Friday, December 25, 2009

The Shell Kilimanjaro Challenge - Intro

Hi folks, welcome to the Kilimanjaro chronicles! Karibu sana, Kenya mwezi rafiki yangu!

I was privileged enough to be invited along on the Shell Kilimanjaro Challenge, a regular annual Shell event, it seems. All the participants gathered from around the globe to meet at the Marangu Hotel in Tanzania.

There was:

From Kenya:
Lazarus Muema; veteran of a previous Kili ascent as well as Mount Kenya, our group captain;
Peter Wachira; also a Kili vet;
Theuri Mwangi
Myself - Dick Morkel

From Egypt:
Sherif Maarouf

From Nigeria:
David Adeyanju

From South Africa:
Antoinette van Rooyen
Tessa Granger
Kirsty Scott
Nonto Mkhize
Dumisani Dilima and
Lynne Hannay.



Ominous but spectacular towering cumulus over Moshi as I drive through Arusha on the way to Kilimanjaro

The players started arriving from Saturday night; not without some drama. Nettie, Tessa and Dumi arrived from Cape Town via Dar Es Salaam, sans luggage. In their hand luggage they did have some kit for the ascent, and Marangu Hotel has stuff you can use if you are stuck, but the girls’ biggest concern was that they may have to come to terms with summiting not in clean underwear!

Luckily the system works and all is delivered on Sunday morning.



Delight at being reunited with their gear – LTR Nettie; Dumi; Tessa

On Sunday evening we all meet for dinner and a briefing by “doc” Desmond, the hotel manager and Kilimanjaro expert. It is thoroughly comprehensive and covers everything including what to take along and all the hazards we can expect en route and on top – including the various types of altitude sickness. We are encouraged to start taking Diamox right away.

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