My first attempt at mountain climbing was in 2010 at Mount Oret in Kalongo, a district in northern Uganda. I worked for an Italian NGO which had offices located at the base of the mountain, and I had spectacular views of Mount Oret every time I looked out of the window. The breathtaking scenery often acted as a stress reliever whenever work was extremely busy. In the two years of my service in this location I managed to hike up and down the mountain at least 10 times. I got complacent at some point and longed for a greater challenge, though I didn’t pursue anything right away
My second attempt was in May 2017, not a mountain but a hill named Patiko-Sir Samuel Baker’s fort in Gulu. This was quite a long and exhausting trek with a group, made under the scorching sun; it left me wondering why I even attempted it in the first place. One of the ladies in the group, whom I had shared my mountain hiking interest with commented (in a somewhat sarcastic tone) , ‘’If you are complaining about this hill what will you say when you get to Mount Rwenzori?’ I immediately knew I had to work on my fitness or I would never be able to venture into serious mountain hiking.