Climb day 1

I woke up buzzing for the big day! I was so excited and ready for the mountain. It was basically a day of waiting since we were such a big team and basically went up with a small army of porters. As it got closer and closer to setting off for the climb, I was getting a little bit more nervous so I ended up drinking so many cups of coffee and couldn’t stop peeing.

The drive to the Rongai Gate didn’t do me much good as there were so many bends in the road, I started to get car sick. I don’t think this helped me in regards to the climb, as I was already feeling nauseous before we begun. The closer we got to Simba Camp I was finding it hard to breathe and really wanted to throw up. Once we arrived, I was feeling really cold and I had to force myself to throw up. Dinner was nice but I was finding it hard to eat and again started to find it hard to breathe.

Overall, I was really happy with the first day despite feeling sick most of the time. Mawe told me that if I am getting affected by the altitude already it is much better for me, as I will a climatise quicker than others. Let’s hope that’s the case!

– Akinyi Obama-Manners, 19/10-21