At 19,341 ft (that's 5,895 meters for those of you who live in...well, everywhere else in the world) Mount Kilimanjaro is what they call the "highest free-standing mountain in the world." I suspect that has more to do with the fact that it dramatically rises out of the plains than whether or not it has external supports.
I'm no mountaineer. And I'm not even a thrill-seeker. When I first heard of George Mallory's famous reply to the question of why he wanted to climb Mt Everest - 'Because it's there' I thought he must be crazy. I didn't really understand wanting to undertake something so enormous just because it might be possible.
And yet here I am. I received an email from the Accenture LGBT network saying the group was seeking volunteers interested in a charity trek up Kili - and not just to climb the mountain, but to raise thousands of dollars for charity at the same time and I found myself in a more Mallory-like mood than I'd ever anticipated. The lure of not just one life-changing challenge, but also a challenge that would change many more lives than my own was irresistible. So here I am. In seven months exactly I'll be flying to Kenya.
There is quite a lot to do between now and then.
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