Summit Update 3 - Everyone is Safe

Beaker relaying message from Donna hot off the international wire service..........

Sharkie, Craig and Brad are back safely. They are like zombies and very emotional (as are we all) but we are feeding them up now and giving them a little rest before our next 5 hour walk. It is snowing really heavy now.

Donna.

Summit Update 2 - On Top of the World

Firstly, to all our loved ones, everyone is safe.

Not sure how to explain to you all back home exactly what summit night was like. We left camp at 11:30pm - we were at 4600 metres and we starting hiking up. It was very cold and as we were walking on ice, it got to a point where we couldn't feel our toes or fingers and they were really stinging.

There was no rest from the relentless climb and wind and all around you there is the sound of people throwing up as they try to push on a little further while fighting the altitude sickness. We even saw a young lady who was so bad that they had her wrapped in a thermal blanket and she was incoherent. I hope they got her to the bottom OK.

Dave and Ash got to about 4900 metres and had to turn back as they were just too sick. Ali was throwing up the whole way while fighting a killer headache but she decided to push on.

We broke into into 2 groups as some were quicker than others. So Moses, Gail, Linda and Jude took off in front of Mary, Ali, Craig, Brad, Sharkie and myself.

The higher you get the thinner the air gets and every step up sucks your energy. I started really getting sick around 5300 metres but soldiered on. By the time we reached 5500 metres I was just too sick. My chest was so tight, I was really nauseous, I had the worst headache and I was completely drained. I made the decision that I couldn't go on when the guide told us we still had at least another 3 hours before we would reach the summit.

As Gidian was taking me down the mountain and that left only one more guide, Ali and Mary made the hard decision that they would also come down as they were unsure if they could go on for the last 3 or so hours. Ali had been doing it tough for hours and Mary was totally drained (what an inspiration they both were).

As there was only one guide left with our group, Brad, Craig and Sharkie had to make an "all or nothing effort". If one of them got sick, they would all need to come down, otherwise they were all somehow going to get to the top.

So after 6 hours of hiking myself, Ali, Mary and Gidian turned around and made the long trip back to camp to meet up with Dave and Ash and wait for the others.

Linda, Jude, Moses and Gail all managed to reach the summit and got back to camp very weary at about 10am.

We are still waiting on Sharkie, Brad and Craig to get back to camp. Once everyone gets in we still have to do another 5 hour hike today to go to our next camp site as there is no food or water left here at the Camp we were in last night - the Porters have already moved to the next Camp, so we have no choice but to go there as well. I really hope we are up to it.

Thank you all for your support. I don't think anyone has let you down. We all climbed Kilimanjaro, just not all of us got to the summit. I will blog again once the last three boys get here safely.

Love Donna

Summit Update

Message from Donna via Beaker:

5 of us had to come down off the mountain because of severe sickness. 7 still trying to make the summit. More details to come - a horrendous night....

Donna.

One small step for Mankind - one giant step for Camp Quality

Beaker - your foreign correspondent reporting in for Donna once again:

Well here we are on Day 5.

Mary and I had an interesting night last night. Mary woke me at some stage during the night and said "hey Donna, it's raining". The rain only lasted for a couple of seconds though and on a closer look, we realised that it was not rain, but in fact one of the porters peeing on our tent!! I am sure it was accidental, he was probably half asleep and just didn't realise where he was aiming!! We laughed ourselves back to sleep ....

We left camp at 8:30am and have just arrived now at High Camp at 12 noon. Today we were walking through snow for the last 1/2 hour and it has become very cold. Soon we will have lunch, then we sleep until they wake us at 10pm tonight so that we are ready to leave camp to head to the summit.

They think it will take us about 10 hours. Everyone is feeling OK at the moment except for a few headaches. It is going to be a huge night.

Now is the time for all of you at home to will us to the top. Mentally, this trip has been harder than Kokoda on many days. Thank goodness we are with such an awesome group. They are all such amazing people.

We have 55 porters with us on this trip and they all carry all the gear on their heads. They are incredible. They go past with tables, gas bottles, tents, food etc all balanced on their heads.

Katie our guide from Chessell Adventures has been awesome and is really keeping morale up. Next time you hear from me it will hopefully to say that we have all reached the summit!

By the way Pete is doing fine now - he is back at the motel.

Hugs to you all,

Donna.

Almost on Top of the World

Beaker here again on behalf of Donna..........

Today we climbed up again and then we climbed down a little for tonights camp. It seems cruel to get us to climb up, then back down, knowing we will have to go back up again in the morning.
Apparently this helps us climatise by coming back down lower to sleep.

Insert Beakers Comments -

Oh, The climbers of Camp Quality,
They were a total of 12;
They hiked up to the top of a hill,
And hiked back down again.

And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down

Everyone seemed to cope well with the altitude today except for poor Ali who got a terrible headache and then threw up. She made it into camp, had a nice hot meal and is feeling heaps better now. Maybe it is our packed lunch making her feel unwell - we are not sure what we are eating - it looks like chicken but seems smaller and the guys have given it the name of "road kill". It has not been refrigerated at all but still seems to taste okay. Every meal around here involves eggs. You always get a boiled egg or too with your lunch box !!

Pete and Ruth have arrived down safely after about 7 hours and are safely in the hotel. (Beakers comments: "hopefully enjoying a nice relaxing spa")

Tomorrow is summit day and is going to be exhausting. We will hike up for about 5 hours then have something to eat and a little sleep before leaving for our attempt at the summit at 11pm that same night.

Mary has been our inspiration, she is just amazing. She has acquired the name of Princess Mary!! It started off as Princess Pain Away because of her Sponsor being Pain Away and has now been shortened to Princess Mary. The Porters have even gotten in on the fun and are calling her Princess Mary as they pass her on the track.

Mary has developed a great relationship with one the porters known as Mac. He has really taken her under his wing and tells her when to drink, stop, rest, walk and eat !!

Hugs,

Donna

News from the side of the Mountain

Beaker here again......

It is 8:00am on Day 4 and unfortunately Pete's condition has not improved overnight and he is going to be taken down by a couple of the porters today - it will take them about 9 hours. It was quite scary seeing the condition he was in, not recognising people and being so disorientated. Ruth has struggled with what to do. Part of her wants to go on because her and Pete made a pact that that is what they would do if one of them got sick, but of course the other part of her doesn't want to leave him and so after a restless night she has decided she is is going with him.

Jude will take their sponsors flags and the photo of Dan and Ben and one way or another either Jude or one of us will get them to the top.

We have all said our farewells to them this morning and are all somewhat deflated knowing their climbing attempt has had to come to an end. The rest of us are pressing on but are of course sad that they wont be joining us.

Donna. xx

The Next Step

Beaker here again on behalf of Donna as Mt. Kilimanjaro is not being tech friendly to our climbers as service and signal is very limited.

Today has been horrendous.....

We started hiking at 8:30am and got into camp at 5:30pm after only a 30 minute break. It seemed like it was never going to end.

We climbed to 4,600 metres and the altitude really played havoc with us all. Ash, Ali and in particular Pete were really sick and everyone had headaches. It feels like you have been hit by a mack truck. The air is so thin and you are exerting yourself so much as you climb.

It is so great that when you get into Camp of a night the porters have your tents set up and a bowl of water waiting for you to wash your face and hands. Pete stumbled into Camp in a complete daze and had to literally be carried to his tent. Katie has administered some medication to him as they think he is suffering from hyperthermia or altitude sickness. They are going to check on him throughout the night. We have all had dinner and are about to go to bed exhausted and nervous about whether we will have the energy to get through tomorrow!

What a great bunch of people I am with - everyone is helping each other and I am sure that will get us through.

By the way a very happy birthday to my beautiful sister Sharon and also to Oscar and Jarrod.

Until next time,

Donna Down

Our first Camp

Beaker adding for Donna Down due to limited internet coverage:

Arrived at our camp safely. Now at 3000 metres. Couple of the trekkers were sick but everyone OK now they are in camp.

Our Porters had our tents set up and hot tea and coffee with popcorn waiting for us. Mary and I are sharing a tent (thank goodness) as we can help each other in and out!! The sleeping bags are really cosy.

Hopefully will have more internet access higher up the mountain.

Donna. xx

Day 1 of the Climb

Oh my goodness the day has finally arrived.

We are all sitting in the lobby of our hotel waiting for our guide and the bus to come. Everyone is excited and nervous. We are all keen just to get going now.

We will have about an hour and a half bus trip to reach the Gate where the climb will start. That is where we will meet the rest of our porters, fill our water bottles and get our packed lunch for the day. Who knows what lies ahead of us?

Stay tuned!

Hugs,

Donna.

A Whole New Day

Morning everyone,

It is 10.10 a.m. here in beautiful Arusha. We all got a fantastic night's sleep - fatigue definately kicked in, and we have all shared a wonderful breakfast. Everyone looks really refreshed this morning and are excited, but also a little scared about what lies ahead.

Our guide Sylvano is meeting us here at the Motel at 11.00 a.m. for our trip briefing and hopefully with Linda's lost luggage!! Even if they don't locate Linda's luggage, between the lot of us we will all share our gear around with her and will just have to purchase some boots for her in town today - but it will all work out, and she is staying very calm about the whole thing (on the outside at least).

After our briefing today we are going to head into the Masai Markets for a bit of a look around and basically just take it very easy today to prepare for what lies ahead first thing tomorrow.

If all goes well, I will be blogging tomorrow from the mountain (oh my goodness).

Luv to you all at home,

Donna.