Robin Wills and Gita Patel celebrated the end of their Mount Kilimanjaro trek on Friday 14th June 2024 with other members of their Discover/Adventure trekking group. The party took place at the Weru Weru River Lodge Resort near Moshi in the West of Tanzania.

Robin (73) and Gita (67) made the trip for their own enjoyment and to support us at Spitalfields Crypt Trust (SCT). Despite facing inclement weather and exhaustion that prevented them from reaching the summit, they made it within a few kilometres of base camp.

‘The trip was fantastic,’ said Robin but I think we found the weather, altitude and speed of the group- who were trying to reach the summit in four days—all very challenging.’

Vowing to return next year, Robin said, ‘at our age we probably needed a six-day trek with an acclimatisation day where you do nothing but rest. Unfortunately, the weather conspired against us. It rained on day one of the trek, turning our path into a muddy quagmire, boot deep in slimy brown, oozing, sludge. We arrived at camp late in the evening and slept poorly. The next day, after a challenging climb up a steep rocky gradient, a ferocious wind kept us awake all night as tent awnings flapped and camp debris whirled all around. Then, the effects of altitude intervened, so by day three, we were exhausted. At that point an acclimatisation day would have been welcomed, but the four day summit timetable of the group meant that was impossible. It was a valiant attempt on one of the most challenging routes to the summit – the Machame RED ‘Whisky’ Route. We’ll no doubt be back, next year.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the fundraising for SCT. You can still make a donation via Robin’s JustGiving page here.