Day 5 of the big climb

Left camp around 8am and it was very cold so we all wrapped up well. I had a good start to the trek but once we climbed up and out of the camp and could see the next camp (base camp) I knew it was going to be hard. It was like a desert and we had to walk straight across it to get to our final destination. The sun was now beating down on us and we had no shade and no large boulders to rest on. The only interesting thing was an light aircraft that had crashed and just been left there. The group started to spilt and I got left behind with Freddie and Bruce for company. I think it took me 5hrs to get into base camp and it was all too much for me and I broke down and had to go to bed to rest. The rest of the group had lunch and rested up in readiness of our big push at midnight. We had dinner at 5pm that day so we could rest as I think everyone was feeling the affects of the altitude we were at. We tried to sleep but couldn't and rose at 11.30pm for a cuppa and biscuit, it was very cold, Freddie and Bruce checked that we were all prepared for that night.
So we set off at midnight and with in an hour I was in trouble and couldn't cope with the pace of the group. I stayed behind with Freddie who I still don't know how he done it but he got me to Gilman's Point but I had had enough by now and asked him to take me back down but thankfully he wouldn't give up on me. I kept wondering what had happened to the rest of the group, had they all made the summit. After a little rest we moved on the Stella Point which was quite flat compared with the rest. At this point I saw Sally, Robert and Sergio which was very emotional for all of us and it gave me the strength to carry on while they headed back down. Started for the ultimate goal of this whole trip Uhuru Peak, this was all up hill but had amazing views of the glacier. It was freezing up there and the wind was a killer. I met with Silvia and she walked up to the peak with me but we were by now feeling very bad. We both prayed at the peak in between the tears as its very emotional to be there. We managed to find the strengh to carry on and get back to Gilman's where we could slide down the shingle back to camp. Was pleased to see that caroline and Luke had also made it to the top and only had a little way to go.

I fell into camp about 12.45pm to be greeted by Juma with a juice for me and some porters helped me to my tent. I was so exhausted I couldn't even eat and the thought of a 6hr hike to the next camp was too unbearable to think about. I sleep for about an hour when we had to pack up camp and hike to the next camp, I think my body was in stock as I was so numb by the time we got into camp. Juma got dinner ready for us and we all went to bed after we were given a beer by Bruce. What a birthday, I had walked for 19 hours and summited Mount Kilimanjaro.