Durban mother summits Mount Kilimanjaro

WHEN looking for a life-changing experience or an epic journey to achieve mental clarity, many South Africans and international tourists buckle down to take the trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven Summits, and although it is considered to be one of the easier ones, climbing it is by no means a walk in the park. The Seven Summits are comprised of the highest mountains on each of the seven continents of the Earth: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson and Carstensz Pyramid.

Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single freestanding mountain above sea level in the world.

It takes five to nine days in order to reach the Mount Kilimanjaro summit and then descend to the finishing point. Previous climbers say the more days spent on Mount Kilimanjaro, the more likely a climber will successfully summit, as they will become more acclimatised to the altitude and will be less fatigued.

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Durban resident Shareez Bagaria said she took up the challenge to test herself and to inspire her two children.

“I wanted to challenge myself mentally and physically. And for my children, Shay and Luna, to inspire them to know that with hard work and determination, they can conquer any mountains in life that they face. I want to teach them by example how to have grit and resilience when tackling anything that challenges them!”

Bagaria said the summit was no easy task. “We needed to drink two to three litres of water a day in order to reduce the risk of altitude sickness! You can only imagine the pee breaks along the way!”

The Durban mother said she chose an eight-day Lemosho route, and trekked up to the summit in seven days, taking a one-day short route to get back down.

She said the most difficult part of the journey was when nighttime hit. “I had a tummy bug as well as mild altitude sickness – nausea and headaches. We woke up at 23:00 and started trekking up a steep incline at 00:00, for 7.5 hours non-stop, until we reached the peak at sunrise. We were at the summit point for 10–15 minutes as the lack of oxygen starts to wear you down. And then we headed back on another seven-hour trek to camp. The final day alone was a total of about 15 hours of trekking.
It was gruelling but also extremely rewarding knowing that we climbed the mountain successfully.”

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Bagaria says that although she took the journey as a solo climber, she was never alone. “I met so many different people from all over the world. There were so many people at the various campsites and along the way that made the journey interesting.”

She said that before tackling a climb like this, a climber must prepare. “You need to practise walking with a backpack weighing about 6–8kg. You need to do cardio training for the lungs, and some weight training, as well, especially for the legs.”

Her advice to others hoping to climb the Tanzanian mountain: “Ensure you take a longer route to enable you to acclimatise well and that you do get to the summit. Train hard, physically and mentally. Gear is critical. At the summit point, I had five layers of clothing on. If you want to be comfortable on the trek, get the proper gear. Most importantly, make sure you enjoy the scenery along the way. It’s also about the journey and not just about the summit point!”