 There was lovely news from one of my sponsors, the Kensmyth Alpaca Stud, during the week – they had an Alpaca born on the day of the eclipse called Silver Moon – so cute! Thank you to the Kensmyth Alpaca Stud for permission to use the beautiful photos.
In the winter I applied to the Lord Mayor’s 800th Anniversary Awards Trust for a grant towards my expedition. As well as an application form, I had to do some research into the role of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of the City of London and complete a questionnaire about the Mayoralty of the City of London, which I found interesting. I have just heard that I have been selected to receive an award, which I am over-the-moon about, as it puts me another step closer to my goal.
As I am using the Python programming language, I started thinking about the snakes I may meet in Manu. Apparently, they include: the Anaconda, the world’s heaviest snake (approx. 250 kg) and can grow up to 10m long; Amazon whipsnakes (abundant); Bushmaster (extremely rare and venemous); Emerald Tree Boa; Rainbow Boa; Boa Constrictor (can grow to be 4 m in length); Coral snake (very venemous); and Amazon Tree Boa.
 Today started off brilliantly, with a fascinating view of the eclipse. I set up a telescope in the back garden, and projected the image onto a piece of paper. There was quite a lot of cloud, so the image on the paper kept coming and going, but I managed to get a photo for the memory of the occasion. I felt that the bird life quietened down a little, but I had expected it to go a little darker than it did. I was also delighted to receive a grant today from the Roger and Miriam Pilkington Charitable Trust, which gets me another step closer to Peru - Thank you.  Yesterday and today I have been doing my part time job, and I am also still working on various art projects (in the picture, I am working in charcoal), which I hope will generate further funds.
 I haven’t blogged for a while as I have been away for a couple of weeks with my parents, walking in Dumfries and Galloway, as well as the Kielder Forest. This holiday proved to be a perfect opportunity to put my new Aigle Parcours 2 Vario Wellington Boots to the test! I was really sceptical about walking in wellies, but British Exploring think that they are better than walking boots in the jungle. I have been surprised by how comfortable these wellies were. They don’t have the ankle support that walking boots have, and the soles don’t feel as tough, but they aren’t a bad alternative and should be a lot better at keeping out the water and the critters. I also had the chance to put the rucksack to the test. I filled it with 19kg of assorted things and found it to be extremely heavy – it is going to be tough, especially with the heat and damp we are going to be walking in. I am going to need lots of practice in carrying it any sort of distance! So now it is time to get back into the fundraising in earnest. Before going away, I had to delist all my items I was trying to sell, as without paying for your eBay account there is no way of easily putting your sales on hold. As soon as I returned from my travels, therefore, I relisted 20 of them (as more than 20 per month induces a fee for each additional item). |
Photo by Angus Malmgren
FundraisingI MANAGED TO REACH MY FUNDRAISING TARGET - a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped make it possible for me to take part in this amazing adventure.
THANK YOU also to the following for grants and sponsorship: 
The David Haydock Memorial Trust The Hedley Foundation The Lord Mayor's 800th Anniversary Awards Trust The Roger and Miriam Pilkington Charitable Trust The David St John Thomas Charitable Trust Archives
September 2015
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