For the tender feet of these girls, ascending the gruelling path of Mount Kilimanjaro was rather strenuous as they inched towards the highest mountain in Africa.
But sleeping in the tents, passing through five different climate zones on the mountain including lush rainforest, low moorland, alpine desert, hot and humid conditions in the forests, snow storms and wind at the higher altitudes and the like could not dampen the spirit of these girls and their mother from Muscat.
Meet Jesal Asher Rajda and her daughters, Ella Rajda aged 16, and Lyla Rajda aged 13 who climbed the Mount Kilimanjaro for a cause, funding the preservation activities of the humpback whales which are at the verge of extinction by the Environment Society of Oman (ESO).
“Climbing Kilimanjaro was a very adventurous and rewarding experience. I learned how important it is to be mentally committed to the climb and to never give up. I learned that one truly can do anything if they put their mind to it. I had a lot of well-wishers who were rooting for me and whenever the climb got challenging, I would think of them. I got to spend a lot of quality time with my mother and sister and we will always have this shared experience in our memories,” Ella told the Observer.
Ella learned about Arabian Whales facing extinction and while interning at ESO knew that funding was desperately needed for this project.
Lyla has raised money for ESO at age 10 for the Turtle conservation project and is an award winner by NESA (Near East South Asian Council for Overseas Schools). The prize money of $1,000 was donated to the Centre of Special Education (CSE) in Muscat to cover the fees for students who were unable to afford the school. Every year, she has been donating her birthday gift money to selected social causes such as eye treatment for the poor, meals for schools, prosthetic limbs for the poor.
Ella's ambition is to work in the space Industry and continue her passion for environmental conservation. Lyla wants to be a medical practitioner.
Both of them love to explore and have travelled to over 40 countries. It was a love at first sight with Mount Kilimanjaro after being to Tanzania several times for safari adventures and seeing Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance.
They spoke to many people who had climbed it before and watched many videos. The biggest takeaway from the research, according to them, was that though physical preparation was the key, mental preparation was of the utmost importance.
“There were days where we walked through rain and muddy terrain for hours.”
They took the eight-day Lemosho Route to climb the mountain and walked through Afromontane forest, Shira plateau, glacial valleys and alpine desert. It was hot and wet during the day, and very cold during the night. They started their trek on December 21 and ended on December 28.
“Walking painstakingly slow, seeing our destination for hours, was very difficult to mentally accept. That being said, physically, at times, it was difficult to move any faster because it is very difficult to breathe at that altitude.”
The biggest challenge was summit day. Waking up at 11pm and steep climbing for 6 and a half hours, sustaining on a slice of toast, with less than five minute breaks every hour was hard. Ultimately, it was very rewarding. After reaching the summit we had to walk another eight hours down to our next camp for the last night.
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