Check out our trip video

Here is a link to the short film of our adventures in Tanzania. With various shots of both groups tackling Kilimanjaro.

We hope you like it. And hopefully it gives a sense of the energy, team spirit, positivity, and our pride in representing Boots and Macmillan.

And maybe it will inspire some people to do something similar for Macmillan Cancer Support in the future.

Asante sana!

Neil Jones

Kilimanjaro conquered ... and £325,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support

Jambo everyone (hello)

Wow! What an experience the 60 of us have had.

We are now back from our adventures, dust has been settling (mainly from the scree decent from the summit, and from our holdalls and rucksacks!), and we are now reflecting on our trips of a lifetime.

Great friendships have been made, personal challenges accomplished, and fantastic funds raised for Macmillan Cancer Support. £325,000 so far! With more to come.

And the reasons why we all support Macmillan were brought into even sharper focus whilst we were away. Deeply personal thoughts and memories spurred us onwards and upwards on Kilimanjaro.

Everyone is very grateful to the following:

• Discover Adventure - exceptional leadership and medical support on both trips
• Our local Tanzanian crews - truely heroic efforts with our kit, tents, and food. Our guides, cooks, porters, and camp teams were superb. Thank you Ahsante Tours
• The Macmillan Hiking Team - brilliant support throughout the 12 month build up to our trips. Thank you Sarah and Margaret
• Our Macmillan team-mates on the mountain - Hayley, Aine, Sue, and Michelle
• All our friends, family, and colleagues at Boots and Macmillan who gave us the chance to take part and inspired us

Also, special thanks to Morag for setting up the GPS tracker for the second trip, and to Julie and Laura for keeping this blog updated whilst we were on the mountain.

We are also very grateful to some other companies for supporting our fundraising efforts: Unilever and IMShealth in particular.

Thank you Unilever

Thank you IMShealth

All our team-mates half way up Kili:

 

Summary video: check this blog site again in a few days to view our video


Whilst we were on the mountain, Julie volunteered at the nearby "Light in Africa" children's project. This was an equally amazing experience for Julie, and on our final day nine colleagues also visited Mama Lynne and the children.



Neil Jones

The adventure so far.....

Firstly congratulations to the first Boots team, who successfully reached the summit and are now back on UK soil.

The second Boots team are 2 days into their climb, and you can follow the teams progress so far.

The second group have left the UK!

Our second group of Boots colleges left the support office yesterday and have safely arrived in Moshi,Tanzania, for a day of relaxing before all the hard work begins!

To find out more about their itinerary check out this schedule

Good luck to everyone and we will keep you updated on their progress from time to time!

The first Boots team start their challenge of a lifetime!

Yesterday our first group of 30 Boots colleagues set off on their journey of a lifetime! They flew last night from Heathrow and will arrive today at Moshi (north Tanzania) and complete their final preparations before their climb starts tomorrow. In six days time they will reach the summit and all their hard work will have paid off. See the daily itinerary below to follow their schedule.

Good luck to everyone and we will keep you updated on their progress from time to time!

Happy New Year ... and a reminder of our trip itinerary

Happy New Year to all our 60 Boots UK trekkers and to all our supporters!
Hopefully the start of 2014 will be hugely memorable and successful for everyone taking part.

So, not long now! Only a week to go until our first group departs from Heathrow to Tanzania - Thursday 9th January. Then the second group follows a week later - Thursday 16th January.

Below is the itinerary that both our groups are due to follow in case anyone wants to follow our progress.

There is likely to be lots of individual Facebook updating during our trips (dependent on phone and internet connectivity), but we can't guarantee that this blog will be updated until our return to the UK.

Thank you for everyone's efforts so far. Our friends and colleagues at Macmillan Cancer Support are very grateful. In fact, all the fundraising, fitness training, and general preparations have been exceptional.

Good luck to one and all.

Date group 1 or 2	Day	Activity	Kilimanjaro heights
9th/16th	Thurs	Depart UK (Heathrow Terminal 3 Ethopian Airlines)
10th/17th	Fri	Arrive Tanzania. To hotel
11th/18th	Sat	Transfer from hotel to Machame Gate. Climb to Machame Camp	Hotel to 1,800m to 3,000m
12th/19th	Sun	Machame Camp to Shira Gate	3,000m to 3,800m
13th/20th	Mon	Shira Camp to Barranco Camp	3,800m to 3,900m
14th/21st	Tues	Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley	3,900m to 3,963m (afternoon acclimatisation to 4,200m)
15th/22nd	Wed	Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp	3,963m to 4,600m (early dinner and bed by 8pm latest)
16th/23rd	Thurs summit day	To the summit, having climbed all night. Summit 06:30-09:00am depending on progress	rise at 11pm (yesterday), set out by midnight. Stella Point 5,750m; Uhuru Peak 5,895m descend to Barafu Camp (3hrs) 4,600m, short rest, descend to Millennium Camp (2hrs) 3,700m
17th/24th	Fri	Descend to Mweka Gate. Transfer back to hotel	3,700m to 1,800m
18th/25th	Sat	Free morning at hotel. Transfer to airport
19th/26th	Sun	Arrive back in UK (Heathrow)

Both our trips are led by Discover Adventure: www.discoveradventure.com Neil Jones