Diaries of my Kilimanjaro Hike- Day 5
Day 5, or Dec 25th 2010 was the big day! While most of you were eating abundantly, I was about to lose every ounce of body fat. By day 5, I had suffered from altitude sickness, loss of appetite and the regular unwanted bathroom calls, which all led to some weight loss. I tried to eat as much as I could, a mix of cooked food and energy bars. I had to make sure to have enough energy for summit night.
The night I spent at Karanga Valley camp was very cold. By the morning, I wanted to begin the hike as soon as possible so my body cam warm up. I was beginning to look forward to getting the hike over with so I could head back to the hotel and sleep in a bed. It was the first night I didn’t have to wake up to go to the bathroom, which is not necessarily a good thing because I probably wasn’t as hydrated as I should be, but considering that I was so cold that night, it was nice not having to get out of the sleeping bag. So we woke up that morning, had breakfast and began another 3 hour hike to base camp, Barafu Camp (4,600m). The hike was steep but not very long- considering that the other group did it all in one day. We reached Barafu camp around 1pm, where we found out that the others successfully reached the summit overnight and had already began their descent to Mekwa camp (3,100m). At the camp, I met Graham and David, both had just woken up from their nap after reaching the summit that morning. I was happy to hear that all the guys made it, and was now feeling anxious about our summit night, taking place that particular night!
Once we arrived, we setup our tents, had lunch and napped. We needed all our energy for summit night, which was going to begin at 11pm that same night, on Dec 25th. After our nap, we woke up to have dinner. It was our last dinner before reaching the summit. We were all nervous except for Con, who seemed full of energy and confident. Marcel and I just wanted to get it over with at this point. We made sure to eat excessively at dinner (lots of carbs) and went to bed.
At 11pm, we were woken up and asked to get ready for Summit Night. Nervous and cold, I got out of my tent, put on a bunch of layers, prepared my day pack and headed to the tent for hot water and cookies. At midnight, our guides came to get us to begin our summit night hike.
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About The Author
Charmane
What an amazing story. From couch potatoe to possible summiteer, Kilimanjaro often starts out as a dare, a why not, a must do. It is a humbling, gratifying and utterly magical experience. An experience quite unlike any other… an experience highlighted by courage and tenacity, determination and focus… and this results in a fantastic story… one of many you ar working on.
Storyline Studio focuses on all these stories – the heart and soul of many books, all the how’s, what, and when’s. The challenges and successes and the journey through these. Our clients have had the most amazing journeys and their stories are encapsulated into the chapters of professional, well designed, cost effective coffee table books…that they eagerly share and pass around.
Storyline Studio is a fun, creative and passionate design studio, focussed primarily on telling exciting, memorable, giving and adventurous stories…and let’s face it everyone has a story! Our stories are not only for individuals but families, friends and corporate groups.
They experience a trip of a lifetime and arrive home on a high with loads of photos and hearts full of memories – and it’s those hearts full of memories that we capture in the pages of a book. Their hopes, fears, joys… and on Kili anything can and will happen and much is unforeseen and cannot be planned for. Kili is about guts, grit and detemination. Silent prayers and heartfelt conversations. Its about bonding with old friends and forging new friendships. Its about sacrifice and courage. All one step at a time ‘pole-pole’.
You experience a trip of a lifetime and arrive home on a high with loads of photos and hearts full of memories – and it’s those hearts full of memories that we capture in the pages of a book. Your hopes, fears, joys… and on Kili anything can and will happen and much is unforeseen and cannot be planned for.
You can improve your professional integrity by writing a book which could open many doors for you. It’s a rather ‘simple’ but committed process to write the book and we facilitate it all the way to ensure that you have peace of mind and enjoy the process of becoming your own author. Visit my website http://www.storylinestudio.co.za for more information and you are more than welcome to log onto my Facebook page Storyline Studio where you will see some images of the books that I have done.
For us photos capture a moment in time but stories capture a lifetime of moments. I would love to share this opportunity with you. I do hope that you will get in touch with me so that we can discuss this further.
All the very best and I hope you enjoy many more successful adventures and journeys of the heart.
Charmane