6 days to go!!

I feel as if I'm dreaming at this stage! The days are simply flying by and I am starting to wonder what on earth I've signed up for. Every time I look out of my window at Table Mountain it seems higher and more scary than ever!

I've never thought of Table Mountain as being scary before, so I really am starting to worry a little...

Well at this stage I can't actually afford to dwell on the things that I'm afraid of, so we won't talk about altitude sickness, scary heights, below freezing temperatures, hard sleeping surfaces or long drops! Instead I'm going to imagine myself (once again) standing on top of the world with a big smile and a tall, ice-cold glass of shandy waiting for me down below.

This was also my birthday week and we went to Knysna for two glorious nights. What a special part of the world, I can't wait to start exploring the incredible hiking routes there, now that the bug has bitten me!

My friend Jonathan brought me his special sleeping bag today, I'm sitting in in right now to see if it's going to be warm enough. My husband suggested that I pitch a tent in the garden tonight and try it out for real - I suppose that's not a bad idea!

Tomorrow I'm going to do some of my final shopping - hand warmers, gloves, water purification tablets, socks, etc., the list seems never ending! Thank goodness for friends who have produced gear bought for trips taken years ago - bags, gaiters, sleeping bag inners and pants to name but a few!

On a lighter note, I kept snapping away from inside the car yesterday as we drove back from Knysna. Here are a few of the amazing scenes that rolled past my window and no, it's definitely not Kili yet, even though you'll be excused if you had to ask! The mountains are covered in snow - I won't be surprised if they start offering ski holidays on the Garden Route in the near future!

Taken on the R62

Just before Robertson - I'm taking this to be a real good luck omen!

Truly dramatic - we went from a sunny Knysna to a cold and wet Cape Town in a couple of hours.

Pretty similar to how the Kilimanjaro experience is going to be I suppose! I can't wait to post pictures of the amazing rain forest, the almost moon like landscapes higher up and then finally, the snow covered peaks at the top of Kili. Not sure how I'm going to sleep the next couple of nights!

Here's hoping loads of people will come on board in support of  the hospital in this last week before the climb!

10 Days to go!!!!

The countdown has begun! Ten days before the big day - I can't believe how the time has flown!
This has been a busy week, Tristan turned two on Friday and it's my dad's birthday today. So we had loads of celebrating at our house this weekend - I have definitely done my bit to fatten up for the big climb these last two days! I've also done a bit of shopping, slowly but surely my Kili supplies are stacking up. On Friday I went for my yellow fever shot, thank goodness that's out of the way! I also decided to get malaria tablets. I'm not keen on them as I want to take as little medication as possible, other than the altitude sickness tablets. However, I decided that taking a chance with malaria is simply not worth it.

Here are some of the goodies I added to my stock this weekend....

My cholera and yellow fever certificates - valid for 10 years, thank goodness; headlamp; Diamox for altitude sickness; malaria tablets; fleece top and Kili waterbottles.

The waterbottles survived being thrown down Table Mountain, so hopefully they'll work well on Kilimanjaro. I debated quite a bit about how much I wanted to spend on a headlamp but finally decided to go for a Petzl with multifunctions - a little more expensive but I think that this is one piece of equipment that you can spend some money on. After reading some of the accounts of the summit night on our route, I want to be sure I can see as much as I can! As we summit at midnight, it will be essential to have a good headlamp. It should be full moon on the night that we attempt that final stretch, hopefully it will be a clear, beautiful night!

As for the weekend celebrations, my little grandson is now two, it feels like yesterday that we were all eagerly waiting to meet him for the first time! We had a BUSY morning with a house full of little ones running around!

This is MY day!

Tristan is in his 'car' phase, so his mom and dad chose to have this as the theme for his party - this is one car that didn't last long!

Posing is hard work!

As for the hiking this week - Thursday was my last day on the mountain. From now on I plan to focus my training in the gym. I think my legs need to rest a little now, so I'm going to just stick to a comfortable pace these last ten days. On Thursday we hiked up Table Mountain from the Camps Bay side. It was a glorious day and the view of Camps Bay and Lions Head was spectacular. We met loads of people on the way, when the the sun is out in Cape Town more and more people seem to be heading up the mountain!

Here are some of our pics, some taken by Jean, one of my fellow hikers. Thanks Jean!

Can't beat this view!

Denise, Irene, Stefani, David and I

Maclear's Beacon, the highest point on Table Mountain. I guess that's as high as  I've been then! 5895m seems really scary at this point!

Just another winter's day in Cape Town!

And finally - soccer fever is still very much alive in our city. I spotted this little guy playing with his soccer ball at Greenmarket Square and just couldn't resist taking about a million pictures of him!

Soccer fever!

Our little Abigail supporting her team!

Portugal never made it, but who cares! Abbey the Yorkie knows where her bread is buttered. As our home supports Portugal and South Africa, she's playing the part!

Whether you wanted to be a part of the world cup or not, South Africa is in the grip of soccer fever and even though I resisted the flag-on-the-car bit, I couldn't resist this little winter warmer for little Abs.

There is such a positive vibe in our country right now, I really hope that we retain a huge amount of that once all the soccer hype is something of the past. How wonderful to be bombarded with positive, funny and lighthearted news on a daily basis - we certainly can do with it!

I am quite proud of myself today, I spent time in the gym this morning and even tried out new equipment - I really am pretty serious about getting fit - only 17 days to go now!!

Window to the word!

Our group at Irvin Rock yesterday

If you've never hiked with a group of people, let me tell you, you are missing out! Today I'm back in the real world and reflecting on the day I had yesterday I'm just so aware of how special these days on the the mountain have become to me.

I have met a whole group of new people and whilst walking we have covered every topic under the sun! From dishwashing liquid to global warming to politics - opinions abound!

Do you know (for example) where the saying, 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water' comes from? Well, Jimmy, our Scottish friend who walked with yesterday, had a wealth of information and this is what he came up with. In the early days, when people didn't bath that often, when it was decided it was time to have a wash, the entire family would bath in the same tub of water. The father would go first, then the mother and then the kids. By the time it was the baby's turn, the water must've been pretty murky. So when throwing the dirty water out, one had to make sure you didn't throw the clean baby out as well!

Therefore: throwing the baby out with the bath water is an expression that suggests one doesn’t need to reject an entire idea, concept or practice if only part of it is good. The baby, in this sense, represents the good part. The bath water, on the other hand, is usually dirty after the baby is washed and needs to be discarded.

David, on the other hand, educated us on the habit of Chinese rulers of old who collected massive rocks from all over the world and displayed it in their gardens and also elaborated on Zen philosophy. I heard for the first time how in years gone by a bell would be placed above coffins so that people could alarm others that they were in fact still alive - imagine that! Seeing that they don't do this anymore, I wonder, is it a good idea to insist that you get buried with your cellphone today? :)

Stefani has tackled the task of learning how to speak Afrikaans and it is a pleasure to share the knowledge of your mother tongue with someone who is so excited about learning! Stefani is already fluent in German and English - she has definitely inspired me to tackle Portuguese next year. After almost 29 years of marriage to a Portuguese citizien, it's probably about time!

Denise, the youngest member of our group yesterday, knows what she likes and does not like in life. Anyone who can figure out as a child that arranging peas (that you hate eating) around your plate and deflecting your mom's attention from the fact that you're not eating your food by telling her this is your 'green peas movement', is going places! 

As for our leader, and that she is indeed, I will follow her on any trail, no matter what. Irene knows our mountains like the back of her hand. When it seems as if there is no path, she manages to track it down, overgrown or improvised - she always leads you in the right direction. It is indeed special to be guided by someone who has such great knowledge of the routes, origins and history of everything on our mountains.

Yesterday I saw the smallest protea in existence for the first time, heard a rock hit an invisible pool of water in a disbanded old manganese mine and enjoyed my lunch under a rock looking down on the city of my childhood.

Now if that isn't something special, then I don't know what is.

Winter in Cape Town is not half bad!

Looking down on the Muizenberg beach

A Button Spider - beautiful to look at but you don't want to get too close!

Stefani and I  - proof that we were there!!

Winter in Cape Town is a breeze. Well, most of the time anyway... Today was just the most beautiful day in our city and to have been able to hike to the Muizenberg cave from Silvermine was spectacular. School holidays ensured that traffic was not a problem and we could even lie in an extra 15 minutes this morning!

We had a great day on the mountain with hardly a breeze. I can't remember when last the sea looked as smooth as it did today, we were even able to see shoals of fish from the top! The world cup visitors were out in full force as well, we met up with a guy from Ireland who was out for a stroll on the mountain and judging from the multitude of accents we heard, he certainly wasn't alone.

I had to ask myself how many of our locals have actually been up the mountain.... If you're one of them - put on those boots, pack some lunch and get out there - it is spectacular!

Being out there in the wonderful setting with great company and enjoying it all in excellent health just made me think of all the little one's in the ward at the hospital this very day. How many sad stories are unfolding at this very minute, scars that might never heal, eyes that may never see again - lives that are changed forever!

How fortunate we are. I'd like to urge you to pass on the details of this blog to as many people as you can. I invite you to join me in this effort to raise funds for such an important place in our city. Our children truly are the most precious members of our society - lets ensure they are taken care of as best as we possibly can!

Reflections in False Bay - what a privilege!

Stepping it up...

Today I stepped up my training a few notches. Virgin Active in Table View have given me a membership to their gym until the end of July to prepare for the climb - THANKS A MIL guys! Now I can work on all the areas that I have not focussed on during the running and hiking and with the help of one of their trainers, Shirley, I am learning how to make the most of the equipment.

I am going to have to work hard until the 21st of July to build up and maintain my level of fitness as I have some catching up to do!

Tomorrow we'll be hiking from Constantia Nek, it's really going to give me a good idea of what hiking in cold weather is like - right now we have all the heaters in the house on full blast and even the dogs are all under the blankets! It's freezing in Cape Town!

Thought I'd share this little piece of wisdom that I read in a magazine yesterday: 'Never let the weed of negativity take root in your life - life is too short!' Isn't that just true!

So in the spirit of things positive, I'm off to make myself a warm cup of tea and I'm going to fill my head with visions of myself standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro with the biggest smile ever! To top it all off I'm going to alternate that with visions of a target reached for the Red Cross Children's Hospital. After all, that's what this is all about!

We are going to make a difference - of this I am positively sure! ;)

Hakuna matata!

These amazing pictures of Kilimanjaro were taken by Tony Laubscher whilst flying over Tanzania - all in a days work!

Looking at these pictures and realising how the 21st of July is looming in a very big and scary way, I've decided that I am going to have to get to know this mountain and start preparing myself mentally for what lies ahead. So my first plan of action was to  arm myself with a catch phrase. I looked up some Swahili words and decided that 'Hakuna matata' or 'No problem!', will do for me!

So. What are the facts? The mountain is 5895m high. In 6 days one goes from Equatorial forests to arctic conditions. The range begins with the warm, dry plains with average temperatures of 30 degrees celsius where Moshi and Arusha are situated. The hike starts in a wide belt of wet tropical forest with plenty huge trees and Spanish moss. You then travel through zones with generally decreasing temperatures and rainfall, to the summit where there is permanent ice and below freezing temperatures.

July is the dry season, so generally considered a good time of the year to climb. Hopefully there won't be too many clouds as I have specifically chosen to summit on the 26th of July, the night of a full moon.

The biggest challenge one faces it seems, is Acute Mountain Sickness. This rival of all high altitude climbers can affect one from as low as 2500 meters but is more common above 3000 meters. Until you've been at these altitudes, you have no way of knowing how your body is going to react. AMS occurs as a result of the body's failure to adapt to higher altitudes.

One of the things that I have heard over and over is that one should climb slowly to prevent the onset of AMS and you should also be able to recognise all the symptoms, as well as know how to deal with them. I am doing my homework as best I can about this topic and have already bought my Diamox tablets - a must to have with you to help you deal with this condition. I will also be taking my natural remedy mix with, given to me by my friends Stefani and Phillip - they used it successfully when visiting Everest a couple of months ago.

SO...I think that is enough for now! I will tackle all the smaller issues one by one, no point in getting too worked up about AMS, it is what it is.

A definite positive is that the Outriders Fundraising effort is going really well and I have had a number of promises for smaller pledges. I have decided to have the auction later in the year and hope to be able to collect an amazing array of things to offer!

So quite a bit of work ahead, but as I said: Hakuna matata!