There is no official public register of deaths on Kilimanjaro, so treat any precise figure you read online with caution. What is commonly reported is this: tens of thousands of people climb the mountain every year, and in a typical year a small number of deaths are recorded among climbers, most linked to severe altitude illness or to underlying heart conditions revealed by exertion at altitude.

I am writing this from a hotel room in Arusha, Tanzania, and I want to be completely honest with you: I have no idea what I have done to deserve a view like this.