eressos sourtoukes walking group, september to november 2013

If you will climb kili, you need to start training a few months before the climb to prepare your body for this demanding activity. So I started hiking around my village, Eressos.
I don't really know how our walking group came about. It just happened. We found ourselves hiking with our sandwiches and mostly with our own dogs, sometimes with other people's dogs.. One can say a lot about Eressos women but their determination is one big plus. Someone suggests a route and we all say OK and ask where we'll meet and what time. We walked about 3 times a week, sometimes after our traditional swim to the rock or we would walk to a beach and swim as a part of our endless sandwich breaks.
The weather has been perfect, allowing us to walk all day long without getting too hot. Chatting, teasing each other, admiring the views, discussing which route to follow, sometimes walking in silence, everyone in their own world, sometimes getting lost and walking back to beginning, meeting for a drink or food after the walk.. this is how we became a walking group: Eressos Sourtoukes walking group.Sourtouki in Greek (and in Turkish) is a woman who never stays at home. This is why I love this name.
This group still walks and will go on walking in years to come. Thanks to Kili, a star is born.

where on earth is kilimanjaro?

Many of us have heard of Kilimanjaro mountain. It is quite a well-known mountain. But if you asked me where this mountain was, I would have probably said in Japan! That's how much I knew about this mountain before I decided to summit it.
One night about a year and a half ago, I was sitting on a bar stool, a bit tipsy, chatting with friends. Kaye mentioned Kili that night in the context of challenges people take while they raise money for charity.
The word made a sweet, magic echo in my ears and the idea of summiting it stayed with me after that night. The seed was planted.
I found out later that it was in Africa, that it was the highest mountain of Africa and the highest free-standing mountain of the world at 5,895 meters.
I have summited a mountain at 4,000 m, but another 2,000 m is quite a challenge for me.. a smoker at the age of 46.
On the 31st of December, 2012, I was sitting at a friend's house with a big question in my head. I had been notified by Turkish Airlines before that I was going to lose quite a few free miles by the end of that day. To lose or not to lose? If not to lose, where to go? If to lose, how will I fill the hallow that it will leave behind? Around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I went on-line to see how I can go to Kili. The answer seemed to be via Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. 
Right. Call the airlines. Buy the ticket for August 2013. Put the phone down. Done.
Days passed and August was getting closer and closer. I was happy where I was. I didn't feel like taking a challange in the middle of summer when I had lots of friends visiting and was having a good time, so I postponed the flight to December.
In September, I started hiking around the village I live. Many women joined me in these walks or I joined them in their walks.. one way or another, we walked together until the middle of November.