• Date: June 2013.
• Location: Moshi, Tanzania.
• Route: Marangu.
• Elevation Achieved: 5,681m/18,638ft (Gilman’s Point).
• Difficulty: Extra Hard.
• Duration: 6 days.

For my 2nd hiking trip, I went straight to climb Africa’s highest mountain, the mighty Kilimanjaro! Didn’t really know what to expect but felt I was ready. The first four days went well going from Mandara camp to Horombo camp till the last camp before the summit, Kibo Hut (4,720m). I remember most of the time during this trip, I was just envisioning myself standing at the summit of the mountain; I was anxiously excited.

During summit night, we left Kibo Hut at around midnight and slowly hiked our way towards the peak. However, a couple of hours later at around 3am, I started to feel a bit nauseous and stopped to rest and have some tea. I immediately threw up after my first sip. I then realized I had a mild case of altitude sickness. I continued with the climb but threw up again and again until there was nothing left. At this point I was exhausted and couldn’t eat or drink anything. I remember asking myself, “Why the f**k did I come here? Why do people do this?” Lol.

A journey which normally takes climbers 5 hours, took me 8 hours to reach Gilman’s Point (5,681m) at the crater rim. Upon reaching here, I just sat down and broke down as I was totally and absolutely knackered! I knew I couldn’t continue with the climb and was so disappointed! I didn’t even want to take a picture here but I’m glad my guide encouraged me to.

The smile hides the struggle! 😂