Weekend Wash Up - 23rd April 17

Well its been a while since my last weekend wash-up, with 9 months, 2 days and 14 hours to go to the big climb here's my wash up from the week:

Two rangers killed in the DRC

I was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the death of two rangers in the Garamba National Park in the DRC.  African Parks released a statement confirming the death of these brave men who put their lives on the line to protect our wildlife from poachers.

Joel Meriko Ari was 27 and leaves behind his wife and two children.  Sergeant Gerome Bolimola Afokao was seconded to the Park by the Congolese Military, leaves behind his wife and nine children.

Nine elephant carcasses were also found.

This story reminds us that whilst we all may sit and talk about conservation, read about it, tweet about it and say all the right things, there are people out there DOING something about it and unfortunately this sometimes costs them their lives.  Rangers really are on the front line of wildlife protection and we shouldn't forget the sacrifices they make.

If you would like to show your appreciation for Rangers you can leave them a message of support on the United for Wildlife website by clicking the link below - spread some love and show them you care.

Thank a Ranger

Learn about Conservation

I have just completed the first part of the great FREE Conservation Course available to everyone on the United for Wildlife website.  With many topics to learn about in a simple format, you can complete each section in your own time, over many visits.  Why not learn more about conservation and how you can help today.

United for Wildlife - free online courses

Fundraising

Just a reminder that my fundraising page is now up and running so if you have a few pennies weighing down your pockets then why not sponsor me.

And I leave you with a quote from Sir Peter Scott:

"We shall not save everything, but we shall save a great deal more than if we never tried."

Kilimanjaro - Hakuna Matata!

Who knew there was a Kilimanjaro Song?

One of the many things I'm looking forward to as I work through the stages of the climb is being serenaded by the team taking us up.

The Kilimanjaro song celebrates your achievements along the way, be it arriving at a campsite to end a days climbing, reaching the summit and getting back to bases camp at the end of the climb.

Here's a little clip of a crew singing it on their climb - Kilimanjaro Song

Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, mlima mrefu sana (Kilimanjaro, long mountain journey)
Na Mawenzi, na Mawenzi (And Mawenzi, and Mawenzi)
Na Mawenzi, mlima mrefu sana (And Mawenzi, long mountain journey)
Ewe nyoka, ewe nyoka (as a snake, as a snake)
Ewe nyoka, mbona waninzungukaa (As a snake, it winds all around)

Jambo, jambo Bwana (Hello, hello Sir)
Habari gani (How are you?)
Mzuri sana (Very fine)
Wageni, mwakaribishwa (Foreigners, you're welcome)
Kilimanjaro, hakuna matata (Kilimanjaro, there is no problem)

Tembea pole pole, hakuna matata (Walk slowly, slowly, no problem)
Utafika salama, hakuna matata (You'll get there safe, no problem)
Kunywa maji mengi, hakuna matata (Drink plenty of water, no problem)

The song is sung in Swahili so I might get one of the guides to teach me it as we climb (assuming I have enough breath!).

Planking for Parks

My personal trainer Caroline is slightly mad, lovely, but slightly mad as she planks just about anywhere. Snow, mountains, beaches you name it she planks there.  I've even seen her do it with 15kg weighted Bergen on!!  She is also very good at building in a plank or two at my training sessions - PT just wouldn't be the same without some weird and wonderful variation on the faithful plank.

I didn't know there were so many options when getting into this seemingly quite simple position..... and then uncontrollably shaking for as long as you can hold it.

Here are just some of the delights I have been subjected to:

• Forearm plank
• Straight arm plank 
• Side plank
• Spider-Man plank (yes this is a thing!)
• Plank up-downs
• Hip twister plank 
• Bird dog plank
• Mountain climbers
• And my least favourite of all..... the plank rows!

As a little dedication to Caroline and everything she is doing to help me get prepared for the big climb, I like to take the occasional plank photo for her.  Just a little token to show her that although once upon a time I couldn't manage 20 seconds of a basic forearm plank my mindset now see's opportunities to plank in the strangest of places, thanks to her positive approach to personal training.

I'm writing this post lying on a Cabana in Bali and looking out to the Indian Ocean - so here's today's dedication to Caroline....

There are many benefits of planking, none of which I'm going to list here but feel free to get googling - and why not join in the fun and try a few planks out yourself.  Simple but very effective and can be done anywhere!

There is actually a point to this post as at the start of the year I set myself a challenge to plank every day.  That's 365 planks.  But that's not all, as I feel my stomach muscles getting stronger I'm increasing the plank time, month by month.

In January I started with one minute every day.  I added on 15 seconds in February and then 5 seconds each month since - so now it's April I am planking for one minute 25 seconds each day.

If I continue to increase by 5 seconds each month, by the end of this year I would have planked for 35,325 seconds - that's 589 minutes!

I'm not doing this for fun, I'm doing this for African Parks.  They need money to double the number of Parks they manage by 2020.  I'm obviously aiming to raise funds by climbing Kilimanjaro and as planks are part of my training I am quite literally planking for Parks!

It would be great if you could spare a few pennies to sponsor me - even a penny per minute of planking - that's only £5.89 but it all adds up!

Any money you can find to help get Africa's wildlife back would make my wobbly arms, shakey legs and numb tum totally worth it.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is going to be a massive challenge for me in 2018 but I've got to get through six and a half hours of planking in 2017 first. 

Just click on the 'donate now' button on my home page, if you're lucky I'll show you my six pack!  😉