Mount Kili Interview

Last month one of my close friends Olivia Dand was one of 34 out of 40 students who climbed and reached the top of Kilimanjaro for charity.  I interviewed Olivia shortly after her trip to learn about her best and worst parts of her climb, what it felt like to finally get to the top, and the question I’ve been dying to ask, where do they actually go to the toilet?

So Olivia, you climbed Kilimanjaro last month with your University (The University of Southampton), was this a compulsory trip or did you choose to do it yourself?

Yes, I chose to do it myself. There were six universities that did it overall; it was with a company called Student adventures. The trips run all summer so when 1 set of Universities come back another 1 goes. There are constantly people climbing the mountain back and forth.

How did you train for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro?

You can’t really train for altitude as there’s nowhere in the UK high enough where you can feel that kind of altitude. I just made sure my fitness was good, if I was going to fail on reaching the top I would have wanted it to be due to altitude not because of my fitness. I trained at the gym constantly up to the date of the climb and just a week before I did the London to Brighton cycle.

So how long did it actually take you to reach the top?

It took us 6 days altogether. 4 and a half to go up, that was including the summit and 1 and a half to go back down.

And how was the summit for you?

It was the best and worst experience of my life. It was brutal. You’re just so exhausted with all the walking for 6 hours in the pitch black but when the sun finally rose it was great.

Sounds amazing! Congratulations on reaching the top.

Was the descent much easier than the ascent?

I found the descent harder than the ascent because I was constantly putting pressure on my knees. Going up the mountain is so slow that is exhausting but not painful, whereas coming back down was painful. I was so dizzy and exhausted from the first few days I felt like I was drunk, I had to be piggy backed from the top back down to base by one of the porters that worked in the mountains.

How funny!

 And what was the weather like?

We were so lucky with the weather, it was beautiful.  As you are so high up you go through different weather systems. The first dsy was very humid and sticky, then by the second day we were above the clouds. You go through so many levels of clouds so it gets very cold, very quickly. As soon as your above the clouds it is extremely cold.

I bet it is, and was there any bad weather at all?

On the third night there was a hurricane. We were camping in Baranca camp and suddenly some of the tents were flying everywhere. Also, the roof of the toilet flew off and nearly hit our head guide, so we were told to stay in our tents whilst the guides put rocks on our tents to ground them.

Was it scary?

I was quite scared yes. You could hear the wind getting closer and then further away, there were periods of it so you were just kind of waiting for the next bit of wind to hit. My friend and I just decided to stay in our tent and sing songs.

Good idea. Did you get any injuries or sickness during the climb?

Yes, I got really bad altitude sickness. On summit night I was passing out and being sick, I was practically dragged to the top by a mountain porter.

So where did you go to the bathroom and how did you dispose of your rubbish?

Ha-ha. We went to the toilets at each base camp, there were portable toilets and as for our rubbish, none of it could be left. You weren’t allowed to leave traces of yourself so the porters and the guides disposed of your rubbish or you kept it with you until the end of the trip.

I had to ask ha-ha. So, what was the feeling like when you finally get to the top of Kilimanjaro?

Surreal!  After preparing for a year and finally standing there at the highest point of Africa it felt so surreal. It was crazy I could see the Earth curve around. I felt relieved and overwhelmed and the views were amazing, but then it dawned on me I had to go all the way back down.

Wow! And what was your best memory of the whole trip?

All of it was amazing even the worst times, but my highlight was the summit night. It was freezing and even our bottles of water had frozen and with 6 long hours walking in the pitch black it was tough but when the sun rose at 6am and you could finally see where you was walking it was an amazing feeling. It was overwhelming and emotional, even some of the boys cried. I think it was just where everyone was realising they were nearly at the top and the sights were just so beautiful.

How much money did you raise and for what charity?

The charity was the Meningitis Research Foundation and as an individual I raised £2,500.

That’s incredible! And finally, would you do it again and also would you recommend other people to do it?

Definitely! I have got a lot of other things planned that I would like to do such as the Great Wall of China and the Everest Base Camp Trek so I am not in a rush to do it again but I would love to clim Kilimanjaro again one day. It has inspired me to do many more things which I am looking forward to but I would definitely recommend people to do it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Well I think that’s all thank you Olivia, Congratulations in raising that much money for charity and for reaching the top and good luck with your future experiences.  

 On the Kilimanjaro trip the students made over £110,000 between them for the Meningitis Research Foundation as well as achieving a massive personal experience of climbing a mountain and witnessing the highest point in Africa. Sadly, 6 students didn’t reach the top however still raised a lot of money for charity and will have the memories with them for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations, all.