Ex Cadet and Civilian Instructor Matthew Croton gave a presentation to cadets on his recent adventure to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro. It was a fascinating talk and the pictures where wonderful. The most important message that came across was because of Matt's years in the cadets doing adventure training and d of e it gave him the courage to do what not many have done. These are just some of the comments that made the talk so great.

Quotations By C.I. Matt Croton:

• On day 2 we walked through the cloud level. As we turned around and looked out across the Tanzanian countryside, all we could see was a carpet of soft puffy cloud as far as they eye could see.
  
  
• It took 3 and a half days to reach the summit and 2 and a half down.
  
  
• The 3rd day saw a full day of walking that took us to our highest camp of the adventure. After dinner and a few hours sleep, at 23:00hrs we began our summit attempt in the pitch dark.
   
• One reason we only rested for a few hours was because it's very dangerous to sleep at such altitude for long periods. Whilst we were climbing up on the 3rd day we saw a man being ran down the mountain in a stretcher. The route was tough, needing several short breaks but we couldn't stop moving and had to push on. As we neared the crater top, the ground was covered in shingle stones which made the walk terribly slow and felt as if we were walking up a sand dune in the dark.
  
  
• Several people within the group later admitted hallucinating; seeing things such as fireworks in the sky or getting the feeling that there were other people hiding within the rocks. This was a result of the altitude.
  
  
• We arrived at the summit at sunrise - a breathtaking and amazingly privileged sight!
  
  
• The summit was amazing, surrounded by glaciers and the mountains volcanic but now dormant crater.
  
  
• Once at the top we turned round and came straight down. One of the reasons we came down soon after reaching the top is that it can become dangerous as people start to get altitude sickness. On our way down we saw two people having to be assisted down as they couldn't stand up and walk without support. Its almost like being drunk.
  
  
• One of the best parts about coming down was that we could for ski for about an hour down the mountain using just your walking boots and poles because of the loose shingle type stones that cover the side, you just slide down about 5-10 meters at a time and if you got really good could go down much further.
  
  
• We spent the rest of the trip working with a newly found charity in the rainforest of Tanzania , about 2 hours drive from the nearest road and in one of the most malarial parts of Africa .