Linda, when did your love affair with Kilimanjaro start?
Back in 2000 I had to climb Kilimanjaro as part of my work as a tour operator. The only thing I bought new was a pair of boots – everything else was borrowed. Two weeks after I got back one of the clients invited me to come and see them paragliding in Rustenberg, South Africa and I just fell in love with the sport straight away. And then I thought, “Hmm, I’m pretty sure it would be possible to paraglide off Kili”.
I started asking questions but found at the time it was completely banned – and had been since Austrian pilot Herbert Kühr disappeared when he tried to hang glide from the mountain in 1975. I got a lot of No’s, and it sort of fizzled out. But then in 2008 Pierre Carter told me about his Seven Summits ambition, and I thought I’d try getting the paperwork over the line. In...
