Empangeni mother conquers Kilimanjaro
CONQUERING Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, is no easy feat, but for a local Empangeni mother it was a lifelong dream come true.
Angelique Geringer (27) recently summited Tanzania’s dormant volcano, despite having to juggle between being mother to a four-year-old, work and planning her wedding.
Angelique opted for one of the toughest climbs available, the Machame route, also known as the Whiskey route, and said she had to overcome great odds in conquering the almost 6 000 metres above sea level upward trek.
‘Nothing can prepare you for that altitude – I saw people in top physical condition who had to be sent down with altitude sickness.
‘It took us five days to get to Barafu Camp, the highest and final camp before summit.
‘At 11:30pm on Friday we left Barafu and proceeded on what was by far the toughest part of the journey.
‘When you get to the 5 000m mark it starts getting tough, you can’t breathe and every step is an effort.
‘I threw up, passed out and at one stage I even had hypothermia.
‘Just to give you an idea of how cold it is, my water froze an hour into the summit and at about 3/4 of the way I got hypothermia.
‘My guides managed to warm me up a bit but that’s when the altitude sickness kicked in.
‘One of my guides started singing to me and helped me get to the top.
‘When you are on that mountain everyone is equal; the altitude doesn’t care who you are,’ she said.
After a treacherous eight hour final leg, Angelique, accompanied by two other South Africans and her two guides, reached the summit of Uhuhru peak at 8:30am.
‘We were up there for about an hour, it’s almost unreal because it’s this whole ordeal to get there and when you finally do you are so exhausted and tired, but at the same time you don’t realise the achievement until you actually have time to sit and think about it.
‘It only kicked in when I got back to Empangeni and had time to think of my accomplishment.’
Lifelong dream
Angelique said climbing Mount Kilimanjaro has always been something she has wanted to do.
‘We all have crazy dreams I suppose, and that was mine.
‘I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I could or couldn’t do it.
‘I specifically wanted to conquer Kilimanjaro, I think it’s more realistic and within reach, although it was still a challenge.
‘It’s not for the faint hearted and a lot of unpleasant stuff you have to deal with along the way, but even with all of the nitty gritty, it’s beautiful out there.
‘In the seven days you see most parts of the mountain, rain forest, rocky areas, snow and stars - I’ve never seen so many stars in my life, it’s amazing,’ she reminisced.
According to Angelique one would need to be strong and in good physical health in order to undertake the challenge.
‘I got sick about two weeks before going and I had to see a doctor – that set me back a bit but I wouldn’t say that you need to be a fitness freak to do the climb.
‘It’s definitely a mind game all the way and that doesn’t take into account your fitness levels,’ she said.
And while her fiancé, Jayson Robinson, was full of praise for her huge achievement, he did feel the need to compete.
‘I can’t let her outdo me so I have also to do it now - I’m competitive like that.
‘I’ll do you one better, I’ll do the five-day climb.
‘One of my friends said: if she can climb Kilimanjaro she’d definitely be able to put up with and marry me,’ he laughed.