“I have climbed many mountains, been to Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro, but none compares to what confronts you when you climb the Mt. Rwenzori Mountains.”
Those are the words of RavichandranTharumalingam who has just returned from the Rwenzori Mountains after an eight day hike that took him to the summit, Margherita at 5109m. Ravi, as he is popularly known, was addressing the media in Kampala.
“When they told me about the Rwenzoris, I didn’t know much. Our focus has been on these two mountains and every year we find it easy to summit Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro the better known ones.” He says it took him 8 days to discover that Mt Rwenzori is certainly the best mountain experience in Africa.
He added that no other mountain could offer what he experienced. “There is so much to offer. I only did one and I will return to do the others.” Adding that this climb brought up the memories of the Himalayas with all the technical difficulties, the glaciers, the attention to detail every climber must have.
The Rwenzoris have some of Africa’s highest peaks. Mount Stanley (5,109 metres (16,762 ft)), Mount Speke (4,890 metres (16,040 ft)), Mount Baker (4,843 metres (15,889 ft)), Mount Emin (4,798 metres (15,741 ft)), Mount Gessi (4,715 metres (15,469 ft)) and Mount Luigi di Savoia (4,627 metres (15,180 ft)). Mount Stanley has several subsidiary summits, with Margherita Peak being the highest point.