Climbing Kilimanjaro

Hi I’m Angela, and in October 2023 myself and my best friend for over 30yrs Cleo will be attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and raising as much as we can for Cancer Research Wales, a charity I hold very close to my heart at the moment, due to my mum passing May 7th this year. We will be climbing one of the Seven Summits - the highest peak on each of the 7 continents. Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa (located in Tanzania) and the highest single free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: 5,895 meters above sea level and about 4,900 meters above its plateau base. Taking 2 days of travelling time out, we will be hiking for a total of 8 days. We have chosen to take the Lemosho Route which hopefully will give us sufficient time to acclimatize, ready for the big push to the summit. Reaching 7 different camps during our climb and sleeping a 2 Person tent at the end of each day with nothing but the pack on your back will be a unique experience and a slight culture shock to us ladies. We have begun our fitness training and have started climbing our beautiful Welsh mountains but despite this, it is the altitude sickness that could be our demise – something we can neither train for nor counter if we develop it, so fingers crossed we don’t experience this. Why am I doing this? As I mentioned above the charity holds a special place in my heart at present, with a close family member being diagnosed stage 4. Also Cleo and I have always had a special bond and have experienced a very mixed bag of memories throughout the years. The saying “when you know, you know” is all that is needed to describe what we have. Time has gone so fast; both have had illnesses and traumas to last us a lifetime, but I think they have made us stronger. I will be 50 years young this coming August which initially scared me as I keep thinking that half of your life we work, become a wife, raise your children, and forget that there is a big world out there just waiting to be explored. So I’ve decided that this side of 50 I will be putting myself out of my comfort zone and silly as it sounds, I want my children and grandchildren to believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. We won’t be doing this climb in vein, our nominated charity which is very close to our hearts as it has effected everyone’s life at some point is - Cancer Research Wales. A bit about our Charity Since 1966, pioneering research has been saving lives, right here in Wales. Almost 60 years of research has contributed to vast improvements in cancer services and better outcomes for countless people. They are working to make sure the people of Wales do not have to accept cancer as a life-threatening disease. They do this by supporting the best cancer researchers and clinicians to make discoveries which will transform lives, because research is in our DNA One in two of us will get cancer, which means we will all be affected by cancer in one way or another. To tackle this, Their research is happening all over Wales, in our communities, our hospitals, our GP surgeries. It’s making Wales a healthier, and better place to live. Please help us! - every penny counts As you can imagine this experience isn’t cheap so we need to cover our flights to Africa, pay for professional guides to take us up the mountain safely, pay for the overnight stays and food/drink etc, plus most importantly raise money for Cancer Research Wales. Every penny will be greatly appreciated and get us 1 step closer to our goal. Thank you so much for taking the time to follow our journey