Sights of Africa’s rooftop…ITU boss narrates 8-day mission

Sights of Africa’s rooftop...ITU boss narrates 8-day mission

From EDWARD QORRO in Arusha

WHAT was meant to be a personal mission turned out to be an organizational mission for Tomas Lamanauskas after he successfully hoisted the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) flag on Mt Kilimanjaro.

The treacherous yet adventurous eight-day Lemosho Mweka route saw the ITU Deputy Secretary General taken through the sights and sounds of Africa’s rooftop.

“This was supposed to be both, a private and personal challenge as I had initially thought how rewarding it is to conquer Africa’s tallest free-standing mountain in the world, but by and large and I’m happy to have accomplished it,” said the Lithuanian national on Monday, in a telephone interview with this writer from Brussels, Belgium.

Lamanauskas confides to the ‘Daily News’ that he also had discussions with a Tanzanian delegation, notably Information, Communication, and Information Technology Minister, Nape Nnauye and officials from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), about his prospects of conquering the spectacle which attracts around 50,000 climbers tackle the 5,895 meters hike each year.

Detailing on the Kili expedition, the ITU Deputy Secretary-General said the mission started from Lemosho gate, which is elevated at 2,100 meters, a journey which began on December 1 and ended at Mweka gate on December 8, this year.

“The guides and the porters were super helpful and they cheered us on throughout the strenuous hike,” he recalls.

Despite the hardships encountered along the way, Mr Lamanauskas couldn’t help but marvel at the beautiful rainforest and probably chanced to spot wildlife such as Black and white colobus monkeys, which are routinely seen in the forests and a wide assortment of birds.

The ITU Deputy admits to being filled with a lot of emotion as he reached the top of Africa and saw the huge glaciers.

“You feel you are in a unique place once you get up there, it was also interesting to see the dense ice and the harsh reality of climate change,” he reveals.

Such sheer excitement saw him post his photo with the ITU flag on Mount Kilimanjaro, an image which by yesterday afternoon garnered 11,645 tweets and 35,000 views on his LinkedIn account.

Mr Lamanauskas is optimistic that he had promoted the mountain and the country as a whole through the image, saying a lot of his friends had seen the post.

As he settles back at his office in Geneva, the telecommunication geek who is now eyeing the prospects of scaling the Machu Picchu in Peru, throws back the Kili summit challenge on his friends and colleagues as he remains nostalgic of the eight-day mission.

Kilimanjaro is not only Africa’s tallest peak, but also the world’s tallest free-standing mountain. The summit, named Uhuru Point, is 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level.

Kibo is the tallest cone and also the central cone. This is where Kilimanjaro’s summit lies. It was formed 460,000 years ago. Mawenzi is a craggy peak that ranks as the third highest peak in Africa.