A pictorial history of Kili training...so far

Better late then never...here are some pics of different Kili related walks and trips over the last 12 months, thanks to Picasa.

Snowdon May 2006

French & Swiss Alps August 2006

Surrey Hills October 2006

Jane's gang Elstead, Surrey January 2007

Next stop...Kilimanjaro, Tanzania February 2007. And as you can see from the quality of these photos, hopefully Jon will be the official tour snapper.

Jane's Gang

Remember the really muddy and soggy Surrey yomp Mrs M arranged for 29th December? Designed as a good way for people to work off those extra festive pounds and donate to World Vision for our Kili cause at the same time, it worked on all fronts. And the boots and gear have just about dried out now.....

Well, a business contact and friend of Mrs M's - Jane Henderson....tiler, Mum, interior designer, cyclist, walker, multitasking all-round superstar - couldn't make the 29th. But she went ahead and got together a huge group of her own friends for a great walk this Sunday just gone.

We kicked off at about 10:30 from Jane's home in sunny Elstead, and walked via Gatwick (hamlet, not airport), Cutmill ponds, The Donkey pub, Tilford village, Hankley and Elstead commons, getting back about 4. I reckon we covered about 8-9 miles at a fairly leisurely but decent pace, and spent a very happy hour or so scoffing huge butties down our deserving gobs at The Donkey.

The weather was beautifully un-January like, the day impeccably organised by Jane, the company very sociable and diverse, and - apart from Simon and me - female. Musician, airline pilot, interior designer, engineer, alternative therapist, juggler....you name it, Jane's Gang had it covered. OK, there wasn't really a juggler, but definitely enough breadth of skill, knowledge and sociability to win a Mastermind-Jeux Sans Frontieres-Countdown team challenge by a distance.

Thanks for a great day, Jane, and for letting Gill, me and our neighbours Simon & Fi gate-crash.

All donations to World Vision would be hugely appreciated as we're running out of time before we head out to Kilimanjaro on February 23rd. Any donations can be made online by clicking the link Sponsor us here on the right hand side.

See a few pics of the day by clicking here.

Feeling ill-prepared...

Oh dear, my preparation for this trip has been a bit derailed in the last couple of weeks or so. The combination of a very busy period at work and a bad cold has meant that I've basically been just sleeping or working for about ten days now. Sorting out clothing/equipment/insurance/visas/etc have all had to take a back seat. And training...? What training...?

The spiralling costs have been an additional worry. Yes, the actual price of the trip through Explore was a significant chunk of money in itself, but we all knew about this when we volunteered to sign up. However, at the time, you just don't think about the £38 for your visa, over £100 for vaccinations & malaria tablets, several hundred on clothing to keep you warm at –20C and an outrageous amount if you want to try and arrange some acclimatisation before the trip itself.

While I'm not so poor that this will make me bankrupt, I'm just annoyed with myself that I hadn't thought of all this before. I've got to the stage now where my frame of mind is "Oh what's another fifty quid - it's all so expensive anyway..."

Well, all I can say is that when we get up there, it had all better be worth it! Now where's my Lemsip...