Day 8 (continued): The descent

Start:  Summit (Uhuru peak)

Finish: Mweka camp

Distance: 5 miles

Elevation gain: 5895m (summit) to 3100m

Climatic zone: Arctic to Rainforest

The dust swirled as my footsteps disturbed the path. I rapidly descended the mountain, in search of oxygen rich lands. Husain was around 10 paces ahead of me, frequently glancing back and grinning before continuing the descent. The sun had risen fully and the air was gradually growing warmer, I could feel my hands and feet slowly beginning to thaw. This section of the mountain was peaceful, no one else was descending yet and I appreciated the quiet. I lost height rapidly and despite my depleted energy levels and sleep deprivation I managed to stick with Husain's pace. Once we were about half way, he suggested we take a break and handed me a half frozen carton of mango juice and a hand full of ginger biscuits. My appetite had finally returned and the nausea had vanished, I demolished the biscuits as Husain taught me to count in Swahili. There were no suitable "flower picking" spots in this barren land of sand and scree so I asked Husain to look away, as I knew I couldn't wait until I returned to camp. We continued our descent making rapid progress, picking up the pace as I felt rejuvenated in the increasing oxygen levels - we laughed together as we bounced down the mountain and Husain called over "You are fast Amy!"

After a couple of hours, camp came into view and I couldn't have been happier. The sand slope had plateaued and the final obstacle was a field of large boulders that needed to be traversed before entering camp. It was strength sapping, clambering over the boulders and Husain offered his hand on sections that required big steps. We reached the edge of the boulders and a group of 10 or so men were walking slowly towards me. As they got closer I saw it was Nasibo, Ramaa and the porters who had come to greet me on my return. It was clear to me given the way they cautiously approached, that they did not know whether I had made the summit or not. I had returned long before the others and it may have looked as if I had been turned around before reaching the top, rather than the fact that I had chosen to run the descent! Husain put his thumbs up and said something in Swahili in a cheerful tone. Suddenly huge smiles formed across everyone's faces and then ran to me, each shaking my hand vigorously, hitting my back enthusiastically and hugging me in turn, saying congratulations and chanting my name. I had managed to suppress any emotion on the summit, mostly due to the sheer exhaustion. But this reaction, from the team that were responsible for making all of this possible, was overwhelming and I broke down in happy tears, saying thank you to everyone. Ramaa took my pack, led me to camp, put me in a camping chair and gave me a cup of tea, gently whispering "You rest now Amy, you did it!" After my tea Ramaa suggested I try to sleep and Saidi would be back to check on me when he returned with the others.

I crawled into my tent and collapsed on my sleeping mat, my eyes were heavy and I drifted into a deep sleep, feeling contented and proud of myself. A gentle tapping sound disturbed my sleep accompanied by Saidi's voice, "Amy! Amy I'm back, can I come in?" I sleepily replied and reached over to undo the zip of my tent, shocked that I had slept for 2 whole hours while the others had been descending. He greeted me with a big smile and laughed saying, "You look fresh, do you want to go the summit again boss?"He wore his oximeter around his neck and crawled into my tent, perching on the edge of my mat as I sat bundled up in my sleeping bag, yawning and rubbing my eyes. He completed a quick health check which revealed that my oxygen and pulse were at safe levels and I told him that both my nausea and headache had completely gone. Other than tiredness I felt fine. He pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and snapped it in half, we ate and laughed about the events of the night. He told me Husain had reported back about my "record descent time" and I laughed exclaiming, "I just love oxygen so much!" I thanked him for keeping me safe and helping me achieve my dream. He thanked me saying "Even though you were sick, you never once asked me how much further and you kept smiling !" He gave me a huge hug, ruffled my hair saying "Well done boss" and told me I had 2 more hours to go back to sleep before Ramaa would wake me up for lunch.

I was reunited with George and Will at lunch as we compared our descents. Their descent sounded far more leisurely than mine and George reminded me of our traumatic but equally hilarious experience of being fed medication and water as we were keeled over on a rock together. We laughed hysterically until I had tears streaming down my cheeks at how surreal the night was, as Will compared it to a fever dream, questioning if it even happened. We ate soup, garlic bread, potato wedges and a plate of fresh fruit to fuel up for the afternoon ahead. Following lunch, we descended further following a gentle sandy slope lined with small rocks that guided us back down to the oxygen rich slopes of the mountain. Everyone was weary but happy, as we passed the time chatting and reminding ourselves of the surreal events of the previous night. We arrived to camp at around 5pm where we were greeted by Ramaa with juice and tea, and I smiled as the dust was removed from my legs with my favourite tea towel whacking method, something I simply could not grow bored of. We had a fun evening, eating dinner accompanied with lots of sleep deprived giggles before heading to bed for our last night in tents before completing the final section of descent.