Altitude Gained: 0m (1436m + 660m) currently at 3941m
(acclimatisation trek to 4236m)
If I had written this first thing this morning, I would have
concluded that the answer to my ‘question’ “ridiculous or brilliant?” posed on
the 4th February, would have been ridiculous.
We had a rough night. It was fine until 2am when Childer1
woke up for the customary night-time ‘water’ break. Unfortunately, shortly
after returning to the tent the whimpering started and stomach cramps resulted
in a trip to the long drop to lose some loose baggage. For us both. Never one
to dwell on feeling poorly though, Chidler1 noticed lights on the mountain and
the excitement of watching some adventurers making their efforts for the summit
almost (well ok not nearly) made the night-time walk about worthwhile. Our
night-time deposit helped, but after about another hour of retching, Childer1
managed to perform. She was amazing managing to keep it all within our only
plastic bag (previously held the snacks – strong piece of advice if you ever do
such a trip, take some spare plastic bags). Thankfully, this ended the ordeal
and we managed to get back to sleep at about 4am.
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"Water for Washing" - our daily ritual.
An attempt to stay clean!
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You will not be surprised to read that this morning we were
both a little washed out. The littler one definitely faring worst. Our schedule
was thrown out of the window and I let her rest a little longer. But when she
woke up, she was determined to walk so we tried to eat some breakfast. It was
pretty challenging for both of us. We ate outside, the cool air and the amazing
view looking out over the tops of the clouds covering the Kenya planes was
quite something. But, we barely made a dent in the vast spread. A small amount
of porridge and sugar was basically it for us both (I did manage a bit of fruit
and half a pancake too). We managed to leave at 9am (8am was our previous
target).
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The desolate landscape of this
tier of the Mountain.
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It did not go well. Childer1 was clearly struggling and we
stopped to rest after about just 150m of walking. We had barely left camp. The
guides were very concerned about her. They interpreted things as AMS. I was not
too sure. To me she just looked seriously fuel deplete. We had a long discussion
about the options. Their conclusion was for us to split the group, one guide
taking her back down to the bottom and me to carry on to the top. I was quite
clear that was not going to happen. I would not be leaving her on the mountain.
What happened we would do together. I spoke to her. She was adamant that she
felt ok (no headache, abdominal cramps, chest pain), just totally washed out. I
asked what she wanted to do. “Walk”. Bounty Bar (these have now definitely
plummeted in her ‘favourites’ list) plus Mento (chewy mint sweet) and with the
approval of the guides we carried on. We walked for 2hrs. Stopping regularly.
But we made up another 300m of elevation before we turned around. The guides
were ‘happy’. During this time, I also received a WhatsApp message (very scanty
reception) to say that one of our other children with my wife had also been a
little unwell following our stay in Arusha. Hmmm. Maybe we have just been
unlucky and have been carrying some bugs with us. But I am on high alert for
worsening signs of AMS. Far from ideal. It is hard enough.
Once we had turned around, Childer1 positively skipped home,
further reassuring the guides that she was not seriously unwell. I maintained
my slow trudge. When we got back, I felt better than yesterday but still below
par. Childer1 was feeling ok. But neither of us ate much lunch at all. Hmmm.
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'Pep-up-potion' comes in all forms!
This was ours today.
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We returned to the tent for some R&R. I snoozed and she
read Harry Potter on my phone (what a great decision to download that was). A
bit later, we had definitely both perked up (almost normal I would say) and
played some cards and I read to her for a bit. I went in search of hot water
for some tea and was rewarded with not just tea but the offer of some popcorn.
The beautiful sound of a pan merrily popping away ensued, and a large plate of
hot popcorn was delivered to our tent. ‘Pep-up potion’ comes in all guises and
this was definitely ours. Tea and popcorn were demolished. And we got a second
plate!
I am tentatively optimistic that we might be ok tomorrow (we
certainly would not have made it today). But it is no small ordeal. We will
need to set off at 8am for the 4-5hr, 6km leg with 800m of elevation to gain.
If we make it to the Kibo Huts basecamp, we get some food (hopefully it can be
stomached), sleep, then face a 23.30 wake up for a midnight departure for our
attempt for the summit. A gruelling 6hr, 6km steep climb in the dark gaining
1181m! I have no idea if we can do it.
Ridiculous or brilliant? Jury out. 
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