Before I share my story, it is important to clarify something. Mt. Everest Basecamp is different from the summit of Mt. Everest. It is called Basecamp because that is the camp where people acclimatize before they attempt the summit. If you look at the map below, I trekked from Number 12 at the bottom of the map to the red dot near the top. Because of the high altitude, thin air and avalanches, the journey from the red dot to the summit of Mt. Everest requires mountain climbing equipment and supplementary oxygen. I recognize that all of us (including me) are some degree of ‘crazy’, however, I have no desire to attempt the summit because of how dangerous it is. For me, anything that is so dangerous, takes away the fun and I do not wish to do things, especially things that dare or challenge nature, if there’s no end purpose for wanting to do them. I have much respect for those brave mountaineers who are defying physical and mental limits to reach the summit of the world. It is the ultimate adventure and it is not for me. Lol

So for those who keep jokingly encouraging me to attempt the summit, no thank you, Mount Everest Basecamp was challenging and is rewarding enough for me :)

Before the Climb

I first set my sights on Everest Basecamp a few years ago. Previously, I had climbed Mount Cameroon, Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro and Nigeria’s Chappal Waddi. This year, I climbed with a group of my girl friends, most of whom I had climbed one of the above mountains with before. Many of the girls have passports that allow them get Visa on Arrival in Nepal. The visa process was a nightmare for those with Nigerian passports and living in Nigeria. It should have been a simple process of email the Nepal embassy in Cairo, pay, send your passport and have it shipped back but because of payment restrictions and shipping restrictions (of important documents), it was an expensive hassle. And all of that for a sheet of paper that could have been delivered by email or e-portal. If you live in Canada or any other country where there’s a Nepal consulate, the process is easy peasy.

On previous climbs, I had struggled with severe Acute Mountain Sickness(AMS). It sucks! This time, I got a prescription for Diamox from my doctor and it worked wonders for me. If Diamox is running for president, I will be voting. The side effects are significantly better to deal with than AMS itself. I am so thankful we all had Diamox. Anyway, we booked a trekking package, bought our tickets, trained our bodies, and used this incredible packing list by Short Girl on Tour to pack. Then we flew to Nepal!

The Climb

I arrived in Kathmandu on a Saturday evening in early May. The other girls had arrived earlier but Suzanne and I were together on the last leg from New Delhi to Kathmandu. After a welcome briefing from our trekking company - Nepal Hiking Team - we were given duffel bags to put all our stuff in. We had to keep ALL our stuff in our daypacks and duffel bags to 15kg or less. This was not easy because when you’re going mountain climbing, you don’t want to feel like you left anything behind. I was slightly nervous and my memories of AMS kicked in but I powered through the night.

The next day was officially Day 1. We should have woken up, gone to the airport for a flight to Lukla (one of the world’s most dangerous airports), and started our trek at about 9am. Instead, we got to the airport and waited 8 hours because the weather was too bad for flights. By the afternoon, we opted to take a helicopter instead so we don’t lose the day. Fun fact: the airport in Lukla is named Tenzing-Hilary, after the first two men to successfully summit Mt. Everest. The aviation documentary geek in me was so excited to see this airport live. At Lukla, we ate lunch. I had chicken and chips with the understanding that this was the last safe place to eat fresh animal products. It was so delicious. We started trekking late in the afternoon and ended up at our first camp at nightfall. It was pretty easy, I ranked today’s trek 3 out of 5 on my Strava.

On Day 2, I woke up early with food poisoning. Food poisoning? Apparently, my delicious chicken and chips had done some damage. I know I am susceptible to food poisoning, which is why my dad sent me a huge pack of kilishi as a meat source and which is why I decided to not eat meat after Lukla. But even Lukla was too late. I was throwing up quite vigorously and I had no energy. We set out on the trek for the day but within the first hour, I knew I could not do this. I asked my Sherpa (porter and guide) if I could stop at the nearest teahouse for the night. I wanted my body to heal but I had no idea how long it would take and I was already one day behind the girls. Early the next morning after hours of sleep and replenishing lost fluids, I felt like I was ready to go. I even told my Sherpa that I could leave at 2am. He told me to farabale. At sunrise, I set out with all the energy in the world, and caught up with the girls…thanks to the fact that there was an acclimatization day that I could forfeit without completely falling behind.

Days 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were progressively more difficult with steeper inclines and thinner air. Breathing became a laborious difficulty and I came down with a slight Khumbu cough. For the first few days, the lemon-ginger-honey tea was divine and we had it at every meal. But as we went higher, they started making the tea with lemon powder and sugar and it declined in taste so we drank good ol’ green tea or just hot water. The teahouses also became increasingly less comfortable. I feel like the teahouses deserve their own blog post. Some had excellent customer service and others were just…bleh. We would end our days with a video diary of all of us sharing how the day felt. We also toasted Starburst gummies at the end of each day. Whenever we found good weather, we took photos and with so many peaks in the region, we were always excited to glimpse Everest summit. Everest is tall and she’s a baddie so many times, she would hide behind the clouds or just not show herself at all. But her presence was ever so intimidating, ever so inspiring. I was also very thankful that even though it was more and more expensive, there was always Wi-Fi to purchase so I could keep in touch with my family and friends everyday. They shared my real time joys and pains with me. Who wants to guess how many times my parents said: ‘we are proud of you and you have already accomplished a great feat, listen to your body and start descending if your body tells you to?’

The trail to Everest Basecamp is busy. There are as many yaks, horses, cattle and donkeys as there are humans. I wager that there are more animals and we quickly learned to share the trail with them. They always had bells to alert us when they were coming. When you think about it, everything that is brought up to the mountain is brought by helicopter, humans or animals. Everything. From the materials used to build the lodges and teahouses to the food that is cooked in them. On Day 7, it was solemn to see a memorial that had been set up for all those who had lost their lives to this mountain.

On Day 8, we were mentally prepared to reach our goal even though our bodies were sore and weak. By this time, all of us had come down with something: chest infection, cough, difficulty breathing…name it. We were operating on sheer willpower at this point. It was very difficult to watch even the most fit among us battle something that seemed out of their control. But on this day, nothing could stop us. We took an early hike to Gorakshep for lunch and then continued on to Basecamp. It rained, it hailed, it snowed and it seemed to never end. The more we climbed, the more we saw helicopters which made me feel like lots of people were getting evacuated. In reality, some helicopters were offering scenic flights of the mountain and others were evacuating trekkers or summiters. But when you’re on this climb, your mind can become a pretty tough battleground. I was so excited to see all the geographical landforms I had read about including Khumbu Icefall. At some point, we could see the yellow and orange tents at Basecamp and I remember the joy in my face when I saw this.

The Sun came out for a brief period and I was able to take off my outer layers for photos.

After the Climb

Our team decided to airlift after the climb. We spent a night at the hospital in Kathmandu treating a variety of things but we were good to go after we got some medical attention. I also feel like the whole evacuation episode deserves its own post but I have not found a way to tell the story without being unkind to everyone involved. So we shall keep it as one of those stories for the grandkids. Now, for insurance, most of the time, you won’t use travel insurance. However, this is one of the times when you are thankful that you have insurance. As I always say, if you value it, you will insure it. Please do not ever skip insurance.

One more time for my women, my women, my women! It was so beautiful to share this moment with the girls. They were such a great group of women to climb with. A 100% excellent group!

So, what’s my next adventure? Plenty. Most of my personal trips don’t make it here but the expeditions do. For mountains, I am thinking of Mt. Fuji (Japan), Atlas Mountains (Morocco), Drakensburg Mountains (South Africa) and Mts. Rainier and Denali (USA). I guess, we’ll see.

I will also publish an FAQs post about Everest Basecamp that answers all the questions I’ve gotten about this particular climb.

I would love to hear from you in the comments or as a reply to this e-mail. Before you go, please share this newsletter with other curious minds. There’s usually something pretty cool to discover!

Love,
Funmi!

I just returned from leading a group to Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. I did not climb this year since I climbed in 2019 yet it was such an experience just being with the group and listening to all their familiar stories when they came down from the mountain. Of course, by the time we finished the following week in Zanzibar, we had forgotten all about the difficulty of Kilimanjaro. I recommend our stories on Instagram and Twitter.

But why do we keep climbing mountains? Truthfully, it is magical. Here’s a chart that describes the general rollercoaster of emotions felt by mountain climbers:

So, why do we climb? How do we balance a thirst for adventure with a healthy respect for nature? How do we ensure that our desires are not born our of arrogance to conquer the Earth? How do we choose what to climb and when to climb it? Here’s why we climb:

1. There is no better place to reflect and soak in the wonders of nature, than on a mountain. Each day, as you take long walks up to the mountain, you might find birds, plants, clouds behind you, or just vast and endless rock. Mountains remind you that we are all in this existence together. It can be humbling.

2. If you can do it, you can do anything. I remember how I felt when I came down from Mount Kilimanjaro. I felt like I could do anything I wanted to do. I realized that I could push my body and my mind beyond impossible limits and they could hold me up. This reality has followed me as I’ve climbed Mount Cameroon, Mount Kenya, Mount Chappal Waddi and Mount Kilimanjaro.

3. The people. When you climb a mountain, you meet guides, porters, new friends and even other climbers from around the world on the trail. You’ll meet people at the airport, some at the hotel, you’ll meet people whose lives revolve around the mountain and share incredible stories. You’ll meet all sorts of people.

4. Travel is the gift that keeps on giving. Many of our groups are diverse. Usually, before the trip starts, the group bonds over training and banter. By the end of the trip, people have made lifelong friends, struck business partnerships and once in a while, found love. The experience that we share is incomparable.

5. When you travel, your world becomes smaller in one sense and broader in another sense. On one hand, you’re more connected to the world and you can better navigate your work or other aspects of your life’s journey. On the other hand, you realize how vast the world is and how deep and meaningful every single person’s life is, no matter how different their journey may be.

Ok, ok, I know you’ve decided to climb a mountain next year. The only challenge is that you’re spoiled for choice and you don’t know whether to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Everest Basecamp. Well, I’ve taken the time out to provide a short comparison table between both mountains. Both are great, and you should do both. But you may only want to do one at a time!

Here are 7 big differences between our trips to Mount Kilimanjaro (+ Zanzibar) and Mount Everest Basecamp. I am happy to answer any questions you have. See:

So, tell me:

1. Have you ever wanted to climb a major mountain?

2. Which mountain excites you?

3. What’s the most challenging thing you’ve ever done?

Leave a comment

I would love to read all about your stories in the comments or as a reply to this e-mail. Before you go, please share this newsletter with other curious minds. There’s something pretty cool to discover every week!

Love,
Funmi!

This is the final part of the diary I wrote when I climbed Chappal Waddi - the highest mountain in Nigeria and West Africa. The previous stories of the climb are here. You can also get ALL the free information about the mountain at - mountnigeria.com. One more thing…we need you. All the guides and info we share are free of charge and help thousands learn about the geography, tourism and conservation work that happens at Chappal Waddi. Your support and contributions will enable us bring more substance to everyone who cares. Donate safely here.

Let’s go to the diary, shall we?

Day 4:

• It is a lovely morning. On days like this, I appreciate being an early bird. Partly because last night’s sleep was quite uncomfortable, partly because I woke up in time to see the Sun begin its journey West. I marveled at how unspoiled the village looked under the morning Sun. I walked away from our campsite so that I could sing and pray as I had done every other morning. This morning was special because the mountains that surrounded our campsite were an awesome wonder and there’s a different kind of song you sing when you’re in awe.

• Toyeke had started fixing breakfast for us all. She remixed the leftover stew from last night into a geisha sauce and boiled yams. It was quite fun to shoot this morning as Rosie loved the morning light. While breakfast was in the works, I freshened up and shot an interview by the stream for the documentary. It was a re-do from the day before, just in case. Then we ate. Breakfast was quite eventful; Kola (Naija Trainer) seems to have a playlist for everything. Maybe because he is a fitness expert and personal trainer to the stars so he has music to get every bit of your body working. We danced to Fela, Lagbaja, Shina Peters and Ayefele as we ate and as I should have expected, this segued into a fitness session led by Kola. After our exercise, the community brought us food. Gosh, their hospitality is so heartwarming. We gave the messenger girl a few Ribenas to say ‘thank you’ and burst out laughing when she returned with 10 of her friends. Lol. They all got their own Ribenas.

• It was a long morning. We spent hours gathering the porter troops, some of whom came from a nearby village. The negotiations went on and on because every time a new person joined the group, they would disagree with the agreed price. Bethel was very helpful here and so were our rangers - Officer Idris and ARO. Finally, we got a team of 18 porters and agreed on a price. Oops, not so fast. Some of them were so young, we were concerned about hiring them to carry heavy things up the mountain. The community leaders reassured us that these boys herald herds of cattle up the mountain and they also carry heavy things to the summit all the time. When they saw that we truly wanted only adults, they got upset and increased their prices further. It was such a long process and quite the lesson in cross-cultural dialogue. Eventually, we settled for a compromise: any young chap with a moustache or beard could carry the normal weight and anyone without could carry much lighter weights, except they were obviously adults in which case they could carry whatever they wanted. Phew!

• Climbing Chappal Waddi for 6 hours was breathtaking. Forest, streams (with fresh water), grasslands, plains, hills, herders grazing their cattle and horses…wow. Sometimes we would take short breaks and wait for other groups to catch up with us and other times, we would leave tree branches at junctions so that others could find which way we had gone. I had prayed for rain to clear out the Harmattan haze and even though we did not get it, we got some clear skies and so our drone was a useful tool. The documentary crew kept shooting as we were climbing and we kept chanting call and responses (NYSC style) to boost morale. “Where are we going?” “Chappal Waddi”. As we climbed, we went back and forth between Nigeria and Cameroon, taking lots and lots of photos and making border jokes.

• About 10 minutes to the summit, I pulled out the green and white flag and perched it on my shoulder to finish the climb. It was such a triumphant shot! It was such a triumphant feeling when we eventually made it to the summit (of course, far behind the porters who had basically skipped their way up there). Kola, as if on cue, turned up his speakers and the song was ‘Waving Flag by K’naan’. Some of our GPS equipment said that we were 2,420m above sea level and others said 2,419m so we settled for the safer option - 2,419m! As we took turns to take photos at the summit with the Nigerian flag, others started hammering the signpost into place. I am not quite the carpenter I thought I would be, but we all managed to get the nails in and stand the signpost on the rock, fortified by rocks.

  

  Currently, there is a signpost marking the summit of the highest mountain in Nigeria and West Africa, created and designed by Yours Truly, and donated by TVP Adventures. When you visit Chappal Waddi and you see this landmark, please tell the story that Funmi and her friends did that. Surreal!

• We spent quite some time at the summit. It may have been two or more hours. Eventually, at sunset, we descended back to the river bed about 200m from the summit, pitched out tents for the nights, warmed our hands by the fire and went to bed. The night was cold cold cold and I was knackered by the end of it all.

Day 5

• There was no rush on this morning, just a lot of joy. I had lofty plans of catching the sunrise but man proposes and God disposes. I stayed in the tent chatting with Ibinabo and Rosie about any and everything. I even used my charming voice from inside the tent to sweet talk Kingsley into bringing me a hot cup of Milo. I was tired jo, and it was cold. Eventually, as the morning became warmer, I changed into some of the glamorous outfits I had brought for the mountain photoshoot. This was a lot of fun; with the camera capturing every twirl. These photos taken by Dotun are spectacular. The rangers made us a most delightful breakfast of rice, beans and stew and then we gathered up our things, burned our trash and cleared out camp.

• We had one more short trip to the summit because we had some photos we could not take at sunset the night before. And then we began the descent to the foot of the mountain. It was quite seamless. The view of a mountain while descending is arguably more breathtaking than it is during the ascent. We made stops at fresh water streams, rested a bit, took lots of photos and kept going. By the time we made it to the foot of the mountain, our bike men were waiting for us to take us on the 3 hour ride to Njawai. They welcomed us with a roaring laugh (they were mostly teasing us), we gave a gratitude gift to the community for hosting us, got on the bikes and headed to Njawai. At the ranger’s camp Njawai, with tired bodies, Rosie and I managed to get some suya for the group. The suya was…well, it was the best we could get, so let’s leave it at that. We showered at the ranger’s camp with hot water (yay), some people did some handwashing (God bless Kola who was so kind to me even though we were all tired at this point), and we slept.

Day 6

• I almost strangled myself today. I had to go back to the hills because the documentary crew wanted some interviews with only hills in the background. With my blanket, I hopped on a bike and headed back towards the interview spot. As the blanket dangled from my neck and the bike sped along, I had no idea when I screamed! The blanket that was dangling had caught inside the spoke of the okada and I was getting strangled in real time. He stopped as soon as he heard me scream, I managed to get from under the blanket and I was quiet for a moment. It all happened so quickly and I was thankful that it was not worse, even though my blanket was beyond repair. Officer Abdulkarim had to dissemble parts of his bike just to get the blanket out and keep the bike running. I did the interview, quite solemnly, and made it back to Njawai. Eventually, after much delay due to my interview, we made it on to the tortuous rugged landrover, along that dusty road, and back to Nguroje.

• At Nguroje, our bus driver was waiting for us and we were so thrilled to have cell service again. Most people slept until we got to Serti and we bantered a bit, caught up with our friends and family, and even ate much better suya which we had gotten from Nguroje. We made it in good time to Young JP Hotel in Serti, ate lunch, showered, and slept.

Day 7

• The next day was supposed to be a day trip to see the Emir and to visit Tunde Morakinyo at his station inside Gashaka Gumti National Park. That plan was changed at the last minute because of some logistical challenges and we rested instead.

Day 8

• We left Serti early, in convoy with the CP of the park, and made it in 5 hours to Jalingo airport for our flight to Abuja. In Abuja, we welcomed ourselves back with banga from Niger Delta kitchen, before the Lagosians among us caught our flight back home.

Since I got back, I have developed much content from the experience for you so that your climb can be a lot smoother and more informed. It was a dream come true for me and one day, when I get my travel show with National Geographic and Netflix, I will look back on this trip as a reminder that I can do anything that I dream, no matter how wild and difficult. I did this trip for Nigeria; as difficult as our relationship is sometimes. Last week, I also visited the Overland Airways office in Lagos to share this gift of appreciation with them.

So, that’s the story folks! So, please tell me:

1. Would you be gracious enough to donate to our preservation and storytelling efforts ongoing for Chappal Waddi?

2. Will you watch my travel show if I get my dream? What should we call it? What should it focus on?

Leave a comment

Before you go, please share this newsletter with other curious minds. There’s something pretty cool to discover every week!

Love,
Funmi!

Thank you all so much for your response to the last post. We got a lot of engagement and your questions made me smile. Today, I will share the first part of my daily diary as I climbed to the summit of Nigeria’s highest mountain. I realized that the story was long and juicy so I have broken it into two parts. I also share a website - mountnigeria.com - that I have worked hard on just for you. This website answers all your FAQs about the mountain and gives you everything you need to successfully climb Chappal Waddi. Before you read my diary below, don’t forget to get a copy of our game - Fill in the Black. Fill in the Black is a hilarious guessing game that celebrates blackness and is a perfect for individuals, families and even offices!

Now, to my daily diary, Part 1. Let’s go!

Day 1:

• Can I say I woke up very early, when I didn’t actually sleep? I spent the night ruminating on the sad fact that one of my friends had dropped out of the climb at the last minute. I also went through my packing list (for the umpteenth time), confirmed from my teammates that they were all set for work in my absence, and eventually played Chike’s album as I scrolled through Twitter. By 5:30am, after my devotion and a long shower, I got into my Bolt and headed for the airport. In the cab, I shared this tweet. At the airport, I linked up with Kola and Ibinabo. Checking in was hassle-free (except for the constant stares from people who were probably wondering where we were going with huge backpacks). The flight to Abuja was smooth and on-time. In Abuja, we met up with the rest of our crew - Toyeke, Kingsley and Dotun. Then, Tunde Morakinyo - the Executive Director of Africa Nature Investors - joined us. He had been a crucial part of the preparation for this climb so having him on our flight was exciting. We also met, for the first time, Moise and Rosie who were part of the documentary crew. Meeting the producer, Rosie Collyer, was pretty cool because she and I had been speaking almost daily for the last few months. It was real: a documentary crew was interested enough in my story that they would follow us on the trip.

• At the Overland Airlines counter, we were treated quite warmly. We were checked in and granted early boarding so that we could properly get the footage we needed. Between the banter at breakfast, the banter while waiting for boarding and the filming process, we had built a decent rapport by the time our flight got to Jalingo. Jalingo was hot and dry! The Sun works hard in Lagos but the Sun works harder in Jalingo. At the airport, our bus was waiting for us alongside Tunde Morakinyo’s car and MOPOL. We has sent the wooden signpost, sleeping bags, tents, snacks and drinks, water and other heavy items for the climb ahead of time by road and so the bus company had picked them up. We co-opted Tunde to our bus and drove in a convoy. After a quick stop at a supermarket to buy some more snacks, we began the drive from Jalingo to Serti. Taraba is gorgeous…the hills littered the landscape almost the entire way, only punctuated by illegal logging of redwood trees. After 5 hours, a few stops to get photos, and even a short security break, we got to the Transit Camp at Serti. The plan was to get dinner at the camp (Tunde has called about an hour earlier to get dinner rolling) and then head over to the hotel we had booked. We received a very warm welcome from the officials of the National Park and settled in to get some food. As we were eating the delicious rice and chicken stew, I decided to call the hotel to inform them that we were in town and would be coming soon. Turns out that soldiers had bought our rooms since according to the keeper, our booking was incomplete without money. Lol. Thanks to the National Park officials, we found two empty rooms. The girls squeezed into one and the boys into the other. It wasn’t much of a squeeze, to be honest, because these rooms were very roomy, they were well ventilated and this turned out to be the most comfortable sleep of the entire trip. We charged up everything we had that had a battery, everyone showered (Toyeke and I showered outside, village style) and we all went to sleep.

Day 2:

• Birds will wake you up at Serti if you’re not an early riser. The night before, we had agreed on a schedule for the day so by the time I woke up to shower (outside, in the dark, before the Sun could wake up and cramp my style), I was pleased to see that most of our crew had woken up. We got a delicious breakfast of yam and egg sauce from the officials of the National Park. They spoiled, us, they truly did. Our biggest complaint about the breakfast was that we wanted more! We also finally met Bethel of Nature Connects, who would be our official tour guide for this trip. At breakfast, we consolidated the list of foodstuff we needed to take to the mountain as we knew that Serti was our last chance to buy a variety of fresh foodstuff. Toyeke was in charge of everything food on this trip (she runs Toye’s Kitchen in Abuja) so between the items we had shipped by road in advance and the snacks we bought at Jalingo, she knew exactly what was outstanding. Food is cheap in Northern Nigeria, but not in Serti o…Serti did not get the memo. Things were so expensive. Anyway, Toyeke and an official with a motorbike visited the market to buy yams, ginger, and so on. As they went, I also went to the hotel that disappointed us to pay some money so that they don’t sell our rooms to soldiers when we return from the mountain. This was important because the National Park had told us that they wouldn’t have those spare rooms when we return. We shot the photos for the morning, loaded up the bus, said our goodbyes to Tunde Morakinyo, and went on our way.

• The journey from Serti to Nguroje was delightful. It was scenic, we made a few stops to get drone shots and soak in the mountains, and we even played around with mini personal photoshoots. You know those winding roads that snake through the hills and leave a stunning view behind them, yes, those were the roads on the Mambilla Plateau. Gosh, I would love to see the plateau again during the rainy season. The roads were mostly good until we got to Nguroje. At Nguroje, the good road came to an end and we needed to swap our bus for a rugged Landrover for the rest of the journey to Njawai. We spent two hours just waiting. First, our stuff needed to be offloaded from the bus to the rover and then, of course, the car wouldn’t start. At some point, I went to ride horses with the boys of the village, who were celebrating something. We left Nguroje at 4:00pm.

• All 10 of us and a driver were CAGED inside this Landrover. There was our group of 8, Bethel, and an armed ranger who was given to us by the National Park. The truck had burglary proofs on them, they literally had to use ropes to tie the door shut, and they were carrying a jerrycan of fuel as well because that was the last place available to buy fuel. Our legs were interloped on each other’s and it would have been no better to have the windows open since with the windows closed, we were drenched in dust. The best our masks and scarves could do for us was minimize the dust inhalation but we could taste it. It was a very uncomfortable ride. Very! It would have been such a beautiful experience if the mode of transportation was a bit more conducive. There’s an opportunity for us to fix it so that more people can climb this mountain. Anyway, we made jokes the whole way because if you cannot cry, you must laugh. We named the car Waddina (after the mountain, Chappal Waddi) and every time she broke down, we would chant and encourage her to keep going. The young men (because they were very young men) who drove us were basically re-engineering this vehicle everytime it broke down. Whenever she broke down, we would take photos and stretch our legs. Oh, I forgot to say that there were two conductors; one on the bonnet and another on the roof of the van. Fam, Survivor did not do more than this o.

• By the time we got to Njawai at nightfall, we were welcome at the Rangers Camp. They offered us three rooms where we set up our sleeping bags for the night. They even boiled water for us and we enjoyed the outdoor showers with warm water. In the absence of energy for dinner, we drank Ribena, ate biscuits and slept.

Day 3:

• In the morning, Bethel saved us! We had decided to begin our hike from Njawai to the village at the foot of the mountain - Amansale. He assured us that it was better to take bikes to Amansale and I am so glad we listened. We woke up, had oatmeal for breakfast, got ready and made sure that everybody was doing well.

• Bethel went to the immigration point to sort out permissions, because the climb takes us in and out of Cameroon. As he was doing that, we took lots of photos and just relaxed. I must say that people here do not like to plan things in advance because they always insisted that it was at the point of departure that they would give us final costings and so on. Eventually, when Bethel returned, he negotiated with the bike men (all 13 of them), we loaded all our things on the bikes, and then set out. The bike ride turned out to be only 3 hours long (We had expected a much longer ride). The 3-hour ride included stops on the way for the crew to film, as well as photo breaks. When I tell you that this view was gorgeous, it was gorgeous. Riding through the mountains, on a very tiny rugged path, crossing streams and riding over rivers that had thin planks as bridges…wow. The views felt like they had come straight out of a storybook. Interesting story…at the last village before Amansale, we all stopped so that Kingsley could set up his gimbal and fly his drone. I lay down on one of the bikes to rest. Next thing, all the guys on my team came and scolded me for doing that. They told me to sit up properly. We had noticed that in this village, all the women were inside and only the men were out but I had not imagined that laying on a bike may be considered lewd. Hehe. I fixed up immediately! It was another reminder to always be vigilant wherever you travel to.

• Finally, we go to Amansale. The hospitality here was second to none. The village head welcomed us and answered all our questions about the mountain and their history. We all sat on the carpet on the ground (instead of the benches beside the men), because we didn’t want to upturn their sensibilities when we noticed that there were exactly zero women outside. But when the village head said that he hoped tourism would make way for their kids to go to school, I did not pass up an opportunity to ask him if the girls would be allowed to go to school. He said yes! We bought chickens from them, Toyeke cooked dinner, we set up the tents (led by Dotun and Kola) and had dinner. We also got food from the community, even though they saw us cooking. Very kind people. Then we slept!

Stay tuned for the actual climb of Chappal Waddi and the intriguing things that happened between Day 4 and Day 8.

Question: are you surprised by any part of this diary?

Leave a comment

Before you go, please share this newsletter with other curious minds. There’s something pretty cool to discover every week!

Love,
Funmi!

I just returned from climbing Nigeria’s highest mountain. This was a big dream of mine for a few years and it is the most emotional climb I have ever embarked on. I must confess that it was very heavy to lift the Nigerian flag at the summit (for obvious reasons) but the love I have for the country is hard to shake off. Before you read the full story, check out this gorgeous candid photo, about 200 m from the summit.

Now, to the story!

What's the highest point in Nigeria and why has no one heard of it? Fun fact: there’s a documentary coming out soon that has a bit more detail. Here we go:

I may have been 24 or 25 when I first learned the specific name of Nigeria’s highest mountain (Chappal Waddi or Gangirwal). As I prepared to climb Mount Cameroon in 2017, I became more curious about our own mountain and was quite disappointed to find out that information was sparse and unreliable. Three mountains later including Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro, I knew that Chappal Waddi was located in Taraba State, that it was inside Nigeria’s largest National Park (Gashaka Gumti National Park) and that I would love to climb it before I turned 30. On the afternoon of International Women’s Day of 2021 - 8th of March - and only 8 days away from my 29th birthday, I summited Chappal Waddi with a group of 4 friends, 1 tour guide, 3 filmmakers, 4 rangers and 18 porters.

Why is it not popular?

Chappal Waddi is 2,419 m above sea level. Even though it is much lower than Mounts Cameroon, Kenya and Kilimanjaro, it is a big deal because it is the highest in Nigeria and West Africa (Cameroon is in Central Africa). If we teach students about the first president, the longest river and the largest city, why don’t we learn about the highest mountain? Why isn’t Chappal Waddi popular among Nigerians?

Well, let’s do a quick overview.

There are two states in Northeastern Nigeria called Adamawa and Taraba. These two states play host to Nigeria’s National park - Gashaka Gumti National Park. On the Taraba side, there is Nigeria’s highest mountain called Chappal Waddi. To get there, there is only one flight from Abuja to Jalingo, the state capital of Taraba. This flight is operated by Overland Airways, once a day, from Monday to Friday. This means that we had to fly from Lagos to Abuja then from Abuja to Jalingo (thank God for Overland) before we started the journey across Taraba State. This was what our schedule looked like:

What inspired the climb?

This climb was inspired by sheer adventure and a desire to find out how we can open up this incredible mountain to the country and the world. It is quite embarrassing that the average Nigerian does not know that the highest mountain in West Africa is in our country, and that an even greater number of people cannot call it by name. As I climbed Mounts Cameroon, Kenya and Kilimanjaro, I knew that if this was the last gift I gave my country, I would want to help explore the mountain and make it more accessible to the average person.

A few months to the climb, we were excited to have Overland Airways jump on board as flight sponsors for the Abuja to Jalingo leg of our trip. It was especially exciting because Overland is the only airline that can take you to the summit of Nigeria; connecting the country to the capital city of Taraba. A huge shout-out to the Overland team; their warm treatment of our crew from the beginning to the end was impressive.

It was also important to me that our summit had a clear sign post, as all major mountains do. I was honored to have gotten permission to do this and my friends were too. So, even though my carpentry skills are horrible, I almost cried for joy as we hammered the sign in place and lifted up the Nigerian flag at the summit of our country. P.S: carpentry is an underrated skill. All my nails kept bending :(

Choosing a team.

Every travel experience is just as memorable as the team. For this expedition, it was important to me that the group was small, intimate and voraciously thirsty for adventure because many aspects of this trip were unknown. I clarified early on that this was not a typical packaged tour by TVP Adventures; that it was an expedition that I would gladly go on by myself but would happily open up to a small group. How could I promise people a paid experience that I didn’t know much about myself? What if costs ran over our estimates? What if schedules changed at the last minute? What if we couldn’t make it to the summit? There were many ‘what-ifs’ and I did not want the group to be a surprise! I wanted people I knew and trusted and for whom a surprising outcome would not mean an end to our personal or professional relationship. Also, as a physically challenging experience, the documentary crew needed to be up for the long walks and hikes and not throw in the towel at any point. Once we had a set team, we all planned for months, got COVID tested and set out! The group would become the secret sauce to our success!

In the end, I climbed with Toyeke Adedipe, Dotun Ajibade, Kingsley Obaseki, Ibinabo Oyibo, Kola Adetimole and Bethel Moseglad - our tour guide extraordinaire. I must say that if you’re ever planning to visit Taraba State, the Mambilla Plateau or Chappal Waddi, your best bet is Bethel Moseglad of Nature Connects. He knows his stuff in that state! We also had a team of 4 incredible rangers and 18 porters.

Is it difficult or unsafe?

Everyone around the world was concerned for our safety. It is important to remind everyone that safety is in two parts - the actual safety and the perception of safety. Both elements are important because one without the other is useless. In this case, majority of the security concerns were based on the unfortunate perception of insecurity that has plagued the entire country over the last decade or so. The North is not a monolith of insecurity and the North East is not a monolith of terrorism.

This does not take away from the real issues we had to face on the ground. For example, we drove in a convoy of police officers on the Jalingo-Serti stretch because of how notorious that road has become with bandits and robbers. We also had to tread carefully on our last day because there was a clash between the park rangers and some unscrupulous miscreants and even though the clash was fatal on the side of the miscreants, it gave us room for concern. I must give kudos to the National Park Service who work hard to ensure that visitors are as safe as could be, especially with trained armed rangers who are with climbers all the way from Serti to the Summit.

In terms of difficulty, there is a stretch that requires us to get in a rugged Mambilla jeep on a dusty road for 5-6 hours. This was the most uncomfortable portion of the entire trip and the dust bath is worse than what can be described in words. I am looking forward to an alternative way of navigating this road (maybe by chopper or in AC Land Rovers) so that we can bring groups to the mountain. In fact, a chopper service from Jalingo airport to the foot of the mountain would cut out every single security or dust concern. Other than that stretch, the trip was rugged but bearable.

The actual climb.

I will do a separate post that details my daily diary of the climb and another one that answers FAQs for future climbers. However, the climb itself was spectacular. It was physically demanding as it involved walking, motorbikes, a rugged jeep, a bus and planes for hours at a time. In the end, the views are out of this world and I believe that anyone with average fitness and a lot of patience can summit this mountain.

We had a lot of help.

I know from experience that in the multitude of counsel, there is a safety net. In planning this expedition, I spared no opportunity to ask questions. Mr. Abdulhameed of Gashaka Gumti National Park went over and beyond to prepare the entire NPS team for our arrival. His boss, the CP of the park gave us permission to donate the sign at the summit and allowed his team help us beyond their regular job descriptions. When I asked Tunde Morakinyo of Africa Nature Investors for a quick call, we ended up having dinner and I filled two pages of notes with his tips on how to navigate the hike from Abuja to the summit. I was surprised when Phillip Okafor offered me his sleeping bag as a sample to show that I didn’t need to import bags for the team from France. In the end, because of his recommendation, I ordered sleeping bags, made in Abuja. And when I asked Joseph Aro about tips on GPS tracking equipment, he hooked me up with the best apps.

By the time we got to Gashaka Gumti, Mr. Chidi Ukoha and Mr. Dauda were supplying coolers of rice and yam and whatever else we needed. Of course, there were still some surprises but I am so thankful to everyone who made this experience a lot more seamless for us all.

Is it worth it?

Absolutely, 100% worth it!

Look at some of the shots we were able to get on the morning after the summit. There’s a way that a mountain comes to life in the Harmattan season that’s bare and vulnerable. I cannot wait to see it when it is all lush and green in the rains.

And more.

It was cold before the Sun came out but who cares…we’ve got photos to take :)

One more at the Summit!

That was a mouthful! Thanks for reading to this point.

So, tell me by email or as a comment:

1. Did you know about Chappal Waddi before now?

2. Have you ever even wondered what Nigeria’s highest mountain is?

3. Would you climb it?

4. What can we do to make this mountain and the entire Mambilla Plateau a globally relevant tourist destination?

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Love,
Funmi!