The sky was a dazzle of bright blue.
There wasn’t enough oxygen at 3 700m, but there was lots of love in the air.
Click. Click. Gugu and Letshego Zulu - the “adventure couple” - were taking their umpteenth photo.
They held hands. Their eyes locked, as if they were seeing each for the first time. The faces drew closer. And the kiss - ever so soft. Ever so loving. Click. Click.
Yet another piece of evidence of their love, captured by journalist and family friend OG Molefe. Molefe’s photo speaks a million words about the love Gugu and Letshego had for each other. The image, sadly, recorded one of their last intimate moments as man and wife.
Sharing their love was one of the things that came naturally to a couple who did everything together. They took many selfies. Posed for hundreds of photos with fellow Trek4Mandela Kilimanjaro climbers.
They obliged Molefe at different points on the hike. Gugu and Letshego used their phones and cameras to record every step of their journey.
One poignant image taken by Molefe is of Gugu watching the spectacular sunrise on Kilimanjaro. He rose at 4am, stood alone on a rock, above the clouds, and watched what was to be his last sunrise.
Gugu asked Molefe to take a photo of him. The two started chatting. Gugu spoke mostly about life and family - the two things on his mind as he watched one of nature’s most amazing phenomena.
A few minutes earlier, South African-born and US-based TV personality Cecile Raubenheimer, a fellow climber, noticed a lone figure watching the sun rise.
She used her cellphone to capture the moment.
Gugu turned around, smiled and gave the thumbs-up. Click. Click.
The next time the sun rose, Gugu was on a bicycle stretcher, being pushed in search of medical help.
When 4am came, he had been on that stretcher for eight hours, being pushed for 32km, with Letshego and Richard Mabaso, founder of the Imbumba Foundation, running alongside.
The only way they knew there was still life in him was from the reading on his Fitbit tracker.
An hour later, Gugu was seen by a doctor. It didn’t take long before he said that there was nothing they could do for him.
* Jovial Rantao is the editor of the African Independent and was a member of the Trek4Mandela expedition.
Independent Media