A post titled “Feelings on the top of Africa” has recently been virally spread online. The post is about the difficult experience and psychological process of self-challenge that several students from Nanjing experienced when they climbed up the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
During the winter break, 21 students from the Nanjing Foreign Language School began a study tour to Tanzania. On February 5, these 21 students, who were studying in Africa and promoting the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, decided to march from the camps they pitched 4,700 meters above sea level to the year-round ice-capped summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, known as the “roof of Africa,” 5,895 meters above sea level. Since the ultraviolet rays were very strong at the peak during the daytime, their climbing could only be done at night. Wearing lights on the head, they braved the rigorous chilliness at -20 degree Celsius up on the mountain path toward the peak at 11p.m. that night.
A fuzzy photo among the pictures taken by Tao Zihao, the one in charge of photography, showed a Youth Olympic banner fluttering in the wind at the peak of the mountain. According to Tao Zihao, it wasn’t an easy job to take this photo. They reached the summit before daybreak when the temperature was as low as -30 degree Celsius with violent wind. In order to capture the precious photo at the summit, he had to keep the camera battery next to his skin under clothes so as to enable it to work properly when used.
It was sad that a Korean student in their group for the summit hike met an unfortunate death due to a serious altitude sickness.
