Broadstairs solicitor WBro Peter Rodd PAGReg has returned triumphant from his expedition to the ‘Roof of Africa’, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Along with a group of 11 others from Charity Challenge UK, Peter reached the rim of the volcano’s crater at sunrise after a seven-hour climb. An hour later they reached the summit itself at Uhuru Point. At 19,384 feet, the summit is the highest point in Africa.

The party was supported by a group of 24 porters and a guide. Peter remarked "The expedition was the hardest physical thing I have ever done or am ever likely to do." Freezing nighttime temperatures, rudimentary sanitary arrangements and drinking water that had to be purified with iodine were part of the hardships that the group endured during their eight-day climb. Dinner at 7pm, with 12 people huddled round a table for eight, with a single hurricane lamp providing insufficient light for the travellers to test the cooks veracity that vegetable soup really was . . . vegetable soup!

The baked earth of the rainforest and then volcanic dust meant that everything, including the walkers, was coated in a permanent film of brown powder, the only consolation being that it also discouraged the mosquitoes.

WBro Peter hopes that this venture will raise some £5,000 in aid of Demelza House. He has produced a most interesting resume of his eight day ascent and he would be prepared to provide copies (with Demelza in mind) to anyone that is interested.