October 2021. An expedition to the roof of Africa with a film crew: five climate zones, ice at the crater and a dawn above the clouds.
Africa is not only about safari. In October 2021 we climbed Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) — the highest peak on the continent and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world — together with a film crew.
The idea was simple and bold: to show Africa from another side — not from the cab of a 4x4, but from its roof. With years of expeditions across the continent behind us, we built the logistics, permits, gear and pace so that every member had a chance to reach Uhuru Peak.
The key to such an ascent is not speed but acclimatisation. “Pole, pole” — “slowly, slowly” — the Tanzanian guides repeat tirelessly, and they are right: at altitude, haste comes at a price. You walk at a measured pace, drink plenty of water, and listen to your body.
«Africa knows how to give memories that last a lifetime.»
The route leads through every climate zone of the planet at once: humid rainforest with monkeys, heather moorland, a stony alpine desert and, finally, the arctic cold of the glaciers at the crater. In a few days you live the journey from the equator to the pole.
Summit night is the hardest. You set off in the dark — frost, thin air, step after step by the light of head torches. And the reward: dawn over a sea of clouds, and that very sign on Uhuru Peak you'd seen in hundreds of other people's photos — now beneath your feet.
The expedition showed once again that Africa knows how to give memories that last a lifetime. And we are glad to open it up for our countrymen — be it a trophy safari or a great mountain.