Grrr-eat Briton aims to climb Mt Kilimanjaro with 9ft cuddly toy on his back

This has to be one of the wackiest ascents of Africa's highest peak ever.

Briton Paul Goldstein, 49, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity with a nine foot toy tiger which weighs 30lbs on his back.

And having agreed to take on two marathons in a week, this was not exactly what people were thinking when the 49-year-old, from Wimbledon, said he needed to paws for thought.
Paul has already completed the Brighton marathon on Sunday with the weighty passenger on his back, in an impressive six hours, and are now ascending Africa’s fearsome peak.

They then hope to take on the London marathon on Sunday, two days after scaling Kilimanjaro's 5,895m (19,341ft) summit.
Paul, a wildlife photographer and tour guide, stopped long enough to pose for a few pictures as he boarded a Kenya Airways flight from London Heathrow to Nairobiout on Monday - while having only just got his breath back after finishing the Brighton Marathon the previous evening.

Then the pair surveyed the impressive peak that awaited them.

This morning, when Paul last made contact, he was at around 4,260m (13,976ft).

He said: ‘Rain now turning to snow, this just a whole lot harder.’