Chilling in Zanzibar

We are in the Blue Lagoon Hotel in Zanzibar. We arrived yesterday
after a long day travelling. We are stoked to have made it up
Kilimanjaro, it was a lot hard than many were expecting! The climb was
really fun and challenging and here we are on a beach in a hotel!

Photos to come I hope, we are here for the next few days hanging out.

Thanks to everyone who supported us, and thanks to everyone for
reading. Everyone is safe and happy! Most illness are fully recovered!

keep commenting, we love the feedback!

Pete

Success!

And so it is finished.

25 of 26 made it to the top from Team B. 21 of 27 did the same for Team A,

I have played in many sports teams in my time...never have I felt the camaraderie and team spirit that I felt on that climb. It was humbling as well as inspiring.

Special Mentions:
Leo "the daddy" Hacking - Looked after everyone on the mountain. Took much of the strain off me and for that I am truly grateful. He was always checking how everyone was and if they were hydrated, it was brilliant and selfless. Thank you.

Tash "the hero" Edwards - Utterly inspiring. Early on summit night she was struggling to stay awake, falling asleep on her poles. None of us truly thought she could make it, but she battled on, never ever gave up. The porters helped her all the way and her fight to carry on inspired all of us to keep putting in the effort...well done Tash and thank you.

:Lauren "the chunderer" Lynn - Before we even started summit night, Lauren was throwing up like a beauty.  She fought on quietly, not complaining and reached the summit, a proud moment and again, a true inspiration.

Ben "both ends" Peart - A similar story to Lauren, never ever gave up, never ever complained. We all had his back and he knew it.

Charlotte "the fighter" Sellars - Had to turn back, but gave everything she had before she was forced to. All our love and respect goes to Charlotte who's valiant effort helped us all to drive on. Well Done Charlotte

Martin and Phil: "EVERYWHERE WE GOOOOO....." need I say more? Kept us all singing no matter how much precious breath it wasted! Spirits never dropped.

My humble thanks to every single member of Team B who kept me going through the hardest night of my life. It truly took every ounce of  energy to get to that summit and I would like a personal thank you to Lisa "the feet" Connolley - who's footsteps I followed up every step of that summit climb! I needed that so badly!

The effort was huge, but the finish was amazing. A truly magical five days, it all feels a bit like a dream now. The pain in your lungs, the cold in your extremities. The constant call from your mind to turn back. This was the challenge of a lifetime and I could not be more proud of the 25 others I call brothers and sisters now!

Thank you to all our families back at home who's faith as well as derision inspired us throughout. I hope you are all well.

Best Wishes

Nick

WE MADE IT !! but it was hard

All but one of our group made and we are thrilled.  A quick run back down the camp and we are shattered but elated! 

One girl in our group had altitude sickness and has gone to hospital but believed to be doing well.

Well done to all from the ground crew back home manning the blog!

CONGRATULATIONS ALL ROUND

Sleeping at 9540 feet

Day One was not too bad.  The forest/jungle is very pretty and everyone doing fine.

We slept (very well) at 9540 feet and now start Day Two with 1000 metres to go (great mix of metres and feet – hope everyone can translate!).

from the Intrepid Team

At 5000 feet - Nerves setting in!

In the hostel at 5000 feet (did I say metres by mistake..). The climb starts tomorrow and the nerves are building.  Africa is so beautiful and we are looking forward to seeing it from even higher up.

ARRIVED!

Team b have arrived in Moshi safe and sound. We got our first glimpse of Kili today, she looks like as formidable woman. Settling into the hostel for dinner now. Tanzania is such a beautiful country!

Peter

All checked In

All checked in fine and ready to board. 

From the team at Heathrow

Newcastle2kili starts out

We gather they have all arrived at the airport but from the home front:  the packing is done; the pharmaceuticals are packed along with a few clothes where space allowed; and some doting parents have dropped travellers at Heathrow.  No doubt Nick K will have duplicates of all required paperwork, though he has no control over the passports!

The house seems emptier without the would-be travellers and their vast tortoiseshell-like bags. 

No word yet on check-in or whether the flight will take off on time

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL  AND TRAVEL SAFELY.

A parent!

Ready to leave in the airport!

The Journey Begins

Swansea! Well, we all have to start somewhere don't we. But with great sadness I have said goodbye to my family and dogs, ready for two months away from them all. Predictably, they are far more worried about me than I am, I know that drama and trouble seem to follow me, I'm comfortable with that and ready for it! The parents however are neither comfortable nor ready.

Hopefully they, and all the other friends and family keeping up to date on this blog will be comforted by the stories we tell here. We will keep you fully posted on all we do as we take on this huge adventure.

We will also write up about why we are doing, what the money we have raised will go towards. This trip isn't simply about us, it is bigger than that. And as building work begins on the hospital wing in Malawi that the Ameca Trust is building, there is no clearer evidence that the 53 students climbing this mountain are truly impacting the lives of many people for the better. I hope that our actions in Tanzania continue to be inspired by a constant sense of humility and service. As we climb the mountain I hope that we are driven on not by some sense of personal gratification, but by a heartfelt knowledge that we are not climbing for ourselves, but for the many many people who's lives will be saved and enriched by what this team is attempting.

Train departing Swansea now. Excitement is building.

Nick
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Wake up call

Jonathan Williams
SlugPhotography
jonathan@slugphotography.co.uk
www.slugphotography.co.uk

Enough rest is essential

Jonathan Williams
SlugPhotography
jonathan@slugphotography.co.uk
www.slugphotography.co.uk

The quiet before the storm

Petes room home to phil, jonny and his own gear the night before we fly out!!
Jonathan Williams
SlugPhotography
jonathan@slugphotography.co.uk
www.slugphotography.co.uk

Chilling before the big day!

Musical picnic for the Royal Neurological Society

What better way to spend a Saturday than soaking in the dulcet tones of a middle aged women. And of course the Elmbridge childrens band. Well there probably are better ways, but my mum is singing so I came to support.

With only 2 days left and 'are you taking this?' And 'how much of this are you taking?' Being the main topic of conversation I feel like I should probably be more organised, but actually I am basically packed so here we are enjoying music in Putney!

If you are on the trip and you would like to know how to update the blog yourselves contact me and I will give you instructions.

If you are a parent or friend of someone on the trip, comment away!

Pete

Bed Buddy

I'm going to miss my bed buddy Brynach for the next 2months. Maybe I'll actually get some room to sleep without him hogging the bed!

Nick
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Need I Say More?

Nick
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Ready for kili?

Video Equipment

Yours truly, "Nick Never" and "J Potential" will be presenting a documentary of our trip whilst out in Tanzania. Serving up the facts, the fiction and the gagliatelle from the trip.

We will be using the Sony Handycam DCR-PC105E for this. And will edit it all on iMovie on our return.

Nick
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Camera

My camera of choice is the Canon Powershot G10. I bought it about 2 months ago and I could not be happier with it. Unbelievable quality and really easy to use, particularly for someone now to the SLR realm (strictly its a Bridge rather than an SLR). Still, expect to see many reasonable shots from this camera over the next 2 months.

Nick
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Musical Soundtrack

My music shall be provided by 4gb Sony Walkman...ipods break in hot countries...thus I have gone for the safe option!

Now...what music to choose?

Nick
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Did someone say high calorie energy snacks?

Telecommunications

My telecommunication of choice for the next 2 months shall be the Nokia 6100 - I could not be happier with its fantastic combination of looks and usability...
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Training

My dog certainly enjoyed climbing Carn Ingli each day...let's hope the training pays off!!
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How to check your bag is waterproof!

You will need
1. A hose connected to a water (or other odourless pH neutral liquid) supply
2. A bag (unknown waterproof capabilities)
3. Tissues, 1 for each pocket of the bag
4. Post it note, 1 for each pocket of the bag

First empty the bag of everything it has in it. Second put a tissue and a post it note in each pocket.





Third zip up everything properly.



Fourth soak it.





Then observe the damage after a minute (turn the hose off first)

The results:

1.Main non camera pocket = completely dry

2.Front pocket = soaked (I am pretty sure I sprayed the hose at full into the zip, needless to say I will not be trusting things to this pocket in the rain)

3.other front pocket = completely dry (not even a hint of moisture)

4. Back pocket (laptop slot/camelback slot) = soaked (again due to the direct hit with the hose, luckily this will just contain water.

5. Camera compartment = mildly damp (the post it note was fine the tissue had issues, but I think this was due to a direct hit with the hose, if I put some plastic casing it it should be fine!

Other tests: I had this bag in monsoon weather in Delhi and Himalayas and it was great so not worrying too much!

Pete

Raffle is today!

It is only 5 days until we leave and I am drawing my raffle today! If anyone wants tickets go to www.skiraffle.jimdo.com, or else you can just message me TODAY with how many tickets you want and you can pay when I get back from Africa! No rush :-)

Pete

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new blog, there will be a variety of contributors to the blog over the next month so come on in and make yourself feel at home! I hope this will give many perspectives of our climb up the mountain and beyond. Feel free to leave comments as I am sure they will be appreciated.

Since leaving 8 Ashleigh Grove in Newcastle after exams much has happened, but here is the video of how we left...

Farewell to 8 Ashleigh Grove from Peter Wilson on Vimeo.

I look forward to seeing everyone on here soon!

Pete