AFRICA KILIMANJARO DESTINATIONS the clouds I


t’s 3am and I’m slumped on a rock at the side of a steep,


volcanic slope, trying to regain my energy – and the feeling in my fingers and toes (it’s -15C). I crunch my way through a frozen protein bar and try to prise open my water bottle, but it’s turned into a giant ice cube. It’s summit night on Kilimanjaro, and I’m at an altitude of 5,150 metres. We’ve been


zig-zagging our way across this frosty, scree-covered slope since midnight, and it’s starting to take its toll. But I’ve lost all concept of time. All I know is it’s cold, dark and silent. I look around for motivation – I don’t have to look far. The sky above my head is a solid blanket of stars, so bright and far-reaching I feel as if I can see the entire universe. Above me,


the moon glows a rare, iridescent gold, and behind me the jet-black, jagged silhouette of the Mawenzi peak juts up like a cardboard cut- out against the midnight blue. A trail of glittering headlights illuminates the way ahead, marking out other hikers who’ve come from far and wide, and it pushes me to go on – so much so that for a minute, I forget all thoughts of lack of sleep and


cold and physical exhaustion. There’s a sense of beauty and serenity in being here, on a silent slope so far from civilisation, and I wonder if I’ll ever be anywhere quite this remote again.


 DAWN CHORUS But there’s still five hours to go. As we continue to climb, it gets harder and harder, breaths coming shorter and faster. At


14 March 2019travelweekly.co.uk65


FAST FACT


Watch Thursday’s Comic Relief special on BBC One, where Little Mix, Ed Balls and Dani Dyer climb Kilimanjaro


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