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!

10: My Kilimanjaro Training : 5 Months in - Ivinghoe Beacon and The Chiltern Forests

Howdy folks!

Fantastic news! I've finally reached over £500 for Action for M.E! Thanks so much to everyone so far for donating towards my climb but with one month to go I'm still welcoming donations to make as much as possible! 

Over the past 5 months of my training I've been having adventures all over Surrey, Sussex, the seaside and the majestic Lake District as I prepare for the epic trekking challenge which is Kilimanjaro next month - of course I'm terrified but excited at the same time!

So this training blog follows an 10 mile circular hike (which ended up being 12 miles) north of the city to Tring to follow the oldest road in Britain 'The Ridgeway' up to the Ivinghoe Beacon and back round to end in the village of Aldbury ...with my friend Nicky as a guest training buddy.

Shouldn't be too hard right?

9. My Kilimanjaro Training - 5 months in....Seaford to Eastbourne and the Seven Sisters

Hi!

Thanks for dropping into my latest blog from my Kilimanjaro Training - time is flying by and I now have only 6 weeks to go before I head out to the big 'K'.

So, let me fill you on my trip news and updates on my training - this time heading to Sussex and the South Downs, right to the seaside to take on the 21km hike from Seaford to Eastbourne over the Seven Sisters...

8. My Kilimanjaro Training - 5 Months In... - Steppin' it up, Chilworth Gunpowder and The Silence of The Pools..

Howdy folks!

Grrrr!!! My best Hannibal Lecter impression. With now just 8 weeks to go until I'll be in Tanzania at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro over the last couple of weeks, I've stepped up a bit of resistance in the sports mask - now sweatin' away with intake of half the amount of air. I now believe training with the mask maybe more beneficial for more my cardio fitness than preparing me for actual altitude but I find it better to train with the mask than without - psychologically anyway!

At this point, with 2 months to go I have done 54 gym sessions (which I'm really pleased I've strictly stuck to), 12 training walks and a 2.5 days steep mountain walking in the Lake District over summer (it rained the rest of the time!).

If this isn't a reasonable amount of training for Kili, I'm not sure what is!   


Hopefully its going to pay off!

7. My Kilimanjaro Training : Lake District - Lake Derwent and Climbing Stickle Ghyll

Hi Folks!

Welcome to my last training blog from the Lake District for my Kilimanjaro training. Like I said in my last blog, the weather here gave me 3.5 days of good weather (or dry weather that is) so I managed to get out of Kendal a couple more times and into the National Park for some last hiking.

So lots of photos and videos... 

Halfway up to Stickle Tarn in the Langsdale Pikes  

Lake District - Lake Windermere and In the Footsteps of Beatrix Potter...

Howdy folks,

Thanks for dropping by again for my next blog from the Lake District. If you'd read my last blog where I slogged my way up and down 7 mountains over 24km in one day, this is a little less intense post this time round. The weather in the Lake District over a week has been very changeable this summer, one day its fine and sunshine and the next you're soaked by shifting thunderstorms!

6. My Kilimanjaro Training - The Lake District - Kendal and The Lakeland Fells

Howdy folks!

Thanks for tuning in to my latest training blog for my Kilimanjaro Training from the Lake District!

Stunning....overlooking Lake Windermere 

Ever been? No, neither have I so as I'm training for Kilimanjaro, it would be a good opportunity to go up to the famous Lakes which had inspired many writers and artists for some more 'challenging' trekking...so I did.