Monthly Archives: October 2013

Fri. 12th July 2013 Jambo! Nina itua David. Kutoka rahoni asantini sana. Kwakazi nzuri mliofania. I did the first part of my speech thanking the porters in Swahili – thanks to David (the guide) for a crash course in some …

Thur. 11th July 2013 Start altitude: 4,600m Max. altitude: 5,895m Camp altitude: 3,800m Actually, it isn’t tomorrow – we’re woken at 11pm so it is still yesterday. Forget about washy-washy, get dressed (pull on yet more layers), get your pack …

Wed. 10th July 2013 Start altitude: 4,000m Max. altitude: 4,600m Camp altitude: 4,600m As we wake up today, the clouds beneath us have cleared to reveal the valley below – a long, long way below. It’s a reminder of how …

Tue. 9th July 2013 Start altitude: 3,900m Max. altitude: 4,200m Camp altitude: 4,000m I must be getting the hang of this camping malarkey. It’s not the greatest night’s sleep ever – waking every couple of hours with one side all …

Mon. 8th July 2013 Start altitude: 3,840m Max. altitude: 4,600m Camp altitude: 3,900m It’s obvious from my notes for today that it was a hard day’s walking. I’ve barely managed two sides of my little A6 notebook in sparse bullet …

Sun. 7th July 2013 Start altitude: 3,550m Max. altitude: 4,000m Camp altitude: 3,840m It was a cold night on the mountain. Despite being in a 4 season sleeping bag (though not the 4/5 season that I thought we had booked) …

Sat. 6th July 2013 Start altitude: 2,750m Max. altitude: 3,700m Camp altitude: 3,550m I’m starting to think I could get used to this life. We’re woken this morning by the guides coming round and distributing cups of tea and then …

Fri. 5th July 2013 Start altitude: 2,250m Max. altitude: 2,750m Camp altitude: 2,750m Memories of the Inca Trail come flooding back as we make our final preparations to get off. Firstly our kit needs to be sorted out into stuff …