Well, They've Conquered Kili! The Nine Celebrities who on 7th March reached the highest point in Africa at 5895m (19,000ft) have conquered Kilimanjaro - the world's highest free standing volcano, to raise more than £1.5 million for Comic Relief. Amongst them, Gary Barlow, Ronan Keating, Alesha Dixon, Ben Shephard, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Denise Van Outen, Cheryl Cole and Chris Moyles.

These stars have highlighted the plight of those under-privileged people both in developing countries like Tanzania and in the developed world like the UK, so they too can get to enjoy basic human rights and have access to fundamental needs that we all seem to take for granted. Above all, this fab group of celebrities put in a lot of hard work and effort for this arduous trek (even Gary Barlow despite injuring his back during training for the Kilimanjaro climb), to ensure that many Tanzanians and others in developing countries will be able to combat malaria. Fearne Cotton was inspired when she tearfully witnessed the effects of this deadly disease on young children during her recent visit to a hospital in Uganda. Her sheer determination and those of all the others to ensure children receive adequate prevention and treatment from Malaria, strengthened her will to put one foot in front of the other and keep on till she eventually made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro!

Well Done Guys! Hongera Sana na Asante!

So as you can see, Aim 4 Africa has been proudly cheering them on! For more information and to continue to contribute visit: www.rednoseday.com/climb

However, we don't just stop there. Aim 4 Africa is offering ordinary people the opportunity to do the same - you don't have to be a celebrity - to make the trek up Kilimanjaro and support Red Nose Day/Comic Relief OR your own charity. Plus we give you the opportunity to visit some of the projects close to our hearts either before or after your trek (two village schools and a hospital) so you can see how fund raising events such as these can go a long way towards helping those vulnerable members of our society.

Please note however that you are not obliged to trek Kilimanjaro for charity.You may want to scale the mountain for your own personal challenge - and that's fine too!

We currently have spaces on the following treks (minimum of four persons, maximum 8 persons - we believe in smaller groups for maximum success rates and personal attention from our experienced and professional crew):

2nd July-9th July 2009: Machame Route trek

26th July - 2nd August 2009 : Lemosho (Shira) Route Trek - (this was the route taken by the above celebrities)

30th Aug-6th Sept 2009: Machame Route trek

1st - 8th Oct 2009 : Rongai Route trek

Please note we are not a charity, so we would encourage you to set up your own fund-raising ideas at home or at work and directly contribute these to Comic Relief or another charity of your own choice. For more ideas or advice on how you can take part in a charitable challenge to trek Kilimanjaro, or for more information on the trek schedule and prices,  please contact us at enquiries@aim4africa.com

P.S: You have to earn the respect of the mountain by first challenging it before you can call it "Kili" - till then, you will have to address it as "Kilimanjaro"! 

The World Travel Market in London annual hosts the World Responsible Tourism Day, the only global day of action of its kind, is being supported by the UNWTO and leading industry associations. The day is vital – for business, for profitability and for our planet. It means taking care of a world that we seek to promote. Preserving our heritage and cultures and taking into account the views and needs of local communities.

Aim 4 Africa, along with many other responsible tourism organizations, werelin November last year featured on the WTM Photo Wall opposite the “Just A Drop” display stand on the main boulevard.Aim 4 Africa sponsored and carried out a massive campaign to help the Maasai villagers of Eluai Village in Northern Tanzania, get adequate funds to drill wells for much needed water. Images include the Maasai Marathon runners who took part in the April 2008 London Marathon, as well as drilling works at the village (See image alongside).

Watch this space for more updates on our continuing support of local community development in East Africa! View our responsible tourism policy or for any more information on our work with local communities can be obtained by contacting us at enquiries@aim4africa.com

Following the successful fund raising by six Maasai Warriors from Eluai Village in Northern Tanzania, Aim 4 Africa, co-sponsors of the Maasai Marathon in April 2008, are proud to announce that GBP115,000 was raised for the village water project! Well Done and Many Thanks to all our clients and friends who contributed - this overwhelming response has gone to show how amazing you all are! Asanteni Sana!

Aim 4 Africa carried out an intensive awareness campaign to highlight the plight of Eluai village (and other villages in the area) who had little access to clean water.
Paul Martin of Greenforce, the charity organizing the London Marathon in April, said the organization were thrilled at the response received from the campaign. The initial target was GBP20,000-GBP60,000.

Aim 4 Africa continues to monitor the project and works with other local village development projects to ensure that local communities can benefit from life’s essentials that we all in the West seem to take for granted.

November 5th 2008 saw a remarkable and historical record for the United States of America, when Barack Obama was elected as 44th President of one of the world’s most influential countries.

Obama’s family originates from western Kenya, in the village of Kogelo near Kisumu, the once great trading town on the shores of Lake Victoria
The 5th of November was a day of celebrations in Kenya and a public holiday.

Over a year before the elections, many citizens of Kenya and neighboring Tanzania were sporting t-shirts and posters in support of Obama. Needless to say, there was plenty of rejoicing on the streets of most major cities in Kenya and Tanzania once the news of Obama’s election surfaced.
Aim 4 Africa has received many requests from people wanting to visit Kisumu and the surrounding area as part of an add-on to a Kenya-Tanzania safari program.

Historically Kisumu was one of the great trading centres between Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The town is on the banks of Lake Victoria (known to be one of the great sources for the Nile). It is the main town in the Western Highlands and it is the third biggest town in Kenya.

North West of Kisumu, visitors can embrace the breathtaking Maasai Mara. This is Kenya’s finest reserve, a land pulsating with raw energy as an array of animals go about their daily lives. It is home to the Great Wildebeest Migration which takes place every year – where thousands of animals are free to roam between Kenya and Tanzania.

To the West of Kisumu is Lake Nakuru National Park. An amazing spectacle greets the visitor to this unspoilt area. When conditions are right between one and two million lesser and greater flamingos feed around the shores of the lake, together with tens of thousands of other birds.

One of the best and least well known places to visit is the Kakamega Forest Reserve. This pocket of forest is all that remains of a vast forest that once spread the girth of Africa from the Congo Basin. The Kakamega Forest is home to a huge variety of animals, birds and reptiles. Some 367 bird species have been recorded in the forest but the main stars are great Blue Turacos, great turkey-sized birds who look as if they are adorned in bright evening gowns. The forest also has a number of monkeys such as Colobus, Blue Monkey and White-nosed Monkey with its long red tail! More unusual creatures to be found are the Potto (a lemur-like animal), the hammer-headed fruit bat and flying squirrels!

Kisumu itself is also rich in things for visitors to do including the world famous Kisumu Bird Sanctuary (which is the nesting site of hundreds of pairs of herons, ibises, cormorants, egrets and storks), a snake house (housing different species of Kenyan reptiles) and the Kisumu Museum with zoological exhibits and ethnographic exhibits (gives people an idea of different tribes and cultures, musical instruments which include the nyatiti - a traditional Luo Lyre used in many African concerts in Kenya and abroad).

Aim 4 Africa is offering a £50pp discount off all holidays to Kenya in 2009, plus a complimentary visit to Kisumu town and the
For more details contact us on enquiries@aim4africa.com or call 0845 4084541