DAY ONE: Monday December 6, 2010
Forest Trek to 2,600m
Forrest Trail Mount Kilimanjaro
Hi All,
Day one of the Mount Kilimanjaro fundraising challenge and the team are all in high spirits after a consistent but gentle first day of climbing. It feels great to be underway, and I am thrilled to be joined by a group of 27 fundraisers, including the British Olympic badminton star Gail Emms and German Paralympian cyclist Michael Teuber. We are all so impressed that Michael is with us. He is a really determined young man.
After an early breakfast this morning, we made our way to the Marangu National Park gate, where we registered for the expedition. The climb began at the village of Nale Moru, just south of the Kenya-Tanzania border. From there, the porters led us on a small path winding through fields of maize and potatoes, before entering a pine forest; it was here that we saw a variety of wildlife, including the Kilimanjaro Colobus monkey.
I was hoping for some great views as we walked, but to be honest the weather so far has not been what we hoped for. It’s been dull and damp and in the distance we have seen thunderstorms and lightning.
The walking today has been fairly easy, we’ve been introduced to ‘pole-pole’ which means ‘slowly, slowly’, to allow our bodies to acclimatise properly, so it has been a gentle day.
We have now all reached the campsite, where we will now refuel with lots of drinks and stock up on carbs before trying to get a good night of sleep and recharge our batteries ahead of the second leg of the challenge early tomorrow morning.
After so many months of planning and expectation I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be on the way at last.
Martina
We received this letter from Grassroot Soccer a Laureus funded project and would like to share this with you.
To get a better understanding what GRS is all about watch the videos and if you want to get involved go to this site.
Dear Grassroot Soccer Friends, Family, and Supporters,
As the global soccer community returns home and the din of the vuvuzelas begins to fade, GRS can see the success of our efforts to leverage the World Cup in the fight against HIV in Africa. In the last month, GRS empowered over 4,500 young South African Skillz Holiday program graduates with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to live HIV free, and provided nearly 15,000 young people with the once in a lifetime opportunity to attend a World Cup match. With the eyes of the world on South Africa, GRS had the unique opportunity to share our work with a global audience, from footage of GRS’ Football For Hope Centre aired at every World Cup match, to coverage by ESPN, USA Today, and Vanity Fair, to an inspiring list of visitors including Queen Sofia of Spain, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and comedian Drew Carey. Read more
S’bongiseni Vilakazi at the Laureus Sport for Good summit in South Africa
Hey
here’s S’bongiseni Vilakazi (Managing Director PeacePlayers International – South Africa)
Just thought I’d tell you that the workshop so far has been AWESOME!
Tony Hawk visits Indigo Skate Camp
Laureus World Sports Academy Member skateboard legend Tony Hawk has presented a brand new portable Half-Pipe to the Indigo Youth Movement in Isithumba, a country village near Durban.
This time Laureus Chairman Edwin Moses took children from the Laureus-supported Sport for All project in Katlehong, near Johannesburg, to watch the England World Cup team play a practice match against local team Platinum Stars in Moruleng.
Laureus England Team visit
Fabio Capello with Laureus Kids
