Journey to Kilimanjaro

Week 1 - The Decision & Getting Started

Written by Tina Sibley in October 2021

This was a much easier and quicker decision to make than deciding to hike the Inca Trail. I pretty much decided and confirmed my decision over the weekend and booked and paid the deposit on Wednesday.

For one thing, I'm in a better place physically, mentally and emotionally than when I first began thinking about the Inca Trail.

And also - because I successfully completed the Inca Trail and Rainbow Mountain, I know I'm made of stronger stuff than I used to believe. Although Kilimanjaro is going to be much, much harder - on another level altogether - I just know that I have what it takes this time.

Saturday 9th October

Today I had a great session with my personal trainer. I started working with him a week ago, and am noticing results in how I feel already. I felt super strong and ready for anything. And while I was feeling that way, Kilimanjaro just popped into my head - as it has many times over the past year or two!

But this time, I felt ready to actually do something about it!

The first stage in taking this from idle thought to reality was voicing my thoughts and intentions to a friend while we were driving to a dance party. She thought this was a great idea and my excitement grew while I was talking about it.

Sunday 10th October

Having slept on the idea of making Kilimanjaro a reality, I began my research today. I looked at various tour operators, including the company that I went with to Machu Picchu. I also researched the best time of the year to go and the different routes. Different operators combined hiking the mountain with safari trips and also beach time in Zanzibar. Having always wanted to go on safari, that had to be a feature. Another friend had recently visited Zanzibar and the photos were out of this world, so I decided that needed to happen as well.

The best time of year seemed to be January to the beginning of March, or July to October, which is the dry seasons. Since I plan on visiting Central America in July and August, and January to March is warmer, that seemed the best option. I decided that mid to end February would give me time to prepare and still finish before the rains come (fingers crossed).

At first, it was frustrating sourcing the right trips with the right dates. In the end, I needed to go with different companies, as one company didn't cover everything I wanted to do in the same trip. So I have 3 distinct trips, using 2 different tour operators.

Intention and accountability is everything so I announced my intention on Facebook to help me consolidate my decision to actually do this.

I decided to leave my research and chill out for the evening - attempting to watch some Netflix since I chose not to dance. However, concentrating on Netflix was impossible, so I ended up watching documentaries on Kilimanjaro on YouTube instead. This strengthened my resolve to make this happen.

Monday 11th October

Tuesday 12th October

Today I decided to start hiking after taking a break from it over the summer. It's way too hot for hiking in Spain during the summer, but the weather now is cooler, so it's time to start again.

Initially, I thought I would do an all day hike. However, it was still quite warm and I was tired as I'm still adjusting to my new training regime.

Remembering my tendency to go too fast and do too much too soon, I decided that a couple of hours was probably enough - so went with a friend to hike around Pinar del Rey, a lovely woodland hiking area near San Roque. I was right to do a short hike today as I found myself really tired during the last half an hour.

Having sat on my decision for a couple of days, I decided that this is definitely going to happen so I booked my chosen route and paid the deposit. I also researched flights and realised that my flights would take over 24 hours, so I booked an extra night at the hotel in Moshi (the town we start from) to recover from the flights. Having spoken on the phone to the person taking care of me, I felt incredibly excited.

I posted on Facebook and told loads of people - no backing out now without having egg on my face!!

Today was a planned rest day, so I feasted on all the information in my itinerary and started getting to grips with what's going to be required of me. This is certainly going to be much tougher than the Inca Trail was.

Compared to how I was when I began my journey to Machu Picchu, I'm in pretty good shape!

My weight is less now than what it was when I got back from Peru. I started the week at 10st 10lb (150 lbs) and finished the week at 10st 8lbs (148 lbs). Lately I've been fluctuating between 10:12 and 10:8 so it would be great to get below 10:8 and keep going down.

My blood pressure has also been pretty stable and within normal range. At the end of September it was 125/76 so I decided to cut one of my medications which was originally prescribed to bring me below 150/90. Seeing as I'm consistently below that, I figured I don't need that particular one any more. On 12th October it measured 138/82 so slightly higher but I will keep an eye on it.

My dancing has kept me fairly fit - and I can get through several fast salsa songs without feeling too out of breath or knackered!! I now need to work on my strength, stamina and cardio in terms of hiking up steep elevation gains - and at altitude.

I want to be sensible though and not do too much too soon and get ill - like I have when starting new exercise regimes in the past.

I'm pretty pleased with my progress this week.

I've lost 2lbs in weight, have worked out, hiked and danced and I'm feeling good.

My step count is increasing:

Mon: 10,801 11 floors

Tues: 18,877 14 floors

Weds: 7,774 5 floors

Thurs: 10,752 7 floors

Fri: 10,586 3 floors

Sat: 8,752 7 floors

Sun: 7,485 5 floors