Beginnings…

Welcome!

Thanks for coming to have a look at my Peru blog. After all the kind comments about my Everest blog, I really hope this one will live up to everyone’s expectations!

The little paragraph above tells those who don’t know, who we are, where we’re from and how ‘we came to be’. I’ll just add to it with this ‘intro’ and describe the outline of the trek ahead – as well as what I personally would like to achieve from it.

We’ll arrive in the Peruvian capital city of Lima on Friday 30th September – this is the ‘meeting day’ where everyone else joining the team will fly in, from wherever, ready to meet proper on the Saturday for a full briefing on what lies ahead – although in my particular case, if past experience is anything to go by, I don’t think they can possibly predict…!

The trek itself will start shortly after the briefing meeting and for the 3 weeks that follow we’ll be on a pretty packed schedule covering a distance of close to 2,000 miles and trekking to heights approaching 14,000ft in this ‘4/5’ physical graded journey.

Our journey will include: Pisco, Nazca – taking in the popular Ballestas Islands, Arequipa – Peru’s second most important city after Lima and nestled in the heart of the Andes mountains, Colca Canyon – one of the deepest canyons in the world, Puno – resting on the shores of Lake Titicaca from where we’ll take a boat out to Taquile Island to visit the floating reeds island of the Uros people, Cuzco – home to the ruins of the Inca Empire’s richest temple ‘Coricancha’ which was literally covered in gold during Inca times, the Inca Trail itself – including a 4 day trek to the lost city of Machu Picchu sitting at 13,776ft, and finally 2 days exploring (and sleeping in! gulp…) the Amazon Jungle by boat and foot – home to some of the world’s most diverse plant and animal populations in the world and accounting for over half of the land area of Peru.

I’ve bought myself an iPad for the blogging (open to offers if anyone wants to buy it when I get back!) and a decent camera (thanks Jessops for the great deal!) for my memories, so I reckon I’m about ready to go. I intend to pack a lot lighter than I did for Everest – which shouldn’t be hard. Mike’s had me under therapy for the last 18 months and I now realise I don’t have to pack several spares of everything, plus extras for my fellow trekkers. Thank you Mike 🙂

Whilst not a ‘fundraiser’ in itself, I am hoping to raise awareness – and a little money if possible – for a Christian School based in the heart of Braunstone in Leicester. Emmanuel Christian School has grown out of a vision given by God to a number of people who felt the need and desire for a Christian school in Leicester. After much prayer and planning, Emmanuel opened 8 years ago, with only a handful of children, a borrowed church and a handful of volunteers – many from local churches known to us at St Luke’s. 5 years on, a glowing report from OFSTED spoke of the school being ‘outstanding’ in areas that make it a distinctly Christian school.

I’ve worked as a volunteer at Emmanuel for the last 2 years, helping with IT. I would like to raise £600 to enable the purchase of a suite of much needed computers, from a recycled source. The school have managed for many years with computer equipment kindly donated as people have upgraded their own equipment at home. Sadly, this equipment is dying at an alarming rate – faster than I can keep up with it. The purchase of ‘new’ equipment would make a huge difference to the children, so I am hoping – with your help and support – to be able to do this for them. Please take a look at the school’s website if you get the chance at www.leicesterchristianschool.org

Please drop me an email if you’d like to sponsor me – tim@thurnbychurch.com – or pop your name on the sponsorship form in church – or just slip me an envelope when no-one’s looking 😉 – your support would be really appreciated. It’s for the children… 😉

OK, that’s me done for now. Please do keep us – and ours – in your prayers as we travel. Bye for now.