Soggy Sponsored Surrey Stroll

Thanks to everyone who braved the angry elements to take part in the sponsored walk yesterday. 10'ish very wet and muddy miles from Godalming to Hascombe and back, via Thorncombe Street, in aid of World Vision.

We had a welcome baguette-and-chips break at The White Horse in Hascombe, otherwise it was a pretty grim struggle against incessant rain and festive excesses.

Helen & Malcolm, together with a sodden and stiled-out Corker, have already made a very generous donation, as have North Minster neighbours The Wares. Simon, Fi and Duncan walked; Jamie worked but still gave up even more of his hard earned cash; Fi's fair-weather sister Alison bailed out of the walk, made it to the pub...but still kindly donated to the World Vision cause.

Hopefully others will lodge any donations online through this link. In any event thanks also to Frances, David & Theresa, all the Ryan clan, Phil & Mike, and of course Neph#1 Steve for Doing The Walk.

And thanks also to Mrs M for another excellently designed and paced route. Definitely a would-be cartographer.

I've got a confession to make...

I only told my mum that we're climbing Kili a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't that I was deliberately keeping it a secret, but somehow I just kept forgetting to mention it whenever we talked on the phone. I suppose life just kept getting in the way...

Anyway, her first reaction was fairly relaxed, as she knows that we're into climbing and outdoors-y stuff, so this was just a bit of an adventure type holiday in her view. However, she's now come to realise that we'll be spending some time in sub-Saharan Africa, and as a doctor, she is now incredibly worried about the various horrible diseases that we can catch while we're out there.

Part of our Boxing Day get-together was spent going through one of her numerous medical books, reading through the many symptoms of malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, etc... Worryingly, common symptoms included tiredness and irritability, which I'm sure we'll all be exhibiting during the night ascent!

Mum's now e-mailed me with a few links to websites, and this MDTravel Health page is actually quite useful, so I thought I'd share it with everyone. It provides a good summary of the relevant diseases and vaccinations available, likely side-effects, etc.

I've now been scared into booking my consultation with the travel specialist at our GP's surgery. Appointment coming up on the 10th of Jan. Eeek!