Jambo! Half drowsy from a restless night, I gaze to the right as the plane banks and gain my first sight of Kili. The snow-capped peak punched clear of the clouds.

I have joined a group of seven to climb the highest mountain in Africa. A squat minibus takes us to the Mountain Inn at Moshi. The tarmacadam road crossed dusty plains. Women dressed in Kanghars loosely wrapped and brightly coloured balancing water containers on their heads strode along the roadside. We overtook trucks belching black smoke, the occasional cyclist and the odd man pushing a timber barrow. Scattered along the roadside were small farmsteads, single storey shacks with corruga ted iron roofs and blockwork walls, some rendered, some not. A police road block manned by armed officers slowed the traffic. We drove on through. After an hour we came to the hotel, set back from the road and approached via an earth track which lead on up a rise to a village out of sight.

That afternoon a guide from the hotel drove us to Arusha National Park. A rutted dirt track led through the park to the game viewing points, the first, a plain dotted with groups of giraffe, zebra, buffalo and warthogs. Further on we came to a jungle. Dense, high undergrowth sheltered by wiry trees with high canopies and drooping vines. A violent rustling broke the low insect chorus and a colobus monkey dropped to the ground and sloped away keeping its tail arched high. Egrets and white herons clustered around the marshy pools beyond the jungle.

The next day we drove to Marangu Gate at 1830 metres and began the hike up the mountain. Giant heather trees border the path. Tiny lizards scurry across the orange track, It is early in the afternoon when we arrive at Mandara hut, a sorry collection of tent-like buildings with steel-sheeted roofs and timber floors. The Maundi crater lies a short walk from the hut. From the crater rim the forested slopes gradually descend to the plains of Kenya.

A guy from another party leaves his lunch on a rail in front of the dining hut whilst he fills his water bottle. A white-necked raven swoops and neatly collects the lunch in its mouth before flying off into the forest.

The trek from Mandara to Horombo hut is characterised by open moorland and ravines covered with giant lobelia and grounsels.

Four striped grass mice scamper across the floor of the dining hut. Kilimanjaro is like a spectre in the rising background to the hut. Horombo is a staging post. Typically groups will spend three nights here; one on the ascent, one following an acclimatisation day, and one on the descent. The tales of those on the descent from the summit attempt are best not heard. Four people have died on the mountain in the past four months. Many are sick on the way up and decide not to continue. It is cloudy on the acclimatisation day. We walk up to a saddle at 4303 metres, to gain views of the next hut, Kibo.

The route to Kibo is like a moonscape, strewn with volcanic rock. There is little shape from the intense sun.

At Kibo we are briefed on the effects of altitude sickness: tunnel vision, migraines, slurred speech, gurgling in the lungs and nose bleeds are all symptoms which, if experienced, can prove life threatening and immediate descent is required.

The ascent starts at 12.30 am. There is a three-quarter moon. My knees soon start to wobble as we rise. The ascent is slow and steady. The shaly scree is hard going. We zigzag, slowly rising with few breaks. At 5 am we reach Gilmans point on the crater rim. It is still dark. We push on to Uhuru Peak at 5895 metres, a further hour and a half estimated walking along a craggy ridge. I feel sick, but walk on not wanting to rest, knowing that if I did I would be sick and may not be able to ma ke it to the summit. An ice field encroaches onto the path. The ice is hard like tin and is shaped into pinnacles separated by knee height grooves. Temperatures are around freezing, but could drop to –25ºC with a strong wind. We reach the summit at 6.45 am. The ice fields and craterscape are magnificent. A view not to forget - ever. Kwaheri sasa.