If you’ve been following our blog over recent weeks, you’ll know by now that my hubby and I are trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro next week. This epic adventure is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and we’re very exited (and nervous).

People often ask “Why” would you take on something like this. Well for us it was never a ‘dream’; it was never part of some great plan to accomplish something amazing.

No, for us it was a Facebook group that started up called “The Amazing Adventure: Things I want to do before I die, join the amazing adventure.”

No, it’s not a bucket list – it’s just something to get us out of our daily routine and be inspired to live a little!

And that’s exactly what’s happened. In the course of our training we have hiked all over the Western Cape. We have seen so many gorgeous views and sunsets and moon rises. We have walked on trails and on beaches. We’ve explored mountains, waterfalls and caves. We even stayed the night in Suicide Gorge in Grabbow, unexpectedly!

So before we’ve even left South Africa we’re already experienced so much. The whole point of the adventure was to get out and do something and that has already been accomplished.

I have written a little blog on the whole Kilimanjaro experience to date. This includes everything from Kilimanjaro Facts, The Routes up to the top, the Cost of Climbing and much more.

For the latest updates you can take a look here:

http://machame-route.blogspot.com

For the duration of our climb our blog will show our progress. You’ll be able to see how many kilometres we have walked each day (we’ll be hiking for 7 days in total) and at what altitude we will be sleeping each night.

Kilimanjaro is 5895m at its highest point: for perspective, that’s higher than Everest Base Camp. The temperatures range from between +30 ºC to -30 ºC and we’ll walk through 5 different eco-systems along the way.

I’ll take lots of photos and be sure to update you when I get back.

One of the greatest opportunities to come from this adventure is our ability to dedicate our training, the hard work, the all pain and joy the mountain has to offer up, to a South African charity.

For our epic adventure, we have chose Amathuba as the recipient of the generous donations to our climb.

We have set this up through the doit4charity website:

http://www.doit4charity.org.za/fundraisingpage.php?userId=TWpBPQ==

Currently we have already raised a fantastic R3,598.90 from donations across the world.

From their website:

Recent heavy rains in the Valley of a Thousand Hills have brought misery and destruction to the people of Embo.   Water streaming down the slopes runs straight through the shacks, soaking mattresses and clothing. Some huts have collapsed completely, as mud walls were washed away.

But when you've worked all your life for minimum wages, owning a real house of sturdy blocks can never be anything but a dream. Just putting food on the table and paying school fees is difficult enough.
 
What if something you did today made that dream come true for a desperate family? Could you spare R500 [approx. £30 or US$65] to pay for a hundred concrete blocks? Or R325 for five bags of cement? Even R100 buys a length of roof sheeting, and R200 is enough for a door frame.
 
Altogether, it costs about R60 000 [$6 000 or £4 250] to build a small sturdy house, complete with indoor toilet and shower. But every donation – large or small – helps. Please let your kindness be part of the foundation for the next house we build! Thank you for caring.

If you would like to join us in making the world a better place (one brick at a time!) then please see here for more details.

As for us – we will work very hard for your donation and the next Kilimanjaro pictures you see on this blog and on my blog will be the ones I have taken myself.

See you at the end of February!

 (Images: Jolene Bertoldi. All rights reserved) 

(Kilimanjaro Image: blhphotography's: Creative Commons licence)