Saray Khumalo


Saray Khumalo is a Zambian-born, South African explorer and mountaineer. In May 2019, she became the first black African woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
WWW saraykhumalo.net𝕏 saraykhumalo

Personal life

With a Rwandan bloodline but now resident in South Africa, Khumalo was born in Zambia. She works as an e-commerce business executive. She is a mother of two children.

Mountain climbing

Prior to her 2019 success, she had attempted several times to climb Mount Everest. Her first attempt was in 2014, when she was halted after an avalanche that killed 16 guides on the slope. She tried again in 2015, but was halted by an earthquake in Nepal. Her final try, before her success, was in 2017, where she was forced to turn back because of the terrible weather.
Saray has also completed the Seven Summits challenge, which involves climbing the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. It includes Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Denali, Aconcagua, Vinson Massif, Mount Elbrus, and Mount Kosciuszko or Carstensz Pyramid.

Asia: Mount Ever

Mountaineering summit

Polar Expeditions

Philanthropy

Khumalo is a Nelson Mandela Libraries ambassador who raises funds through her mountain climbing to support several projects including iSchoolAfrica, the Lunch Box Fund and the Mandela Library project in Thembisa, Johannesburg.
In 2020, she set a Guinness World Record for the most money raised during an eight-hour stationary cycling fundraiser to build digital libraries for children whose education had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.