It’s been three weeks now since I returned from one of the greatest adventures of my life.

Scratch that – the greatest.

It was such an extraordinary thing on every level – unlike anything I have ever experienced before– so surreal that it has taken on a dream-like quality that makes me ask myself whether or not it really happened…

But when someone asks me “so how was it then?” (and everyone does) and I start to tell them about it, it comes back to life with sparkling clarity and I remember everything.

For me though it’s impossible to sum it up in a few paragraphs – there were so many memorable moments that it’s really hard just to pick a handful out. To do it justice takes a good hour of talking through hundreds of photos.   I have done this a couple of times already, with a promise of several more, so I guess as befits my age, I prefer to share it in the old-fashioned way like a holiday snaps slideshow.

My teammates have already gone to a lot of effort to give beautifully crafted and detailed accounts of their experiences, and I can’t better their work. So instead, I will give you a selection of the things that I took away from that amazing place. They come in no particular order.

• How quickly and easily we formed into a team of people that without drama knew how to take care of each other and look out for each other.
• The importance of basic human comforts like drinking water, warmth, shelter.
• How quickly people adapt to a much less comfortable existence – using makeshift or non-existent toilet facilities; cold; no privacy; having your entire life with you in one small bag.
• Realizing how lucky we are with our comfortable lives compared with others (even though we think we are having a hard time of it).
• What a privilege it was to be able to share that amazing place with the people who live there.
• How warm and caring Whitey and the team of guides and porters were. We ended up not as a tour party of clients and staff, but like an extended family. We couldn’t have done half the things we did without them, and being part of that family that caused the camps to empty out to watch us all sing and dance was an absolute joy.
• How amazing and magnificent nature is, and how sometimes mere humans can’t and shouldn’t try to tame it.

To close this incredible chapter, I will leave you with two pieces of advice that will make you a better person.

Firstly, if ever you are given the opportunity to climb Kilimanjaro – just say “Yes”.

Secondly, when you go to use the camp toilet in the dark on the mountain, do NOT enter the hut with your head torch pointing at the ground right in front of you.

Prince William has left the mountain….