The Climb
In March 2007 we plan to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, which at 5895 metres is the highest mountain in Africa, and also the highest free-standing mountain in the world (which just means that it isn't part of a range, but sounds impressive).
We are raising money for the Amani Children's Home in northern Tanzania – a total of £5895, which represents one pound for every metre of Kilimanjaro! Amani is a home for street children and Aids orphans, and although it is a very successful venture, having welcomed more than 200 children into its care since 2001, it is still operating from a tiny 2-bedroom rented house. The money we raise will help to construct a new building and to furnish it fully. See here for more about the charity and the work it does.
Our trip is organised by Guerba World Travel, a company we've travelled with before and who we would highly recommend to anyone. See here for more about Guerba.
Any Questions? (Please use arrows in bottom left corner to scroll down)
Don't you have to be a mountaineer to do this sort of thing?
No (thankfully). Although it won't be a walk in the park, this is not a technical climb. Anyone with a good level of fitness should be able to do it – so Steve should be OK! I will have to do a lot more training – walking, swimming, cycling – but we're confident that we can do it.
How many people who attempt Mt Kilimanjaro make it to the summit?
It depends who you ask. Many travel companies will quote a success rate of 70-80% if you book with them, but less than 40% if you book with a 'cowboy operation', i.e. anyone else! Guerba recently won a travel award in the 'Best in a Mountain Environment' category – that's good enough for us. The problem with Kili is the altitude; there is no way of training for it, or knowing who will be affected by it. If you get severe altitude sickness, you have to descend immediately - there is no other solution. It will be very disappointing if we (or one of us) fail to reach the summit, Uhuru Peak, but all the money we will raise will still go to Amani.
Why should we pay for your African holiday?
You won't be paying for the trip. What makes this unique is that every penny raised goes to Amani – the flights, climbs and admin are being donated free of charge by Guerba. We'll be buying our own gear, visas and travel insurance – none of this will come out of the money raised for Amani. We're not denying that this will be an experience of a lifetime for us, but it won't be a luxury holiday! We'll have the chance to visit Amani before setting off on our climb, and after the climb we come straight home (well, perhaps there'll be time for a quick beer in the hotel first...).
How are you going to raise nearly £6000?
This is probably going to be harder than the climb itself! If you look here you'll see some of the ways we're hoping to raise the money. We hope that friends, family and colleagues will donate if they can; we hope to attract corporate sponsorship; we will run events (see 'News' page); we will approach local media to spread the word further; we hope to involve Laura's school; and we will sell outgrown toys, clothes, other items on ebay and at jumble sales.
What happens if you don't raise your target amount?
Whether we reach our target or not, all money raised goes to Amani. But our participation in the climb is dependent on our reaching the target: if we don't raise £5895, we don't get to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. As you can imagine, this is a very good incentive for us to raise that money!
Are you dragging your poor children (Laura, 5 and Alexander, 2) up this mountain?
Given that Laura sometimes complains that her legs are aching on the 10-minute walk home from school, I think not! We are blessed with kind parents so Laura and Alexander will be looked after by Nana, Grandma and Grandad in our absence. We are very grateful to them, as most parents of small children wouldn't be able to even contemplate such a trip.
It says on the Amani website that they now have enough money pledged to build their new home – so why do they need this money?
The money pledged to Amani includes the £5895 we hope to raise – so if we don't make our target they will be short of funds.
