Day 383 - On top of the world!

Today, exactly one year ago, I started climbing Kilimanjaro. I'd been planning the trip for six months and to say that taking those first steps up the first hill was exciting, would be the understatement of the year!

Climbing that mountain was the hardest thing I've ever done and altitude sickness almost stopped me in my tracks that first night. I am so glad though that I decided to carry on! Standing on the summit after hours of climbing and months of planning felt like a million dollars.

I could not have asked for more special people outside of my family to have joined me on this adventure. My young friend Yolanda and I still hike together on Thursdays and sharing a tent with her was a blessing beyond words. We laughed so much, I felt like a teenager again at times! We can write the book about staying warm on Kili - at night our sleeping bags were filled with about half a dozen hand warmers from top to bottom - it actually felt as if I had an electric blanket switched on in there at times!

Yolanda also taught me how to pack for an overnight hiking trip. She got stuck into my bag at the hotel before we left and removed almost half the contents! Even I had to admit that I probably didn't need the full bottle of shampoo, the lotions etc.etc that made my bag weigh a ton! Talk about wet-wipes - I had a specific bags of wipes designed for every part of the body, including a 80-wipe baby pack!!

The other girl in our party, Sandra, came from Namibia and she climbed the mountain to celebrate her 50th birthday on the 24th of July. The three of us just 'clicked' from the first time we met for coffee in Cape Town a few weeks before the trip. I'll never forget the magical evening (albeit with a hurricane strength wind blowing outside the tent!) we had at Baranco, celebrating her birthday with a mash potato cake the porters had baked for her!

But most of all, I remember the special conversations I had with God on Kilimanjaro. There I discovered for the first time how to listen for the messages that are sent to me. Not only how to listen, but also how to actually hear! The first night I was so ill, I was ready to turn back the next morning. At one stage it was so bad that I actually ripped the zipper open, just to get fresh air. I can't remember ever feeling so ill and claustrophobic at the same time - it was was not a good place to be. Then, somewhere in the early morning hours, I started praying. Like I've never prayed before. I made all the emergency promises that we make when we shoot up those 'I'm -in-trouble' prayers to God. This time there was just one difference, I really meant to keep each and every one of them! :)

Words can't describe the feeling of utter peace that came over me in those early hours of the morning. It literally felt as if it was poured over me and washed over my body in slow motion. I knew, there and then - my life could never be the same again.

A few nights later, at the camp on the photograph below, I opened my little Bible randomly and it fell open at Psalm 61. I had never, to my knowledge, read Psalm 61 and to understand why it made such an impact on me, you have to go and read it for yourself.

I say again - on Kilimanjaro I learnt to listen to God. His messages are SO clear, all one has to do is open your heart, tilt your head and LISTEN. And trust me - you don't have to climb Kilimanjaro to get full reception! :)

And if you're still reading my blog this time next year, I hope to share pages full of Camino memories and miracles with you as well!

Day 33 - What does the word 'pilgrimage' really mean?

'Pilgrimage is a spiritual discipline that involves walking'. I like that definition. If you've ever spent the day walking out in the mountains you'll know how true that is.

Life as a whole is a pilgrimage. Getting from point A to point B. Sometimes it feels as if I 'm stuck or going in circles. Point B seems incredibly elusive at times. Perhaps I'm not walking fast enough, or maybe that's just it - perhaps I should slow down a little at times!

When I climbed Kilimanjaro our guides told us at least ten times a day: 'pole, pole...!' Slowly, slowly. Your chances of being affected by altitude sickness when you rush is just so much higher! You want to ease your body into the altitude as it were, giving it a chance to adapt at a rate that it can handle.

That really required discipline in the early days when we were still all fit as fiddles and full of enthusiasm. Climbing was easy and oxygen freely available! Things changed drastically as we got higher and with the help and instruction of our guides, we found our pace.

I guess that's how the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is going to play out for me as well. Pole, pole. After all, I am going to walk 500 miles to go to church! (I wish I could take credit for that statement, but I have to admit, I heard another pilgrim describe his journey that way - I love it!)

This same pilgrim also described pilgrimage as follows: 'Pilgrimage engages your emotions, your intellect, spirit and body.'

They tell me that if you walk the camino and you don't want anyone to talk to you, you simply hang a little board around your neck. (The board has to have a cockle shell, the pilgrim's symbol, painted on it.) In the pilgrimage of life I think those little boards should be standard issue.

As for my Kilimanjaro pilgrimage - it was a huge success. It turned out to be so much more that I had even anticipated. As for my daily pilgrimage, well, it's a work in progress. And the Camino de Santiago - the more I read and hear about the experience, the more impatient I get to pack my bag!

What was it they said again? Pole, pole pilgrim...

Day 13 - All about packing

I know I only have to start packing for the camino in about 21 months time but I admit, it's nagging somewhere in the back of my head already. The fact that I'm going to have to pack almost everything I need for about 30 days in one backpack.

That just doesn't seem possible to me.

I'd like to show you what the bed in my spare bedroom looked like the evening before I left on my Kilimanjaro trip. Everything you see in this picture had to go into one backpack and one duffelbag. The sleeping bag wasn't even in the picture yet, as I picked that up in Tanzania.

Get the picture? I'm not a good packer. I won't admit to too many flaws but that certainly is one I can't get away from. The Kilimanjaro trip really has taught me quite bit though and I'm hoping that when I finally have to pack that camino bag that I will be an expert on what to leave and what to take.

It's going to be a long walk and there are no porters or sherpas, so I'm going to have to be a sensible packer for once in my life. I've started searching all the sites for packing tips and I've come across a wealth of information already.

I am going to have to sift through all the suggestions and make it fit for myself. One thing I've learnt from the Kili trip is to transfer shampoos, creams, toothpaste etc into small containers. It's surprising how long one can make shampoo eg. last if you really have to!

To give you an idea of the difference in my size moisturiser and the number of wetwipes I packed, compared to that of my friend who shared a tent with me, here is the evidence...

Looks like I have my work cut out for me!

Day 11 - Of mountains and caminos...

This blog is supposed to be about the Camino de Santiago. And it is!

I just like taking detours! Here I am, almost three months ago, with my friend Sandra from Namibia, meters away from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

At 5895m high we felt as if we were on top of the world, not just on top of Africa!

This was by far the hardest thing I've ever done. Ok, giving birth to my two children wasn't a walk in the park but at least then I had an oxygen mask to attach to my face when I needed it!

If you've ever wondered how far you can push yourself, I can highly recommend climbing this mountain. Not only will it test your physical abilities but you most definitely will find out a few things about your mental capabilities as well!

It really helps to have good people with you. I certainly could not have asked for better partners. I can't remember when last I laughed, from my stomach, as much as I did on this trip. It was food for the soul, I tell you.

Walking the Camino in 2012 is going to present new and different challenges, of that I'm sure. Somehow I have a suspicion that the challenges are not going to be as physical as the Kili climb but I look forward to be challenged mentally and spiritually. I do hope that the challenges will lead to growth, both in my faith and in every other aspect of my being.

I hope that I will be led to wonderful people, places and experiences.

Today I read about a pilgrim who didn't know where she was going to sleep one evening and a family simply opened their doors to her, gave her a room for the night and fed her, not only that evening, but the next morning as well. To me, that is what the Camino is all about and I can't wait to experience my own unique encounters!

The more I think about it and the more I discover, the more I realise that all of the research and all of the new connections I am making, are all building blocks, essential to the building of my own pilgrimage.

I'm absorbing and storing all the information that comes my way at this stage. The smallest, seemingly most insignificant detail or tip I come across is written down because I know that it could have the biggest impact on my journey. Just like the suggestion I came across on the Internet when researching my Kilimanjaro climb. Someone said: 'Plan to summit when there is a full moon'.

I did exactly that, my trip was planned so that I reached the summit on the 26th of July and we had the most glorious full moon we could possibly have asked for!

So here's to inviting all things good and positive!

Camino fact of the day: The Camino de Santiago is also know as 'The Way of St James'. I have found a wonderful description of the walk on a website and I have asked them if I can reprint it exactly as they have it, as I cannot describe it better in my own words! As soon as they've given me the ok, I'll post it here.

As for our weekend spent in one of the most beautiful part of our country, photographs will have to wait until tomorrow - there seems to be a problem with uploading pictures right now...