 |
| Shoaib Sumra easily controlling his dive from
an aircraft being helped by tandem master. |
Free fall adventure with backdrop of Kilimanjaro
by Edward Selasini
Sky diving against the backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro is a new tourism
product that has just been introduced in Tanzania and is the first of
its kind in East Africa.
Launched at Moshi airport last Saturday by a company known as Skydive
Kilimanjaro, divers are dropped from an air aircraft about 10,000 feet
from the ground and let to free fall using state of the art equipment.
Those sky diving will be able to view Mount Kilimanjaro and other
attractions when coming down using a parachute leashed safely to a
tandem master.
The sky diving team is led by Fiona Harris, from New Zealand a drop
safety officer, who will be responsible for safety aspects and ground
operations. Leigh Ainsworth also a New Zealander is another expert who
doubles as a free fall videographer and photographer.
Twenty-two-year-old Ainsworth told The Arusha Times that she started sky
diving activities when she was only 16 years old. She has had 4,501 sky
dives and holds the women’s record in sky diving. Through her
activities, Ms Ainsworth has helped raise US$850,000 for breast cancer
purposes in New Zealand.
Neil Bradley is the Tandem Master and sky dive instructor and under his
belt he has 7,000 sky dives including 4,500 tandem sky diving.
“I never dreamt of sky diving in my life time but it has now become a
reality,” said Shoab Sumra (22 years of age), a staff member of Kearsly
Travel who was lucky to win a draw that enabled him to dive out ofa 182
Cessna belonging to Kili Air Charter Company Ltd.
|
