We are back at the hotel, after a week I can’t describe with words. We couldn’t send our blogs while on the mountain, but I stored some drafts on my phone, which I want to share with the world now. They are more or less unedited and some in German, some in English. Feel free to use a translation service online, e.g. deepl.com

Here comes the rain again…

We’re doing this hike at the end of rainy season. So obviously, there was some rain to be expected, and there is. Lots. On days one and two it started right when we reached the camp. Our guides have a very good feeling for it and adjust our schedule accordingly. They know it in their hearts, or head, guide Whitey says. And then it rained heavily during night 2. My tent leaked, but nothing bad happened. Now in camp 3, the third cave camp at 3800m they simply assigned me another one.

Our day three hike started off dry, but the rain caught us quickly and we got to sport our waterproofs. It was a nice and steady walk though with a constant but not too heavy rain during the second third of the way. And when we reached camp, the sun smiled at us and we put our stuff out to try. Not for more than 15 minutes though before the nasty rain was back. We found ourselves trapped in the mess tent again, freezing and waiting for lunch. Bit of a demotivational moment for all of us. Luckily the food and some hot drinks and dirty jokes brought our spirits back. It’s still raining while I write this blog in my tent…

Toilet talk

When talking about Kili, the toilet situation comes up in almost every discussion. Also, we were told, that there would be a lot of toilet talk when on Kili. And yes, we got there very quickly. It’s day 2 and all limits seem to have passed already. Starting from many unplanned toilet breaks on the bus rides and male peeing right outside the bus to pee bottle talks and searching for that one little bush you can barely hide behind before exposing yourself. But somehow, you just don’t care anymore.

What I learned today: when there’s a bug in your pants you don’t shy away from taking down your pants in front of everyone. And: the port-a-loos actually do work well, when you pull the drawer out first…

Weihnachten bin ich zu Haus

… aber ein bisschen Weihnachten und Zuhause ist auch auf dem Kili.

Zum einen mit meinem geliebten Last Christmas und Roy Black (liebe Grüße an meine Mama) auf der Playlist oder mit den Glühwein-Bonbons und gebrannten Mandeln vom Hanauer Weihnachtsmarkt. Mit dem Mini-Adventskalender, den mir meine Nichte Sarah am Mittwoch noch mit auf den Weg gegeben hat, den vom besten Ehemann der Welt gebackenen Plätzchen und dem Lebkuchenherz, das im Hotel auf mich wartet. Weihnachten ist also überall und ich freue mich schon, wenn ich dann mit allen meinen Lieben feiern kann. Nach vollendeter Mission.

Weihnachten bin ich zu Haus!

More to come…