The Kili Schedule

4 weeks from now we'll be in the air, zooming towards Kilimanjaro International Airport via Addis Ababa. No doubt we'll be glugging bubbly and gorging unhealthy airline food, safe in the knowledge that nothing we can do in the 48 hours before we start climbing will undo those months of relentless training and monastic self-discipline.

OK, we'll leave the over indulgence until the hotel back in Moshi after summit night. I can taste that first beer already....

A good friend, John Houldsworth (aka Houldsie), asked what our itinerary was so that he could imagine what level of pain we'd be going through on any given day, as he no doubt pulls back the warm duvet and ponders how many golf holes and pints of Guinness he's going to enjoy....

So here it is, Houldsie - I know you'll be there with us in spirit. Right.

Friday 23/02/07: Flight ET701 check in 18:00 Dep LHR 21:00; Arr ADD (Addis Abbaba) 07:20 24/02

Day 1 Saturday 24/02: Flight ET805 Dep ADD 10:15 Arr JRO (Kili airport) 12:40; overnight in Moshi

Day 2 Sunday 25/02: start from Machame Gate (1,900m); 6 hour trek to Machame Camp (3,000m)

Day 3 Monday 26/02: 5-6 hour trek to Shira Camp (3,840m)

Day 4 Tuesday 27/02: 6-7 hour trek to Barranco Camp (3,950m...but only after ascending to Lava Tower at 4.700m!!). Happy Birthday Mrs M

Day 5 Wednesday 28/02: 7-8 hour trek to Barafu Camp (4,600m)

Day 6 Thursday 01/03: The Big One - starting from approx midnight 14+ hours to summit at 5,895m and then descend to Mweka Camp (3,100m)

Day 7 Friday 02/03: 3 hour walk to Mweka Gate (1,700m) and drive back to Moshi

Day 8 Saturday 03/03: free in Moshi or optional tour to Arusha National Park

Day 8 Saturday 03/03: check in 16:30 Flight ET804 Dep JRO 18:30; Arr ADD 20:50

Day 9 Sunday 04/03: Flight ET710 Dep ADD 01:55; Arr LHR 07:15

Sunday 04/03/07: back on terra firma at LHR Terminal 3

Sounds easy, eh? No mention of wet wipes, mosquitoes, AMS, nausea, hypothermia, long drop loos, cerebral & pulmonary oedemas, or Imodium.

Thanks for the support, Houldsie. What tog is your duvet again?

The Final Countdown

This is it everyone...1 month today and we fly out to Kili International Airport in Tanzania, via Ethiopia's Addis Ababa.

No turning back now. We've paid the final invoice and the tickets should come through in the next few days. Pricks and layers are being sorted. $ being bought. Treadmills pounded. Brows knitted.

Excited? Nervous? Intrigued? All of the above...with a little dash of outright fear thrown in.

Almost 2 years since the initial idea. Over 1 year in the planning. Just 1 month to go. I wonder if it will live up to expectations...or be Just Another Mountain. Will we be so inspired that we're planning the next adventure before we're even back in Moshi....or thinking Bognor Regis is thrilling enough for future holidays.

Fundraising for World Vision has been tough going. Closing in on £5,000 and it would be great to get to the revised target of £10,000 by the time February 23rd rolls by. Either way, people have been incredibly generous and this level of donations is already significant to the people of Kisiriri in Tanzania, where the average annual income is about £70.

See you at Heathrow a month from now for our Awfully Big Adventure.