We were all feeling a bit apprehensive in the Land Cruiser on the morning of the climb, Me, Rob, Alex and Laura. We felt a bit like we were waiting in the queue to ride a roller coaster...a mixture of anticipation, fear and excitement. This is what our trip has been about...and here we were! So close now. While our luggage was being weighed we queued up to register at reception...we hadn't expected this kind of bureaucracy , but we would get used to it. This would be the drill at each camp...signing our name, passport number, number in party, tour company, guides name...We eventually set off up the mountain at around 11am. Laura raced off at her own preferred pace (she has no idea what pole pole means) followed by Rob and Alex, and I trailed behind at my pre-determined snails pace designed to get me there whilst conserving energy. I walked with one of our porters, Esiah, who chatted to me as we walked. His English was limited, but better than my Swahili. He told me about his wife and 3 year old daughter. He climbs this mountain about once a month to supplement his farmers income and has been doing this for 5 years. What an incredible way to earn a living! It took me 4 hours to reach the campsite, which was far quicker than our guide had told us...I wasn't tired and I was feeling fairly proud of myself. The only people who had passed me, despite my slow and laborious crawl, had been porters who would speed past, heavily laden with awkward looking packages tied up with string and balanced on their heads. I was about the ninth person to arrive at the campsite and our tents weren't even up yet! After a surprisingly tasty and wholesome meal, we stood outside our tents and watched the stars before curling up in our sleeping bags and sleeping for what seemed like years.
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