It all started with a Tweet...
“Any other cabbies out there fancy losing weight with me and then climb Mount Kilimanjaro?”
That one Tweet took a team of 3 "Fat Cabbies", all London Taxi Drivers, from behind the wheels of their cabs, on a dream journey to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with Action Challenge.
That dream became reality on the 4th October 2019, when they stood at Uhuru Peak, the summit of Africa's Highest mountain.
The Cabbies start their climb
This was the end result of a long journey, that saw the Cabbies commit to a training plan to get them in shape to take on the challenge. They visited the Action Challenge office to hear all about the trek and what they would need to prepare for, then the training began! From an Action Challenge training weekend climbing Mount Snowdon at night with our mountain leaders, to taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks - they pushed themselves to lose weight and get fit!
If that wasn't enough, they have also raised (at time of writing) over £15,000 for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans!
Getting closer to the top...
All those months of training and preparation culminated in the tough climb from Kosovo Camp to Uhuru Peak, in the dead of night. The summit climb starts at midight, and follows a steep slope to the rim of the crater. This is the toughest part of the challenge, with our mountain leaders and local crew taking care of the team every step of the way.
After 6 hours, the team of Cabbies reached Stella Point, in time to watch the sun rise!
Sunrise from Stella Point
From Stella Point, they needed to make one final push to reach the summit. It was cold, they were tired, but nothing was going to stop them. In the words of Daren, one of the Cabbies:
"That last 45 min climb is the hardest thing I have ever done, but my mind and determination just took over. Then we saw the famous Uhuru Sign we had been dreaming about and at 7.07am on the 4th October 2019 we touched the sign. I broke down in tears and blubbed like baby. All the emotions flooding out of me, the thought of my grandkids and the picture they had drawn me, my wife and all the good wishes, encouragement and faith that people had put in me. WE HAD DONE IT! A year ago I would have struggled up Shooters Hill and now I was standing on TOP OF WORLD. Looking down I could see the curvature of the Earth, clouds, glaciers... the sun was shining and it was a surreal moment I will never forget."
The Cabbies at Uhuru Peak, 5895m above sea level
We think this is an incredible story! You should never say never. Kilimanjaro is a tough challenge, but one that anyone can do with the right mindset. You just put one foot in front of the other until you reach the top.
Credit to the Cabbies - Brian, Daren & John, and special thanks to Tim King for his excellent photographs and videos (see more of Tim's work over on Facebook and Instagram).
Find out more about the Cabbies Do Kilimanjaro guys and their stories here: https://www.cabbiesdokilimanjaro.com
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