Holidays... we have had good ones, and also ones from hell. Well I'm here to tell you a little bit about one of my experiences. I'm sure you're sitting back, reading this, and thinking 'my goodness, we've heard about love, weddings, children, what’s next? ' As always, l get my inspiration from listening to The Proclaimers, and while listening to “Love Can Move Mountains” I felt l had a story to tell, so here we go…
A family trip to Kenya – What could possibly go wrong…
Over breakfast one morning, my mother said out of the blue; Lets go to Africa. I was quite shocked. It's not something you hear at 7.00am while eating your Weet-Bix. From the other end of the table, there was silence... did my father hear her, or was he choosing to use his great selective hearing techniques? I looked at her, spoon in my mouth. I looked at him, eyes glued to his newspaper, then the words from behind the paper.
"How soon can you pack?"
Was he serious? I thought, here we go again. I was used to this behaviour from my parents. They had a knack of being impulsive, and as l have grown, I'm a little that way myself, but Africa? How on earth did she come up with that? Was it that Tarzan movie we watched last weekend, or was it something else? Upon further questioning, my mother went on to say she had always dreamt about the vast Savannahs and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, sharing a glass of Mnazi (palm Wine) with the locals and experiencing a different way of life. I thought our time in the Commune in Murwillumbah was a different way of life, but obviously not. They were both in agreement, so it was Kenya here we come!
It seemed to take forever to get to Nairobi.
"Are we there yet? Are we there?" My mother's mantra of 'Yes dear, almost" seem to go on and on, but eventually, it came over the loud speaker.
"Raise your trays, put your seats back up, we will be landing soon." Here we go. I thought 'let the games begin'. Upon arriving on the Tarmac, the heat from the sun was something I hadn’t experienced before. It was extremely hot, really hot, though it was Africa, what did I expect? To be honest, I was starting to get excited, I could only imagine what the next month had in store for me. We picked up our luggage, and found the counter for our rental car, and made our way outside. Waiting in the car park for us was a Khaki soft top Land Rover. Now this was Africa, wow! We're actually here. My father pulled out a map and said "Lets go!" but to where? I had no idea, and after a relatively short drive, we pulled up outside what seemed to be a rather posh hotel. It was the Norfolk Hotel, we ending up spending two days there acclimatising and making plans, stocking up on supplies, and before l knew it, we were on the road….
On the road to where? l hear you ask, to Kilimanjaro! The distance between Nairobi and Mount Kilimanjaro is an epic trip, most people fly, but my parents wanted to drive and experience all that Africa had to offer; That’s what we did. We drove, and stopped, and drove some more, stopped for petrol, spoke to locals, even shared dinner with a Kikuyu family that my father shared stories of Australia with whilst buying fresh fruit. He was always up for a chat, and was curious about other people, wanting to know all about them and their life stories. We stayed in Kimana for a few days. Spent time in the Chyulu Hills watching elephants and Zebra, but no lions to my father's disappointment.
We were on the move again, and on our way to the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Climbing Kilimanjaro does not require any technical skills or special equipment, just some physical fitness, determination, and the right guide to help you along the way. We were lucky to have found two Tanzanian brothers that were experts in climbing Africas highest mountain; Barasa and Chege. They were the friendliest pair you could ever meet. Before we knew it, we were sitting by a campfire, sharing a hot tea with lashings of sugar, apparently a staple in this beautiful country. A hot dinner of Ugali and Irio and it was bedtime, we needed to be up early for the huge day ahead. It was going to take around 7-8 days to complete, Barasa said slow and steady gives you the best chance of success, many people try and fail because they make the trek too quickly.
With a 6.00am start from the Marangu trekking trail, and we were on our way loaded up with everything we needed, and then some for the 60km plus trek. All together, there were ten of us, and as you may expect, my father was on a first name basis with everyone. The first day was relatively easy, the scenery; beautiful. The monkeys in abundance. When I climbed the mountain, I was not prepared for just how cold it would be. My double pair of socks, extra layer of thermals, fleece top, and warm hat helped – but I wished I had even more layers to keep me warm.
When climbing 10 – 20 thousand feet, it is important to pace yourself. The slower you go, the more oxygen you will get in your body and the better you will acclimatise. The reason to go slow is that your body is working harder at higher altitudes. That's caused by the change in air pressure as altitude changes. As you climb, pressure drops. This means the air is thinner, and the result is a reduced availability of oxygen. The porters will tell you 'pole, pole.' which means 'slowly, slowly'. Think of The Hare and the Tortoise. Be the tortoise. Walk slower than you normally would, and your body will thank you.
Drinking enough water is also very important for you to have a successful summit climb, I always had a full water bottle in my backpack, along with plenty of snacks to do my best in preventing Altitude Sickness. As the days passed the trek got more difficult. My mother suffered with a little altitude sickness but nothing was going to stop her getting to the top and with the support of my father and everyone else she made it. We all made it. We passed through five different climate zones on the mountain, including lush rainforest, low moorland, alpine desert and the famous arctic summit.
Standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak, is an indescribable moment that fills you with a sense of accomplishment and wonder. As the sun rises over the African continent, we basked in the breathtaking 360-degree panoramic views, surrounded by glaciers and vast expanses of African plains. This is a life-defining moment, a testament to our determination and the power of human spirit. I had made it. There were times when I almost thought I wouldn’t, but I did. We were like a family our trekking group, friendships that stood the test of time, especially Dougie and Janette from Manchester, they became life long friends to my parents and even came to stay with us in Australia.
Our Trip back down the mountain was effortless as was traveling back to Nairobi, via Mombassa as my father felt the need to go diving, something he had never tried, but hey, we're in Africa! 'Lets do it' was his motto.
Africa is the most amazing place. Our trip was life changing, l returned in my 20's numerous times. To me, Africa is stunning, and ever-changing, blessed with magnificent diverse landscapes, tropical beaches and jungles, deserts and mountains, open savannahs, and everything in between.