I went, I climbed and I conquered!

Jambo!!!

       Mount Kilimanjaro February 6th 2015!

How are we all doing? I am floating somewhere out there in the universe as I am still absorbing the fact I climbed and conquered Mount.Kilimanjaro! I can't stop smiling ....I feel so very proud of myself and so incredibly proud and happy for Ali Smith and Becky Templeman.....my two intrepid pals and climbing buddies......well done on the fundraising for Cancer research girls too!

What an amazing time we three have had, we have laughed and ribbed each other constantly the whole trip....and we have had anyone whose come into contact with us laughing and smiling too. I would call that a massive victory for all of us. The bonge amigos lived it large! Looking forward to our next adventure in the future!

There will be a series of posts over the next week or two that will tell more of our epic adventure, hopefully you won't all be bored to death with it!

I did manage a couple of the promised video blog diary entries and although it will seem strange, I will do some more from home. It was really quite difficult to do them to be honest.....probably more to do with the fact I was too shy to just set up and do where ever I was!  It was difficult to find time after a long hard day of climbing, to find a quiet spot that made me slightly less self conscious    ( but not much!! )...and in some cases not enough light available. Within a couple of days the idea of getting set up didn't cross my mind and then there was the days of suffering with high altitude sickness......so in theory it was a grand idea - in practice not so much.....so like I said I'm going to force myself to do some at home, I'll apologise now, me in front of the camera is not  good guys...you've been warned !

Our summit selfie! seems a good place to start.....joking! this was the end result of the most amazing time on Mount.Kilimanjaro, it was unbelievably hard and for both Bec's and I a rough time with differing symptoms of altitude sickness to contend with as well. Ali was so very lucky and didn't suffer with it at all. Although she thinks we were better off as Chacha and George carried Bec's and I's day packs to the summit and down for us!

Before I get into the actual writings of the epic adventure and climb - I thought I would spend time on this first post telling you about the company we used for both the climb and safari.

www.wildsecretsafaris.com  - check the link.

Wild Secret safaris - an amazing company where you the client and your needs are foremost and nothing is too much trouble. Mussa Gora will take great care of you and your parties needs. I cannot recommend them highly enough!

I did all my dealing via email with Mussa who came back to me promptly and was always the professional. He made our trip planning so stress free and took on more than he needed to to ensure we had a fantastic trip that ran so very smoothly. We booked our climb, our safari and all our hotels while in the UK and we stayed in four different hotels over our stay! Nothing is too much trouble for Wild Secret and I can't tell you how much we appreciated all Mussa did. Above and beyond without a doubt.

Regarding the climb make sure you book Philemon Chacha and his crew. They are simply the best, they will keep you motivated throughout the climb, they sang every morning and had us up and joining in, a superb way to shake off the chill from the night, warm up your muscles ready to face the days strenuous climb. Don't think of using any other crew - you want the best? look no further.

We three girls wouldn't use any other company and if you are going to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Meru you know who to book with.

Wild Secret offer many safari packages and whichever you choose, know that you will be with the professionals.

Bec's, Ali and I really can't recommend them enough. Thank you guys for making sure our epic adventure was amazing and so stress free and so very memorable!

Over the next few posts I'll tell you of our epic climb adventure from the forest trail to climbing the great Barranco wall at 14,928ft....a definite eye opener!!, our major acclimatization day at the lava tower at 4600m,  to the summit and the trail back down to the finish at Mweka gate. About the singing with the crew in a morning and falling into the tent on a night! Of our continuous laughing, the friendly insults that started from our eyes opening to the altitude sickness that hit three of the four of us!

Our most amazing day shopping for and visiting Osiligi orphanage - and the fun we had with the kids - a truly humbling but most rewarding day for sure. Of our three days of adventure on our safari trip, the animals we were so lucky to see and in most cases get photos of. The most wonderful friends we made on our trip and our sadness at leaving and struggling to settle back in to life in the UK. The two day journey both ways and our crack us up captain on one of the flights that had us giggling and singing like deranged kids!!

I have definitely left a piece of my heart in Tanzania where I felt I had known it forever and not as a visitor in a foreign land - Mussa, Alphonce,Chacha and George made me and the girls so welcome we really didn't feel like strangers visiting at all.....and to that I am so grateful, so relaxed and chilled out, a truly amazing adventure and hopefully will not be too long before visiting again.

There will be photos to accompany the stories so you get to see what I'm trying to describe to you....well in most cases!

I really hope you enjoy my account of my challenge of climbing Mount.Kilimanjaro and I will chat to both Bec's and Ali and ask them what they personally thought of the whole adventure and write their thoughts and feelings in one of the posts.

I have finally caught up mostly with my travel journal and now its just a case of the odd story my Jelly brain forgot! And the most heart melting message my little buddy Molly wrote for me to take with me up the mountain that I read all the time....it made me smile so much, thanks crazy kid I love it!!

I find myself in almost constantly in a state of surreal surprise - it's still sinking in exactly what I've done and achieved this month! it even feels funny saying that....I went, I climbed and I conquered Mount.Kilimanjaro this month!!! February 6th 2015!

I find I can't stop looking at the photo above, I have made it my new profile picture on FB. I seriously cannot stop looking at it, not because I'm vain ( everyone who knows me will be laughing so hard at that, I barely remember to do something with my hair in a morning!! ) but because I look and feel myself transported back to that moment. I remember resting and trying to catch my breath, trying to steady the dizziness and the feeling of been light headed with dodgy balance and not fully in control of my body. Trying not to move my eyes too fast and set them off rolling in the sockets!.....of feeling even in rest mode my hamstrings and calves on full stretch because it's so steep......and I remember lifting my head slowly up and up until I could see the horizon and where the summit lay, and thinking....this has been one hell of a climb! - that photo captures all of that so very clearly I think.

And the feelings, all the memories slowly surfacing from somewhere in my memory and it feels amazing, it feels like I'm reliving it all over again, but this time the memories are staying clearer. The more it sinks in the more incredibly proud I feel of my achievement - I find I'm filling up and smiling at the same time. I found myself on this epic adventure, a version of me that was lost for so long through diagnosis, treatments and subsequent illnesses and problems.....a version of me I don't want to lose again.

I set this challenge way back when I was in hospital trying to come to terms with having my chemo cut short because of the pneumonia and collapsed lung, it was my way to motivate myself back....and as the years carried on and the delays kept happening for this challenge due to the ongoing health issues I was having....it became everything to me....it was for me the way to prove I could make it back after a very rough and frustrating few years of complications caused by my cancer and the treatments - and I did exactly that!

I have shown that even though I am surviving cancer - it is only a small portion of the essence that's me....I don't and have never allowed it to dictate my life and actions.....and hopefully others will see it doesn't have to for them either.

I have proved in the most positive of ways to anyone having a difficult time what I've always said - nothing is impossible if you want it enough.....we can all set our own version of Everest, work hard for it and revel in the feeling of achievement when you conquer your personal challenge.

I hope you go out and set yourself a challenge or two and I wish you all the very best of luck in conquering them! 

I've not really thought what I'll be next setting for myself - I'm going to take my time and really absorb my success and the enormity of what I've actually done first!

So the next post will get into the climb adventure, I hope you look forward to it as much as I'm looking forward to telling you about it.

And to Molly - my best little bud.....I said I'd do it and I did - this was for both you and I....l love you crazy kid! xx

Until next time

Tracy