Stage 2
I was, still am, and probably always will be, in absolute awe of these guys and what they do. The most remarkable thing about them is that on Sunday, the day after we go home, some of them will just turn around and walk up the damn mountain again! Outstanding, remarkable, fantastic - you add whatever superlatives of your own that you would like to add here. There still wont be enough to describe the admiration and gratitude our group had towards these guys by the end of the week. A bit more walking and climbing later and we arrived at Madara Huts, our home for tonight. We were allocated our beds for the night and told that dinner would be ready soon.
'Dinner in the Jungle' was not as I had imagined it. I'm not at all certain what I did imagine but it certainly wasn't hot tea or coffee, hot tasty soup to start with followed by an array of hot and absolutely delicious meals differing between pasta, meat, vegetables, eggs, chicken, and other delicacies - including on one occasion 'proper thick chips'! Not only could these guys carry more than I can fit in my car boot for a whole day but they could unpack it all and prepare a meal for over fifty people that would put the average road side café to shame at home. Remarkable [again!]
To round off a perfect day, our earlier disappointment at not seeing any monkeys was put to one side when a whole family of monkeys turned up outside the huts! Oblivious to our presence, they stuck around long enough for most of us to take the statutory pictures to take home and for at least one of our party to convince herself that they were not monkeys but in fact leopard cubs. [As the tale grew throughout the week they ended up as 'snow leopard cubs' but that is a whole other book!]
If last night in the hotel was a great nights sleep then tonight would be a complete contrast. Suffice to say that I now have conclusive proof that some women can, and do, snore louder and longer than most of the men I have ever shared a room with!
Sunday 20th June:
Mandara Huts to Horombo Huts at 3720 metres
One of the things we had been told, and had repeated to us in no uncertain terms at the beginning of this adventure was that we should drink only bottled water and that we should drink gallons of it - at least two litres a day in fact. Now you can excuse a small town boy for thinking that half way up a mountain in deepest Africa is not a place you are likely to find an abundance of bottle water. However, I had not catered for the fact that we would be accompanied on our trip by a team of human pack horses capable of carrying everything from cutlery to eat with to gas stoves to cook on...and drinking water!
Having an abundance of drinking water available to us ensured that not only were we all well hydrated but also that we were never at a loss for something to talk about. In my entire life I have never had so many open and honest conversations with a group of, lets be honest, relative strangers about how often I have had a pee, how long it took me to do it and what colour it was and to have the same information given back to me by someone equally gleeful at their toiletry habits! There was a serious side to it all though. We were acutely aware that correct hydration would have a serious affect on whether we made it to the top or not.
Sunday was another day of walking, talking and convincing ourselves of our upcoming success. On several occasions I heard myself correcting people, as is my habit. Whenever I heard them saying "if I get up", I would say "If?" and have them change it to "When..." My confidence about reaching the top was constantly growing. I had my picture in my mind of what success would look like and nothing had happened to change that picture as yet.
Something to think about...
It never fails to amaze me at how some people will allow themselves to be spoken to...by themselves. If I, or anyone else for that matter, had indicated to some of our friends that they probably wouldn't make the climb successfully they would undoubtedly have been offended. Yet they constantly indicate to themselves that their chances are of success are minimum by using expressions like "if I make it." Saying "if" gives you an alternative to success whereas saying "when" is an assumption that success is inevitable. Both expressions are untrue because both are just beliefs about the future.
Which picture would you like your unconscious mind to work towards - "if" or "when"?
It's a simple choice.
We had been walking for well over an hour when we literally turned a corner and there it was...our first real view of Kilimanjaro. It was beautiful. Just a single rock protruding from the 'flat' surface around it. We had a perfect view uninterrupted by anything at all, not even a cloud in the sky to spoil our first look at our major challenge.
Of course, we all stopped for photographs and water. The group had split into two now with the second group some way behind. This was not a problem and I got the idea that it was pretty standard for a large group like ours to settle into smaller groups of similar speeds. There were enough guides and porters so no one was at all concerned.
The scenery had changed dramatically since yesterday. Yesterday was all forest with little sun or open space. Today's view was reminiscent of every cowboy film I had ever seen. Open plains with trees dotted all over the place and the odd mountain to break the skyline and you could see for miles. The day passed very pleasantly as I recall. Lots of very interesting conversation, a few stops for water distribution, one stop for lunch and there we were.
After some hours we walked into a fairly substantial dip, more like a small valley really, over a wooden bridge and up out of the valley to be faced with the sight of our home for the next two nights. Most of us were pleasantly surprised that we had reached the huts so quickly and with relative ease as far as walking had been concerned.
I can't speak for everyone else but my breathing was still fairly normal unless I attempted to walk somewhere too quickly or even 'jog' a few yards from one place to another at which point it would become a little more difficult to breath. We were acutely aware by now that we were at altitude and that we should treat it with great respect.
During the two days we had been together so far I had heard a lot of the members of our group discussing whether or not they had been taking any medication to prevent 'altitude sickness'. Most people had started to take something or other to prevent, as best they could, the onset of altitude sickness.
Sara had I had not discussed taking anything prior to leaving, the main reason being, as far as I was concerned anyway, that I didn't know we needed to. It turned out that Sara and I and one other person were the only ones in the entire group who were not taking some kind of medication to prevent the onset of altitude sickness.
What I am about to write, though 100% true, is probably foolish but, as I saw it, I had little choice in the matter. You see I REALLY wanted to reach the top of that mountain and if I needed something to help me stave off altitude sickness then I would use it.
The problem was that I hadn't known about any medication so I didn't have any with me. I also had a sneaking fancy that if I asked anyone to share theirs with me the answer would not be printable in this story.
So I took the decision that to prevent the onset of altitude sickness I would...wait for it...wear a bright orange 'T' shirt! Yep, that would do it. Whilst ever I have this bright orange 'T' shirt on I will be protected from altitude sickness. You will not find this in any medical journal but it was all I had. Of course I only shared my theory with a few people, and certainly not with the doctor, but from that point on I would wear my bright orange 'T' shirt until I made it back down the mountain - and so I did!
Something to think about...
It might seem a little 'tree huggy' to you reading this but I convinced myself that my bright orange 'T' shirt would protect me from altitude sickness. I had no proof that it would but at the same time no one could give me any proof that it wouldn't. All I had to do to make it so was to believe with absolute conviction that I would be protected.
After all, when you think about it, no one in the party had any proof that their medication would protect them from altitude sickness except that some people in the past had reached the top of Kilimanjaro AFTER taking the medication.
What we didn't have was proof that anyone had reached the top because they were wearing a bright orange 'T' shirt. Neither did we have proof that they had not reached the top because they were NOT wearing a bright orange 'T' shirt. The power of belief was about to be tested to the limit...