Ballito boys conquer Kili for charity

Two Ballito boys and their parents recently took on the challenge of climbing Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, dedicating their climb to CHOC, the Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa.

The teenagers were part of a group of eight Kearsney College pupils who, along with a few adults, made up the 12-man team.

Luke Dudley (grade 12) and his mom Penny, and James Mackenzie (grade 11) and his dad Andrew flew to Tanzania for their climb and started their trek up the Uhuru summit on July 3.

Despite battling bitterly cold winds, altitude sickness and temperatures as low as -15 degrees, the group conquered the 19,000-feet summit after six challenging days.

“Climbing Kili was not about ticking the box on a bucket list but more about doing something extraordinary with my youngest son,” said Penny.

The mother of two described the struggle of overcoming altitude sickness and sheer exhaustion to reach the highest point in Africa and said it was sheer will and mental fortitude that helped get her up to the summit.

“Along the way I learned a great deal about myself, my team, and what it takes to overcome big challenges,” added Penny.

Andrew said the climb was without doubt the greatest and hardest thing the boys had ever experienced or achieved and had left an indelible mark on each of them.

“Most of us really struggled over the last hour or so and a couple of the group had to be helped and carried to the top and back down,” he said.

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