Heightened conscience
Seven peaks in seven weeks
AYEAR after having tested the soles of his feet on a barefoot run between Durban and Maputo, in the footsteps of history’s John Ross, Thommo Hart is about to test his fear of heights.
The Pietermaritzburg-based adventurer is part of a team that set off for east Africa yesterday to climb seven peaks that are higher than 3 000m, including Kilimanjaro, the highest at 5 895m, for seven different causes, over seven weeks.
“Mount Kenya will test me,” Hart said in the garden of his Scottsville home where John Ross expedition companion, Simphiwe Ngcobo, popped in to bid him farewell and wish him well. The two have been working on a book, Two Beards and John Ross.
Hart’s companions on the Seven Summits Africa expedition will include conservationist Carel Verhoef; Sibusiso Vilane, the first black African to scale Mount Everest; and east Africa’s most experienced mountain climber, Ake Lindstrom. Hart is the expedition photographer.
“Mount Kenya will be where I shall have to get over my fear of heights,” said Hart, who calls himself more of Drakensberg hiker. “It’s going to be a mountain every week. A continuous slog. The challenge will be to keep strong from one mountain to the next.”
Nyiragongo, a 3 470m active volcano in the east of the Democratic of Congo, will be the team’s first climb, and Hart looks forward to shooting a glowing volcanic cone under the stars.
It erupted last year. That climb will be dedicated to local game rangers who protect mountain gorillas.
“At least eight rangers have been killed in the Virunga National Park this year alone, bringing the total number of rangers dying to save the park’s animals to more than 158 in the past decade,” read an expedition statement.
“These brave men and women fight off poachers and anti-government militia attacks in the under-resourced park on an almost daily basis. It’s a mammoth and often-deadly task, and they need more support.”
Funds raised will go to the Fallen Rangers Fund for their widows and families.
Karisimbi, at 4 507m, another of the area’s volcanoes – but a dormant one and in Rwanda – will be summit number two. It’s to shout the cry of the black rhino, 18 of which have been introduced to the Akagera National Park in the savannahs on the other side of the little country. In the 1970s there were about 50.
“The park is under pressure to protect its new crash of rhino,” read a statement.
“They are using helicopters for air surveillance, a rhino-tracking team and an anti-poaching dog unit on the ground. It’s an intensive operation.”
Then it’s Hart’s height phobia test. Mount Kenya, at 5 199m, will be for Africa’s elephants.
“One in every three elephants that walked Africa just a decade ago has since been illegally killed.”
The peak known as Speke, or Duwoni, at 4 890m on Mount Rwenzori, also known as the Mountains of the Moon and shared by Uganda and the DRC, awaits the group on week four.
This will be for the mountain gorillas.
“Chased out of their territories by human encroachment and civil war, hunted for bushmeat, their body parts sold to collectors and their babies sold as pets…This is the tragic story of Uganda’s critically endangered mountain gorillas,” said the Seven Summits Africa statement.
“About 900 mountain gorillas remain in the wild and the habitat of these shy creatures has shrunk to three national parks: the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virunga National Park in DRC.”
Stanley Peak, or Ngaliema, at 4 977m, is also on Rwenzori and here the cause is for the mountain’s disappearing glaciers.
“Studies show Uganda’s ancient glaciers are melting at an accelerated pace – no matter what Donald Trump and his clan of climate change denialists say.
“Ice loss on Rwenzori’s Baker peak is at a massive 96%, followed by Speke at 91%. Stanley has the lowest percentage of ice loss, but it’s still at a whopping 69%.
“While this is a problem only global action can ultimately fix, many Ugandans are doing their bit and the race is on to reforest the areas on the slopes of these mountains, and to save the animal species used to the mountains’ cool climate from extinction.”
Tanzania’s Mount Meru, at 4 566m, will be about helping to stop wildlife trafficking.
Then, finally, it’s “Kili”, where the team will look to the welfare of the porters who carry the luggage of many tourists up Africa’s highest mountain.
“Every year mountaineers from around the world tick Africa’s highest peak, Miount Kilimanjaro, off their bucket lists.
“What’s not as widely celebrated is that the porters, carrying all the food and gear to support the climb, make this trek many times a year to support themselves and their families.
“Alongside the movement for responsible tourism in Tanzania, there’s a growing movement to give greater recognition to Africa’s greatest climbers.
“We’re behind it 100%,” read the statement.