After a lot of planning, fundraising and training, I finally made it to the top of the mountain! It was a truly epic trip and I can’t overstate the importance of the support of all the family and friends who have helped out in so many ways.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped me reach this goal, I couldn’t have done it without you.

Here are a select few photos from the trip, I have over 600 in total so if anyone wants to hear the full debrief then please let me know!

Photos: Top right is the whole team of amazing people who not only made the trip up Mount Kilimanjaro, but also raised a fantastic amount of money to do it. It was a truly fantastic group and I look forward to seeing them all again soon (there is already talk of a reunion).

On the left is a picture of me and my sisters in front of Mt Kilimanjaro, on the way back down the mountain at Millennium Camp. It felt great to be coming back down after such an achievement, all looking forward to showers and real beds!

On the right is a picture of the mountain from Karanga Camp, the night before our summit ascent. It had been really misty and then we came out of dinner to see this spectacular sunset on the mountain. The pain was worth it!!

As I’m sure you could guess, I’ve been doing a fair amount of walking in preparation for the trip. For the last few weeks however, I’m supplementing that with some last-minute personal training, kindly donated to me by Jon Cook of Community Circuits (Herne Hill).

My first session on Thursday last week was tough, but after a couple of days, muscles I didn’t know I had started to ache which I took as a good sign it was working. I’m now looking forward to my second session, which is today, in the hope that I’m now prepared for what is to come.

Somehow, I doubt it.

I have had final confirmation of the menu for my charity meal evening on Monday night.

The full menu is as follows:

Starters

• Mixed Salad
• Half Salad, half garlic bread

Mains

Pasta

• Penne Alla Boscaiola (V) (Penne with selected vegetables, a touch of wine and tomato sauce)
• Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (Spaghetti, bacon, parmesan and egg served with cream)
• Linguine Alla Medici (Linguine pasta with tomato sauce, chicken, parma ham, mushrooms and a touch of cream)

Pizzas (12″)

• Pizza Calbrese (Spicy Salami (pepperoni), garlic and olive oil)
• Pizza Hot Diavola (Ham, spicy slami (pepperoni), chilli, olives, garlic and olive oil)
• Pizza Caprino Di Ruccola [V] (Aubergine, goats cheese, rocket, roasted peppers, olive oil and garlic)

Dessert

• Indulgently Rich and Moist Triple Chocolate Brownie filled with Chocolate Chunks
• Deliciously Creamy White Chocolate Honeycomb Cheesecake on a Crunchy Biscuit Base filled Milk Chocolate Honeycomb Crunch
• Fresh Fruit Summer Salad

I can’t wait!

Following the recent riots, its great to see the shops in Clapham Junction back to normal. Hence my recent visit to Blacks and after some excellent advice am now the proud owner of lots of new kit. The credit card is aching a little but I am comforted by two facts.

1) I should hopefully now be comfortable, dry and warm on the mountain, and

2) The credit card bill isn’t due until after I get back from Africa. Brilliant.

I now have the following items ready for use on Kilimanjaro:

• Apex 4 season sleeping bag + silk liner
• Thermarest self-inflating matress
• Camelbak water resivoir for a rucksack
• Osprey 36 litre day-pack (on order)
• North Face impossibly warm goose down jacket
• Blacks travel towel