The roof of Africa

A bit of a long winded way of saying the summit of Kilimanjaro.

Let's get one thing straight, Kili is feckin' horrible. You go up very quick, it hurts like hell and you spend all your time in Africa freezin' yer bollocks off. Other than that it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Summited reasonably late at about half sevenish, only been at it for about seven hours (eventually got back to the tent around 2 in the afternoon). Got to the crater rim and all the rest of the party went back leaving me and my man Gasper to push on, well I did the pushing he just wandered on making sure the white fool didn't die. Had a wee dram at the top (Lagavuillin) and then proceeded down. A hundred yards from the summit we meets this couple of boys dressed in snorkel parkas, wellies (I'm feeling seriously over dressed by this point) with some iron poles, a cantilever tool box and a new sign, these boys must have been nails to have carried all that gear up, we eventually passes a new sign at Gilmans Point that they'd already built!! I'm pissed off to this day that I didn't snaffle that sign, it probably ended up in a camp fire that night. An extra fifteen mins on the summit and with the dollars in my pocket I might have had the opportunity, it would be hanging in my downstairs loo with the Celtic Seville squad signed shirt. Bawz...

I've climbed much bigger and more difficult things than Kili but it's the one I'd not repeat too hastily.