Midnight – half asleep and with the thoughts of 7 hrs of uphill shuffling ( the kili shuffle) the guys where in a dither, Stu lost his head torch, there was a glove issue and it was bloody cold to add insult to injury – Time to ‘GO’ Paul voiced out, as time had slipped by waiting for the lads to organise themselves. 7 hrs cannot be put into text especially as each step stretches only about 30cm in front of you at a time and not a lot happens during this time, the beam of one’s head torch illuminates an 8 foot existence as to whichever way your turn your head. As Clare got into her rhythm a thought she could not shake was that however hard and bad she felt in these early stages this feeling was only going to get worse as she gained altitude and she still had to get back down!!
For those who have trekked through till dawn, there is a certain magic as the skies begin to change into a magnitude of pastel colours, the first glimpse of the sunrise was viewed from Stella point as all trekkers in varying states of fatigue mulled around like restless cattle. Paul – B2B’s gentle giant then shattered the magical moment as he pointed up hill to Uhuru peak and said only 45mins away!! Twendene ( lets go ) . At this point you need mind power – the biggest battle one can face on Kili is the will to continue, physical condition is secondary and the one thing you must do is put one foot in front of the other and head on up to the summit.
The summit on most mountains is not so great as it happens, the satisfaction of reaching ones goal is what attracts thousands to Kilimanjaro every year, it is not a technical climb with the summit being reached by all ages and levels of fitness.
As Clare concluded and perhaps the lads will also after reading the last blog update for Twin Peak Challengers personal accounts, she was moved and silently pushed on by the fact that those who sponsored her also believed in Clare’s quest, one as a personal achievement in her life and secondly to assist B2B Safaris and The African Roots Foundation in bringing fresh drinking water eventually to the Esilalei Maasai Community.
Although this is the end of Twin Peaks Challenge 2010 we are still moving forward with our promise to you and the Maasai, for those who sponsored the climb and for those who continue to back this simple but needy cause. Do not fear Twin Peaks 2011 is already in the pipe line with the expedition set to commence out of Arusha on the 07th of February 2011, if remotely interested in any part of the climb profile please do not hesitate to drop us a line and we will happily shed some light as to the new re-vamped – re-worked exciting itinerary that will introduce the intrepid traveller into some of the secrets that Tanzania holds.
The next update you will be reading is live off the shelf from last week’s little recky where myself and Ingrid meet with Peter Lindstrom who offered his advise and local knowledge as to what steps we should take in tapping into the annual rain fall that flash floods every year and disappears into an inhospitable dry rocky landscape. His report and suggestions are very promising, anyone like digging holes by chance??!!! Muscle power needed in exchange for great views, great food and an opportunity to immerse oneself into Maasai culture and beliefs.
Clare, Brad and Stuart a personal shout to you all, thanks for stepping forth and leading the first ever Twin Peak Challenge “Climb for water expedition”, we hope that there will be others like you that will also come forward to take the 2011 challenge to reach their own personal goals and assist us along with the Maasai in reaching ours.














