Local Doctor John Kovacich recently returned from a trip to Mt. Kilamanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. With him are his friend, Michael Loomis, and fellow hiking parter, Russ Williams.

Kovacich shares story of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

Editor’s Note: The following was submitted by John Kovacich on his trip to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

It was the summer of 2001, when my wife and I were on our first African safari, that the seeds of exploration were first sown. My dearest friend from college, Dr. Michael Loomis, DVM, Chief Veterinarian at the North Carolina Zoo, pointed across the Kenyan border into Tanzania to Mount Kilimanjaro and asked if I would consider climbing with him, the highest mountain on the African continent. Due to our longstanding deep friendship and my own intrinsic sense of adventure, I replied in the affirmative. And so began the two-and-a-half year process of planning, reading, training and packing for a Kilimanjaro trek.

Mike had hoped for perhaps six or more hardy souls who would commit to the program. Recruitment ended with a tight knit group of just three, Russ Williams, the executive director of the N.C. Zoo Society, Mike and me. Separate and group training began in earnest, hiking, running treadmills and aggressive leg work. Unfortunately, I suffered a knee injury in July of 2003 that required surgery in September to have any hope of recuperating in time for the trek. This altered my training for three months, but I pressed forward with the hope that my mental determination would carry me to the summit.

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