Future 2 Foundation, Mt Kilimanjaro Climb 2016 – Oh, what the hell have I done?

Anne prepares (with her brand new compass).

It’s getting serious now! Registration for the Future2 Foundation Mt Kilimanjaro Climb was done a couple of weeks ago and we’ve spoken to the lovely Lucy from Inspired Adventures. It’s her job to help us with just about everything, so I definitely feel well supported.

We’ve got our fundraising page organised and our minimum target is $8,000 – David and I decided to have a joint fundraising effort. We’ve edited the page, put up some blogs and pictures and we’re now waiting for the donations to roll in!

We’ve got a rough idea of our plan of attack and even though D-Day is about 9 months away I know we have to get the ball rolling now. It’s amazing how creative you can be coming up with ideas, whether they are practical or not is another matter. I’m often the one with the great ideas and David is the one with the practical overlay.

Our information packs arrived last week and that was a reality check but enthusiasm is still at ultra-high levels. The pack has all the information we need about the equipment for the hike which by the way, we don’t have. I’ve never hiked before or at least for not more than an hour or so and definitely not overnight! The Kili Climb is 5 days up the mountain and 2 days down. We take longer to go up to help acclimatise to the altitude. At this stage I have a few little niggly concerns, in no particular order:

1. There will be no bathrooms or showers. Obvious I know.
2. We’ll be wearing the same clothes for days and days and it will be cold (I’m not a fan of the cold)
3. Altitude sickness – I am now officially an expert on altitude sickness, thanks to Dr Google and Youtube, and it’s not great.

Having said all that, there are more pluses:

1. We’ll be raising heaps of cash for kids who need and deserve a second chance!
2. We’re going to Africa!
3. We’ll be climbing a massive mountain!
4. We’ll be Doing Good by Doing Good (thanks Peter Baines, great quote)
5. We’ll get fitter
6. We’ll see the sunrise – from the top of a really tall mountain – in Africa
7. We’ll be learning new skills like hiking, camping, living without electronic screens, organising events for fundraising and living with a lot of strangers, on a mountain for over a week!

The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

Please continue reading my posts and more importantly, donate to the Future2 Foundation here.

Anne Graham (and David Graham)

23 June: Future 2 Foundation, Mt Kilimanjaro Climb 2016 – 1,000 Steps Kokoda Walk

11 June: Future 2 Foundation, Mt Kilimanjaro Climb 2016 – Boots and birthday

12 May: Future 2 Foundation, Mt Kilimanjaro Climb 2016 – Want to climb a mountain? Of course I do…