01-May-2015 12:38 - Ready. Steady..... GO!

So, at last, after almost two years of planning the first adventure in this three year project is about to start! At the end of this week we fly off to Kenya where we'll be climbing Mt. Kenya, climbing Mt. Longanot, visiting a school and an EAC partner project and then meeting some Maasai friends. The last few weeks have been as hectic as ever with making sure that our inoculations are up to date (one of the guys as had a hard time with the side effects of the Yellow Fever inoculation - not well at all!) and visiting the Kenyan High Commission in London to collect a visa. Packing for a trip is always great fun. Although this adventure doesn't require a huge amount of kit, everything has to be considered and everything that we take has to have a definite use; the last thing we want to be doing is carrying gear up a mountain for no reason! Selecting clothing is pretty easy. 'Wet gear' to wear during the days of walking, 'dry gear' to wear in the tents at night and warmer clothes for the push to the summit. Two hats is the order of this trip, one warm woolly hat for the higher altitude and one wide brimmed hat to keep off the sun and the rain (although we're expecting more rain than sun!). Choosing footwear has been an interesting exercise. We're taking walking boots and shoes for the climb and flip-flops to wear around camp and one of the guys is taking his trusty Dubarry boots which can cope with pretty much any situation thrown at them. The technical equipment is always a challenge. We're taking cameras, satellite and mobile phones, tablets, solar chargers and then what seems to be loads of wires to make everything work. Once we've selected and laid out all of our kit, then we have to carry it. We always use the best quality rucksacks that money can buy. A good rucksack not only keeps the equipment safe, but it also makes carrying the heavy loads far more comfortable. Our rucksacks come from Karrimor SF. We'll update the blog as best as we can throughout the adventure, but please follow us on Twitter too! You can follow @ExplorerJust for updates. If you'd like to know more about how your school can get more involved then please send an email to Justin@justforthechallenge.com PS. Take a look at the Educate A Child website at educateachild.org