Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, Africa’s highest peak stands at a not-insignificant 5,895 metres above sea level. Kilimanjaro sits near to Arusha and is the backdrop for incredible photo opportunities with elephants walking through the plains of the Amoseli National Park, whilst the snow-capped peaks of Kilimanjaro can be seen in the background.

I previously had the opportunity to climb and attempt to reach the summit of this mighty mountain and seized this opportunity with both hands. Amongst a group of friends we made our way to Moshi, one of the typical stopping off points before starting an ascent of Kilimanjaro. The ascent and descent vary in time taken depending which of the routes you might be best trying to tackle, our guide was going to be helping us climb up (and down) the Machame route, the most popular route of Kilimanjaro, typically taking six or seven days in total, affording beautiful scenery and a range of environments from the tropical canopies of the first day to the barren slopes around Lava Tower.

The climb of Kilimanjaro started at the Machame Gate found at the southern point of the base of Kilimanjaro. It’s surprisingly vibrant around the entrance point to Kilimanjaro with authentic and some less-authentic goods on sale from local traders and stalls, I’d advise opting for a coca-cola or water but nothing more – what comes up must come down and you can pick up any souvenirs and trinkets you like at the end. There’s the park’s guidance and warning on display at the entrance gate, personally I think the last point was most important: pack all trash and leave the park as clean as you found it!

The first day’s walk entails weaving up and through a thick, lush, green forest canopy with a partially stepped trail leading the way through the trees and mist. Raymond our guide instructs us to adopt the ‘Pole Pole’ way of walking ‘Slowly Slowly’ so he says, after all altitude is one of the key players when it comes to failed summit attempts. A day of hiking through the lush forest-scape with the sounds of monkeys echoing through the treetops and our sights set on our camp for the night setup at an altitude just shy of 3,000 metres. This is the altitude at which typically altitude sickness can start to come into play.

Day two sets off after a breakfast of porridge to fill us up with energy for the day ahead, vegetation is still present but the forest canopies have given way to more rugged looking landscape, more resilient to the ever rebalancing composition of the air as we ascend further and further finishing the day at just over 3,800 metres. The third day was the worst day for the majority of the group, whilst the sun shone, and we glimpsed the snowy glacier of the top from afar, it was sharp shock to the system of getting into the greater realms of high altitude trekking.

Day three we headed up to the barren areas of the ‘Lava Tower’, a volcanic plug used for acclimatisation commonly on the Machame route, we were now in the realms of 4,600 metres altitude and the majority of the group was feeling the effects, from dehydration like symptoms to upset stomachs, in some way or another most failed to remain on ‘top form’. Luckily respite comes as Lava Tower is not the end point of the day, but adhering to the classic climbers maxim of climb high, sleep low; Barranco Camp at 3,976 metres altitude was the resting point for the night. Whilst the lingering effects of altitude wore off through the night, high winds refused to allow too much sleep, but the spectacular views upon waking in the morning did make up for it.

Despite tired limbs, the ever changing landscape of Kilimanjaro kept our spirits high and conversations turned to the ambition of the final ascent. Day four began with watching the sun come up above the clouds, a relatively short day with some stunning views above the cloud line and an incredible spread put on for lunch on the side of the mountain. The landscape really was awesome, lush lower vegetation changed to desert like arid landscapes with scrambling sometimes needed to get up to the last bit of a climb.

Day five was meant to be a relatively uncomplicated climb to Barafu Camp, with ‘just’ 4 kilometres of hiking from the Karanga Camp at 3,995 metres to finish the day at 4,673 metres. However various complications and a slower than desired pace meant that the day became a little longer than anticipated. The mesmerising views of the Kibo Crater kept us going, along with the fact that tomorrow we would attempt to summit the highest mountain on the continent! By this point appetites had waned and it was somewhat a conscious decision to force oneself to eat as we knew at midnight we would be up to attempt to get to the Uhuru Peak for sunrise!

At around half-past midnight on our sixth day on Kilimanjaro we woke and dressed in as many layers as we could find, temperatures were shockingly low and all the party felt the cold at this stage! Today was a big day, not only because of the fact that it was summit day, but the figures speak for themselves: wake-up in the middle of the night at Barafu Camp (4,673 metres altitude), ascend to an altitude of 5,895 metres for sunrise (Uhuru Peak), then rapidly descend almost 3,000 metres altitude to Mweka Camp (3,068 metres).

In the dark of the night, equipped with a head torch, every item of clothing I physically had on the mountain and a bag of Percy Pigs in pocket, I was ready to take on the final ascent of Mount. Kilimanjaro! For what felt like more than just a few hours we trekked upwards, all feeling the effects of the altitude. Conversation was not exactly flowing amongst the group, with most concentrating on getting to the top.

Feelings of exhaustion and tiredness a common theme, but determination being the most common of all, mental strength proved to be just as important as physical. We began to feel the warmth of the sun and before we knew it, it was sunrise, we hadn’t quite made it to the top yet, the strenuous gravel switchback climb to the crater rim and Stella Point complete, we had under an hour to go! The Percy Pigs came in handy at this point, energy levels were low, but I was unbelievably happy to have made it this far with just an hour to go, watching the sun come up over Africa from almost its highest point was truly one of the most magical experiences in the world. After an hour of clambering fuelled by Percy and Pals we stood atop the highest mountain of Africa, exhausted and elated.

You might think it anticlimactic to be faced with a long and relatively uninspiring desert-like landscape as hiking terrain after reaching the highest point. But coming down from 5,895 metres altitude having accomplished a huge feat and gaining higher levels of oxygen in the air with each descending step, the feeling of elation continued and the whole group finally had their appetites fully back and were ravenous by the end of the day!

The final day of descending was a blur, we were suddenly down to 3,000m and descending back to the entrance to the mountain and the gates below. Rejuvenated from a good night’s sleep and lungs full of oxygen what was meant to be a 3-4 hour descent rapidly turned into a scramble, come jog, down Kilimanjaro through the lush green canopies again, with the time halved. The final day was over in a flash and we had time to sit with a coca-cola in hand, trade stories with our guides and do a little souvenir shopping before the rest of the group arrived for obligatory photos before heading on to Moshi, the Ngorongoro crater and finally Zanzibar to rest weary legs on golden sands.