Barafu Hut - 4700 m

3 degrees Celsius

This will be our last transmission before going for the summit tonight. We've just arrived at Barafu Camp and the group is in high spirits. We've had to push them a little hard in order to get in this position, but being at camp early the night before the summit bid, means being well rested for the slog of getting to the top. It's a fantastic day and and the mist has been swirling around us for most of the afternoon. The group is getting ready to get some sleep before our afternoon dinner and the camp is an excited buzz of activity. Everywhere around me I can hear the discussions going on about what to pack, where to pack it and what to wear. This is the moment of truth. There's no more planning or preparing for Uhuru Peak. Tonight, at exactly 11:00 local time, our group of 35 people will commence our slow ascent of the last ridge leading to Stella Point and then onto the crater rim and around to Uhuru Peak.

The final leg should take us around 8 hours to get to the summit. From Barafu Camp to Stella point on the crater rim will be the test against the elements and will take 6 of the eight hours. The leg from Stella Point to Uhuru Peak requires mental stamina of the highest quality and this will sap the last of the available strength. Eventually, most bodies will function on reserves never before utilised and this is when we hope to be on the way down.

Our estimated time of arrival at Uhuru Peak will be around 07:30 local time. Due to the large group size, the last markers should arrive within 2 hours of the first.

Barafu Hut, being at such a high altitude, is normally a site of many cases of alitude sickness, or at least some minor symptoms of it. Somehow, our group has shown remarkable resistance and we foresee very few problems in terms of altitude related problems. However, we are carrying a few hours worth of oxygen and are in a position to treat and handle any likely emergencies.

High on Africa is running very well on track and Dawie and myself have gained back some of the strength we've lost during the first two days of the expedition.

I have found it extremely difficult to picture and plan for the whole expedition while being on Kilimanjaro as this has had the effect of creating an impression of vast problems still to overcome. The reason for this is simply that one needs all one's strength to concentrate on the job at hand and can't afford the mind to wonder onto future obstacles. At 4 700m above sea level, the body finds it hard to do too many things at once. We've now decided to handle every situaution as it comes and to think of only the next few hours and their likely outcomes.

We are nearing the point of getting our digital pictures on-line as we have been trying to get some new software for a back-up camera. It's ironic, but the higher we get and the more remote we are, the more likely we are in solving our technical setbacks.

The next transmission will only be late tomorrow as we will need to get down from Uhuru Peak all the way down to Mweka Hut, a descent of around 3000m. We are looking forward to it, as this will be from an altitude with significantly more oxygen.