Tarryn conquers Africa’s highest mountain
Former St Catherine's pupil Tarryn Clark recently added her name to the list of those who conquered Kili.
EVERY year approximately 15 000 people attempt to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro – of whom only 40% succeed (according to Wikipedia).
Former St Catherine’s pupil Tarryn Clark (23), recently added her name to the list of those who conquered Kili when she reached the summit of the largest free-standing mountain in the world and highest mountain in Africa (5 895m above sea level) on 27 September.
Tarryn, who is currently working as a Reservations Manager at White Sands Hotel in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, followed a strict training programme on her own in preparation for the mighty climb.
There are several routes one can take to reach the top of the mountain, but Tarryn chose the Rongai Route.
The six-and-a-half day trip is the less scenic route, but very challenging.
On arrival, climbers hike to the Simba Camp at 2 650 metres (8 690 ft), which takes two to three hours. The hike is initially through plantations, then rain forest and finally bush country.
Day two sees the group hiking to the second cave at 3 450 metres which takes 3.5 hours.
Day three takes the hikers up a gentle rising traverse through moorland over several ridges to Kikelea Caves (3 600 metres), which takes three hours, but a further three-hour trek awaits to reach Mawenzi Tarn Hut (4 330 metres).
Day 4 sees an easy angled scree slope across the Saddle to Kibo Hut (4 700 metres), which takes four to five hours.
Day 5 starts very early, as climbers head for the summit on a steep scree slope up to Gillman’s Point (5,681 metres (18,638 ft)), which is on the crater rim, and then continuing around the rim (which takes two hours) to Uhuru Peak (5 895 metres), the highest point in Africa.
Day six is the way down.
‘The climb was awesome and breathtaking. The scenery is unbelievable, but the mental toughness is what gets to a person,’ said Tarryn.
‘Physically one can deal with the pain and distance by continuously challenging yourself, but getting to the top is unbelievable and one cannot describe the feeling of joy and accomplishment.
‘It has always been a dream and goal of mine to do this, so I am glad that I had the opportunity and managed to complete it.’
conquering the largest mountain in Africa
