Charity hikers go to great heights

ANNETTE Lamb was prepared for the physically tough slog. She was ready for the altitude sickness. She was even psyched up to go for eight days without washing her hair while she climbed 19,000ft to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro - although she was never without her "Jungle Red" lipstick.

&149 City participants, from left, Annabel Meikle, Susan Mathieson, James Thomson, Jane Thomson and Annette Lamb

What she wasn't primed for though, were the cold and the mice.

"They were absolutely enormous. They were striped and were ten times bigger than what we have here, and they were everywhere... everywhere we went," she shudders. "And it was so cold, some nights it got to -18C, you just don't expect that in Africa. The tents were frozen and we couldn't get the zips open in the mornings.

"And then there was the diarrhoea, I think we all had it at some point and it was so debilitating, but it became the sole topic of conversation," she laughs.

However, the Harvey Nichols executive, who normally spends her days surrounded by designer labels and luxury goods in the St Andrew Square store, admits she was even less prepared for the poverty she witnessed during the eight-day charity trek.

Along with 19 others, including comedian Fred MacAulay, Michelin-starred chef Andrew Fairlie, and James Thomson, owner of Edinburgh's Witchery and Tower restaurants and Prestonfield Hotel, the 61-year-old hiked to the top of Tanzania's famous mountain to break the world record for the "highest" group Burns' Supper and to help raise 150,000 for the Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland - money which will be spent on scholarships to help disadvantaged young people into the trade.

Annette adds: "What HIT does is fantastic, helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get into college so they can get into the hospitality industry, but while it's a cliche, you really have no idea just what poverty really is in other parts of the world until you see it for yourself.

"All those images you see on television . . . even then you don't appreciate how poor people are. It's not until you're surrounded by children who are just delighted to be given a piece of chocolate that you really feel the vast difference between Africa and Britain.

"On our way to the mountain we had a burst tyre on the Jeep and almost immediately we were surrounded by children. We gave them Pringles and chocolate and anything else we had . . . it was almost frightening . . . but they had absolutely nothing. I also took out a lot of football strips with me which were too small for my grandchildren, so now there are youngsters out there with Scotland and Hibernian football strips on.

"I've also come back without much of my climbing kit, because I gave it to the porters who helped us up the mountain. They were so brilliant - we had 74 of them and they were carrying 70 kilos of stuff - but they get paid hardly anything at all. It was so cold up there and they didn't even have gloves."

The group - who flew out on January 3 - arrived back at Edinburgh Airport yesterday to be piped through international arrivals by fellow climber Billy Bell, managing director of Wine Importers.

Their route up the mountain had taken them through the Shira Plateau (a collapsed volcanic crater), over the Northern Icefields, up the Barranco Wall and finally to the Uhuru Peak.

"The whole climb was just unbelievably hard," says Annette. "The Barranco Wall was just a cliff and it was scary stuff - and my trousers kept falling down. It wasn't quite Arthur's Seat.

"For the last stage of the climb we started at midnight so we could get to the top by sunrise. I missed it though, as the altitude meant I was going at a snail's pace - every three steps I had to take a rest.

"I was last up but I was so glad I made it. Thankfully no-one had to use oxygen, we just took altitude sickness pills from about 4000ft. It was a real experience. Nothing can prepare you for it.

"At the summit you have a "tipping ceremony" for the porters and guides, and they sang us a song, so we sang one back - The Proclaimers' 500 Miles. It was such a laugh, they loved it and picked it up really fast.

"It sounds corny, but the trip has changed my life."

Restaurateur and hotelier James Thomson - like Annette, he works in trade more used to luxury than slumming it - says the same. "I did this because I really thought it was time to give something back to the industry and HIT does such a good job that when the trek was suggested I said 'yes' immediately.

"I'm glad I've done it. I do feel changed. I feel humbled by the whole thing. When you see how people live . . . mud huts with no electricity . . .

"When we had the tyre blow-out you would have thought those children were getting gold they were so excited about the crips. But strangely, though they don't have anything, they seem very happy - happier maybe than kids seem to be in this country. They just get on with life."

He adds: "The hotel we stayed in before we started the climb has close links with an orphanage. There were 25 kids there who had been abandoned or their parents had been killed. That was a very moving experience.

"Twenty per cent of the hotel's sales go to run the orphanage so we're thinking about how we can help, perhaps sponsoring one of the children."

However Thomson, 52, refutes any suggestion that charity treks up mountains like Kilimanjaro are more about the Western climbers' egos than doing good.

"We had 70-odd porters and eight guides and a cook, and these people are paid very low wages, but in Tanzanian terms they're good wages, around 70 dollars for eight days' work.

"If they didn't have people like us climbing the mountain there would be no work for them - tourism is a necessity for them."

Three other climbers in the group were also from Edinburgh: Susan Mathieson, managing director of Event Consultants Scotland; venue manager for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Annabel Meikle; and Jane Thomson of the hotel company The Town House Collection.

Susan, 51, says: "It was the biggest personal challenge of my life. I only climbed my first Munro after I said yes to this trip.

"I did try and do a lot of training before we left, but I don't think any of us were really prepared for how difficult it would be. I was absolutely euphoric when we reached the peak - especially as it was all downhill from there.

"And my home has now become the most luxurious place on Earth - I can't wait to get there."

Annabel Meikle, 41, adds: "I had done some walking holidays before, but nothing like this.

"I heard about the challenge and when they said they were going to have a dram at the summit I thought, this is for me," she laughs.

"It was a fantastic experience, but I'm just glad to be back so I can have a bath and wash my hair."

PEAK OF POWERS

THE team of 20 reached the summit on Saturday morning - but they had already held their Burns Supper due to the weather conditions.

The night before the final ascent, at the Barafu Camp, 15,500ft up Africa's highest peak, Andrew Fairlie cooked a Simon Howie haggis in the mess tent with help from the head chef from the African walking company.

Billy Bell played in the haggis on his bagpipes, Fred MacAuley acted as master of ceremonies giving the Selkirk Grace and performing the Ode to a Haggis. Callum Ross, of Hilton Hotels, gave the Toast to the Lassies and Annabel Meikle gave the response.

The money raised will go to HIT Scotland, a charity working to raise the ambitions of Scotland's hospitality industry by working with colleges and universities and providing scholarships for talented people working in the industry.