Well, I finally made it to the top - suffering from Altitude sickness but feeling physically fine. Fantastic feeling being on the top - we were looking down on internal flights in Africa. The glaciers are amazing, I just wished I was able to spend longer at the top. A rapid descent soon fixed the headaches and we celebrated with a cold beer at the hotel - boy did that taste good!
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me, I think I will hit the £2000 mark which is really great news.
Paul
PS - Boots were great!
Latest News: Boots finally broken in with a quick 11 mile walk on Friday along and around the Ridgeway.
Count down to Friday has commenced - 4 days...
You can sponsor me now by texting: AEUL72 £your amount to 70070, so for example: AEUL72 £10
Well, I have gone and done it - booked Kilimanjaro. I am funding this trip myself, so every penny raised goes to charity. My chosen charity is Ucare - Urology Cancer Research and Education based in Oxford. Focussing on prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancer, their patrons include the Duke of Marlborough.
More here http://www.ucare-oxford.org.uk/
A few years ago, I spent some time at the Churchill with some minor ailments and came into contact with some of the people working with this charity. Oxford is a hotbed of research and through this research, we might just find new ways of treating more serious conditions such as cancer.
Anyway, here I am now hoping to raise some funds to help the research - which may just one day save someone's life, so it would be fantastic if you could dig deep and donate towards my attempt to climb Kilimanjaro.
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world at 3.6 miles high, 5895m or 19,344 feet. There are higher mountain "ranges", but they don't count ;-). Kili is a mostly an extinct volcano - Kibo is dormant. The height brings its own problems - cold and lack of oxygen, so this makes it quite a tough challenge. Only 40% reach the summit - I'm not offering a refund if I don't make the summit - but that is my aim.
So, I will update this page as I try to get fit and nearer to the big climb - it takes 7 days to climb, so plenty of time to take photos and send updates. Climb Date - 7th October 2011
Thank you for sponsoring me, please feel free to share this page with your friends - I am aiming for £2000 and I'm not proud where the money comes from, but very grateful for every penny.
Please feel free to leave me a message of encouragement.
See my Kili blogg at https://sites.google.com/site/ucarekili/
Take care...
