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ur summit of Mount Kilimajaro, damp earth and vegetation, gave me a feeling
at 5,985 meters above sea level that we were in the setting of Jungle Book or
(ie, Qatar) was literally a dream Tarzan (Pic 1). Reaching Mti Mkumbwa Camp
painfully worked out to come true. (2,900m) was a huge relief for me as I became
OA year before the pandemic we the first casualty of diarrhea. I pitied the porter
were listing 5 things we wanted to do before who took care of our portable toilet as I used
we die but probably wouldn’t. And lo & behold, it countless times throughout the night, and
Kilimanjaro was in my wife’s list. I mean, she at times it was scary as the forest fauna came
could have just listed going for a Disney cruise really alive at night.
or an Arctic trip to just sit & watch the Northern During next two days hitting Shira Camp 1 &
Lights, but no, she had to challenge the idea of 2, the landscape began to change dramatical-
an improbable dream. We docked it as we do to ly. The dense rainforest gave way to the heath
all our over-reaching wishes and then COVID and moorland (Pic 2), filled with tall grasses
hit the scene. It changed our perspective & and unique high-altitude plants like the
priorities and helped us appreciate the value giant lobelias and senecios. The thinning air
of a healthy life more than ever in our life. So, started to make its presence known. We found
when the travel restrictions were just starting ourselves gasping for breath after even the
to lift, she asked, “why don’t we do Kilimanjaro slightest exertion like packing your bags or
as our first trip since COVID?”. I was like “Wait, stuffing your feet into the hiking boots. The
What?! With my weak knee and exercise-in-
duced bronchitis? No way!!” But, as always,
being married to a woman who thinks that “if
someone had already done it, so can we!”, does
have its benefits. Err.. or risks. The view of this ‘wall’ looming over you is enough to give
Researching about how to train for a literal serious doubts to any climber. You can see a tiny person in
‘Couch-to-Summit’ journey got us into the blue on the wall right in the middle of this picture. You can
gym where we held a membership but rarely see more people at higher altitude, if you can spot them.
visited. Training and prep were hard and with
Zafrin there are no two ways to go about it. The
only goal was to get all possible advantages that
can help us get to that summit. After 3 months
of self-curated workouts, I could feel my knee
getting stronger and my body transforming.
Oh, and the jabs, Tanzania had its own long
list of vaccine recommendations on top of the
COVID shots. Ouch..!

Our trip began in Moshi, a small city in
Tanzania, where we spent a day getting briefed
by our guides John & Lucas (Jambo!!), who
inspected our climbing gear to make sure we
had what we need to survive the climb. The
next day, we drove to Londorosi Gate (2250m),
the starting point of our 70-km expedition.
We chose the Lemosho route; known for its
scenic beauty and relatively less crowded but
longer trail. The first day hike was a walk in the
park, quite literally, as we traversed through
lush rainforests, with the background noise of
a myriad of birds and monkeys. The air that
was misty, thick and rich with the smell of

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2K1 MBBS, Trivandrum Medical College