But of course I was quickly reminded that each day is a new day with new challenges from the mountain…
Day 2 was completely different to the day before. We hiked out of the rainforest into a landscape with almost no vegetation, lots of dust, rocks and some very steep terrain.
I became fairly tense and anxious throughout the day having to climb and traverse rock faces. I was completely unfamiliar with both of these things and was pushed yet again out of my comfort zone.
So my inner chatter (you know, those little voices that have conversations in your head… and if you just said to yourself “What little voices?”, that’s exactly the chatter I am referring to) started up and became an all consuming cacophony of negativity in my mind.
Having to battle with the steep hike, the inner voices of negativity and physical exertion ended up in a fairly predictable outcome – a case of altitude sickness.
The illness started off fairly innocuously. After such a hard day (for me), as we got into camp and were greeted by our porters singing and dancing – my spirits were definitely uplifted. So I watched Adrian unpack our tent (he assured me I would just get in the way if I tried to help 😉 ) and we made it on time into the meeting tent for our debrief of the day.
Sitting in the tent, I started to feel extraordinarily warm and begun pulling off my layers (I was told later that the colour had drained from my face). At that moment Kristen from K2 Adventures pointed at me from across the tent and gestured adamantly to the opening.
I realised afterwards if she hadn’t told me to leave at that moment I most likely would have fainted had I stayed there any longer.
Kristen got me into the dining tent, sat me in a chair, elevated my feet and took my blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation. She asked me a series of questions and the most telling response was the fact that I had an extraordinary headache, worse than I had ever experienced to that point in my life and was feeling a little nauseous.
Although my stats were okay, Kristen explained that the headache and nausea were signs of altitude sickness and given my state, I would probably be best off going straight to bed and getting plenty of rest. Given I was unaccustomed to altitude (to say the least!) and the physical exertion, she surmised this was my body’s way of trying to deal with the altitude.
By this stage, Adrian had already followed me to make sure I was okay so helped me to our tent. As we left the dining tent I proceeded to vomit all over his shoes and after he helped me clean up I flopped on our sleeping mats where unbeknownst to me he had sprinkled tiny little flowers that he had gathered throughout the day and placed them in the shape of a heart – which I completely missed of course as I passed out…
So what did this day teach me? Persistence, resilience and having a team around you that supports you as you challenge your comfort zone makes an amazing difference.
Some people argue for their limitations and stay within their comfort zone. But by challenging yourself… persisting in the face of adversity and being resilient when exposed to physical and mental stress you can overcome almost anything… And of course, I’m grateful I was with my best friend, partner and husband on this journey!
Day 2 Statistics
Start: Machame Camp @ 2850m (9350 ft)
Finish: Shira 2 Camp @ 3810m (12500 ft)
Distance: 5km (3 miles)
Time: ~4-6hrs
7 Days of Leadership Lessons from Mt Kilimanjaro (Day 1)
7 Days of Leadership Lessons from Mt Kilimanjaro (Day 3)
7 Days of Leadership Lessons from Mt Kilimanjaro (Day 4)
7 Days of Leadership Lessons from Mt Kilimanjaro (Day 5)
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