All-woman team rises to Kilimanjaro challenge
GROUP DRAWN FROM ACROSS THE REGION PUSHES LIMITS AND COMES AWAY INSPIRED BY COLLECTIVE STRENGTH
When Rasha Yousuf, a travel photographer, received a call from a friend asking her if she wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, she did not hesitate for a second. The promise of an African adventure like this was too tempting to miss.
It was only after she put down her phone, and thought more clearly about what her friend had just told her, that the enormity of the challenge dawned on her.
How could a young woman from Bahrain, where the highest peak — Jebel Al Dukhan — is 141 metres high, climb to the rooftop of Africa, all of 5,985 metres?
Yousuf knew she was in no physical shape to scale such a peak. Besides, although she has seen more of the world than most people will in their lifetimes, she had never been atop a mountain, and did not have the slightest idea about the type of preparation needed. All she knew was that she was drawn to the call of Kilimanjaro.
“Kili is calling me and I will respond,” she said to herself, determined to take on the challenge.
A day after receiving the call, she got up at six, and began arduous sessions at the gym. She also took up jogging and committed herself to the Iron Girl 5K race, an international running event. It was held in Bahrain on November 24, 2017.
Yousuf told she would keep up the routine for two months, shaping up and pushing her mental and physical endurance to levels that would enable her to undertake the challenging climb.
“It [the preparation] was like nothing I have ever done before. It was a tough journey. Still, I loved every minute of it.”
In the meantime, she developed contacts with the other enthusiasts, all but one of them being from Gulf countries.
Eleven Bahrainis — Rasha, Fajer Talal Mufeez, Fatima Ali Al Mahmoud, Noor Talal Mufeez, Nada Hameed, Faten Ebrahim Matar, Nawara Bahzad, Alia Al Qahtani, Noor Al Sa’ad, Mona Zainal and Nadya Eqab — were joined by two young women from Kuwait, and one each from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq in the largest expedition by Gulf women to Mount Kilimanjaro.
The adventure started with the trip to Tanzania, where a wildlife safari set the mood for the bigger adventure that lay ahead. As the preparations for the historic climb were being finalised, there was excitement mixed with concerns.
However, there was looking back, as far as women were concerned.
They undertook seven days of gruelling mental and physical tests. The preparations included map-reading and climbing techniques, and were conducted between the girls and the guide.
The expedition took the Lemosho Route, considered the most scenic trail along Kilimanjaro, but also a scary one.
The climbers had to walk during odd hours, and through near-freezing temperatures, to reach Uhuru Peak, the summit of the mountain.
As they progressed, altitude sickness combined with cold overnight temperatures compounded their difficulties.
There were also concerns about ‘non-responsive reflexes’ ■