The Story of Mountaineer Rawan Dakik: Profile of a Winning Spirit from Tanzania, the Land of Kilimanjaro

Mount Everest in the Himalayas

By TZ Business News Staff.

Rawan Dakik is only 20 years old.  She says she started climbing Mount Kilimanjaro here at home in Tanzania when she was 13.  To have survived  rocks, slopes,  snow and the biting wind on Africa’s highest mountain at that tender age is actually a story in itself.

And now, we are told this young woman has done even better.  Rawan Dakik has scaled the highest mountain on earth- Mount Everest in the Himalayas. She reached the summit this past May of 2021. After this feat of endurance, by any measure this June of 2021 Rawan  returns here at home in Tanzania a hero.

Rawan Dakik

Some mountain adventure writers describe Mount Everest as both treacherous and dangerous.

Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth’s highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level and is the 5th furthest summit from the center of Earth.  The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point.

One  account says In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest to be 29,002 meters. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognized by Nepal and China was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in1975.

Mount Everest attracts many highly experienced mountaineers as well as capable climbers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the south east in Nepal (known as the standard route), the other being from the north in Tibet.

While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness,weather, wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and Icefall. While the overwhelming majority of climbers use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, some climbers have summitted Everest without supplemental oxygen.

The first recorded efforts to reach Everest’s summit were made by British mountaineers.

The British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side, according to one account. The first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m on the North Col.

The 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to 8,320 m,  marking the first time a human being  had climbed above 8,000 m , but tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche.

The 1924 expedition resulted in the greatest mystery on Everest:  the mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on June 8 but never returned.  This disappearance sparked a debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top.

They had been spotted high on the mountain on that day but  they disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again. Mallory’s body was found in 1999 at 8,155 m  on the North face.

Rawan Dakik working Mount Everest

About two years ago Rawan Dakik said  on  Youtube climbing mountains should not be for men only; women can also climb mountains if they choose to. Rawan traveled to the Himalayas in May of this year 2021 to prove her word.

She returns this June of 2021 a hero  after conquering Mount Everest,  the world’s  tallest mountain and arguably one of the most dangerous mountains to climb.

Pictures on her Instagram page do not show her wearing an oxygen tank as she scales sections of the mountain.  You need a heart of steel to climb mount Evarist without an oxygen tank.

Rawan started learning to climb mountains when she was 13 by climbing Africa’s highest mountain, the Kilimanjaro here at home in Tanzania. After this ‘warm-up’ braving rocks, slopes and ice on the Kilimanjaro, confidence led her  to believe she could manage all accomplished mountaineers’ greatest challenge—the so-called Seven Summit project.

The Seven Summit project refers to a mountaineer’s  resolve to climb  the highest mountain in each of the world’s seven continents.  In this resolve, a mountaineer climb the Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Elbrus in the western Caucasus mountain chain, Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain on the Australian continent,  Mount Aconcagua in Argentina—which is the highest mountain in South America, and  Mount Denali in the US State of Alaska– the highest mountain in North America.

The accomplished mountain climber also has to scale  Mount Vinson Massif,  the highest mountain of  the Antarctica, Mount Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia,  and  Mount Everest in China and Nepal.

Rawan has climbed the Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Vinson Massif in the Antarctica,  Mount Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia and now  Mount Everest.

And by the way the climbs cost money.One tour guide in Nepal says  the price range for a standard climb of Mount Everest costs between $28,000 to $85,000 while a fully custom designed climb can cost over $115,000.

Typically, the tour guide writes,  this cost includes transportation from Kathmandu or Lhasa, food, base camp tents, Sherpa support, and supplemental oxygen.  Another writer has put the expedition price at as much as $116,000 per climber.

Rawan Dakiki sent a Smartphone clip just before her final push to the summit  of   Mount Everest. In the clip she promised to put the Tanzania flag on top of  the highest  peak on plannet earth.  

And her patriotism to motherland was noticed.   On May 22, 2021 the Governent owned TV Station (TBC) celebrated Rawan’s arrival at the top of Mount Everest.   Dr Allan Kijazi, Director of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) said wants to give Rawan a job when she turns from the Himalayas.

 Dr. Kijazi wants to turn Rawan into  Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro ambassador, tasked with creating awareness and interest in mountain climbing among young people in schools across Tanzania.  She will be asked to take this role when she returns.

Rawan is the second Tanzanian to reach the peak of Mount Everest.  But she is the youngest  Tanzanian woman to do so.

Wilfred Moshi, a mountain climber who also works as Mount Kilimanjaro guide was the first Tanzanian  to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 2012.  Wilfred was quoted by the media back then as describing his trek to the summit of Everest as the greatest physical and mental challenge he had ever faced.  Rawan Dakik has a story as well—a story of proof climbing is not  for men only. Women can climb mountains too, it they decide to climb.

Wilfred Moshi on Mount Everest in 2012