What better way to recover from a week on the side of Mount Kilimanjaro than relax on the white sands of a tropical island? The post-Kili recovery week spent on Zanzibar was paradise!
When I was a kid, I was utterly obsessed with animals. I was never the girl who would play with Barbies and dress up as a princess, nor was I the one who'd beat you at penalty shoot outs and constantly be climbing trees. I was the girl who could list you 25 facts about dolphins from memory. I was the girl who played Zoo Tycoon religiously. I was the girl who'd watch Walking with Dinosaurs three times a week.

So as you can imagine, I've dreamt of going on safari ever since I knew what the African savannah was, which made visiting Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area the highlights of my post-Kili adventure.
After a long four days, we were at long last going to reach Uhuru Peak! I had known all along that summit night was going to be the hardest part of this trip but I hadn't really known what to expect. I knew the day would consist of four parts: trekking to Stella Point, walking along to Uhuru Peak, getting back to Barafu Camp and then walking to Millennium Camp... but other than that, I was in the dark when I awoke. Literally.
With two days already under my belt, I was feeling confident but knew things were going to get tough. I was already struggling to breathe while trying to walk at a normal pace at Shira camp. I was having to remind myself to take it slow, as just walking to the toilets left me breathless. Despite this, I was extremely glad to have got one of the steepest days out of the way, and was keen to get closer to the summit!  
To say I was nervous for Africa would be the biggest understatement of my life. It wasn't one of your bog-standard trips - it was serious adventuring. The two flights and long drive to get to Moshi, Tanzania allowed me to attempt to mentally prepare for the subsequent week on Kilimanjaro.

I found myself frequently reminding myself why I was climbing the mountain while I was on the road. My group had raised over £30,000 for the Association of International Cancer Research (now Worldwide Cancer Research) and while that fact didn't make me feel any less unsure of what to expect on the mountain, it did make me feel a little stronger. And I knew I'd need a lot of strength to survive the next week...

Day One: Machame | Day Two: Shira
In eleven months I begin my climb for AICR!



With less than a year to go, I thought it appropriate to announce my Just Giving page to the world. I'd greatly appreciate a donation of any size and so would AICR. They currently have 185 projects on the go in 18 different countries and have made it their mission to only fund the very best cancer research, no matter where in the world it is. I'll let David Tennant tell you more...
I’m all signed up with AICR to fundraise and I’ve just received the itinerary for the trip! My climb will be like travelling from the equator to Antarctica in a few days. I will pass through tropical rain forests, evergreen forests, moorlands and alpine deserts and see an entirely unique landscape. 

© Mikelac01
I'll start the first post with a bang, shall I? Next summer, several members of the University of Stirling and I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro after raising £3000 each for the Association of International Cancer Research (AICR). 

© Dave Lobby