Day 5 was a short one and although we got off to a late start from Karanga Camp we reached the camp at Barafu Hut before lunch. Finding flat camping grounds was a challenge. At 4600 metres altitude, the air is noticeably thinner and even a short walk would make us breathless.
This was to be our base camp for the final ascent. Just before midnight on the same day, we were awakened by our guides: a bowl of porridge, and it’s climbing time again, this time in the dark. We started as a group but in the steep rubble and loose rocks, we soon each adopted our own pace. This part, zigzagging towards Stella Point on the rim of the crater at sunrise, I found the most difficult. It was great to see the famed snow of Kilimanjaro.
