It feels like Christmas but instead it’s Kilimanjaro Eve!
The waiting is over, the countdown clock has fewer than 24 hours on it and all the training is – hopefully – complete!
Tomorrow we leave and for the next 11 days I’m hugely proud to be joining 360-expeditions as a Team Leader, taking a team of intrepid souls to Uhuru Peak, the highest point of Kilimanjaro at 5,895 meters.
It’s going to be a stunning hike through rainforests, moonscape terrain and vibrant jungle and even before that and the peak there will be visits and stop-offs to help acclimatise. For example, we’ll be visiting some vanilla and cocoa farms, which is going to be fantastic.
I can’t wait to see how we all get on – individually and together – when it comes to finding our feet on arrival, co-existing in an alien place and getting stuck into the hard yards, because no two challenges are the same and no two teams are the same.
I may have sailed around the world, cycled across America and run a killer marathon in Sierra Leone but nothing can prepare me, or us as a team, for what we’ll face. It is going to be life-changing. Again.
Take a look at the trip’s itinerary, including what we’ve got through in terms of training to get prepared:
MONTH 1
Option 1
2 x 30 mins weekday walk
1 x 1 hour weekend walk
1 x 10 mins CVS
Option 2
1 x 30 mins weekday walk
2 x 1 hour weekend walk
1 x 10 mins CVS
MONTH 2
Option 1
2 x 45 mins weekday walk
1 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS
Option 2
1 x 45 mins weekday walk
2 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS
MONTH 3
Option 1
2 x 45 mins weekday walk
1 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS
Option 2
1 x 45 mins weekday walk
2 x 2 hours weekend walk
2 x 10 mins CVS
MONTH 4
Option 1
3 x 1 hour weekday walk
1 x 4 hours weekend walk
3 x 15 mins CVS
Option 2
2 x 1 hour weekday walk
2 x 4 hours weekend walk
3 x 15 mins CVS
MONTH 5
Option 1
3 x 1.5 hours weekday walk
1 x 5 hours weekend walk
3 x 20 – 25 mins CVS
Option 2
2 x 1.5 hours weekday walk
2 x 5 hours weekend walk
3 x 20 – 25 mins CVS
MONTH 6
Option 1
3 x 2 hours weekday walk
1 x 6 hours weekend walk
3 x 30 mins CVS
Option 2
2 x 3 hours weekday walk
2 x 6 hours weekend walk
3 x 30 mins CVS
Those are the hard yards so far- wish us luck!