Spend, Spend, Spend and Spend Some More

Wow, what an expensive week! I'm at the pointy end of the preparations now so it's time to part with serious money :(

First the balance was due to Escape Travel and 5 days later the balance to Kiliwarriors.

Budget So Far:

• $5,000 to Escape Travel for Cape Town (4 days) and Safaris near Kruger area (7 days)
• $. 400 Internet booked tours in Cape Town
• $6,260 to Kiliwarriors for my climb of Mt Kilimanjaro
• $. 600 approximate, to be paid for accommodation in Sydney and Cape Town at the Sheraton on a "relative of employee rate" thanks Matthew.
• $12,260 - Total Paid

International airfares were on rewards points and this saved me a couple of thousand dollars, thank god!

And, just as all this expense jumps in....so too does some more. Kathmandu announce their June sale - the one I have been waiting for, to buy all my gear from. Great timing. They also invited me to the pre-sale release where I would get another 10% off the normal sale price.

So off I go with my Kiliwarriors packing list in hand and merrily shop. It's amazing how easy it is, to work your way around the shop selecting items and ticking them off the list. The shock comes when you get to the counter and the assistant starts scanning it all.....beep, beep, beep and on it goes until she casually tells me the total is $3,500....and I try to smile while quietly choking OMG;(

But wait, that is the total before sales discount. The sale price is $1,400, thank God! Still, that is the most expensive shop on clothes etc that I have ever made.

On top of that, I had already brought some gear at other earlier sales and I reckon in total, the clothes and gear have cost me around $2,000-$2,500.

Well that's what you get when you live in the tropics, with minimal cold weather clothing and no hiking gear and decide to do a climb like Kilimanjaro.

I had better make it to the top or I'll be seriously pissed off with myself!