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.