Jan 2010 – I've long had an idea to climb Kilimanjaro. My brother Merlin does a lot of walking, so I discuss with him us doing it together. He agrees.

Just to be clear, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. To paraphrase Douglas Adam’s Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; 'You may think its a long climb up the stairs to the top floor of where you work. But that's nothing to climbing Kilimanjaro.'. You reach 5,893 metres above sea-level, which means a lot of planes fly lower than where you are. It also means oxygen levels are about half what we're used to. Notice also in the picture how much of the mountain is above the clouds.

So some training may be in order. This blog will follow my progress. And once we've booked the trip ourselves we will then use it to raise money and awareness for other causes - details to follow...