SOME like to get their tan the easy way by spending money and lazing on a sun bed. But Aviemore potter Penny Weir is doing it the hard way on a bike in Africa raising cash for a hospital in Uganda.
In her latest missive from the shores of Lake Victoria in the country, Penny confessed that her newly-acquired tan has been bestowed by cycling over miles of red dust.
The charity heroine who completed a marathon trip across Canada at the age of 70 has just emailed her supporters in Kincraig to assure them that, this time, everything is going according to plan.
Three years ago, she had to make an unscheduled stop in her 6,000-mile coast to coast cycle to have a pace-maker fitted, before returning the trip.
Hundreds of pounds towards her £5,000 target have already come in so far for her latest quest, Pens Bike Ride Round Round the Eye of the Rhino the latter being the translation of the Swahili name for Lake Victoria.
Earlier this week, the superfit pensioner told friends: All is fine. We have just completed a two-week bike ride: three of us, plus a guide.
The ride was along rural roads down the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park.
It is beautifully hilly country with either horrendous roads like washed-out riverbeds or else washboard stuff, with silky fine sand and you can imagine the dust!
That was for 18km into the national park
However, the trip has not been without its treats.
She said: The boat trip to see the wildlife made everything well worthwhile. We also had a trek in to see chimpanzees in their own special bit of forest.
We came upon two troops who were having an argument about the dominant male it was hilarious. The noise was terrific, and his behaviour outrageous.
Penny, who is due back at her Loch-an-Eilean home later this month, is raising money for Ugandas Kiwoko Hospital and its fight against HIV
AIDS.
Initially, she had planned to rise to a friends challenge to cycle around Lake Victoria, but instead she opted for the next best thing.
She explained before setting out: Three of us will travel by car around the lake, a distance of about 2,000 miles, and, where feasible, will take short side trips on the bike.
Well also be biking in western Uganda for a couple of weeks. And finally well visit Kiwoko Hospital the real reason for this great adventure.
Kiwoko Hospital is a 250-bed community hospital affiliated with the Church of Uganda, in central Uganda, around 80 kilometres by road, northwest of Kampala, Ugandas capital.
The hospital is operated using donations made to the Friends of Kiwoko Hospital (FOKH) and is supported by church-goers in Kincraig.
Penny and friend Mavis Paterson, from the Borders, each raised more than £6,000 for the Macmillan Cancer Care charity in the summer of 2008.
Penny had began to feel unwell just a few days into the epic journey in Canada and took a break to stay with friends but it soon became clear she needed medical attention.
Doctors advised that her heart was struggling to keep up with the demands she was making on her body as she pedalled through the Rocky Mountains.
They informed her that the best option was to have an artificial pacemaker fitted so, just two weeks after setting off on the trek, she was back in the Highlands at Raigmore Hospital for her operation.
But she was back across the Atlantic to be reunited with Mavis on the trail in Winnipeg less than a month later to successfully complete the gruelling ride.
