A lot seems to have been written about the issue of peeing on Kili. Everyone is expected to drink at least three litres of water every day, because dehydration can very quickly become very serious, leading to altitude sickness.
One site I looked at referred to hourly daytime stops for a quick snack, a drink and a wee, adding that “It’s a miracle that Mount Kilimanjaro hasn’t completely eroded in a tsunami of urine”!
Most of the advice on this issue is aimed at men, referring to the use of “pee bottles”, especially at night. Once you are in bed, wearing a few layers of clothes, socks and a hat (yes!), inside a sleeping bag and zipped into a tent, the prospect of getting oneself outside with shoes and a head lamp on for a wee is not attractive. I see mention of people being kept awake all night by the sound of people zipping and unzipping their tents to go on such trips.
There is an upside: apparently the stars are the best I am ever likely to see, with absolutely no light pollution and a moonlight night is something really special up there. The Milky Way is reputed to be fantastic and I am really looking forward to seeing that.
One of the suggestions for women is to pee in a zip lock bag at night. That would take some skill, I imagine! However, one clearly experienced woman says that “firm receptacles are easier to hold and use, while having less potential for spillage”. She recommends taking a “plastic mayonnaise/pickle/peanut jar” as large and wide as you need. She is clearly an American: I don’t think these commodities come in suitable plastic containers in the UK. Another woman recommends taking a “quart size empty yogurt container”, which I imagine would do the job, so long as it didn’t end up cracked during its daily trip up the mountain in a back pack.
However, the prospect of that, when there are three of us in the tent, including a 13 year old boy, is not inviting. I think the shoes, head lamp and stars beckon.