Wednesday September 24, 2003
For dinner last night we had pasta, vegetables and fried chicken. I did not feel like eating very much – my appetite is definitely disappearing.
We are currently at Kibo Hut, and just finished a small lunch.
The walk here was not difficult – 3 hours, but not steep – but I do now feel a bit light-headed and headachey. I am going to try to sleep until dinner.
There is a large crowd here of people going up and people coming down. A group of 10 English people that we camped with on our first night summited last night (doing a 5 day trek rather than 6). 9 made it to the crater rim at Gilman’s Point, but only 1 made it to the top of the mountain at Uhuru Peak. Not very good odds! They are expecting up to 100 climbers to be summiting tonight.
Gilman’s Point looks pretty close, but it is steep. Many of the Brits were dizzy and vomiting. Snow is visible lower down the mountain here. Stephen says that as recently as 10-15 years ago, the snow was down as low as 3600m. Now, during the dry season and on the dry side of the mountain, we still can’t see very much of it.
On the walk today we passed buffalo tracks. They climb up the mountain in search of the minerals in the earth. We also saw jackal tracks; they eat mountain rodents. A few days ago, I asked Stephen how many of his climbers make it to Gilman’s Point, and he told me 99%. Today, halfway between Third Cave and Kibo Hut, I asked him if some people would already have turned back; and his reply was “Oh yes, lots!” So I’m not quite sure what to believe.
Cook Family Travels 