Kilimanjaro

This snow-covered equatorial mountain situated in the wild of Africa, is the world’s highest free standing mountain. It demands high levels of physical fitness and stamina to climb up this Tanzanian challenge. Of the easy and tough choices that we got, we chose the tougher climb for this expedition. And it did turn out the way we had imagined…tougher than the tough we were ready for.

The high altitude and unpredictable climatic conditions posed more than a reasonable challenge. But the intense physical training that I had undertaken prior to the expedition paid off well. A seven day event, the climb to the top of the peak stretched from February 24th to March 4th 2010. The journey set off from the foot of the Tanzanian Lemosho glades and scaled upwards with an unassumingly easy-looking stretch…It was only when we began climbing that we learnt that it was tougher than what met the eye.

It was a long and gruelling expedition – one that tested my inner determination and physical strength with every step. But once I reached the top and took an eye-full of the 360 degree spectacle, it was absolutely overwhelming. All the pain, the anxiety and the anguish just vanished in thin air…literally!

This expedition proved that humour exists everywhere – even if it meant a chicken dance performed at the top…And that is exactly what we did.

I have recorded each one of those golden moments into my journal the Kilimanjaro Diaries.