'The mountain called him' - Climbing couple describe their Kilimanjaro expedition with Gugu Zulu

“He was like a brother to me‚” Vis Naidoo‚ one of the Trek4Mandela expedition participants‚ said of Gugu Zulu.

Naidoo and his wife Mona took part in the expedition for the first time this year. They cannot help but become emotional when they talk about their experience on the expedition with Zulu‚ who died in the challenge. They were among 42 trekkers who summited Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds to buy sanitary towels for disadvantaged girls.

Vis said they had known Zulu for six months‚ since the preparations of the expedition started.

“His warmth and smile made you feel welcomed‚” says Vis.

As first time trekkers‚ they found the expedition to be “tougher than anyone can ever imagine”.

“You ask yourself 'why am I doing this?' We did it to improve the lives of the girls in our country. Everybody was committed‚” Mona said.

“It [the expedition] tests your metal. It’s easy to stop and go back‚” Vis said.

“Vis got me to the first point of the summit…we supported each other. We were fortunate we were doing it as a couple‚” Mona said.

The higher they ascended the mountain‚ the more difficult the expedition became. Every step they took became a challenge‚ the couple recalled.

Despite these hurdles‚ the couple and the other climbers soldiered on and with someone as charismatic‚ courageous and friendly as Zulu in their team‚ they survived the challenge and successfully summited Kilimanjaro‚ they said.

“Gugu brought focus and awareness of the plights of the girls [to the group]‚” Mona said.

Zulu had complained of having flu-like symptoms on Saturday and posted on his Instagram account that he was “struggling with the mountain”. Despite medical intervention‚ he died on Monday - the day they had planned to summit in honour of International Nelson Mandela Day.

“It was an emotional journey up the mountain knowing Gugu was not well‚” Vis said.

When the couple successfully summited the mountain‚ Vis took to Facebook to share the good news.

“Mona and I summited Uhuru peak on Kilimanjaro on 18 July around 08:00 in a total time of 12 hours‚ leaving 23:30 the night before and down at 11:30 on Mandela Day. All safe and back down at Kili town to leave today [Wednesday]‚” he wrote.

But this was before they learnt of Zulu’s death.

The couple say they knew he had been taken to the hospital‚ but were not expecting to hear that he had died.

“We found out about his death after summiting. I received a message from my manager earlier saying 'condolences'. I told Mona that we must be prepared for something bad. We thought the SMS was referring to a relative and not Gugu‚” Vis said.

He said when they got to the bottom of the mountain‚ all the excitement of having summited was overshadowed by sadness.

“They [people who took Zulu down the mountain to the hospital] did all they could. They risked their lives. It [mountain] is rocky‚ uneven and dark. Imagine being in a forest. The only light we had was from the moon‚ the stars and the small headlamps we had on‚” Mona said.

Mona said as sad as Zulu’s passing is‚ he died doing what he loved.

“Gugu died on an adventure. He and Letshego were an adventure couple. The mountain called him‚” she said.

Her last encounter with Zulu was at one of their stops while summiting when they took a photo together.

“I went behind his back and said ‘let me give you a tight squeeze’ and he gave a big smile‚” Mona said‚ beaming with a smile too.