Back from Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar

Posted on January 25, 2006 in ClimbingKilimanjaroSport

I’m back from a rather enjoyable 2 week break spent in Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The main purpose of the trip was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and then relax and recuperate in Zanzibar.

Uhuru Peak - Mount Kilimanjaro, TanzaniaThe climb was an experience of a lifetime and I enjoyed most of the days with the exception of day 5 – Summit day. I didn’t make it all the way to the top, myself and Pierre got to 5,431m and had to turn back because of altitude sickness. The remaining 9 out of the 11 team members made it to Gillmans Point which is on the crater rim at 5,681m (I missed Gillmans Point by 250m). Still, I’m happy that I made it to the 5,400m mark which is officially classified as extreme altitude i.e. only 50% oxygen - Everest base camp is 5,360m so at least I know I can make it that far!!

Of the team of eleven, two made it to the true peak, Uhuru (5,895m) the rest of the team decided to turn back at Gillman’s point as most of them were suffering from the effects of the altitude. The summit climb on day 5 was pretty much a puking contest all the way up and down, not particularly great fun although apparently quite normal at the altitudes we were at.

I’ll be writing a day by day account of the trip over the next couple of weeks but in the mean time I’ve uploaded plenty of pics to Flickr as follows:

I’ve also created a Google Earth KML for Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Also check out all the Kili links I’ve accumulated to date on del.icio.us.


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Comments:

Sure, just make ensure there’s appropriate affiliation to this site.

Posted by Richard Byrom on February 25, 2006 at 06:59 PM | #


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