Why Cycle Africa? Reason 1: Safari

It's nine weeks today till I fly out to Tanzania to take part in the Women V Cancer Cycle Africa challenge. Help ma boab!!! To take my mind off thoughts such as: 'I've not done enough training...Help!' and 'Will I collapse in a heap in the heat..?' and 'Will my bum be hardy enough...?', I thought I'd focus instead on some of the reasons why I decided to attempt this challenge in the first place, one blog post at a time:

Reason 1: Safari!

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's signed up for a challenge with a bit of an ulterior motive behind it, but I do feel a wee bit guilty about this one! I mean, of course I want to raise money for three superb cancer charities, raise awareness about signs and symptoms and push myself with a long bike ride in the process - but it was the word 'SAFARI' that really attracted me to this challenge.

I've wanted to go to Africa to see the big wild animals for as long as I can remember.

When I was little I'd ask my mum and dad if we could go on safari, but it was just a wee bit out of their price range, so a trip to Blair Drummond Safari Park and a cone in Callander had to do.

When I got older, going on safari was still really out of my price range, and my dear other half's heart was never really in it anyway, or my children's:

'You don't fancy going in a big aeroplane to see lions and elephants and monkeys and giraffes doing their thing out in the wild...??' '

'No mum, why would we want to do that when we live a mile from Blair Drummond and can see lions and elephants and monkeys and giraffes doing their thing from our car then have a shot on the bumpy slide and then have a cone in Callander..??'

This goes some way to explaining why none of my kids were ever really bothered about having a pet...

So, when I was cajoled into having a look at the 'Cycle Africa' challenge by some of my WvC pals who'd already signed up, I didn't really pay much attention to the part that said, '...350km in challenging conditions over sometimes difficult terrain...' or the part that said, '...you have to raise a minimum of £3000...' or '...you'll need all sorts of jags that are sore and cost a few bob...' or '...you'll wild camp...!!' and so on and so forth.

But, I did see 'Africa', 'raising awareness', 'cycling', and, of course, 'SAFARI!'

It was a done deal.

I am, of course, paying for the one day safari *myself and I'm really hoping that seeing some of those big animals out in the wild will live up to the dream I've had ever since I was a wee girl - and, of course, be just a wee bit more exciting than a day trip to Blairdrummond...

*Just to reassure everyone who donated their hard earned coffers - all of the cash you donated went straight to the charities and none of it's paying for any of my costs, such as travel, bike hire etc :)