The cold was unbearable! Even after wearing two pairs of long warm socks, two pairs of warm trousers, two t-shirts, a warm sweater, two pairs of woolen gloves and a warm cap over my head, I still felt the cold seeping through to my bones. I tried to lay still underneath my sleeping bag to try and keep warm, but the hard ground forced me to change positions every now and then making sleeping unbearable for the night. I was extremely fatigued and needed as much rest as possible to gather energy for the next day
Katharina, Emma and I had hiked for 28km from the Kapkwai Forest Exploration Centre to our camping station for the night at Kajeri. The trails were moderately easy during the first phase of the hike with plenty of plants and bird species to see along the way, but got really steep by the time we got to the camp.
The porters were really helpful; lighting up firewood to keep us warm and boiling water for baths and hot coffee. This didn’t seem to help much in the long run, but was a good temporary solution. I almost thought we had to Alaska and were not in Uganda anymore, because the cold was so extreme
I decided to act as brave as a lion on the morning of the third day and had a bath in the open. It was essential to wash away the dirt and sweat from the previous day, wear very warm clothes and head out to the summit point. The most exciting day for all hikers is reaching the summit point of any mountain; it is such a rewarding and fulfilling moment.
After dressing up in my warm clothes, I picked up a piece of coal from the ground and proudly wrote my achievement on the wooden wall of Mude Camp. It said, “Pascqa Lorna Abur, 08th-July-2018, my 7th mountain in Uganda, Mountain Club of Uganda.” Katharina took a lovely photo of me standing next to it, which was a great souvenir of a special moment.