 Gus at the Summit. |
PN’s Editor in Chief Gus Cairns climbed Kilimanjaro in August, accompanied by Mark Watson, Croydon councillor and manger of uk.gay.com, and Roger Goode, PN’s former news editor. They got to the top and are back safely. Gus says:
“Climbing ‘Kili’ is not something I’d recommend if you want a relaxing holiday. The seven-day trek involved getting extremely tired, cold and grubby. In addition, there are the effects of altitude on this near-20,000 foot peak. I came off relatively lightly: a few headaches and some dizziness at the top, but poor Mark staggered semi-delirious up the last 1,000 feet (he revived at the top).
 The whole team |
“My HIV status and taking my medication was not a problem at all, though I did double my daily Imodium dose to avoid having to use the disgusting campsite loos too often!
 Mar, Roger and guide descending |
“We were accompanied by eight porters and our guides Isaac and Fred, two really cool dudes who, when not climbing, are local coffee farmers. They organised a considerable logistical effort and made sure we didn’t come to grief. Every time we tried to get too butch and exert ourselves, which at altitude results in your heart racing like you’ve run a marathon, they’d say ‘Pole, pole’ - slowly, slowly in Swahili. Tribute is also due to the porters who sweated up the same trail as us with mountainous loads on their heads. On our return the guides presented us with certificates for our valour.
 The guides present Gus with a certificate after the trek. |
“The scenery is stunning, almost unworldly. You walk up through lush jungle and then a wood of 20-foot heather, then through moorland spectacularly covered in flowers and primitive-looking Senecio trees, and finally over a boulder-strewn volcanic wasteland. You do the last 1,000-metre climb at night, cold, but magical, and emerge at sunrise into the Martian beauty of the crater, a rust-red desert strewn with elaborate icebergs, 10,000 feet above the clouds.
“Our sponsors have been more than generous, and we’d like to thank
every one of you. The PN/gay.com pages so far have raised £1,612.75 and
Mark’s Croydon council page has raised £735.07, with more promised.
So far this means £1,057.39 each to UKC and ActionAid’s Stepping
Stones project, and £251.02 to Cameron House Aids hospice in Croydon.
“We’d also like to thank Tribes - see www.tribes.co.uk - who set up the trip and smoothed through the bureaucracy.”
