Story 39: Getting excited about Tanzania

I'm so excited! A recce group from Action for Charity has been in Tanzania for the past few days, sussing out the Cycle Africa route, and Ann Frampton (the organisation's director and contributor to a certain little book...)  shared some of the details and photographs on Facebook. Aw man, it sounds so much more challenging than I was expecting but it also looks even more fantastic than I could possibly have imagined! 

In one of her posts Ann reminded us that we're not going to Tanzania next October for a holiday; we'll have to train hard in preparation for cycling at altitude over some pretty rough terrain, we'll have to be all set for camping out in the wild for a couple of nights (I'm trying not to think too much about that aspect of the trip just yet...), we'll have to be fit enough to cycle 217 miles over the course of a few days and we'll only reach the finish line if we can manage a 25 mile uphill slog on the final day of the trip. 

Ann's right, it won't be a holiday. It's going to be tough. But it will be incredible! We'll see some amazing sights (like Mount Kilimanjaro), we'll cycle alongside wild animals (like zebras, baboons, giraffes and maybe even lions!!) and we'll have the privilege of meeting some of the locals along the way (like Maasai villagers). It's all so exciting!

October 2015 seems like a long way off, but I've got a lot of money to raise, and a lot of saddle hours to clock up, before I set one foot in Tanzania. It's absolutely right that it's going to be tough (did I mention the camping...?). Just like the woman who runs a Race for Life, or the man who doesn't shave, or the child who parts with her pocket money for Pudsey - I committed to Cycle Africa because I wanted to raise money and raise awareness for Women V Cancer while rising to a personal challenge.

And, after looking at the photos today, I know for sure that I've picked the perfect challenge to rise to.

(Photo courtesy of Ann Frampton)