Comic Relief celebrities start to succumb to Kenyan desert on charity trek

By
Georgina Littlejohn
Last updated at 4:28 PM on 23rd February 2011

They’re only two days into their charity trek across Kenya for Comic Relief but the celebrity volunteers are already starting to feel the strain.

From the ferocious heat and jagged terrain, to blisters, sore muscles, and spiders in their makeshift toilets, their creature comforts of home couldn’t be further away.

But the eight fundraisers – Kara Tointon, Lorraine Kelly, Olly Murs, Dermot O’Leary, Ronnie Ancona, Scott Mills, Craig David and Radio 4 DJ Peter White – are vowing to hike on through the pain to raise some much-needed cash for the charity.

Emotional: Kara pushed on with the trek despite breaking down when the heat became too much

Supportive: Actres Nadia Sawalha walks alongside singer Olly Murs who looked as though he was starting to feel the strain of the 100k trek

After kicking off on the 100k trek across the Kenyan desert on Monday, the team were up and raring to go yesterday for their second day of hiking.

They made a good start by trekking at a good speed but by late morning, at about 11am, everyone had slowed right down as the temperatures reached 38C (102F) and the celebrity trekkers strated to succumb to the blistering conditions.

Singer David said: ‘This
is so much harder than I ever thought and the heat is beyond anything I
could have imagined. Walking in the midday heat is so intense but
knowing that we are raising money with each step is keeping me going.’

Feeling the heat: Dermot O’Leary and Scott Mills slow things down as they join a camel train during their trek

The heat became too much for former EastEnders star Tointon, who got
emotional and broke down in tears as the high temperature became too
much.

Actress Sawalha said: ‘Kara got really tired and was emotional. She just
started to well up. There were tears under her sunglasses but she did
brilliantly and pushed on.’

And she added: ‘We are all suffering. We just hope we can make it and raise lots of money.’

All have developed sore muscles and blistered feet, and singer Murs seemed very pleased to get a neck massage halfway through the day two stint, while TV prsenter O’Leary fell into the arms of a member of the support team when they arrived at their camp for some much-needed sleep.

That’s it, right there: Olly Murs winces as he gets a neck massage to ease out his knots

Not your typical 7 Days, eh Craig? The singer looked ready to collapse as he and Murs trudged on

All the celebrities have been warned that during the week long trek, they will face some very tough walking conditions.

They’ve also even been advised that they’ll lose 20 litres of water a day throughout the experience and will burn 8000 calories – so they need to keep drinking water constantly.

Last night, the relief on the trekkers faces as they reached their camp and rested their weary feet was clear to see.

Murs even got a sudden burst of energy to engage some local children in a quick game of football.

How about a lift tomorrow? Lorraine Kelly makes friends with a camel

He shoots, he scores! Murs has a game off footy with some local children

But their relaxing evening wasn’t without incident, with Sawalha and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly getting involved in some late night dramas.

Sawalha nearly fell down the long drop into the makeshift toilet when they seat collapsed, and Lorraine got a fright when she spotted a big spider next to her and ran away.

The team are hoping to raise money for people across Africa and the UK, particular those who are vision imparied.

Money they raise will go to Comic Relief projects which include those that help to prevent thousands of people in Africa from going blind or contracting terrible eye conditions like trachoma, something which affects many people living in the region where the trek is taking place.

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