Top tips for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Team UNICEF

Having just completed Trek Kilimanjaro for the World’s Children I wanted to share my top tips to make climbing to The Roof of Africa a bit more comfortable...

• Pack Light

Packing for the trek seemed just as challenging as all the training. Sticking to the strict 15kg weight limit was hard work but when on the mountain I still found I’d brought a bit too much. Don’t worry about extra clothes or a ‘clean’ fleece – everything you wear will stink so just pack one of everything and you’ll be fine.

Also remember that you need to re-pack every night so don’t squeeze everything into your tiny bag as this will be so much harder to do in the small tents at 6:30am every morning..!

• Let there be light

Light is so important as it gets dark early and trying to pack up your tent with just one head torch can be challenging. I always take small disk lights camping with me and swear by them. They are light and small but those extra rays of light will make all the difference in your little tent

• Hydrate

It is drummed into you every day of the trek but make sure you drink lots. Everyone’s different in the amount they need to drink, at my tiny 5ft 1 though I still put away at least 4 litres a day. There’s nothing worse than suffering from headaches, tiredness, etc just because you didn’t drink enough.

Drinking from the camelback

A couple of tips I’ve always used in making sure I keep hydrated is to add rehydration salts to my water carrier – it makes the water purification tablets taste a bit better and keeps you on top of hydration.

I always recommend a platypus or camelbak  Having the tube easily accessible makes it so much easier to constantly keep drinking rather than having to stop to take your water bottle out of your bag. It also helps when you’re backs aching from carrying all the water to make yourself drink in order to make your load lighter...!

I bought an insulated tube  for summit day but the tube still froze. I managed to get a litre of water down though as I carried a smaller platypus inside my jacket to prevent it from freezing.

Keeping warm in the tent

• Keep warm

A hot water bottle was one of the best presents I received before the trek and it made the world of difference in the night.

• Tidy up

A top tip passed on before the trek was to bring nappy sacks as mini rubbish bags in the tent. Ideal for collecting all the wet wipes, plasters & rubbish in the tents each day.

Trekking in the sunshine

• Pack for the hot as well as cold

I brought lots of thermals, fleeces a big down jacket, gloves & scarves which were all really useful later on the trek but the first few days were beautifully warm. This was wonderful apart from only having one stay-dry T Shirt. I’d recommend a long sleeved, light weight stay-dry T Shirt for the first few days, this will keep you cool and also protect you from the strong African sunshine. (don’t forget your sun cream!)

• Enjoy it.

Apart from a few hours trudging up the mountain in the dark on summit day I enjoyed every second of the trek. Go at your own pace; slowly, slowly. Take in the beauty of the country and enjoy the once in a life time experience.