His effort to selflessly promote Tanzania didn’t go unnoticed by the government and in 2012 they made him an honorary Tanzania tourism ambassador to the United States of America.
“I remember climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in 2010 as a young man in my early 20s.
“I have always been physically fit and a proud and constant gym attendee. The journey to the summit was interesting and challenging, but I reached the top of the highest mountain in Africa and I have the pictures to prove it.
“It was no small feat, that is until I met a 63-year-old American who has summited Mt Kilimanjaro 50 times, that is 50 times going through the tortuous ascent under the burning sunlight and chilly nights as you reach the top,” says Macon Dunnagan, an honorary Tanzanian tourism ambassador to the United States.
As I was sipping my tea on this cold morning at the Zara tours offices in Moshi, Mr Macon walked to me and my cameraman and shook my hand, a very firm handshake.
“Sir, are you a former military man?” I asked him. In all seriousness I expected a yes in confirmation. “No, I never served” he said as he sat down.
Macon is an honorary Tanzania tourism ambassador to the United States, a smart move by whoever in Tanzania’s government decided to bestow him that title.
Surely, he has done so much for Tanzania’s tourism, in a time when ingenuity is much needed to sway the tourists to choose Tanzania as their vacation destination over other countries.
Having Macon as our tourism ambassador befits him. Any man that can climb that mountain 50 times can definitely convince Americans to visit Tanzania for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Setting foot in Africa
Macon, a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, first came to Africa by sheer luck in 1999 when he won a trip with South African Airways to travel to Cape Town.
He was given an option to choose a second destination, and that’s when he chose to come with his wife to Tanzania, that was 23 years ago, and on his first trip to Tanzania he used the Marangu route to climb Mountain Kilimanjaro all the way to Gilman’s point, 5685 meters above sea level.
“It was a beautiful experience but very challenging,” Macon said. “Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro is the hardest mental and physical challenge you will voluntarily do in your life” he insisted.
But amazingly enough, Macon kept coming back, and on his second time he brought a friend to climb with him.
On his third time he came with two friends, and he kept using different routes to ascend to the peak.
“They told me they are more routes not only Marangu, so after six months I came back and used the Machame routes,” he narrates.
By now, he has used all the available routes.
To prepare himself he does physical workouts, he has a gym in his garage and is also a member of the popular Planet Fitness gym in the United States.
Shoulder surgeries
Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro 50 times was never his set ambition. It just happened. Macon has had two shoulder surgeries and a hip replacement but none of that has slowed him down one bit.
With that milestone, Mr Macon will be back to climb for the 51st time next year on February 12th.
In 2002 he wrote a book “Sons of Kilimanjaro” talking about his experience climbing the mountain.
His effort to selflessly promote Tanzania didn’t go unnoticed by the government and in 2012 they made him an honorary Tanzania tourism ambassador to the United States of America.
His role is basically to promote Tanzania as a preferred tourism destination, he does travel shows across the world starting with his home country across several cities from New York, Chicago to Atlanta.
Macon surprisingly meets people who still presume Mt Kilimanjaro is in Kenya and it is in these incidences that he correctly them.
“I always tell them no, it is in Tanzania,” he laughs. “We have to market Tanzania every day, every single day, you can never stop,” he insists.
Promote Tanzania tourist attractions