The day started early (7am pick up) to start the three hour drive to the starting point, Lemosho Gate. We had met our chief guide Deo the night before when he came to the hotel to brief us, check we had everything we needed and to basically calm us down a little. We had also been introduced to David and Bob, the other two completing the climb with us. They were old work colleagues who were competing the climb as a retirement gift to themselves, that's right....retirement... They were 59 and 64, so being the youngest of the group I was already feeling the pressure.
We were met at reception in the morning by Deo and the bus filled with all the crew - all 20 of them! There started the great adventure. I'm not going to lie, I was petrified! It was all just a fear of the unknown though. No amount of googling could really prepare me, I just had to go with it, let go and trust everything would be OK. Besides which - there was no going back, a stash of donation money, friends, family, colleagues and of course a whole load of elephants were relying on me!
On the way to the hill we stopped off a service station to pick up food supplies for the week. This was an experience in itself, starting to realise we wouldn't be seeing a proper toilet for a while, we decided to try out the service station facilities. They were fine - clean, toilet paper, and a seat. What was quite amusing is when you came out and washed your hands. There was a lady standing at each sink with a bottle of morning Spring washing up liquid. She smiled, I held out my hands, she squirted some washing liquid in my hands, I washed my hands and left. Not quite the luxurious experience I was hoping for but an experience none the less.
After another hour or so driving on the bumpiest roads ever (I will never complain about pot holes again) we arrived at Longdorissi Gate. This was the check point before we started the climb. Everyone and everything came off the bus as each and every bag had to be weighed. There are strict weight limits in place for each porter, ensuring their wellbeing on the mountain. Our 'big bags' were being carried by the porters, along with the tents, food supplies (to feed 20 for seven days), cooking equipment, crockery, sleeping bags, mattresses, table and chairs and the all important portable loo - not to mention their own kit! It was great to see just how important the porters safety was taken, anything over the weight limits was simply left behind. It was also here that all passports were logged, climbing permits checked and the official log books completed.
It was at Longdorissi Gate that it happened. The biggest storm I have seen since living in Africa many, many years ago. The biggest, that is, until day six, but that's for another blog post. This delayed us a while as none of the kits could be weighed until the rain, hail, thunder & lightening had passed, so we settled down under the small bit of shelter available for lunch. All four of us were very prepared and rushed to put on our waterproof coats, waterproof trousers, waterproof bag covers, hats, etc etc feeling smug that we were so prepared and actually got to use what we were carrying ourselves in our 'small bags'.
There was a great buzz around the place as all the groups of climbers who were climbing with various companies were together, sharing stories of training, charities, packing and kit. Once the rain had stopped and our luggage had passed the weight in, we were back on the bus for the last 20 minute drive to Lemosho Gate - the starting point. As we approached the bus we took off all of the waterproof gear we so diligently put on (in the dry), it hadn't even got wet, but we all felt pleased that we got the opportunity to wear it - just to justify having to carry it at the bottom of our bags for the next seven days!!!
Once at Lemosho Gate the porters unloaded the kit from the top of the bus again and started distributing it evenly between them, we posed for the last photo of us looking clean and we were off - a long morning build up and in the end it all happened so quickly. We were asked to follow the guides and before I knew it I was on the mountain, we didn't even have time to pause and let the enormity of the task ahead of us sink in. No high fives, no team talk, we just started walking.
The first two days of the climb were in the rainforest. It was therefore hot, sticky and full of mysterious buzzing noises. The path was very clearly marked out but was very steep!! I know thats a silly thing to say as we were climbing a mountain but the steps were very deep for someone with legs as short as mine! It felt like each step took twice as much effort for me! It didn't take long for me to feel the difference in the air - I could feel a tightness in my chest and felt that I was panting. It didn't take long for Deo to notice either, and from then on I was 'on the watch list'.
Lemosho Gate is 2424m above sea level, we climbed 400m and ended the day at 2821m so it wasn't really a surprise we could feel the difference in the air. Todays walk was quite short at just 5.4km though so the time soon passed. There were also plenty of distractions of a furry kind en route. Monkeys Galore!! Just there, in the trees in front of us.
Getting to the Forest Camp was a welcome relief as it had actually been a very long day with all the formalities to get through. And how lovely to arrive at Camp and see your tent all up and mattress out ready for you to collapse (which we did!). On arrival at Camp we had to sign in and were then welcomed with a bowl of hot water and soap. We were all feeling sticky from the heat so a wash was just what we needed.
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And that was it - day one done, six to go. Apart from one night in the back garden, I have never slept in a tent before so I was about to embark on yet another adventure - hardcore camping. I actually hated camping. I hated that I couldn't stand up in the tent. I couldn't wash, change or anything without getting a bad back from bending. Its fair to say camping wasn't one of my highlights!!
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