and overnight bags.

Camp was basic, two to a tent, just enough room for a sleeping bag each and our overnight bag between. In addition there were two mess tents for hot drinks and dinner which mainly consisted of soup followed by rice.

After setting up our kit for the night, it became apparent how dusty everything was, and how dirty everything became real quick. A small bowl of warm water allowed us to wash our hands and faces, but within two minutes my hands were covered in thick black dust again !

Night comes in quick, so armed with head torched we made our way to the mess tent for dinner, a quick briefing of the following day, and we were in our tents by 8.30.

Review of the Trip to summit Kilimanjaro

Mt Kilimanjaro is one of Africa's most magnificent sights, and at 5,895m it is her highest peak. Rising sheer from the savannah plains, this snowcapped mountain is an almost perfectly formed volcano that is not yet extinct.

On the 15th October I departed from the BIE Office in Manchester heading for a train that would take me to London, I met up with 3 friends from my local village, and then boarded an overnight flight to Nairobi.

By this stage the team was split into two smaller groups, which we would remain in for the rest of the trip.

Arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport we taxied up to the front of the arrival building and walked in. No need for a transit bus here.

Immigration took a few minutes, and our bags were ready to load onto a waiting bus for the hour ride to the hotel we were staying at on the first night.

We arrived in Nairobi at 06:30 on Saturday the 16^th which was followed by a short flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. En route we got our first glimpse of the challenge ahead. At 19,340 ft or 5895 metres we were actually flying lower than the summit. Everyone on board the plane leaned over to the left to look at what we were destined to climb.

Thanks to all

So here you go, the proof that I was hoping for and without the help of PhotoShop. The summit of Kilimanjaro.

Yes on Friday morning I finally made it up there, and pretty much on time, reaching the crater rim as the sun rose over the horizon and then reaching the actual peak a short distance afterwards.

I will post some further details of the trip during the week but just wanted to say a few thanks to all of you who have followed the blog, supported the charity and made this happen. By the time we get all the money in I am hoping we will be in excess of 6,000 pounds, so if you haven't donated yet, please follow the link to the virgin giving site.

My thanks also to all those who have supported in other ways.

Ian.

p.s. after the travel back, taking nearly 24 hours in total, I am a touch shattered......

The Descent & Heading Home Soon

This is the day Ian’s probably been waiting for, getting back to civilisation and a lovely hotel and being able to remove those stinky boots, have a hot shower and sleep in a comfy bed – arrrrhhh bliss.

Here’s Ian’s itinerary for today:-



22nd October

The final trekking day, as we descend back through the rainforests and to the hotel for a hot shower and to finally remove the walking boots.



Friday night and Saturday morning are for relaxing, chilling out and having a well earned drink by the hotel pool. An overnight flight brings him back to London Heathrow arriving early on Sunday morning and then it’s train journeys all the way home again.

Hopefully we will hear from the great man himself either at the end of this weekend or beginning of next week when he can regale us with his most memorable moments.

I’m sure you don’t need me to say this, but sleep well Ian zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

Breaking News

Confirmation has just come through that the Broadbottom 4 have all made it to the top.  Well done you guys, that's brilliant.

Reaching the Summit

Today Ian should already have made it the summit WOOHOO. If you look at the itinerary below he was starting his day in the middle of the night at 12.00am (10.00pm our time on Wed night).


21st October

The day starts just after midnight with a long 6 hour slow trek to the Stella point which is on the rim of the crater. This is all done by torch light, before making the traverse to Uhuru peak, the highest point on the African continent at 5896 metres. We then make the long descent to camp at 3081m, after a long day of nearly 15 hours of trekking.

So while we were probably thinking about going to bed he was starting an arduous 6 hour trek in the dark with a final push to the summit. So very well done Ian, I'm sure all your friends, family and work colleagues all really hope you made it there ok and got to see that fantastic view from the top. We also hope your camera wasn’t relying on that rubbishy solar charger and you were able to take some piccies.

And finally, in the immortal words of Johnny Olson, the ‘Price is Right’ presenter:

“Ian Metcalfe - Come On Down”.

Day 4 of the climb

20th October

This is the first day of scrambling, as we climb over volcanic rock of the Barranco Wall, which is then followed by a steady but steep climb and arriving around 9 hours later at our camp.  Our camp is at 4630m, and we will try to sleep early, as the following day we will commence our attempt to the summit from midnight.

Days 1-3 of the climb

Hi - this isn't Ian, this is Steph his PA.  Kate got a call today from the intrepid explorer himself who managed to borrow someone else's phone.  Unfortunately Ian's solar charger for his blackberry hasn't worked so he has been unable to post any of his daily blogs.  He's doing OK but is apparently really shattered (his word was a bit more descriptive).  Anyhow I have found his itinerary for each day so you can get an idea of what he's done so far.  The itinerary below covers Sunday 17th, Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th October.  I shall put the other updates in as the week progresses.

17th October

This is the proper start of our challenge with a relatively short day of trekking , around 6 hours starting from the Machame gate. We will trek through the rain forests and by the end of the day we will have climbed to an altitude of 2980m.

Our first night under canvass.


18th October

A longer days trek, around 9 hours, making a steep ascent through the heather and moorland reaching the Shira Plateau, giving fantastic views over the land below. This time we don’t increase our altitude so much, but still we will finish at a height of 3843 metres.


19th October

Now the landscape should change to more of a barren moon look, as we trek towards the mighty Lava tower. On this day we ascend to 4526 metres, but to help with acclimatisation we then descend again to 3965m. This day will be around 9 hours of trekking before reaching camp.

Arrived Nairobi

On time arrival and connection time is quite short, so just moved to the new gate. Looks like a lot of sleepless people, overnight flight not that comfortable.

Anyway miracles of Pru sleeping tablet, I didn't do too bad.

We are going on Precision Air very strange name for an airline. I can't see it so probably loading chicken and goats on it first.

IMG00009-20101015-1613.jpg

Arrived heathrow

Broadbottom 4 ready to go

Day 1

Finally here.....

This is the first day, although this is really just getting to the airport, boarding the plane and hoping I haven't forgotten anything.


The day did not start well, as our lovely cat, pictured here looking serene and calm, decided to give me a going away present by striking out with her claws and leaving three lovely scratches on my hand.


So let us hope that they don't get infected.......
Last night I managed to get the main bag shut, although it seems to weigh a lot more than I imagined..... let's hope the scales were accurate and i have just gone weak.

I will leave Brother offices at around 12.00 and take Train to London Heathrow. I will be travelling with three friends from the same village where I live who are also taking this challenge.


We meet up with the other trekkers embarking on this challenge of various backgrounds.

Our flight leaves London Heathrow at 20.00, taking Kenyan Airway to Nairobi.

So more updates as the day progresses.

1 Day to Go

So despite not getting home until later than planned, I did do a final kit check and threw everything into my bags for a final weigh in.

So a mix of things in the bag, things in the rucksack total weight was under 20Kg, so I was quite happy with that, however my bag was rather full and as yet I haven't managed to zip it up!

There is plenty of room in my rucksack however. Challenge is identify the things I can't do without, therefore need to go into the rucksack, and those things that I won't be able to have in hand luggage......sun cream, mosi spray etc..... The days of taking anything on a plane, please bring them back.

So a full day of meetings thus no time to consider tomorrow........

amazing how I keep thinking of things maybe I should take though.......

2 2 GO

No I didn't mean one of these !!!!!!

I meant.....





Only 2 days to go.......

As I mentioned, no training for the rest of the week, although strangely I felt ready to get up and go to the gym this morning at 6 am, but by 7.00 I just wanted to stay in bed.

My preparation last night involved eating a very good Thai meal in Manchester with some of our colleagues from the Nordics. Great service, good food, a very enjoyable evening, so I can recommend Chaophraya Manchester for any Thai food junkies.

No sign of plastic bags yesterday, so I did buy a roll of heavy duty bin bags, I am sure they will do the trick.

So trial packing tonight, make sure I have everything, and it all weighs ok, both for the trek, where I need to get down to 15Kg, and the flight where I can expand to a massive 20kg.

It is very quiet on the facebook site, I am not sure if that means my fellow trekkers have deserted me and left early, or they are also in a final state of panic.

So fingers crossed let's hope tonight I don't find out I have forgotten something essential that I can't buy locally tomorrow........

Getting closer

So somewhat of a struggle to wake up this morning, I definitely could have stayed in bed. Now I guess this does not bode well for the week ahead. I only have 3 more nights in my nice comfortable bed, then it will be airplanes and tents!

Last nigh I sorted out my music, and loaded onto my memory card that will go into my phone. This means once less device to take with me, however I need to remember to pack my earphones or it will all be for nothing.

I am hoping that some reasealable plastic bags arrive in the next two days, otherwise I will need to resort to bin liners!

So tonight I have some business gets to look after, so will start final packing on Wednesday evening, then I have Thursday to panic over what I have forgotten to purchase.......

Final week and countdown.....

So the final week, and only a few days to go........


A busy weekend, Friday night I was back to cutting wood for the fire, Saturday morning I was on the roof re-pointing the coping stones, hoping that this will stop the two leaks in the roof we appear to have sprung. Then Saturday afternoon, aided by the Droyslden two I got into beer training at the Manchester Food Festival. This involved sampling several pints of Robinson's brewery different real ales......Ok not really the sort of training that is in the guide.

Sunday morning, I did finally get out and go for a 3 hour walk, the weather was quite good, but the wind was really blowing, the new Primaloft jacket managed to do it's stuff. Kept the wind out, me warm and comfortable. I carried 5 litres of water in my rucksack to simulate the weight....

Sunday afternoon was mowing the lawn, chopping up some pallets, my wood store is now full, finally fitting handle and lock to the new shed, then after a few more odd jobs and a shower collapsed on the sofa to watch the grand prix I had taped.

Finally managed to weigh my kit, thanks to Rob coming over with some scales. So currently it all weight about 16kg, ok I have one or two more things to go in, but I was pretty impressed with that.

This morning I stayed away from the weights, cross trained for an hour, with 15 minutes of walking on the treadmill at a very steep gradient.

So according to the final instructions I received , now I should be resting for the challenge ahead, so I will skip the gym for the rest of the week, and just do my final preparations.

This time next week

So down to 7 days to go, and if you read this blog in one weeks time I will be packed, ready to go.....

Currently my kit looks like this..

As you can see some tidying up to do, and I still haven't weighed it. I have 20Kg limit in the hold and 15Kg hand luggage I believe! So let's hope I am under that, as I am sure I will have forgotten things.

Final Rabies and Hep B last night - I think I am finally getting used to injections, I also have the prescription for the Malarone, anti malaria tablets, which I need to start taking on Wednesday, and for safety sake, since my ear is still playing up, a dose of antibiotics to take with me, just in case it flares up.

No gym this morning, I have had a lousy headache for the last day or so, hence stayed in bed this morning for an extra hour, which after some more pain killers seems to have done the trick.

Several people are now asking me how I fell, nervous, excited...... well it is a real mix of emotions right now. On the one hand I am feeling nervous about the preparation or lack I may have done......I am not looking forward to the long haul flight sat in economy - crikes not had to do that for many years, yet I am also excited to get it underway.

So final training this weekend, then just count down the days.........

p.s. more sponsorship is coming in - so thanks to all of you who are adding to the total, it is really appreciated, and if you haven't dipped in your pockets yet - don't delay .......


Ian.

Light the way

Yes now 8 to go.......

So having read a few articles about the final day summit, it became clear that a waterproof head torch, and one that has excellent power to light the way is essential..... Now the one I had acquired was only very cheap (£2.99), and on checking it was neither waterproof or for that matter very strong, so feeling somewhat nervous about staggering about on the last day in the dark, i ordered another which arrived in bright green....

Petzl are leading manufacturers of head torches, but surprisingly despite being waterproof, battery life of 190 hours and lights a distance over 20 metres, it was still only £12 off ebay......

ok more outlay, but hopefully now I won't be in the dark!

The last week I just be relaxing, building up my strength my eating plenty.... which is good as today I feel shattered... maybe my trip to Japan catching up with me.....

So final jabs tonight, rabies and Hep B, 3rd one of each, and I just get my malaria tablets prescription.... I was told that these are expensive circa £50, so need to find a pharmacy that does them at the lowest cost :-)

Update on how much my arm aches tomorrow....

days to go.........

So no walking last night, as my early evening ended up in me and the chainsaw cutting through a fair amount of wood that was waste from the current BIE reception work. Solid stuff, but the two of us managed to get through it.

Having checked my kit list I am now just short of a lighter....what do I need a lighter for I hear you ask....well that is so I can burn the loo roll I am taking with me .. after use. I do hope you weren't eating when you read that, or that you now have a rather ugly mental picture....actually I don't think the smell will be that good either.......

So since weight is an issue, no not mine, I am thinking that it may be advisable to travel in some of the clothes I would use for the trek, but then I am thinking is that advisable if I going ot be wearing it for the next 10 days....... So bit more thought his week in to travel clothing....also we do have half a day in Moshi at the end of the trek to go into the village, sightsee! and look around the local markets, again I am thinking - oh what should I wear as all my trekking gear will no doubt be filthy and smell rather unpleasant.

So walk will either have to be Thursday or Friday........

I also have a fair few jobs to do around the house before I go as well.....

Today in the gym I skipped the treadmill, and cross trained for 20 minutes then on the bike for 30 mins before doing weights and sit ups. So feeling ok after that.

My new contact lenses are working great, so yesterday I ordered some UV sunglasses. I am thinking I will use my lenses for so many day then switch to glasses on the final summit, as I doubt I will have the energy to take them out.......

anyway must go, as I now need to go find a lighter.....

10 Days to Go!

So now only 10 days to go..... and yes it is true that there is some concerns going around my head:

Have I trained enough, have I got all the right gear, will my bag weigh too much, will I get blisters, will I get altitude sickness.......

so with 10 days to go, there is not too much I can do about the training, definitely I need to go for one last decent hike on Sunday, I also have the last of my jabs on Thursday, and hopefully are given the anti Malaria tablets........

Gear wise I have checked, double checked, packed, unpacked... so I just now have a few minor things to buy and I am done.

I do now have a primaloft jacket which is magically warm and keeps me dry, but that is on the beach front in Southport, which is not quite the same as 6,000 metres up a mountain, but hey you can only test in the conditions given to you.

so training has been limited to gym sessions which isn't that useful, so I will try a walk one night this week, then as I say a long one at the weekend then I think that will be about it.......

So sorry for little blog activity, but I will keep them coming these final 10 days.......