As part of a team of kiwis from around the world, Argene Montgomery-Honger successfully conquered Mt Kilimanjaro on 5th August 2011. The expedition to climb the world's tallest walkable mountain was in aid of raising money and boosting morale for people in Christchurch. To date, the team have raised over $20, 000 for Red Cross Earthquake Appeal and have received acknowledgements from Prime Minister John Key, the High Commissioner to London and Chief Executive of NZ Red Cross for their efforts.
My story:Reaching the top of Kilimanjaro was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The first 3 days we hiked around 4 hours each day, gradually edging closer to the mighty peak of Kilimanjaro towering above us. By the 4th day at 4700m above sea level, the altitude was notable. There were times when I woke up gasping for breath and even the smallest physical exertion like tying my shoe laces was a challenge. After hiking 6 hrs and a short rest, at midnight of the 5th August in the dark we began our final ascent. Wearing 5 layers of clothes with only my eyes and nose exposed to the -10C , donning a head torch and walking ‘pole pole’ (slowly in Swahili) we worked our way up the switchback of loose scree. With every step forward I slipped half a step back. It took every ounce of determination I possessed to just keep putting one step in front of another for 6 very long hours. After nearly passing out and feeling nauseous most of the way up, we reached Gilman’s Point, 5681m just in time to see the most breathtaking sun rise over Mawenzi – the other summit of Kilimanjaro. Thinking Uhuru Peak can’t be too far away now, we continued our ascent only to realise the last 200m in height would take us over 2 hours, such was the speed of walking we were capable of.
To see our Kilimanjaro climb caught on video - check out the video below. |