4 minute read
Laimi’s Kilimanjaro Diaries
Ihave a deep love and a passion for books and reading them. But it takes a significantly special book that thrusts you from its pages to the heights of 5,895 m above sea level, hand in hand with the author, above the clouds and on top of the roof of Africa. If I had the special premonition powers of the beloved Disney character Raven Baxter from the sitcom That’s so Raven and had the ability to look into the future, I would have dropped the book and run out of Exclusive Books in absolute horror.
But I don’t possess such powers, and that is why on 9 August 2023, Women’s Day in South Africa, I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro at 7:45, standing on Uhuru Peak next to Saray Khumalo, author of My Journey to the Top of the World. After having read Saray’s memoir, I followed her on all her social media platforms and when the day came when she made the call to women from all walks of life to join her on the Trek4Education 2023, I fearfully put up my hand. Wondering whether the impossible would indeed be possible, Saray assured me it was.
On 3 August we set off on the Rongai Route through the forest zone of Kilimanjaro – all 19 of us together with our guides and porters – on a trek that would forever change our lives. We arrived at our first camp, acclimatising to a journey that many have taken before us. Having read Saray’s book, I made a commitment to enjoy the journey with a mindset that, as Nangula Kauluma put it, “we only go as far as the mountain allows us”. I didn’t know how far my body would be able to go, so I was determined to make the most of every step with my sisters. There is so much magic, music, laughter and fellowship on Kilimanjaro that it would be a pity to focus on the summit only and not on the journey itself. Kilimanjaro was a masterclass in the famous philosophy that “life is not about the destination but about the journey.”
Kilimanjaro ingrains in one a deep sense of gratitude, a feeling of being overwhelmed. The porters and guides are the true heroes of this mountain. Saray Khumalo’s non-profit organisation, Summits with a Purpose, ensured that we had female guides. Furaha and Judy are two young women who have summited Kilimanjaro well over 300 times combined. I was in awe of their knowledge and love for Kilimanjaro, as well as their patience and determination while working in a male-dominated industry (which in their context gets a whole new meaning, as a quick Google search will show that less than 1% of all guides are women).
I left Kilimanjaro with a deep sense of gratitude and a promise to myself to continue to live my life from a place of gratitude. To Saray Khumalo I say thank you for sending the elevator back down. To my sisters I say thank you for daring to dream and being the ultimate companions on this journey where we created a safe space for us to fellowship and be our most vulnerable selves. Lastly, to our porters and guides, thank you for making this dream possible and comfortable.
And to you reading this with that dream in the back of your mind that you might have shelved because you consider it too hard or maybe even impossible, I leave you with the words of Saray Khumalo: “Continue to believe in your limitless potential, because the summit is possible if we keep stepping.”
My journey has been documented on a podcast, Laimi’s Kilimanjaro Diaries on iono.fm, where I not only shared my own journey but talked to others who have summited mountains, both metaphorically and physically.
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