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| | Although the trek was something of a personal adventure for Wayne, his main reason for undertaking the challenge was to raise as much money as possible for research into Diabetes. He also wanted to publicise what is an incurable condition that affects the lives of thousands of people in the UK.
His involvement with Diabetes UK began with the discovery that his nine-year-old son was a Type 1 diabetic, requiring twice-daily insulin injections to stay alive.
After overcoming this initial shock, he became focussed on playing his part to help the many diabetic sufferers around the country by raising some much-needed funds, and the summit attempt was his way of doing just that. Here's the first part of his diary...
5/12/02 – Departure
Flew out of London Heathrow at 10.51pm on a scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya. During the ten-hour flight I had plenty of time to feel both excited and apprehensive about the impending challenge ahead.
Questions kept entering my mind such as, would I be fit enough and how would the altitude and thin air affect me? However, whatever the eventual outcome of the trip I was determined to give it my all if only to have no "what ifs" in the coming years.
6/12/02 – Nairobi to West Kilimanjaro
11.08am – After arrival at the very basic Nairobi airport I was briefly introduced to the other eighteen people (13 men, 5 women) who formed the expedition together with our chief guide Kapanja.
We then boarded our rather cramped minibus for our journey to Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania, where all the trekkers got to know each other better.
3.30pm – After leaving the tarmac road for a rough dirt track across the Serengeti plain the minibus stopped for an overdue lunch break within sight of the distant but immense Kilimanjaro.
We then transferred to 4x4 vehicles for the remainder of the journey and finally made it to base camp at 6.25pm.
The wet season has only just ended in this part of the world, so the dirt trails verged on impassable in places hence the delay in getting to camp. Altitude – 4,101ft (just less then Ben Nevis back home).
7/12/02 – Lemosho Rainforest Trek
8.20am – After sharing a decent night’s sleep and breakfast with my "tent buddy" John Armstrong from Liverpool, we were more formally introduced to our guides for this expedition; Kapanja, Daniel and Adidas.
Kapanja in particular impressed me with his obvious experience (113 times to the summit – local record) in all aspects of trekking, survival and mountain sickness.
 | Useful advice at the park |
He reminded us of the huge task ahead of us and of the dangers of the mountain. Apparently twopeople had died on the mountain just before our arrival, one American woman and a Tanzanian man, which highlighted the dangers of altitude sickness and exposure.
11.15am – After being driven by 4x4’s, we arrive at the Lemosho trail head where all would-be trekkers have to sign in at the Park Warden’s office for safety reasons. Altitude – 6,890ft.
This is where the trek proper starts with a 7 hour walk through the Lemosho rainforest.
6.25pm – Arrived at Big Tree Camp (9,023ft) just before nightfall and the air is noticeably thinner at this camp but I have felt physically good all day.
 | Tiring progress in the rainforest - Wayne Lovatt |
Most of today’s walk has been trudging through ankle-deep mud in torrential rain – now I see why it’s a "rainforest"!
Kilimanjaro is the world’s highest freestanding mountain - it is not part of a mountain range, so as you climb higher you encounter adifferent ecological zones: plain-rainforest-moorland-alpine desert- glacial summit.
8/12/02 – Acclimatisation Trek
9.02am - Only got about 4 hours sleep last night due to a dry cough that developed over night. About to set off from the rainforest camp to the much higher moorland camp of Shira 1 (11,254ft).
Kilimanjaro actually consists of three extinct volcanoes; Shira, Mawenzi and the highest Kibo - today’s trek takes us towards Shira peak.
4.38pm – Reached Shira 1 Camp, the highlights of today’s trek were moving out of the wet rainforest zone into the much drier moorland zone and catching a first glimpse of Kibo peak looking incredibly high and far away.
8.31pm – Turned in for the night following dinner and watching the night sky for a while. The stars look incredibly clear and more numerous from here – the milky way is clearly visible whilst, the crescent moon resembles a smiley face from these latitudes.
The clear sky coupled with the higher altitude has made it extremely cold, it must be about –10°C outside. To date I feel physically good and have yet to feel the effects of the altitude, that is beginning to afflict other members of the group.
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