Oi...leave my arm alone!

It's quite unbelievable how fast the time goes. Twelve months ago this whole trip seemed to be like a distant dream but here we are, 71 days into the departure, our excitement increasing and our bank accounts shrinking.

The last few weeks were not very significant in relation to Kili preparation due to my travelling abroad and Paul's travelling abroad although I did manage two trips to Malvern Hills and one "long-distance" walk from Leamington Spa back to Coventry. I've also done some shopping so I can now tick off my list sun screen (SPF 50+), gaiters, socks and more socks and base layer leggings (which I wasn't brave enough to try yet). I also attempted to buy flip-flops, really cute and pink ones. Unfortunately due to my excitement (you see, flip-flops are the only shoes I am currently allowed to buy) I've overseen a slight detail, like the size 6/7K (ignored the "K") and got these really really nice but tiny, kiddies flip-flops. Oh well, it's an experience, right?

Another adventure was getting the vaccinations & prescription for malaria tablets (£70 per 30) and Diamox (£1.50 per ten). Two separate appointments were needed as the prescription can only be written by a doctor but the vaccinations are done by a nurse. The prescription trip (Wednesday 30th June) was quite easy and painless, the doctor explained what courses are available, which one is the best (the most expensive one, of course) etc. etc. I wonder if Cheryl Cole was using these Malarone tablets, although on the other hand I'd rather not know if she managed to get the disease... He also warned me that Diamox although widely and commonly used for preventing the altitude sickness is not intended for this purpose (it is for treating epilepsy and/or glaucoma).

The vaccination trip (Tuesday 6th July) wasn't as pleasant. Or to be more specific the aftermath wasn't. The nurse was very kind and talked me through all the details (also gave me a vaccination record booklet which contains some very useful information for travelling, like "only swim in safe water and always check for presence of sharks" or " electric buzzers, garlic and vitamin B12 are ineffective for bite prevention"). Then she jabbed one of my arms with a Hep A & B and my other arm with a tetanus/diphtheria/polio combination. Wonderful. I felt quite ok and I might have overheard her asking me if I was planning to go to work afterwards and that I might not be feeling well. Phew. I am strong enough to handle this, right? Silly me. Or more like, inexperienced me. The last time I got a jab was tetanus about ten years ago. Apparently this was different.

I was ok on the day of the vaccination, only felt my arms heavy and useless (also wasn't able to beat up any annoying dweebs in my immediate surrounding). Wednesday wasn't as good though. Left arm sore and immobile, headache, weak stomach and shivers despite the warm outside temperature. When I was trying to explain things to my colleague Paula at work I realised that her slightly perplexed face expression is probably a sign that my articulation has gone a bit awry and when I felt freezing cold even though I was dressed in my very warm fleece I knew I shouldn't be at work. Nice experience (this was sarcastic...) I just hope that the second course next month (another jab of Hep A & B and typhoid) won't have the same reaction. Oh and please don't forget the yellow fever. That one is not available at my medical practise so I need to make an appointment in a different one. Happy days.

Despite all the pain and mental confusion I am getting very excited (I don't mention Paul as he's been madly excited since last February) as several great things are happening in next few days/ weeks. First, tomorrow we're going for a trip to Llangollen to do some serious trekking (and camping... hehehe), then we're applying for a visa, we're going to meet Chris Powell who is our big inspiration and who climbed Kili in February this year and after the 15th we're expecting an email from our agency (ATR) requesting us to pay the balance for our trip! Ok, this last one is not as exciting as this means my/our bank account(s) will be wiped out back to zero, but hey! It's happening! And it's going to be legendary! ;-)

Having said that, the nurse on Tuesday also sent me back to Earth by simply stating that from all the people she came across (while vaccinating) only a handful made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro... You have to have the respect for the mountain, no doubt about that. This is not your regular Malvern hill. Still, I am sure everything will go well and we will raise loads of money for MS Therapy! Big thanks to Louise for taking care of all the administration with the charity!!!

Right, time to stop now and get some sleep before conquering the Welsh hills! Lala salama!