Journey to the Roof of Africa

October 2011 was a month in our family’s life that will have an impact on us forever. It was the month we achieved the goal that we had set for ourselves back in January. As a family we had decided to work together towards a big challenge for the year. The idea was to dream up something extraordinary that would test us physically and mentally and then plan towards making it happen. It all came together for us on the 17th October when my family and I successfully summited Africa’s highest peak and the world’s highest free-standing mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We love mountains and hiking, so an opportunity to travel to another country, experience new cultures and trek on foot to the roof of Africa was a dream to behold. There were a few obvious obstacles to overcome though. At 5,895 m above sea level, Mt Kilimanjaro is a high and potentially dangerous mountain. We knew that we would need to train hard and prepare our bodies for the affects of the high altitude. We spent 6 months intensively training for the expedition. Our goal was to make a summit attempt on my younger sister, Hannah’s,10th birthday. If she was successful, Hannah would become the world’s youngest person to legally summit Mt Kilimanjaro.

My sister and I set up a fundraising campaign under the banner of ‘Team Sole Sisters’. We planned to use the climb to raise awareness for the more than 7 million children throughout South Africa who don’t have school shoes. We partnered with The Bobs for Good Foundation and have set a target to raise enough money to buy and distribute 500 pairs of shoes for needy children by the end of the year.

Our climb to the roof of Africa started on the 11th October. For 8 days we trekked through rain, sleet, snow, ice and sunshine. Our trek took us from the lower cultivated lands of Kilimanjaro and up through a tropical rain forest, into exotic heath, moorlands, alpine desert and finally into the glaciated arctic summit zone. This is the equivalent of travelling from the Equator to the North Pole in just 7 days.

Day 7 was our most challenging of the trek. After having trekked over rugged terrain for 6 hours, we managed to get a few hours sleep before setting off again at midnight for the summit. A combination of exhaustion, freezing cold and low levels of oxygen made even small steps a battle. It came down to simply placing one foot in front of the other. At times it seemed easier to turn back but that was just not an option. Our climb to the summit and back to base camp took almost 13 hours. It was through sheer determination to succeed and the encouragement of one another that we achieved our goal. Slow and steady eventually won the day!

What I learnt from this amazing experience is that if we dream it we can achieve it. We are capable of far more than we believe is possible. To sum it up in one sentence I would say, set your goals bigger than you think are possible, plan well to succeed and do everything in your power to make your dream happen. You can if you believe you can.