From the Cliffs of Cornwall to Kilimanjaro: The Trekker's Tale

By Eric Marks

The idea of writing a book suddenly dawned on Eric Marks as he walked along the South West Coast Path from Minehead in Somerset to St Just in Cornwall. The experiences he'd had, the great seascapes he saw, and he people the met were a pageant for his senses and things were only just getting started.

From the Cliffs of Cornwall to Kilimanjaro documents Eric's incredible decision to walk 252 miles with his nephew along the South West Coast Path of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall as part of their training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, later that same year. Was this a late-life crisis, or what? Sharing his memories and stories with the reader, we're taken on his trek, from the comforting sights of home to the exotic landscapes of Africa and joining the thousands of people who every year volunteer to climb the tallest mountain in Africa.

Unexpected situations, both home and away, including some near-death moments, slingshot the reader from highs to lows, but one thing is certain: it really is surprising what part serendipity plays when you are on the walking trail for several days at a time. An inspiration for other readers into their later life, Eric has proven that you're only as old as you accept you are in a journey that is dynamic and demanding, satisfying yet humbling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Apr 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781803139142

Eric Marks

Eric Marks was in the Royal Marines until 1969. He has a BA with the Open University and was a lecturer and 'trouble-shooter' with British Telecom. He is an inveterate walker and backpacker, and is a lover of nature, literature and has combined the two in his debut.

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Copyright © 2022 Eric Marks

https://www.ericmarks.co.uk/

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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I dedicate this book to my nephew, friend, and outstanding trekking companion, Jonathan Starkey Kennedy (Jon).

We thought that we knew each other pretty well, but unexpected strengths and weaknesses emerged during our training and mountain trekking. These only served to deepen our mutual respect, and I am happy to say that we are still on very good terms.

As you will see, our whole adventure was exciting, gruelling, spellbinding, and humbling. It was also interspersed with strange and exhilarating events, and even stranger people we met along the way. But my wicked sense of humour –usually at Jon’s expense –punctuated the story.

Jon, you put up with all this from me so well that I take immense pleasure in dedicating this book to you. No one could wish for a better friend and walking companion.

With heartfelt thanks and great respect,

Eric

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Afterword

One

I didn’t know what a life-focusing event I was letting myself in for at the dinner that evening. You may have experienced something similar. You listen, captivated, to a friend talking enthusiastically about some upcoming event that has the lure of adventure about it. Then, out of the blue, you are invited to join your friend on the trip of a lifetime. You hesitate, but after a couple of glasses of good wine, you know that this is an irresistible force. I hesitated for a while longer in order to give the impression that I was a carefully reasoning sort of guy. But I knew that I was hooked. My life had changed to a different level, to a different tempo. What a strange thing to have happened in my seventy-sixth year! In my mind I was still in my early twenties, just as well when I reflected on what lay ahead of me.

The friend in this case was my nephew, Jonathan. He wanted desperately to climb a substantial mountain, and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania was his choice. He had no idea just how difficult it would be to get a climbing buddy, and after exhausting his lists of ‘probables and possibles’, he unleashed his persuasive magic on me… a last resort.

But first, let me tell you something about ourselves before we all set out together on what was to be quite an adventure. This adventure I will never forget, not only because it turned out to be so exhilarating but also because it was stunningly different from what I expected it to be.

My nephew Jonathan was forty-eight and very keen on staying fit and healthy. He worked out regularly in his local gym but lived in a part of the country that is lacking in hills; in fact, it is pancake-flat. Clearly, this was not ideal training ground for big hills and mountains. Being in a quite high position in the Metropolitan Police, he was a resourceful guy. He travelled down from London, to where I live in Plymouth, for training on the steep ground of Dartmoor and, of course, on the South West Coast Path for its frequently steep and testing terrain. Another incentive for travelling down to visit my wife, Judith, and me is that we always fed him well. His mother, Vivien – Judith’s sister – also lives in Plymouth. She provided him with accommodation and also fed him well to keep his strength up!

Jonathan lives for sport of all types, and indeed it could be said that sport is his life, next to his wife and four daughters. Jon (as he prefers to be called) had picked up several sports injuries in his career. These would need to be treated with great care in the course of our training and the Kilimanjaro expedition itself. It was these injuries that would possibly give me a chance to keep up to his pace over the many trials ahead of us; time would tell.

Jon is quite tall, good-looking in a rugged, outdoor way, and has a powerful build. He has even less hair than I have, and that is saying something, believe me. His favourite clothing is shorts and T-shirt, but this may not have been viable on the heights of Kilimanjaro after the first day or two. Jon loves to talk with people we meet when we are out walking. Often within seconds he has them believing that he is my carer and that I am on day release. It’s amazing how many people accept what he says, even when I tell them that he is telling ‘porkies’.

As regards his general effect upon me, let me say right here at the outset that I have the highest regard for Jon. He is inspirational. He is also reliable, especially in an emergency. His long years in the police have helped to shape him into someone special. He is intelligent and knowledgeable, just the sort of guy to have with you if things take a turn for the worse. Jon is a great non-fiction reader with wide-ranging knowledge. A possible downside is that he doesn’t always suffer fools gladly. Clearly, I would need to be careful in what I said and did.

So, what about me? What can I tell you that will help to illuminate the events that are about to unfold?

Having left the Royal Marines in 1969, I had kept myself reasonably fit. This had been achieved mainly by regular walking with our various Labradors over the years and occasional two-day backpacking trips. But all that changed when, at the age of seventy-two, I joined my local gym. I had gradually become aware that my level of activity was not adequate to keep me in good condition for my later years. Something had to be done, and fast, because the body keeps a careful reckoning.

Joining the gym was a revelation to me. The high-tech nature of the gym equipment was far removed from what I remembered about my days in the armed services.

In those days there were wall bars, vaulting horses, medicine balls, skipping ropes, climbing ropes, and not much else. That being said, the assault courses and endurance marches on Dartmoor more than made up for the lack of gym equipment.

I engaged with much of the new fitness gear and machines in the local gym, and within a few months I became fitter and stronger. Little did I know at that time just how essential all this was to become in three years’ time when Jon invited me to join him on this African adventure. But first, let me tell you some more about the two of us and about our similarities and striking differences. This was to become important over our months of training and on the expedition itself.

Jon enjoys fine food and wine, whereas I have little interest in food other than as fuel for my active life, although I do enjoy a glass of wine. I love the stoical lot of the backpacker, walking alone, carrying everything I need for a few days of camping. The feeling of self-sufficiency gives me a real buzz. Jon, on the other hand, detests camping. I am sure that he would also decline the alfresco food I would serve up to him at the end of a hard day’s backpacking.

I also am a keen reader but generally in literature and philosophy. Jon loves the modern popular music scene, whereas I am steeped in classical music from the Renaissance to the present time.

When it comes to walking interests, Jon is mainly in love with the lure of the big mountains. I am much more enamoured with distance-walking over attractive, but often challenging, countryside. As you can appreciate, I was stepping outside my comfort zone when it came to our expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro. Having said that, Jon was also stepping outside his comfort zone and into a nightmare, as the route he eventually decided on involved several days of camping. This wasn’t spotted at the outset when Jon booked the trip – glad it wasn’t me!

***

Now, let’s talk commitment. Let’s go for it as we were summoned to do on some of the premium-priced sports gear. Yes! It was time to select a specialist travel company, book the expedition, and pay our deposits in resolute style. I hope you are adventure-ready for what was about to happen over the months of training that lay ahead and then the trip of a lifetime to Africa and the great Kilimanjaro volcano. Now, let’s go forward, because I cannot wait to tell you this story. See you in chapter two.

Two

The irresistible urge to book for the expedition overtook my natural curiosity to know exactly what I was getting into. Yes, I blundered into this one. Jon knew a little about Kilimanjaro, but in the event, this was only a starting point. We both had a lot to learn.

Our learning process really started with the arrival of the travel brochure. This was glossy, sparkling, glistening, and crammed with a feast of photographs showing what awaited us. If we thought we were keen to go before sending for the brochure and paying our deposits, now we were buzzing with anticipation. We had forgotten conveniently that this was only March 2018, and we had to wait until September before flying out to Africa. Not only that, but first we had five months of intensive training in front of us. But before planning our training in detail, we needed to find out much more about that mountain and what it would demand of us. The more we delved into the Kilimanjaro story, the more gripping it became. What follows in this chapter is the fruit of that startling research.

***

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and one of the Seven Summits challenge to climb the highest mountain in each of the world’s seven continents. Kilimanjaro, like many mountains, is a killer in more senses than one! Standing at 5895 metres above sea level, it is roughly two-thirds the height of Everest. Some authorities take the view that it is somewhere between five hundred thousand and 750,000 years old and that it erupted out of the earth during the time when the Great Rift Valley was formed.

This mountain is a dormant volcano. In fact, it is the highest free-standing volcano in the world. Free-standing in this sense means that it is not in a mountain range with other mountains alongside it but geologically completely alone in its grandeur. When one first sees ‘Kili’ rising from the relatively flat terrain around it, you can probably imagine some of the effect on the senses. Awe-inspiring comes close but not close enough to really describe the excitement if you are just on the point of trekking to its summit. That is a feeling beyond my ability to convey.

The mountain lies approximately three degrees south of the equator. This has some bearing on the stars to be seen in the night sky, but more of that later. The position in terms of the equator gives Tanzania a weather pattern that needs to be taken fully into account when planning an expedition to Kilimanjaro. We went in early September, and the weather was excellent. October’s weather is also generally very good, but some months can be less favourable or even dire.

Kilimanjaro has three major volcanic cones. The main cone is Kibo, and this is right on top of the mountain. Mawenzi is lower down and is classed as being extinct. Shira is also classed as extinct. But Kibo is merely dormant. Some scientists in recent years have detected signs that Kibo could erupt again. In fact, the seething magma is thought to be no more than half a kilometre below the surface of the main cone’s ash pit in the Reusch Crater, and it could even be shallower than that. You would feel the heat coming up through the ground in that crater. You would also smell the sulphur dioxide percolating up through the ash. I will tell you a deeply sad story about the other main cone, Mawenzi, later on in this account of our expedition.

How ferocious a killer is Kilimanjaro? This is a hard question to answer, but there are some indications. The figures suggest that there could be an average of ten to thirty deaths a year on the mountain. Accuracy is not possible because official figures are notoriously difficult to come by. This mountain is an important economic resource, especially in such a relatively poor country. However, the likely main cause of death is probably due to the effects of serious altitude sickness. It appears that about a thousand trekkers on average every year have to be evacuated from Kilimanjaro. Most of these people are suffering from the more serious effects of altitude sickness.

This sickness is not a subject to treat lightly. Many trekkers on this mountain suffer from the effects of altitude. But when the effects progress beyond a certain level, this must be brought to the attention of the group leader who will know whether evacuation is necessary. The trekking guides are highly experienced, yet even they cannot always detect the danger signs. They will explain the different levels of altitude sickness to you very carefully at the beginning of the expedition. Your responsibility is to keep them fully informed if you find yourself deteriorating from the initial effects into something more serious and dangerous.

To give you some idea of the size of Kilimanjaro, its base covers roughly the same area as the county of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. That area is 1,376 square miles, or 3,563 square kilometres. It is massive!

There are four main routes up this mountain. The most used route is the Marangu, often playfully called the ‘Coca-Cola Route’, and it approaches the mountain from the south. This is the route that offers basic hut accommodation instead of the usual camping. Sleeping in the huts leaves the trekker open to multiple snoring probabilities from the other inmates, but at least you do not have to sleep on the cold ground with only a thin insulating mat and the sleeping bag between you and the rough terrain under the tent.

A popular and well-used route is Lemosho. This one comes onto the mountain from a westerly direction. A useful feature of this route is that an extra day can sometimes be booked, and this would make it a seven-day stretch rather than the typical six days. That extra day gives the trekker a better chance of coping with the altitude and also gives a better chance of reaching the summit or reaching it without so much suffering… yes! Suffering… all will be revealed shortly.

The Rongai route approaches the mountain from the north-east, from a starting point very close to the Kenyan border with Tanzania. It is quite different from the other routes in that it hasn’t any real rainforest to speak of, and the terrain as you gradually trek up the mountain is relatively arid. Water can also be a problem outside the rainy season. More porters will be needed to carry sufficient water in the drier months of the year. The bonus is that there may be more chance of seeing wildlife on this route. In any event, it has become more popular in recent years, even though it takes longer to travel to the starting point.

Jon had earlier researched the different routes and the typical costs of each one. He recommended the route not touched on yet, and this is the Machame route (the ‘ch’ is pronounced usually as ‘sh’).

The Machame route is often regarded as the most demanding in terms of steepness. But it wins out for its scenic beauty. The route involves camping all the way up and down the mountain, so I was surprised that Jon, with his aversion to camping, didn’t choose the ‘Coca-Cola Route’ with the hut accommodation. That being said, Jon did get us a good deal from the organising company, and the availability of huts was not apparent at the time of booking.

With all this information, Jon and I could start planning our training. Multi-day backpacking had been highly recommended. Leg-strengthening work in the gym, as well as general fitness training, had also been advised. So, this is where the rubber hits the road! But first, in order to find out how other trekkers fared, and how their experiences could help us draw up our training plan, I read a few books by some of those trekkers. There is also a great deal of information on YouTube in some impressive films.

Three

The books I read about Kilimanjaro expeditions all screamed out the shocking fact that this mountain takes no prisoners. The final ascent to the summit can be, for most people, a real nightmare. Imagine struggling up a steep slope of very fine, loose volcanic cinders or scree. Then picture the frustration of taking a demanding step upwards, only to feel your boots slipping back part of the length of that forward pace. Another problem is that you have to negotiate many boulders en route. This goes on for several gruelling hours. Even worse than all that, the ascent to the summit takes place at night, and unless you are lucky, it will be mercilessly cold. In fact, it could be the coldest night of your life. Add to this that you are up against this climb after a hard day’s trekking, followed by a meal and only about three hours of rest before setting off at midnight, and you get some idea of the challenges just waiting for you in the illuminated world of your headlamp’s beam.

The terrain for the whole trek up this mountain is changeable and challenging in its own special way. When you also factor in the ever-changing weather, you can appreciate why this monster of Kilimanjaro is called the chameleon mountain. A writer in one of the books I read emphasised that dangers were lurking all around with every step. While that way of putting it wasn’t featured in such a dramatic way in any of the other books I read about this mountain, it seems to me in retrospect that this guy was not far from the truth, starting from at least the third day of the ascent.

Allied to the dangers on the mountain, there are also the not-uncommon dangers of enemies to one’s health lurking in these parts of Africa. Ebola and severe gastroenteritis are threats to be aware of. But these dangers should be taken in perspective, as you would have to be really unlucky to contract anything on that scale.

Some accounts of the trek up Kilimanjaro describe the rain and cold in the lower reaches of the mountain at certain times of the year. Add these to what could be an exhausted state at the end of a long trek up the steep slopes, and you will understand how a feeling of despondency may set in. You may also be cold and hungry while you wait for the support team to get the meal under way. The warmth of the dining tent will then wrap you in ecstasy when you finally get the call to dinner. Yes, the rain can be a problem at certain times of the year. The best approach is to check carefully with your tour organiser for the more comfortable months to choose. I am told that late December is very popular when you tackle the final ascent to the summit so that you arrive at the top on New Year’s Day. But December can be quite a wet and cold month, with all that that entails. In any event, the popularity of that time of year cannot be denied.

One thing kept being mentioned in the accounts I read about other people’s experiences on the mountain. Muscle aches, leg joint pains, headaches, and a gradual feeling of exhaustion were the most prominent, along with the increasing problem of oxygen depletion as the trekkers climbed higher. The absence of any in-depth detail on their training methods was particularly exasperating because it could have given us something to figure into our own training plan.

Another feature of the books I studied was the general tendency of most writers to keep asking themselves the big question: why am I doing this? This also seems to be a question that even very experienced climbers and trekkers ask themselves in at least the early stages of big expeditions. One useful piece of advice I read somewhere is to sit down quietly and reflect on at least the three biggest reasons you are going to do whatever it is you are committing to. This clearly can be used in various contexts, not just for expeditions.

Yet another crushing feature that was often spoken of was the problem with sleeping. This was partly due to the cold. Another factor was the quite rough ground that was unavoidably used for the campsites. Speaking from personal experience, I suspect that for most people, it takes a few days’ adjustment to feel comfortable enough to get a really good night’s sleep in a sleeping bag on cold and hard ground and in a cold tent. The demands that this mountain puts on the body and mind are made even harder without a proper night’s rest. This is even more critical if every night is a tossing and turning marathon of restlessness. Anyone who has mastered long-duration levitation for several hours at a time has a decided advantage when it comes to sleeping on rough terrain.

The strong wind can also be a real problem. It can give the feeling that it is cutting right into the marrow of your bones. Just imagine what this will be like if you are unfortunate enough to get caught in a blizzard on the higher reaches of the mountain! And this can happen. A quilted jacket designed for such mountain conditions is definitely recommended. Tinted snow glasses of good quality should also be on your kit list. The glare from the sunlight reflected off snow and ice in the glacier region at the summit can be extremely hard on the eyes. And if you are caught in a snowstorm, well…

So, there is the risk of nausea, throbbing headaches, dizziness, seriously aching leg muscles, aching joints. Add in the probable need to stop and struggle for breath every hundred steps or so, and you can appreciate that