We made it to the top!!  What an amazing experience it was.  We spent 8 days getting to the peak and 24 hours back down by another route.  A few headaches, nausea, vomiting, upset tummys and sunburn along the way.......coupled with the worst February weather had for the past 10 years.  It was pretty wet and cold and lots of snow but there was never a question of would we make it to the peak. Determination got us through and we will never forget the experience. We also had a fabulous team to help us along the way, led by Alfani, our guide and Orlotto, our assistant guide, also Abdulla our waiter (!), the cook, all of the porters and 'toilet man', whoever he was we are endebted to you for ever! 

If you want to see our photographs from the climb copy and paste the link below into your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111202&id=1167790455&l=25cc7fdd57

 

We are now well over our target and are absolutely thrilled with this but we still want to raise as much as we can.  We thank all of you who have already donated very much indeed on behalf of Cancer Research UK, the research already done by the organisation has touched many of our lives.

               o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 

 

One of Julia's longstanding ambitions has been to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain and the highest freestanding mountain in the world.

We've had a bit of a year in 2010 with one thing and another and we needed something to focus on and work towards  (well Julia did and Ian has been persuaded!).  

As we both love the mountains and met through climbing, tackling Kilimanjaro at just under 6,000 m seemed a "good" challenge to go for ( for the record, Ian didn't agree that "good" was the best description, he had others!)  At that altitude whilst there is very little air, there is in fact no beer!  

We thought that if we were going to attempt something such as this we should raise some money for a good cause. (Ian being forced to go 8 days without a pint has to be worth some sponsorship in its own right!). 

There are many worthy charities out there but we have decided to go with Cancer Research UK,which is very close to our hearts with Ian losing both his parents to cancer and Julia's Mom having breast cancer this year and her aunt having the same 5 years ago.

The fantastic work of Cancer Research UK has meant that year on year both survival rates and quality of life is improving. This makes a real difference to sufferers and families alike. We want to support the continuation of that work and really hope that you will be able to help as well. 

We have arranged and financed our trip independently.This means that every penny you can donate will all go straight to the charity.

We've already started training as you can see in the photographs and as well as gym/swimming/running etc in the week we plan to get out every weekend in the hills/mountains, work permitting for Julia of course!

We're flying out to Tanzania on 7 Feb 2011 and actually start the climb on 12 Feb and aim to summit on 18 Feb with the full moon! We're taking the longer "Lemosho" route up as this gives the best  acclimatisation against altitude sickness and therefore the highest statistical chance of success. Many don't make the summit due to the altitude sickness.

Cancer touches all of our lives in one way or another. Please help if you can. Thank you all so much.  With love and best wishes.

Ian and Julia

 

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