Ascent for Alzheimer's: Melanie's Diary
Tuesday 12 September 2006, Amsterdam
My flight to Tanzania leaves in the morning and by this time tomorrow I should be at the Marangu Hotel, better able to contemplate the 5,800m vertical hike that has occupied so much time and energy over the last few months. Excited, nervous, agitated - but most of all, just looking forward to getting started. I have all my gear packed into an army duffel bag, have started my course of malaria drugs and have read Hemingway's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'. Am I ready?!
Thursday 14 September, Marangu Hotel, Tanzania
So far so good. I have made it to Tanzania with body and bags intact and have met up with Todd and Dave. As I write there is a group of people outside my room celebrating a successful climb with song and beer in full flow. Let's hope that's us a week from now. The area is beautiful. The flowers are all big and bold - bright pinks, reds and purples and there are flashes of bright blue as hummingbirds flit between the branches. Women carrying stalks of bananas on their heads dressed in bold African prints, little boys running up to the car to offer guiding services and wish you a happy stay in Tanzania.
I am absolutely thrilled to be here. I have a slight cold but will not let that get in my way. We start on Saturday by which time I will be fighting fit and ready to go!
Friday 15 September, Marangu Hotel, Tanzania
We looked around Marangu Village today which was incredible. We were led off the road through plots of land divided by yucca trees and each dotted with mud dwellings and towering banana trees. Red bananas, green bananas, plantains, bananas for beer... We visited the waterfall at Marangu Village, the scene of local legend.
We leave for the trailhead in the morning and have spent the day getting our gear together. Seamus Brice-Bennett, our guide for the next week and co-owner of the hotel gave us a preparatory talk this evening. He clearly conveyed the scale of what we are about to undertake and the serious nature of the climb, but managed to reassure us at the same time. I feel a lot more focussed and grounded about the climb now. The rest of the team have now arrived along with Ken Hirst our guide and mountain doctor. I think we are in good hands!
Sunday 17 September, Kikelewa Camp
12,000 feet at the foot of Mawenzi Peak and it's cold. I'm strapped into my sleeping bag, torch on my head and three layers of clothes. It's only 7pm but I am ready to go to bed. Not much to do on the mountain when the sun goes down apart from gape at the stars that reach down to the horizon.
The last couple of days have been steady walking from the park gate and the pace has been slow - or 'pole pole' as the guides keep saying. At first the pace was ridiculously slow but as we gain altitude and my breathing becomes more shallow, the slow pace becomes more comfortable. We needed two army style lorries to take us, supplies and porters the three hour journey from Marangu Hotel to the park gate. Then we started walking gently uphill through planted pine woods and scrubland to our first camp at Simba Camp. None of us slept very well that first night - strange sounds and the looming silhouette of Mawenzi serving as a constant reminder of what is in store.
The hike today was tougher and longer. Still 'pole pole' but the gradients were steeper and we walked for about eight hours in total. The views have been great, of Mawenzi and Kibo and of the huge Kenyan plains to the north. I can really tell the difference in my breathing and I hope summit day won't be too much for me. Honestly speaking it will be a horrendous six hour, dark, cold scramble up loose scree at much higher altitude than we are at at the moment. The actual meaning of that is becoming clearer and clearer (and more and more daunting) as we climb higher. Why am I here again?!
Tuesday 19 September, Mawenzi Tarn Camp
It's about 2pm and I am sitting in my tent listening to the hail and snow strike down from the heavens. We are at Mawenzi Tarn, 4,300m and I can really tell the altitude. Any sudden movement or slight exertion makes me out of breath. This is our second day here. We arrived yesterday afternoon after a three hour upwards hike from Kikelewa. We were told that it was an easy walk but they lied! The gradients were steep and the area very rocky. Not much can grow up here and the landscape is barren and fairly monotonous. Strange looking lichen, moss like plants that stick to the rocks. A couple of sparrows flit around and some large black crows that hover menacingly over us as we walk.
This camp is impressive however. We are just below the towering Mawenzi peak and below us a sea of clouds will sometimes lift to expose the barren plains of Africa thousands of feet below. This morning we hiked up Mawenzi where we sat and contemplated a stunning view of Kibo. It seems so far away - and so big - and we have to walk to the foot of it tomorrow and then to the top of it tomorrow night. This is going to be really tough and I sincerely hope I'm strong enough to make it. I know that the shower, fresh change of clothes and celebration dinner won't be the same if I don't make it to the summit...
The team is in high spirits. We all packed in to the mess tent this evening telling jokes and drinking tea to keep warm from the sub zero temperatures outside. This is crazy: it is freezing, very uncomfortable and we are all stiff and tired - but there is a contagious sense of adventure and anticipation in the air. I have only known the team for a week but huddled here telling stories on the slopes of Africa's highest mountain I feel that I am with close friends, united for a common cause and purpose.
World Alzheimer's Day, Thursday 21 September, Horombo Camp
It has all passed as if in a dream, but Thursday night has arrived and I made it. I made it to Uhuru Peak, 5895m - to the very top of Mount Kilimanjaro. What a day.
We were woken up at 11pm on Wednesday night and hiked, climbed and limped uphill through the night to reach Gillman's Point for sunrise. It was a very long and cold night and the pace was very slow, but by conserving energy we managed to get to the top, down again and across to Horombo all in the same day.
I am proud, relieved, exhilarated... Fortunately we had a clear and windless night for the final ascent and I was lucky enough not to suffer from any of the altitude symptoms that were striking down people like flies all around. For every few paces we walked up we would pass people being escorted down, pale faced and limping, having been defeated by the ravages of altitude.
The view from the top was breathtaking. After walking in zigzags over loose scree for hours on end we eventually came to Gillman's point where we watched the sunrise over Mawenzi Peak - turning it into a jagged silhouette with a skirt of pink clouds. After such a cold night the warmth of the sun on numb fingers and faces was such a welcome relief. The night's blind stumbling was put in perspective as we could trace our journey up the mountain from the tiny Kibo Hut 1000m below.
From Gillman's Point we faced another couple of hours hike, which thankfully at the time I was unaware of! We walked around the snow filled crater on our right and arrived at Stella Point, a spectacular lookout over a huge glacier which hangs over the western breach. Continuing round the crater we took the last few uphill paces to Uhuru. Fatigue died away and new energy soared into tired limbs as we jumped around, embraced, cried, and laughed with the full realisation of what we had achieved.
As we stood on that summit, all tired, hungry and dizzy from the altitude, I think we all suddenly felt very close. Our minds and hearts went out to all those people and families whose lives have been touched by dementia - to the friends and family that had inspired this great adventure. Standing there, having reached our fundraising target and completed the challenge, we had a moment to contemplate the reasons behind our journey and pay our respects to the millions of people and families living with dementia who climb their own mountains every day.
More tears, photos and media calls later it was time for the descent. Six hours up and yet only one hour down. Thoughts of hot chocolate and a warm sleeping bag had me sliding down the mountain as if on skis, 'pole pole' a thing of the past.
Sunday 24 September
The mountain has been climbed, the shower has been had, beer drunk and now the World Team has gone off in their separate directions. From Horombo we had a 5 hour downhill walk to the park gate which was characterised by a gradual stiffening of the legs, spectacular farewell views of Kibo and Mawenzi and time to contemplate what we had achieved.
Celebrations when we arrived back at the hotel carried on through the night as the cold nights, sore limbs, fatigue and discomfort faded into obscurity in comparison to the exhilaration we all felt as we made it to the summit and surpassed our own limitations. After sad farewells and final promises to keep in touch, we all went our separate ways. It was time to return to our normal lives but we are safe in the knowledge that we have been part of something very special and have accomplished something very far from normal.