.....as if

I wasn't already nervous enough, Mark Chisholm (the one with the Union Flag and the ludicrous rugby onion hat) just got back to the ship with graphic tales of steep precipices, feeling like you're breathing through a pillow, rapid temperature drops and that the mountain is incredibly big when you see it first hand.

Thanks Mark.

By the way. Just under a year to go now.

The team's complete

That's it folks. I finally convinced Eric 'Catfish' Atwood, and Steve Chambers has a mate called Bob Shuter. This brings us to eight which Team Kilimanjaro consider the optimum number.
It's all starting to seem very real now. I know Mark Chisholm was getting nervous a few weeks ago before his climb this year, and he's quite a fitness freak. He tells me that it wasn't so much the legs as the lungs which make it so hard.

This year's bunch

Three of my friends have just got back from doing the same route we'll be taking (apart from the Crater day which is reserved for real men).
Mark Chisholm, Scott Thomson and JJ Pretorius are three shipmates I met on the Express, my previous ship. Mark is now on the Endeavour with me. I'm really proud of them, and Mark says it's the toughest thing he's ever done in his life.
Given that Mark is the super competitive type this puts even more pressure on me. So I've decided that even if they have to restart my heart at the summit I'm still going to come down and say it was easy. This is our secret blogmates.

I'm really under no illusions. A couple of weeks back I did a hike in Yosemite which I have to admit I found quite tough. So I know that the training has to intensify from this point on. I'm not blessed with much gym equipment or much space on my present ship, but I'm going up and down the helideck stairs with a heavy pack on. It doesn't really simulate a slope, but it's all I've got.

Number 6

One more party member joined today. Steve Chambers is an engineer I worked with several years ago. Steve's a bit of a fitness freak (much unlike myself). In his younger days he was a member of one of the Royal Navy's field gun teams, those guys who strip down a field gun, race it across a stadium, assemble it and fire it. Ludicrously fit people.

Milestone

Great news. I've cracked 50% today on the donations. With more than a year to go I'm really hopeful I can beat the £2000. More people showing interest in coming along so here's hoping.

Greece

I changed jobs a few weeks ago. No more swanky gym on the new ship I'm afraid, but we're laying alongside in Piraeus, Athens. Awfuly hilly here. I cover some miles because I consistently get lost on my way back to the ship.

By the way, if you ever find yourself in this predicament remember that it's better to be stranded in a strange town with possibly hours of walking ahead of you than to get a taxi in Athens. These guys are the most obnoxious, inept bunch of rip off merchants on the planet.

...messing with the Rongai

Change of plan. After Jay spoke to Team Kilimanjaro we now figure that their TK Rongai route is the one to go for instead of Machame. The main advantage being it's uncrowded and there just might be a better chance of encountering wildlife. The usual Rongai route has a pretty low success rate as there are no real provisions for acclimatisation on it. However TK have their own variation designed to get round that.
More good news. Karl's brother, Neil is in so now we're at five.