31 Days to go

The test for the training to climb Kilimanjaro is to see if we can walk for 7 hours up fairly steep hills and still be prepared to walk the next day. We have just taken the test….. and passed!

Monday was a public holiday in South Africa so we took this opportunity of looking for a really demanding walk. John picked us up at 5am and we motored for 3 hours to get to the Drakensburg. With a short break for breakfast we arrived at Giants Castle and we were ready to walk at 9am. There was a little tension in the air as we knew it would be a long day. We were carrying our regulation three liters of water, all the emergence stuff, two walking polls each and waterproof clothing just in case. We decided to walk out towards the Langalibalele Pass, cut across country and walk back from Bannerman’s Hut. This should be a 9hour 30minute walk with plenty of steep hills on the way. I figured we needed to test ourselves, and we did.

The way up is very steep and it seemed to take us forever. I was beginning to worry about time and considered turning around after 4 hours walking because we hadn’t managed half way by then. The group opinion was to go on. It should be down hill and easier to make up time traveling back.

We climbed higher that we have before (2,200 meters) and the flora was quite different. There had been a lot of rain recently so the rivers were full as well. One of the rivers we had to cross would have been impossible had the water been just a little higher. My new camera was working overtime and I took a movie as well to get some practice with camera angles. I must say the results are excellent.

In the end we arrived back at 18:45, and after a brief break made for the gate. Unfortunately the gate was locked by the time we got there but a guard let us out anyway. (Make mental note to be out of the park by 19:00 next time)

We were all exhausted by the time we got back to the car and the 3 hour drive home was very draining. Having been up at 04:30, driven three and a half hours to get there, walked for over nine hours, it was pretty silly to be driving in the dark for another three hours.

We all agreed, however, that this was a great day out and well within our capabilities. Next stop Kilimanjaro!

34 Days to go

The Flu or not the Flu.

We were all set to go to the Drakensburg last Monday (Public Holiday in SA). Sheila had spent Sunday doing the last of the Christmas Shopping (although I am sure there will be a few things that we just have to rush out for on Christmas Eve), and I prepared the rucksacks, washed and filled the new Camelbak water bags, and generally looked forward to the long walk in the Drakensburg. Sheila was sick when she got home from shopping and later we decided to give the Drakensburg a miss. Later still I rang John and told him that I would go but at 04:15 am on Monday I had succumbed to the bug, so we really had to cancel. Sheila and I have felt bad all week and only now coming round. We have decided to go on Saturday. I hope we will both be well then.

I have spent some of the week watching the other Kilimanjaro videos on Youtube. These are very interesting and have given me an idea how best to film the event (and what not to do as well). One Video used the music from the beginning of the Lord of the Rings movie (not right at the beginning, but where Gandalf arrives). I am sure there are some copyright issues that still have to be sorted in Youtube, but the music was perfect for the video.

One video showed a hapless couple who seemed to have rain the whole way and then couldn't stay at the top to take pictures because the mist came down and they couldn't see a thing. This is now my worst nightmare. To get all that way to see the view and pick a bad day…...

38 Days to go

To Gu or not to Gu?

I think we have most of the major stuff now. We went out today and bought what I hope is the last of the clothing that we will need. I will be doing a complete list of what we purchased and the prices later. It will be interesting to do another list when we are back of what we actually needed. I feel very much in the hands of the 4 main shops in South Africa that sell this stuff. Do we really need all of it? I will never know. One thing's for certain. I don't want to get nearly there at -20C and wish we had bought something that seemed a waste of money in the Durban Sunshine. So we have everything... and then some!

Anyway, back to my first statement. We have satisfied or outside needs. We will be warm at the top! but what about what goes on the inside? Everybody we have talked to suggest that we take a good supply of our favorite snack, energy bar, Hawaiian Mix, Tex, or whatever, but what about the energy glup that comes in a sachet and supplies you with the extra energy to get to the top. (So it says on the packet). This has got to be another one of those expensive cons..... Hasn't it?

This morning I picket up 6 different brands of energy glup, "GU" being the most famous (and, of course, the most expensive) Now if we take it like it says on the packet we will need 6 each a day at prices up to R15.99 each. Surely we don't need to spend another R1,000 on this stuff? And which brand to choose? The ingredients look really interesting but it could be written in Greek for all that it means to me. I have purchased a product called "Breakthru" which seems to have the same amount of Kj as the ones 3 times the price and we will try them on Monday in the Drakensburg. I haven't tasted it yet, it probably tastes like s**t. I will let you know.

The next decision is whether to take Diomax? This is a tablet that is meant to help with the symptoms of Altitude Sickness. Now if there is one thing that might prevent us from getting to the top it is the Nausea and Headache that comes with high altitudes. It's not just the pain, Altitude sickness is a killer so we have to be careful.

Then there is the snack bars to take. Which is your favorite brand? This may not be important to you but in the back of my mind I am imagining myself 5000 km from the nearest Engen Onestop, with a snack bar I am sick off.

One Last thing.... if you are in SA and you are thinking of doing this hike, consider looking in Mr Price Sports for some of the clothing before you spend R300.00 for teeshirt. Okay... they won't be able to help with the really specialisd stuff, but you could save at least R1,000 by visiting there first.

By the way. The picture is the flag that Chantell made for us. This ones going to the top and will be waived as the Sun raises..... with a bit of luck!

42 days to go

Just a quick note to say that the video is now available on You Tube. Click on this link to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTuU22Eaepk

A really big thank you to The Missing Link Team who donated their time and expertise to produce the video. Lets hope it will encourage more people to get involved.

45 Days to go

Had a great training hike today in Paradise Valley. It is not a very long walk (only about 90 minutes) so we did it twice. There is a good steep hill about half way round, just what we need to train our legs to climb.

We had a chat about Kili on the break and I was interested to hear that Sheila and John are beginning to get concerned. There is no doubt that it will be both physically and mentally challenging to do the climb but I haven't started to concern myself with that yet. Too many other things to think about. We have had so much advice from people who have made the climb I hope we don't forget anything. All the shops have lists of the things we need to get to the top. Frankly I think they overdo the stuff that they are very happy to sell us but I will only know that when we have done the trip.

We are now using a bladder in the rucksack that holds the water. This makes sense of course, as we don't have to stop to get a water bottle out of the pack. The first water bladders we purchased tasted of plastic despite the fact that we were told that they wouldn't. Mine also had a leak and the mouth piece didn't seal. I have taken it back, but they are thinking about what to do with it. We will see.

I also decided to buy myself a really good camera at the weekend. When I was in the Grand Canyon last month I took pictures with my compact 6 megapixle camera and a friend took some with his top of the range SLR. The difference was so dramatic I knew I would have to buy a new camera... but which to buy?

My son Chait is a specialist so I chatted to him and looked around. I didn't want a big SLR but I did want all the features, so we ended up with the best compact available, the Canon G9. 12 megapixles, 6 times optical zoom and the quality of the pictures is just amazing. Of course the guy behind the camera is still the same so I will need to get some training if I am to use it properly.

47 Days to go

Two hours walking last night. Nothing very exciting happened but it was very tiring after speaking all day. Nothing much to report then, except this picture taken at the local McDonald's. Maybe it is just me but this sign seems to suggest that the parking space is for a big Scotsman who enjoys eating customers.

48 Days to go

Less that 50 days now and we are really working hard on the fund raising but alas, not so hard on the training. Yesterday I flew to Johannesburg to meet with the Reach for a Dream guys and be interviewed for an advert that the really great people at Missing Link are doing. It never fails to amaze me how many fantastic people there are in the world, all of whom seem to be prepared to give their time and money without any possibility of reward. Thanks to Sean and his team for doing a great job yesterday.

I have committed to getting this blog updated twice a day with pictures and a story while we are actually climbing, so this will be the place to be between the 18th and the 23rd of January. In the mean time I would really like to get involved with a radio station, who would welcome the sort of daily input I could offer from the mountain as well as an interview at the summit. This would really help to bring in more pledges of funds for the Reach for a Dream Foundation. If you can help with this sort of contact this would be great.

No training since Sunday so no really exciting pictures of the team, but I thought I would post a picture of me and my grandson during our training on Sunday. (I am the one on the right).

51 Days to go

Lots of interesting things happening this week. Rich Mulholand has offered to create a video to publicise the climb for Reach for a Dream on the internet which is wonderful news. This will help to get the word out to a much larger audience. I am flying to Johannesburg on Tuesday to be interviewed for the video along with the RFAD team.

We have also been training of course. This afternoon we went to Virginia Bush again to get in as much hill work as possible. It is lovely in the bush and although it is not far from home it is quiet and beautiful. I took the video camera with me to get some footage to take with me on Tuesday. I am thinking of making a video of the whole thing from training to climb. Might be fun.

Chantell has also kindly personalised our kit with the new logo and created a fantastic flag to take with us to the top. Thanks Chantell.

57 days to go

No training today but such a lot of Kilimanjaro activity. I sent out an e-mail this morning to some friends and customers to let them know what I am doing and how they can help if they want to. I have spent the rest of the day fielding the phone calls and e-mails of support, many of them pledging funds for RFAD. The comments have been many and varied from "Mulvey's midlife crisis" (thanks Clive) to "Well done, I wish I was going". A few people have made contact with advice, most of it very useful.

Most of all I am amazed by the generosity of many people. We now have pledges for over R27,000 so I am thinking that my original target of R100,000 may be well under what is possible. We will see. This blog has had 75 hits today so far so I am hoping that there is still plenty of interest to be generated. I don't have any pictures of training today so I thought I would add another one from the Grand Canyon last week.

59 Days to go

I am back from the USA now and back into the training program with Sheila and John. We did 9 km around the streets of Durban on Saturday and then had a great 3 hour walk in Paradise Vally Nature reserve today. The paths on the reserve were badly washed away from the rain during the week but it was great fun none the less.

The fund raising is starting to show some progress and on my return from the States I was delighted to find that Clive Simpkins and Jacques de Villiers had both put up a page on their Blog. The Lions club in Port Shepstone have also come to the party with a wonderful contribution so we are moving ahead.

The list of things we need for the climb seems to be never ending. I will post a list here in a few days but to give you an idea we have already spent over R12,000 each on kit and there will be more I am sure. (Boots R1,400, Jacket R1,000, Waterproof pants R500, Windproof pants R500, Sleeping bag R1,500, etc, etc.) One thing is for certain, when the weather gets cold at the top of the mountain (-20C) we will be ready for it!

63 days to go

Had a great day today. Walked 9 km to the local shopping center in down town Tempe. The first thing I noticed during the walk is that nobody walks in Arizona. I don't mean that there are very few walkers, I mean that there were no walkers on the 9 km trek to the local Mall. I did pass 4 people in a bus shelter waiting for a bus, I guess they must have got a lift to the bustop. Even the buses have a place on them at the front for bicycles so that the poor cyclists don't have far to ride.

Phoenix also has other interesting problems. As you can see from the picture the bug problems seem to be rather more interesting than our cockroaches in Durban.

64 Days to go

I haven’t entered anything into this blog for 19 days. I have, to say the least, been a bit busy. I have been away a lot of the time but John and Sheila have continued to get in as much training as possible.

I have been at a weekend meeting at the National Speakers Association head office. Unfortunately the NSA Head Office is in Phoenix Arizona! Still, I haven’t been shirking my responsibilities and did some training yesterday at the Grand Canyon.

If you haven’t been here before you have a treat in store. My first site of the Canyon was breath taking, literally! I had to sit down I was so awed by the site. Emotion welling up inside of me I sat for 30 minutes in silence just taking in the enormity of it all. I have added a couple of pics here but they cannot do it justice.

I have now seen 2 of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World (Grand Canyon and Victoria Falls), 5 to go!(Everest, Northern Lights, Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Paricutin Volcano in Mexico, the harbour of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil)

83 Days to go

Had some great news today! Reach for a Dream has (finally) agreed to let me raise some money for them with the climb. I have been waiting for this permission before I can get the word out that I will be climbing to the highest point in Africa. I have fulfilled some dreams for them over the last two years (go here to have a look http://www.richardmulvey.com/content/view/137/81/) and as it has been my dream to do this climb for seven years it is entirely appropriate to combine my dream with some of theirs and raise money while I am climbing. The target I set myself is R100,000. This will be challenging now but I am sure I can do it with a little help from the local media. (With a bit of luck)

86 days to go

We left early this morning for Kloof Gorge and had our hardest walk by far. Six hours up and down the side of the Gorge was great exercise and I am beginning to feel as if we are getting fit enough to make it to the top of Kilimanjaro. The map we had wasn't very good (at least, that’s my story and I am sticking to it) and we came out of the reserve too early. We (I) must have missed a path earlier on and we were not in the mood to back track and find our (my) mistake so we walked around Kloof for a while looking lost until a friendly local (who happened to be a long standing customer) took pity on us and offered to drive us back to the car. (Thanks Robert).

Despite the mistake we had a good day and I was exhausted by the time we got back home

87 Days to go

Great News.... John has decided to come with us up the mountain. He has the stamina and he is a good friend so I am sure he will add to the event. We had a good walk through the Virginia Bush today. Tried some of the new twists and turns and found a lovely picnic spot that I am sure is a great place for lovers... Oh to be young again! John led the way and he will have to learn to slow down his pace. He is a fast walker and that will not do on Kili. We went shopping for him this morning and bought boots, a rucksack and walking poles. R3,500. I think he was a bit surprised! Oh well... you don't want to get to the top and realise that you should have bought better boots.

We still have a lot of purchases to make but we are leaving the clothing until we have found out more from the people who have done it.

At the bottom the weather seems to be warm and maybe wet, so that will be easy to dress for with a waterproof something to cover it all. The best advice for the top (where the temp can get as low as -25C apparently) seems to be four layers on the top (Thermal vest, t-shirt (not cotton) fleece and waterproof jacket with hood) and three on the bottom (Thermal pants, fleece and waterproof pants). Most of all we will need flexibility as the weather can change instantly.

We are still waiting on “Reach for a Dream” to see if they will allow us to raise funds for them and Geoff to see if he is joining us.

Off to Kloof Gorge tomorrow. We really battled to do that walk two months ago so it will be really interesting to see if we are fitter now.

101 Days to go

We discovered Shongweni Dam and Reserve this weekend. What a lovely place! We arrived, put on all our kit and made for the only hiking trail in the reserve only to discover that it had been closed. There are a few paths we could have taken to start the walk so we decided that we had taken another path and had not seen the notice! :-)

The walk only took 2 hours but it is most beautiful and rewarding.

We had plenty of time when we arrived back at the camp so rather than do the trail again we walked to the dam and back. This proved to be more draining than the trail but just as rewarding.

104 Days to go

We have just had a wonderful weekend at Giants Castle. The weather looked really bad all week and we couldn’t decide whether to go or not. Right up until Saturday morning we were still undecided. But we left anyway. It was raining in Durban but it cleared up on the way which was promising. Michaela came with us as we had decided to stay over and get in two days walking up the mountains.

At Giants we put on all our kit and set out for Meander Hut and Beacon Ridge. Within 2 minutes this walk gets very steep for about 30 minutes and you wonder if you have made the right decision, however it levels out and after that the views are spectacular.

The walk is about 15km and it took us about 4 hours with a break at the Beacon for a snack. Michaela was skipping ahead all the time. How does she do that?

It didn’t rain until we were just about back at the camp.

That evening we spent at White Mountain resort which was fun. Although the beds were hard we all slept until 08:00 on Sunday.

The morning climb included the caves and the river walk. Nice, but not mind blowing.

We are worried that we won’t be getting enough time to exercise in November. I am away for a lot of that month so we will have to be careful to walk when we can.

108 Days to go

Monday evening walking is always a challenge. After a hard day at work and school to worry about tomorrow there is never enough time. It was raining at 17:00 as well so the temptation to give it a miss is strong. We didn't give in however, and had a good 90 minute walk (about 7 km) in a circle around Durban North.

We are still doing a lot of reading about the climb and trying to make decisions. The main one at the moment is whether to take tablets to avoid Altitude Sickness. There seem to be two problems:

1. The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to drink plenty of water. Four litres a day seems to be the optimum. On the other hand the tablets seem to be diuretic, taking water out of the body which defeats the object.
2. The other reason to be concerned seems to be that the tablets seem to hide the symptoms, but if you don't know feel the symptoms how will you know if you have a problem?

The symptoms to watch out for seem to be: headache, nausea, dizziness, and difficulty sleeping, and are aggravated by not drinking enough water, drinking any alcohol, cold weather and climbing too high too quickly. I think we had better get some tablets (Diomax) and give them a go.

109 Days to go

We were up at 05:45 this morning and we drove half way to the Drakensburg today only to be driven back by the weather. I don’t mind rain but knowing that it would be wet and muddy kinda put us off the whole idea.

Back in Durban an hour later we drove to Umhlanga Rocks and walked two and a half hours on the Lagoon walk and then onto the beach before the rain sent us back.

Actually had a great day and having Michaela with us helped to make it even better. We saw a tiny deer on the path the size of a cat (Sheila called it a Piete Buck and who am I to argue) He was very friendly and didn’t mind having his picture taken.


We have started to investigate the equipment we will need. The boots we were using, although comfortable, were not good enough so we had to buy the real thing (R1200.00 each). Typically they are less comfortable than the R300.00 pair but these will last at least until the end of the climb in January at least. They are welded rather than sewn so there is no chance of letting in any water. The rest of the gear will be about R8,000 each I think, so I just have to get a couple of extra speaking engagements over the next three months to pay for them.

110 Days to go

Just did 2 hours walking around Virginia Bush today. I love that walk and being so close to home is a great attraction. There are a lot of flowers around as we walk. I will put a few on here when I see them.

We will need to go father tomorrow and we are planning to take Michaela to the Drakensburg early and get in a good 6 hour walk. The movie below is just a little snipit of Virginia Bush

115 days to go

Discovered a great walk today. We went to Giants Castle in the Drakensburg and walked to “World’s View” 5 Hours (14km). The weather wasn’t great but the walk was very exhilarating with fantastic panoramic views and plenty of flora and fauna to keep us interested. We are getting a lot fitter now and I am sure we will make the main climb. Reading the other Kili climbers Altitude Sickness is the main thing to worry about and it will be difficult to know if that will affect us or not. We will need to get to higher altitudes in our training soon.

This picture shows where we were going to end up on the walk. We didn't know that when we started of course!

129 Days to Go

Monday is not a good time to get away to train. by the end of the working day there is food to cook and children to look after, but we got in a 2 hour walk (8km) around the area, and both came back exhausted. I have just looked at the Photo on the previous entry... I expect we will look more the part in 130 days, especially if we keep up this level of training.

The trip is paid for now so there is no going back. Reading some of the other blogs from people who have done the assent it seems really tough but really worthwhile. We will see.... (Watch this space).

I have decided to raise funds for Reach for a Dream with this trip. I should at least raise R100,000 if I put some effort into it.

130 Days to go

Had a great walk today. We, of course, had the parental duties to perform as well so we didn’t go far, but we did find a great walk on our doorstep. Just 5 minutes walk from our house lays “Virginia Bush”. I have known it is there for the 14 years we have been in the area but I have never visited the place. Today we went for a fascinating walk in the bush which was both tiring and interesting – just what we need. The place is amazing and will certainly be an attractive 2 hour walk in the future. Apart from anything else it was totally empty. You get the feeling of being a hundred miles from anywhere deep in the bush, but just 5 minutes from home. Great!

We are both getting fitter – I can feel it, and tomorrow is the day when I pay for the trip, so there is no going back after that.

131 Days to go

After Kloof last week, we didn't find time to walk at all during the week and only managed 7 km today. We Dropped Michaela off at school to play Soccer and took 90 minutes to walk 7km in a round trip from the school, over the hill in Umhlanga Rocks Drive and down nearly to the Mall before walking back up to the school. It was a fast walk but enjoyable none the less. Tomorrow we will need to do something more strenuous.

I have found some pictures on Kilimanjaro that I will post on the side of this blog. They show the receeding snowline. This is the reason I need to do this now. When Michaela wants to climb Kilimanjaro there probably wont be any snow on top.

137 Days to Go

We have started to train in ernest now. For the last couple of weeks we have been walking 3 times a week but we will need to move on if we are going to be fit enough to do the climb.

We drove up to Kloof and walked the Yellow Route on Kloof George. This was particularily draining, especially the hard climb on the way back. This really focuses the mind, and makes you wonder how hard the Kili Climb will be. I have no fear of the actually walk. I know it will be hard and I will wonder on the way up why I do these things to me body, but I think that the altitude will be the real risk.

Sheila has been doing a lot more reading up about the climb than I have. She tells me that 10 people each year die trying to climb the Kilimanjaro. Strangely this news excits me. This means that the walk isn't just a "walk in the park", and it will be tough.

138 Days to go

Finally decided to take the plunge and Climb Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa.

Interestingly the few people I have told about this have all, without exception, asked "Why?" and I have yet to come up with a good answer. Of course "Because it's there" seems to put them off asking more questions, but in truth I am not quite sure. I have been talking about this climb for 7 years but there has never been a time where all the factors came together. Now I have discovered that there may not be snow on the top of the mountain in a few years so now is the time I guess.

It’s more than that though. I need a challenge. I haven’t done anything that stretches me for years, and now is the time to explore.