Mount Kilimanjaro : The Day of the Gnocchi

A couple of weeks ago I was in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, reading about a tradition they have each month called the Day of the Gnocchi. In the 19th century people were paid on the 30th of the month, and by the 29th they were so low on money that gnocchi (made from potato and flour for the non-culinary minded) was all they could afford. A bit like the years I spent having $2.20 chips and gravy at the University Bar, I guess. Anyhow, more than 100 years later, all the restaurants in Montevideo still serve gnocchi on the 29th of the month, even if they don't serve gnocchi normally.

What does this have to do with Mount Kilimanjaro? Well, actually not much, except at 12:10am on the 29th of February, myself and eight travelling companions set out on the fifth and final days climb to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.




We were warned that many people returning from the top found the day of the summit climb one of the hardest things that theyhad ever done in their lives, and scrambling over loose rock in howling winds and sub-zero temperatures really wasn't a lot of fun. However, not only me, but all eight of my companions successfully reached the 5,895m highest point (known as the Uhuru peak) shortly after sunrise.

The view from the top is breathtaking, and the attached pictures don't really capture the enormity of the challenge or the scale of the view at the top. They also don't capture just how cold - about minus 20 degrees Celcius - and windy it was up there, but you really don't want to experience that. Let's just say I was a lot happier about being at the top than I appear to be in the photo.


The five day trip itself was something of a biology tour as we walked upwards through environments that changed with the altitude. At 1,500 metres the park was rainforest, thinning to alpine forest at around 3,000 metres, then alpine desert above this and finally desert above 4,000 metres. The only thing missing in the red soil desert zone was a couple of skateboard sized Mars Rovers looking for interesting rocks and evidence of water.