The day before the climb

I had the idea that if we spent a full day in Arusha before doing the climb it would avoid anyone starting out with jet lag. It turned out to be a good plan.
Our hotel was the KIA Lodge which is literally two minutes from the airport. Using this as our base we took a forty minute ride into Arusha and did the market stalls. The high point of the day though was a visit to the Maasai village close to the lodge.
We had to get the permission of the village elders before setting off.
It turned out to be a wonderful experience. The villagers showed us around one of their homes and dressed us up in the traditional Maasai blankets. After this we danced with the warriors. Don't let anyone tell you that white men can't jump! We can, only not all that high. I think the children in particular had a lot of fun watching us making fools of ourselves but we got a lot out of it too. The people were very warm and it's an experience none of us will forget.



Before we left the village the elders blessed our climb. we were each given a few blades of grass which we were told to keep on us and throw away when we reached the summit.
I don't consider myself a superstitious man, but that grass was the first thing I checked for every morning.

We did it!!!

5th October 2010 at 1150. I can't begin to describe the feeling when you see the sign a few yards away and know you're going to make it.
All of us made it to the summit and I have to say that what the lady wrote was completely correct "If you think it's easy you're wrong. If you think you can't do it you're wrong."



I'll follow up with an account of the climb along with our experiences in Tanzania, a country and a people which will live in our hearts for a long time.

One summit reached!

A big day today. My old shipmates on Endeavour got together and pushed my collection way beyond the target. I've been blown away by people's generosity.

Training like an animal

Well, ok, I'm not quite in this guy's league but based on the fact that I'm only competing against myself......I've murdered da bum!

I've put a lot more focus on jogging and as much as I hate it I have to admit it's improving my fitness dramatically. A few weeks ago I struggled to run down the street. Two days ago I did 5km. The gains in my fitness are tangible. My heart rate watch tells me I'm now at 38 on fitness (top end of moderate). When I started this venture I was 28 (low) and 34 pounds heavier.

So forgive me if I'm feeling a bit smug. It doesn't mean I'm underestimating the mountain but I tell you what. The mountain shouldn't underestimate me either.

Gary Dillon

One of our group, Gary, has a very personal reason for doing this climb.

Gary comes from Whitesville, West Virginia, which is the town near to the site of the huge mine explosion in which 29 miners died. Some of those miners were his friends. Gary has been given two flags to take up to the summit to remember them by, a West Virginia flag and a Stars and Stripes which flew over the Capitol. He also plans to read each name out every evening.

That's a very strong incentive to drive him to the summit. I've attached a link to the news article.

I don't have the slightest doubt that he will make it, and I intend to be there to see it.

Pen-y-Ghent, Yorkshire

Yesterday Karl and I hiked up Pen-y-Ghent and Plover Hill in the Yorkshire Dales.

It was partly training of course but also to try to gauge how we're progressing with our fitness.

I came back very pleased as I had a previous walk up Win Hill in the Peak District to compare it with. Much fitter now and I feel I might be mentally tougher too. The climb up to the ridge on the Pennine Way seems to go on and on and is pretty steep in places. After reaching the ridge you're faced with two rocky escarpments just before the summit.

On Win Hill I'd struggled with the pace of the other guys but on Pen-y-Ghent it was more a feeling of wanting to get stuck in to the next bit. Quite strenuous, but not out of breath at the top.

The area is really beautiful and Mother Nature was smiling on us too.

A fantastic day and it's left me feeling much more confident.

Pen-y-Ghent is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks along with Whernside and Ingleborough. The challenge is to complete all three and return to Horton in 12 hours. I'd like to do it one day but I have to say they all look a heck of a way apart!

Not long now

About three months to go and a few changes to the group. Four have dropped out and we've been joined by Gary, a 61 year old railway engineer from West Virginia. That's me officially not the daddy of the team. Gary has a wealth of experience having climbed Aconcagua amongst other mountains.

So now we're:

Me

Jay

Sean

Karl

Eric

Gary

and hopefully that's how we'll stay.

As for me. I've lost a lot of weight (24 pounds in 17 weeks) and I'm seeing real gains in my fitness. On the ship I've been focussing on jogging and hitting the stairs. Luckily we have a helideck and a large pool area to train on. Jogging is my least favorite activity. I've always struggled to get into any kind of breathing rhythm, but I surprised myself yesterday by jogging across the Humber Bridge without being out of breath.

....still hate it though.