My Escapes on Kili
David Adeyanju
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Description
Thirty-five employees of Royal Dutch Shell attempted to scale the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. The expedition was organized to raise
funds to alleviate the plight of HIV/AIDS orphaned children in Africa.
Thirty-five staff volunteered for the climb, and also self-sponsored their expedition. I was one of the volunteers, and I volunteered for the climb for three reasons
To support the noble objectives of alleviating the plight of HIV/AIDS orphaned
in Africa
To rediscover myself and,
Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro was one of my lifelong ambitions.
I trained hard for the expedition, and I was prepared for the expected and the unexpected. All through the preparation I never thought of writing a book
about the expedition, however during the climb when I saw the extent of the
challenges, and difficulties involved, the beauty of nature at different altitudes, and the bond that develops between climbers. It then occurred to me that I have to tell our story.
Customer Reviews
Great Story...Very Interesting Book!
A compelling story telling, I was moved by this rich experience!
The story was quite interesting and suspense filled. I felt as though i was on the mountain with the team. This has heightened my interest in mountain climbing and i am looking forward to the day i will attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Elbrus in Russia or any other mountain at all.
Further, i particular like the noble objectives of the climb, which according to the author was to raise fund to alleviate the plight of HIV aids orphaned children in Africa. The author further went on to add his own objectives to the general objectives of the climb as outlined by Royal Dutch Shell. The author outlined his own personal objectives of volunteering for the climb as:
To rediscover myself, and Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is one of my
lifelong ambitions! these words convey strong meanings to me on the personality of the author which was demonstrated all through in the book as i felt the strong character of the person, demonstrated by the way he communicates the story in the book.
I also find quite interesting how the idea of writing the book came up as narrated by the author, he wrote " I trained hard for the expedition, and i was prepared for the expected and the unexpected. All through the preparation I never had the plan of writing a book about the expedition, however during the climb when I saw the extent of the challenges, and the difficulties involved, the changing and beauty of nature at different altitudes, and the bond that develops between climbers, it then occurred to me that I have to tell our story"
The book opening was, interesting and creative, it reads " As James Allen said, "to desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve" This book narrates my experience of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the teaching the mountain threw at me, the lessons i learnt, and the consequences i suffered for the teachings i ignored. It is my sincere desire that as you read this book, you will learn from my experiences and apply what you learn in your daily lives. Be it, - business, social, and even marital life. The teachings and experiences obtained from climbing a mountain cover every facet of the human life"
Some other excerpts from the book are:
"Climbing Kilimanjaro is usually a "once in a lifetime" experience for most of us, therefore it is vital that proper preparations are made beforehand, with sufficient time to prepare. Although the majority of the routes leading to the summit of Kilimanjaro require no technical climbing skills, some kind of training beforehand is important. It is important to remember that you will be hiking on surfaces of varying inclinations, which may put lots of stress on the ankles and knees. The environmental conditions and extreme remoteness from medical facilities are important considerations too, and it is therefore important that climbers be in good physical condition and not have significant condition, which could adversely affect their health or restrict their activities during the climb"
"I had the opportunity of flying by the mountain in the year 1999, and i could still remember the beautiful sight of the mountain from the aircraft - the sheer magnitude of its size, towering high above the clouds and covered by a thick shining layer of ice. I remembered pointing at the mountain and saying to myself, "I am coming to climb you someday" Little did i know that someday, was just nine years away"
"Ethiopia is one of the highest countries in Africa, situated at an altitude of about 8,500 feet above sea level. While in Ethiopia, i trained with an Ethiopian athlete, Mekedes. Mekedes was a long distance runner who had competed in several local marathon races. i met Mekedes by chance in the morning after my first night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I was jogging from my hotel , Hilton Addis to the millennium square where i had earlier been informed by a colleague in Royal Dutch Shell Ethiopia, as a point where Ethiopian athletes normally trains. While jogging to the millennium square in the early hours of the morning, at about 0500hrs, this tall slim and very fit looking athlete just went past me like a breeze, heading towards the same direction i was going. I was challenged and also motivated by her pace and i tried to catch up with her. I tried as hard as i could, but soon realized that, there was nothing i could do at that moment that could bring me up to her level of speed. She noticed this and slowed down. When we leveled up she introduced herself and i did in return and we jogged at my pace to the millennium square"
"Also, i remembered my conversation with one of the packers, who insisted i should carry another water bottle in addition to the ones i already had. i maintained that the two 1.5liters bottles i had was sufficient, but she insisted that it would not be enough and explained how much water my body will require as i progress the ascent. She went on to tell me that this extra bottle of water could be the deciding factor between making it to the top of the mountain (Uhuru Peak) or not making history"
"It has been observed that a number of people underestimate the marangu route supposing it to be easy, but statistics has shown that though more people traverse this route, a greater proportion also fail on this route than on any other route. The route is characterized by a thirty-five kilometer uphill walk and if the trekker makes it to the summit, descending back to marangu hotel at the foot of the mountain involves another thrity-five kilometer knee-jarring descent. Probably the only reason why people think marangu route is easy is because trekkers sleep in huts rather than under canvases.
"On the hike to Horombo, we witnessed a shocking scenario; we saw a climber being carried down the mountain on a stretcher. I recalled that before the climb we were briefed that should any member of the team be in a serious medical situation at an altitude above three thousand meters!

- $7.99
- Category: Mountaineering
- Published: Jul 01, 2013
- Publisher: Pelican Publishers
- Seller: DAVID ADEYANJU
- Print Length: 154 Pages
- Language: English
- Version: 1.0
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