The twin prop plane that took us from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro Airport
First glimpse of Kili from the plane
View of Kili from the plane
View across the plains of the Serengeti as we're coming in to land in Tanzania
The little twin prop plane!
Me and some cones at Kili International
View from the hotel
The hotel
A stuffed creature at the top of the stairs!
Us mooching around outside the hotel on the first afternoon there
Pretty flowers
The hotel hidden in the trees
View taken while on a walk on that first day
Spot the bananas!
Negotiating the stream on the walk
The stream in a wooded valley
A waterfall
Dean posing by the waterfall
The waterfall again
Everyone looks so interested and awake!
View of Mawenzi from the hotel - Kili has two peaks, Mawenzi and Kibo. We climbed Kibo.
Local people's accommodation
The local butcher's shop (see the carcass hanging out in front!?)
Checking in at the Marangu Park Gate reception
Still looking smiley and clean before the walk
Team photo!
A glimpse of Kibo through the rainforest
Trekking up through the forest
The path
Mandara Huts - accommodation for our first night on the mountain
Me at Mandara Huts
Spot the monkeys in the trees
Another monkey
View of Mawenzi from our acclimatisation walk to the Maundi Crater
Another view of Mawenzi
Me at Mandara Huts again
Roomies for the first night (lucky Dean!)
Mandara Huts
Team diary writing!
Trying to sort the chaos the following morning
Views from Mandara over the clouds
Preparing for the walk ahead - it took about 100 porters, guides and cooks to look after our group of 33
The path through the forest on the second day's walk
First view of both peaks together, Kibo on the left, Mawenzi on the right
Me again
Having a water stop and a general faff around
Walking along the path towards Horombo Huts
An example of the size of packs the porters carried for us - amazing
First really good view of Kibo - it still looks a long way away
Another water and mars bar break - Dean looking like some sort of highwayman!
Still en route to Horombo Huts
Red hot poker
Craig and Stu
Ruth looking like a bandit!
Another exotic looking plant
A lizard! Pretty much the only wildlife we saw on the whole trek
First view of Horombo Huts
Dr Rob - or should that be 'Where's Wally' with that hat?!
Me at Horombo Huts
View from Horombo Huts
Jane looking cold at Horombo
Horombo hut interior
Sunset at Horombo
We got up at 6.15am just to go and see this beautiful sunrise
How cold and tired do I look?!
The sunrise at Horombo
Mawenzi peak
Me, Dean, Ruth and Mawenzi
An acclimatisation walk on day 3 to the Zebra Rocks (Dave looks thrilled to be there!)
The girls and Rob at the Zebra Rocks
The boys at the Zebra Rocks
Zebra Rocks
Our first clear view of Kibo from the ridge above Zebra Rocks
The view of Kibo from the ridge above Zebra Rocks
No idea why I look like I've conquered it, as I clearly haven't yet at this point!
Jane washing her feet in the stream (hope nobody used that for drinking water further down!)
Me with clean hair! Worth taking a photo of as it was the closest thing to a shower that I had all week!
Giant cacti at Horombo Huts
General chatting and chilling in the sunshine
A very competitive game of cards
Simon and Stu
Simon and me (we look like we're going skiing with those poles!)
The last waterpoint
'We're going up there!'
Kibo peak
I still have no idea what they were doing - suggestions anyone?
My turn to look like a bandit We covered our faces that day because the path threw up a lot of dust
Trekking across the saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo
En route to Kibo Huts
Practicing walking in single file on the acclimatisaion trek on day 5
Looking back down to Kibo huts on the acclimatisation trek with smoke from a forest fire just covering Mawenzi
Communal living at Kibo
Gemma has the right idea
Luke and Will getting ready for the final ascent at 9.30pm on day 5
Jane also getting ready for the trek to the summit
Me looking a bit nervous just before we left for the summit
The summit of Kilimanjaro! I stood there at 6.35am on Thursday 27th September and watched the sunrise
I didn't come all this way just to get the one photo!
Views across the crater
The glacier at the summit
Looking back up towards the summit - it was pretty crowded
View across the glacier and across Tanzania
Heading back to Kibo Huts - see Mawenzi below the horizon line now, with smoke from the forest fire still coming across
One last look from Gilmans Point across the crater up to the summit
Looking knackered at Gilmans Point
Chris (on the left) sleeping briefly at Gilmans Point
Yep, definitely exhausted by this stage
One more view across the crater
Mawenzi, the forest fire smoke, and people scree surfing down towards the bottom of the picture
After just 2 hours rest, we packed up and walked the 3 hours back to Horombo Huts for the night.
Nielen and Ruth walking back to Horombo Huts
Back at Horombo Huts which are a lot busier than when we left!
Horombo Hut
Horombo
Morning stretching exercises which looked very funny and made the porters laugh at us!
Morning exercises
Me and a last look at Kibo
Views on the way back to Mandara Huts
The path back down
Me in the welcome shade of the forest again
Bit of product placement here! It was nice to drink something other than water for a change!
Relaxing at Mandara Huts for a lunch break
Relaxing at Mandara Huts
Relaxing at Mandara Huts (too much exposed flesh guys!!)
Last bit of the trek back down to Marangu Park Gate
Crossing the finish line!!
Oli, me and Will (check out the height difference!!)
The boys
The girls
Ruth, Gemma, the Doc, Nielen and Chris
Deano and the Doc
Just polishing off the smallest glass of champagne ever
Our guides
The entire team of porters, guides and cooks
The result of too many brandys - that doesn't look comfortable! Waiting at 4am at Kilimanjaro airport
Gemma and Chris, bored and waiting for the airport to open
Craig trying to sleep in an equally uncomfortable looking position
Final view of sunrise over Kibo from the plane
Mombasa street scene - photo taken en route from the airport to the Oxfam project we were visiting
Mombasa street scene
A small church on the way out to the Oxfam village project
The water project - hand dug permanent water supply for the village
Small garden growing mainly Kale, irrigated by the small lake
The women of the village
Some of the villagers showing us what vegetables they are able to grow
Me with some of the villagers
The village
The girl's choir at the Oxfam WEMA project
Three kids doing their best to steal the choir's limelight!
Three slightly better behaved kids!
A plaque explaining that the building was constructed with contributions from Oxfam
Deano, me and Nielen with some of the girls
Me and Emily and Amina
Emily, Mildred and Amina, my guides round the WEMA project
Saying goodbye to the girls at the WEMA project
