Awe.
‘A feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.’
One of the reasons why I took a flag with my logo. That’s how much I fear and respect my drive and determination.
I scare myself sometimes.
I have never hiked and I chose this to be my first hiking experience. I have never camped and I chose this to be my first camping trip. I have never done rock climbing and I chose this to be my first foray into rock climbing. I have never done mountaineering and I chose this to be my first mountain climb.
19- 24 February 2023, I took on Kilimanjaro. I’d had the climb on my bucket list for years but the timing had never been right until this moment. It’s called the Whisky route for a reason. It’s the second toughest route to get to summit and base. 6days and 5nights covering approximately 70km in distance and 5km in elevation is no mean feat. You will definitely think of taking a few swigs of whisky when the going gets tough. And as you’d expect, it wasn’t just the mountain climb to summit for me, I had to add a full marathon run on day 8 of my trip.
Everything about this trip was deliberate, intentional.
I had an extremely tight budget and had no idea how I’d stitch it all together in the end but I made it work.
I did my research but avoided getting caught up in the internet rabbit hole for two reasons. To avoid the depressing statistics on death and injury rates and two, I wanted an element of surprise / the unknown about the route and overall experience.
I knew my body would take a hard knocking so I prepared my mind for when the moments got tough. And there were tough moments. Particularly one where I crumbled in crying heap on a rocky path down to final camp because my feet couldn’t take the pain anymore. But you get up and keep going because you have no choice. When you’re up there and the going gets tough, you can’t just walk away or get rescued, you have to endure the suffering until the moment eases up. And it will pass.
But on day two, it hit me that this was an equally humbling and very selfish adventure.
This mountain has taken lives. Injured. Maimed. Traumatized.
There’s nothing like hearing medical rescue helicopters daily going to pick up a client in medical distress or worse, deceased. There’s nothing like seeing another client break a leg on a rocky descent you’ve just completed or seeing a porter with a dislocated shoulder from all the weight they have to carry up and down steep terrain. There’s nothing like the guides adding porters to your summit climb, to help you down if you go into distress or worse carry your body down if you die.
This is the reality of extreme adventure.
I’ve been asked several times why I booked this trip solo.
First, very few people in my circles run, let alone do things like this. While I did end up in a group with people from around the world, the beauty of it is that they are like me; run and do things like this. And that was one of the top highlights of this trip, meeting new, like minded people.
Secondly, unlike most people, I’m not afraid of my own company. I cherish alone moments, the quiet, the internal dialogue. The room to declutter my mind, gain perspective and clarity.
Thirdly, this trip was personal, like very personal. A pilgrimage to myself. Hard to explain. I didn’t want the distraction or responsibility of the company of a friend or family member. Having to deal with their emotions and them being in my space and vice versa.
This was an adventure of a lifetime, and a blog post is not sufficient to encapsulate the full spectrum of the experience on my body, mind and soul. In fact, that’s not the intention of this post. This post is to just give you a snippet of the how’s and why’s, not the what’s.
My adventurous spirit has shown me that your possibilities are only as limited as your thoughts say they are. Allow your mind to stay steadfast in your goal achievement and your world opens up with endless possibilities.
Dare to live.
Olga 🥂
Olga Terera 