Today was a very easy day. We hiked only for about 3-4 hours, then had lunch and slept the rest of afternoon until dinner. The sun was heating up my tent and it was very warm inside, so I slept really well.
I will make an effort to sleep some more after I make this entry and I really hope that the wild wind outside will not blow off my tent! Right now I wouldn't even dare to go outside... Besides the wind, there are so many stones around that when I am walking I make sure I see where I am stepping. Some stones are very large, others are small and the rest of the ground is covered with little stone "plates". I don't even know what to call them, but they look like you don't want to risk falling on them...
So, our guide said that the final ascent which is starting at midnight will take approximately 5-6 hours and if we are lucky, we'll be able to meet sunrise at the top of the mountain. I am praying for myself and for the seven guys from my climbing group that we'll all be able to acclimatize well for the rest approximately 3,300 ft (1000 meters) of the altitude. I've been taking Diamox for 4 days now and drinking plenty of water, therefore my acclimatization so far has been going really well.
How am I feeling? Of course, a little bit nervous, because what will happen to me during the final ascent is completely out of my control and I don't even know what to expect. No doubt, I want to make it to the top, but there is no guarantee. Where I am right now is the highest I've been in my life, both literally and figuratively. I am very proud of myself! I've been on such a journey all these years and I feel blessed that I got to do this climb.
I still don't know what compelled me to undertake such a challenging adventure, but I know for sure that it feels really good! Despite having to sleep in a tent for 7 days, sometimes in freaking cold and with no shower, as well as all the physical effort I have been putting into it. It is so wonderful to be open for something so absolutely new, so unimaginably foreign and unfamiliar. I feel how the horizon of my knowledge about the human body and mind has become much broader than it has ever been. There is so much victory in having a dream and making steps to accomplish it. Though I cannot say that Kilimanjaro was a dream. I think I was simply destined to climb this mountain for reasons still unknown to me...
Relentless, monotonous, very slow walking. This is how you approach the mountain which has been waiting for you for a million years. She teaches everybody a different lesson - the lesson one needs to learn at this particular time. It's an ustoppable process of getting to know oneself better. Of accepting and appreciating oneself to the fullest. Of loving oneself and being there for oneself no matter what.
My intention for the final ascent is to be healthy and very well acclimatized, to be strong, to be warm and comfortable in my clothes, to be safe and protected.
God, please, help me!
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