Today’s post comes from the brilliantly supportive Kate Gordon – FD at Exodus Travels. Kate is always one of the first people to “like” our 3GKiliClimb posts on Facebook, and we’re really grateful for her encouragement.
I have always had someone in my life to be in awe of, its been a variety of people, those like my father who told me at 16 that unless I pulled my socks up then I would end up picking out burnt crisps at the local crisp factory (!), to others who have guided my way through my working and home life. My work mentor helped me to get to the lofty position of Finance Director, and I still thank him for the support he showed me when I was not really all that interested!
The person who I am currently in awe of is Jae Hopkins our Marketing Director and one of the three who are doing the 3GKiliClimb.
Jae has three boys, a full on job, a husband and a million and one other things on, but is still seen dashing around at the weekend, and evenings, giving her time away with a smile and the famous “its flippin fab!” which I think is her mantra. Her mother Sheila does even more by the look of it from the blog posts, it makes me feel sort of exhausted! I have tried all sorts of things to get the 3GClimbers further into the public conscious (think viral!) currently to no avail, but I will keep trying.
This all made me feel that if they can climb Kilimanjaro then I can get fit. Those that know me well know that having a Sunday nap with a good book, and then a nice glass (or three) of red wine is my idea of heaven! So I have been on a get fit and diet routine over the last two months and I am working towards my own personal goals. My current mantra is that “nothing tastes as good as slim feels”!
I wish them so much luck, I read the blog every morning before I get up (which is early!) and am disappointed if it’s not been posted before I have to go to work. I find it really inspiring to see what they are trying to achieve for the charities, and I expect they will charm everyone on the trip!
No calendar pictures I am afraid! (Not yet anyway!)
10 Interesting Facts about Kilimanjaro
Rising majestically above the African plains, the 20,000-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro has beckoned to climbers since the first recorded summit in 1889. Here are 10 interesting facts to help inspire your own future summit:
- Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain on the African continent and the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
- Kilimanjaro has three volcanic cones, Mawenzi, Shira and Kibo. Mawenzi and Shira are extinct but Kibo, the highest peak, is dormant and could erupt again. The most recent activity was about 200 years ago; the last major eruption was 360,000 years ago.
- Nearly every climber who has summitted Uhuru Peak, the highest summit on Kibo’s crater rim, has recorded his or her thoughts about the accomplishment in a book stored in a wooden box at the top.
- The oldest person ever to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro was 87-year-old Frenchman Valtee Daniel (although his achievement has never been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records).
- Almost every kind of ecological system is found on the mountain: cultivated land, rain forest, heath, moorland, alpine desert and an arctic summit.
- The fasted verified ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro occurred in 2001 when Italian Bruno Brunod summitted Uhuru Peak in 5 hours 38 minutes 40 seconds. The fastest roundtrip was accomplished in 2004, when local guide Simon Mtuy went up and down the mountain in 8:27.
- The mountain’s snow caps are diminishing, having lost more than 80 percent of their mass since 1912. In fact, they may be completely ice free within the next 20 years, according to scientists.
- Shamsa Mwangunga, National Resources and Tourism minister of Tanzania, announced in 2008 that 4.8 million indigenous trees will be planted around the base of the mountain, helping prevent soil erosion and protect water sources.
- South African Bernard Goosen twice scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair. His first summit, in 2003, took nine days; his second, four years later, took only six. Born with cerebral palsy, Goosen used a modified wheelchair, mostly without assistance, to climb the mountain.
- Approximately 25,000 people attempt to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro annually. Approximately two-thirds are successful. Altitude-related problems are the most common reason climbers turn back.
