1. Tuesday June 29 – 2 days before leaving

So, how the hell do I find myself two days away from leaving Dubai and heading, with a group of around 20, to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro?

It probably started at the end of last year when I was invited as part of a media team to take part in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. One of the world’s very hardest multi-day multi-discipline races, that involved kayaking ridiculous distances, cycling up dunes, trekking almost 100kms through the world’s biggest sand desert…it was tough but I loved it.

A few months later, I found myself on holiday in Thailand climbing barefoot upa  giant waterfall to dive into a pool at the top and look out over a canopy of green that took the breath away. I promised myself there and then that my recent taste for adventure (and extreme fitness) would be nurtured in 2010.

Having always been quite passionate about the bigger issues, I also promised myself that I’d do something to ‘give back’ during the year. When the opportunity to climb Kili and raise money/increase publicity (I’m a journalist, y’see) for Community Projects Africa (more about those folks later) came about, it seemed pretty gosh-darn perfect. So I signed up. And I told my mate Jamie about it. And he signed up.

So…in a nutshell, that’s how we got to this here point.

It’d also be remiss of me not to thank all the hotels (JW Marriott, Radisson Blu, Towers Rotana, Monarch, Crowne Plaza and many more) who dedicated prizes (as well as Sharjah Paintball Park and  Noukhada kayak tours too) which we raffled, sweepstaked and pub quizzed off to raise lots and lots of sponsorship.

Thanks also to my family – mum, dad, Uncle Mike and my cousin Stephen for the signed England shirt which we’re currently auctioning off. All stars by my book.