Adventurer Dreams Of Hoisting National Flag On Mt Everest
Boniface Keakabetse | Wednesday July 20, 2016 15:37
“I like adventure. I have always harboured an ambition to hoist the Botswana flag at the top of Kilimanjaro. It was a big achievement for me to do just that. My next challenge is now to ascend Mount Everest and go to the moon later in the future,” he adds. This year, before his dream challenge, Phuthego says he plans to climb the Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Russia. He says ascending the Russian mountain will be part of the preparations required to climb Everest. He explains that for one to climb Everest, one should have climbed less taller mountains in other continents.
Phuthego says he always loved adventure attributing this trait to the tough and adventurous life he lived in Maun as a youth and in his adulthood.
“Growing and living in Maun is one big adventure. As a youth I swam in crocodile and hippo-infested rivers. This produced an insatiable appetite for adventure in me,” Phuthego tells The Monitor.
He says, so strong is his love for adventure and cattle-farming that he has put aside his computer engineering qualification to pursue the two passions. He says although this exercise is expensive he hopes to approach relevant government departments, the private sector and parastatals to help with sponsorship.
Phuthego says through his adventures he wants to market Botswana as a travel destination.
He pleads with the tourism sector in Maun and Kasane to come on board to support him financially to undertake the adventure.
He says as part his preparation he is in the meantime training, running marathons and doing bungee jumping to stay fit for the challenges. Phuthego recently returned from Zimbabwe where he took part in the Victoria Falls Marathon.