City schoolgirl scales to the ‘rooftop of Africa’

A Class 11 student of Abacus Montessori School in Perungudi, city girl Anjali Nagaraj scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, which is not only the tallest mountain in Africa but also the tallest freestanding mountain on earth. Found inside the Kilimanjaro National Park of Tanzania, the majesty of the mountain is its everlasting snow-cap.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is considered safe. But many, even in the best of their health, fail to reach the summit owing to both altitude sickness and harsh weather near the peak. While vomiting, nausea and sometimes even hallucinations can knock you out well before you reach 19,000 feet, the temperature can go below minus 18 degrees centigrade. Moreover, wind chill can also reach dangerous levels. 

Around 35,000 people climb Kilimanjaro every year but how many reach the summit remains unclear as many fall prey to either altitude sickness or the extreme weather. But bouts of altitude sickness could deter her from reaching the summit. 

“I wanted to prove something. Even before I had started the climb I had mentally prepared myself to reach the summit. As I was nearing the peak I started experiencing nausea and puked a few times. But I told myself that having come this far I can’t afford to be cowed down by this uneasiness. It was the mental grit that kept me going,” says Anjali. 

Kilimanjaro has five climbing routes to the summit: Marangu; Machame, Rongai, Lemosho and Mweka. But the popular ones are said to be Machame and Lemosho as they are scenic while Marangu is said to be easiest until the final ascent to the crater’s rim.

Accompanied by her parents Nagaraj and Hema, both avid trekkers themselves, Anjali opted for the Lemosho route owing to nature’s glory surrounding it. Moreover, the route being the longest, taking nearly a week to reach the summit, offered scope to acclimatise themselves to the weather. 

For Anjali who had trekked to Surya Top in the Himalayan range, where the highest point was about, 11, 500 feet, the best part of her experience scaling Kilimanjaro was walking around the base camps. “I absolutely adored just walking around the base camps, which meant we were getting closer to the summit. After the long day of hiking, I enjoy slowly walking around, taking in the views and the people. Those are the memories that are most deeply etched into my mind compared to the few minutes of glory I felt on being at the tallest point called the rooftop of Africa.”