3. Kilimanjaro Challenge : Lemosho Route - Day Two - Mti Mkubwa - Shira Camp 1 3,610m

Jambo Jambo!

Thanks for joining me on my next blog documenting Day Two of my Kilimanjaro Challenge as I attempt to hike 6 days along the Lemosho Route heading out from Mti Mkubwa Camp and ascending 960 metres to Shira 1 Camp.

'Howwwlllllllll!!!!' a deep scream reverberates outside my tent. I snap my eyes open and listen hazily in the darkness, the African rain drops still softly pattering on my roof. The guttural yowls of a troop of monkeys punctuated the air of the forest outside again, causing me to groan and roll over in my sleeping bag. I wrestle around a few times and manage to squint my eyes at the light of my watch as I push it.

2am. Damn Colobus Monkeys.

2. Kilimanjaro Challenge: Lemosho Route - Day One - Londorosi Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp 2,650m

1. Kilimanjaro Challenge - Lemosho Route: Jambo Tanzania and Meeting Kilimanjaro...

Jambo Jambo!

That's hello in Swahili! Welcome to the first blog documenting my attempt to climb the highest free standing mountain in the world and also the highest dormant volcano in Africa. Now as you know if you'd be following my training over the last 6 months for this challenge, you know I have trained to be as ready as I'll ever be and fully aware that this was going to be the most relentless, gruelling physical and mental challenge of my life. So lets start right from the beginning, returning to Africa after 12 years to experience the mighty Mt. Kilimanjaro.....and what challenges would lay ahead on our journey to reach to the top of the Roof of Africa.

14. My Kilimanjaro Training - 6 Months in - The Final Lap, Thank You and Next Stop Tanzania!

Howdy folks!

The end is here! my training blog for Kilimanjaro has finally come to an end after 6 months after a whopping 77 gyms sessions, 16 training walks covering over 150 miles of adventures around the South East and one week hiking in the fells of the Lake District - I think that's enough training!

I have not been back to Africa for 12 years now after spending five months living in Ghana volunteering on a tennis project in 2007 and decided to sign up for the experience one year ago, feeling like a year was a long time to mentally prepare for Kili and 6 months to get myself physically ready to take it on. I'm now writing my final blog from my preparations which has pretty much consumed my life and given me a test of real discipline and a positive focus through 2019. I have encountered so many kind people along the way, in the gym, out up high in the distant mountains of the Lake District and along my many training hikes with their words of encouragement and support of my cause for M.E sufferers which has affected more people than you would think.

Its been a long road and its finally over!, but now visa, vaccines, training, Pack For A Purpose donations from WHSMITH and braids done I'm all ready to make my return to Africa!

But again, the biggest journey is yet to come....

13. My Kilimanjaro Training: 6 Months In - Getting High at The Altitude Centre

Howdy folks!

 I'm coming near to the end of my Kilimanjaro training journey with just one week to go before I board the plane to Tanzania! Thank you to everyone who has followed the long slog over the last 6 months but the bigger journey is yet to come!

I've decided to braid my hair too! Just to keep it out of the way and make it easier not being able to wash it for days up on the mountain.

Despite training for 6 months and having the right gear on the mountain, many people don't reach the summit of Kilimanjaro because of the misfortune of genetics and biology with their bodies not being able to respond well to the thinning air as you climb higher up the mountain - Altitude

So, as luck would have it in this case - I won a voucher for a free altitude training session at The Altitude Centre  

Would be a waste to waste a taste of altitude right?

12. My Kilimanjaro Training: 5 Months in - Prime Ministers Chequers and the Ridgeway of the Chilterns

Howdy folks! 

Thanks for dropping in to see how my last few weeks are going in my training for Kilimanjaro next. I'm now just 3 weeks away from leaving for Tanzania and have been squeezing in more training walks in the lead up to the big 'K'.

If you've been following my training journey since the beginning (nearly 6 months ago in Richmond Park) you've seen me all over the Surrey Hills, North Downs, The Chilterns, West Sussex and a week training holiday trying to get some mountain climbing in the beautiful Lake District (highly recommend).

Many of these walks I've been doing by myself with the occasional walking buddy or group - so this time I returned to The Chilterns joining the largest international outdoor group in London The Outdooraholics for a 21km trek along the Ridgway and through the Prime Ministers 'Chequers' retreat.....sounds an adventure. 

11. My Kilimanjaro Training : 5 Months in - Tanzania Visa Time, Pack for a Purpose and One Month to go in the Gym!

Hi all!

Thanks for dropping into my next post about my Kilimanjaro 2019 Training, if you've been reading my blogs since the start over 5 months ago - thanks so much! Others I'm sure have been dropping in to read a few so if you've read them all then I'm hugely flattered and touched.

So, the expedition date is scarily getting closer and I'm coming up to my last few weeks of training and have had to get together all the little bits of pieces you need for an expedition on Kilimanjaro. 
But above all, you can't get to Kilimanjaro unless you've got a valid visa into Tanzania so I've been off to the Tanzania High Commission in London to sort out all this official legit stuff....

Behold The Tanzania House! Just off of Oxford Street in London - applying for a visa for Tanzania seemed pretty straight forward. If you have a British passport you can get an e-visa online but being in London, I think its all part of the adventure visiting the embassy yourself! The visa office is down in the basement which the big bold yellow sign quite rightly directs you down to - how shady and cryptic!