Bryan Robson
Tanzania continues to attract high-profile sportsmen and celebrities from around the globe, with reports confirming that former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson is set to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in a fundraising event later this year.
Robson, who scaled dizzying heights during his Manchester United career, is preparing to climb the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, thanks to the Manchester United Foundation.
The 10-day trip, which departs from Manchester on October 18 this year, will take Robson and associates into the country for what promises to be an experience of a lifetime.
Speaking about the Challenge, Robson, United’s long serving captain, conceded climbing Kilimanjaro won’t be easy, but insisted he is looking forward to the challenge.
“I remember Ian Botham’s great charity walks — he did John O’Groats to Land’s End once — and I think this will be similarly tough,” he said.
“But if you’re going to raise money for charity then it’s got to be a real challenge and not something you can easily do. That’s why climbing one of the tallest mountains in the world appealed to me.”
Robson said hiking in the mountains, with the chance of experiencing a problem with altitude sickness and the general physical demands that come with the trek, is going to be an enormous challenge.
“In a funny way, that appeals to me more than something I know I can definitely do. The most important thing, though, is to complete the challenge and raise as much money for charity that I possibly can,” the former England midfielder added.
Robson and co. will spend seven of the trek’s 10 days on Kilimanjaro, travelling the Rongai Route, a less touristy path that takes in five distinct ecological zones. They will begin with farmland before slowly ascending through rainforest, moorland and highland desert.
The final part of the ascent will take them to the summit through the arctic zone, where temperatures can drop to as low as minus 15 degrees overnight. According to Manchester United official website, a UK doctor and UK trek leader will accompany the travelling party throughout.
There will also be a local support team on hand to provide food, accommodation and drinking water. The Foundation was reportedly in discussions with Manchester United IN-house television, MUTV, to televise the trek.
Robson, United legend and club ambassador, first visited the country in 2011 for the closing stages of the ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ football clinics, in a trip that aimed to raise awareness of the programme, which was devised by club sponsors Airtel and aims to develop young talent in Africa through an Under-17 boys/girls football competition across the continent.
Source Tanzania Daily News
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