Thomo in his winter hiking gear! ;-)
I'm 39, going on 40 soon and live in Kirstenhof with my wife Ondine and children Bradley (7) and Erica (4). The house is shared with 3 cats and 3 dogs. I have been working in the Printing Trade for the last 19 years and must have endured a mental block at the time when entering this crazy pressurised trade I'm in. As a great outdoor lover I'm always on the hunt for new Adventures which I share with my other passion in life - Scouting.
Why Kilimanjaro?
I believe that the seed was planted many years ago when as a youngster, I used to watch my dad's 8mm home movies. One of those movies featured his trip up Kilimanjaro (a successful one too) and it was always in the back of my mind - one day - if dad can make it so can I.
The opportunity never really presented itself as the years passed because there was never anybody who had the same desire I had to stand on the highest point in Africa. Last year I attended a business meeting and a company was present to entertain us with their products and one of them happened to be Kilmanjaro trips. This got me thinking and after a meeting with the operators I began to realise that this dormant dream of mine was months away from becoming reality. Other matters that strengthened the desire to push ahead with the trip was the fact that the Scout Group I run turns 50 in the year we will climb the mountain and Scouting worldwide turns 100. Put that together with a personal desire and the trip became more than just a dream.
I thrive on challenges and the mere fact that there is no guarantee of success makes me even more determined. Apart from the trip I do look forward of getting to know the other members in the party a whole lot better as we meet on a regular basis on the many training hikes in preparation for the trip.
