IN THE SPOTLIGHT: INDUSTRY TEAM CLIMBS MOUNT KILIMANJARO


From left: Sam Conway, Mail Metro Media; Leah Whitfield, G Adventures; Andy Harmer, Clia UK & Ireland; Miles Morgan, Miles Morgan Travel; Jacqueline Dobson, Barrhead Travel;


Tanya Airey, Sunway Travel; Lucy Huxley, Travel Weekly; Chris Mottershead, Barrhead Travel; Brian Young, G Adventures; Stu Darnley, G Adventures; and Lisa McAuley, dnata Travel


Lucy Huxley was pushed to her limits as part of a travel industry team, led by G Adventures, who trekked up Africa’s highest peak for charity


“Pain is just for today... victory is forever.” This was the motto, imparted often by our Kilimanjaro guides, to motivate us to the summit of the world’s tallest free-standing mountain. I can’t deny it spurred us on. A group of 11 travel industry stalwarts had flown


to Tanzania with G Adventures, on a #GTrekForGood endeavour, organised by EMEA managing director Brian Young. We arrived on November 24…bang in the middle of the rainy season. And boy, did it rain. The next five days were dominated by torrential


downpours, damp tents and wet clothes. Well, wet everything. It was relentless. Drying clothing was impossible, and we started to worry about ‘summit night’, when temperatures would drop to -20C. Being wet would be the last thing anyone needed. But we had four days of trekking before that – ‘the


easy bit’, according to people who had climbed Kili (they clearly did it in the summer!). We met our G Adventures guides – Brunno, Sayeed, Sam, Gipson and Gerard – at Machame Gate, at 1,800m. The ‘CEOs’ (chief experience officers) were accompanied by James our ‘stomach engineer’ (chef), and 20 ‘G-Fighters’ – the porters who carried our tents, gear, food and beloved chemical toilet – to each camp.


Dressed in purple G Adventures bibs and beanies, they welcomed us with African songs and dancing. It was impossible not to join in and we were upbeat as we headed into the rainforest for a seven-mile hike to Machame Camp at 2,835m. The first night was the worst. The shock of being alone in my tent, the rain hammering down, Brian snoring loudly nearby and the need to get up to pee every hour (a side-effect of anti-altitude sickness tablets), was not a great recipe for sleep. But most of the group had a rough night. It’s funny how you feel better when you know everyone else is also suffering! The next day, the rain came down in biblical


proportions. The trail was steep and rocky, requiring us to scramble up wet boulders or attempt to cross fast- flowing rivers via slippery rocks. Barrhead Travel’s Chris Mottershead slid right in. It must have been freezing, but he was remarkably good-natured about his unplanned swim and drenched boots. I’m not sure I would have been! Shira Cave Camp, at 3,750m, was cold and bleak. Another night of torrential rain ensued – but I discovered the miracle of putty earplugs and a Shewee. My mood was lifted by waking up to sunshine – and


our first view of the snowy beast we were climbing – as we set off on the 4.3-mile trek to Lava Tower Camp. This


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19 DECEMBER 2019


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