Zimbabwe – Mt Inyangani (Inyangani) and Mozambique – Chimanimani (Binga)

Zimbabwe – Mt Inyangani (Inyangani) and Mozambique – Chimanimani (Binga)

Going to Zimbabwe’s mountains seemed like a great idea. Visiting Mozambique’s highest peak via Zimbabwe made it seem like an even better idea! For more than a year, people have warned me not to go –so this time, I didn’t mention the trip to anyone. I found another mountain lover and we left Pretoria on the 25^th at 22h00 with 145l petrol in jerry cans.

The Beit Bridge border experience was not that horrendous – we arrived at 03h00 and were on our way again by sunrise, having only paid R400 in total.

Then we were on our way to Nyanga.  Due to the shortage of petrol, there were not a lot of vehicles on the road and we were surrounded by beautiful mountains most of the way.

After paying our entrance fees at the Nyanga National Park, it took us 90 minutes minutes to get to the top of Mount Nyangani (2593m). Mount Nyangani is a charming "soft" shy mountain and clouds covered her most of the time. She was very clean and we only picked up a small bag of rubbish. An awfully big piece of my heart was left behind.

Touring through the Honde valley afterwards was spectacular.

The next morning we were up early but our plans to see the sun rise in the Vumba botanical gardens had to be postponed because of the mist/rain. We did spend some time with Wilfred Mbowa, the birding guide at the Leopard Rock Game Reserve and what a remarkable experience.

On our way to Mutare later that afternoon a speed cop jumped in front of us with the biggest smile I have seen on a person's face. He greeted us with "I'm going to lock you up". It was also the quickest I have seen someone's smile disappear when he noticed Wilfred in the vehicle with us. We paid R20 for driving 69km/h in a 60km/h zone.

The Chimanimani is raw beauty on a vast scale. We arrived at Chimanimani national park at 15h30 and because of the mist rolling in we pitched our tents at the car park.

The next morning we started our hike to Mt Binga at 08h00. We arrived at the spotlessly kept hut at 10h30. Two scouts came to chat to us and explained that the rifles they were carrying were meant to shoot the illegal miners, which left me speechless and feeling much safer J They told us that the path to the top was clearly marked and we should reach Mt Binga by 15h00.

When we were still hiking at 15h00 with Mt Binga nowhere in site we came to the mutual agreement that we were lost. We also agreed that we must have followed one of the thousands of paths made by the illegal miners (there were at least 15 of them panning for gold in the river but we didn't stay to find out if they were friendly). The mist was rolling in and taking Jimmy's thumb as a measuring tool, we came to the conclusion that we were very far off the map in Mozambique. Since we didn't have Mt Binga's coordinates, Jimmy decided to calculate it using his thumb, my hiking stick, a book and the waypoints of the hut and camp.

By 17h00 it was confirmed! We were totally lost. Keeping in mind the warning about the land mines we decided to pitch the tent in a spot we hoped were safe from the smugglers. We must have looked a sight moving around on the rocks trying to avoid "possible landmines". Once the mist cleared we were greeted by trillions of bright stars.

The sunrise was spectacular and we started our hike shortly afterwards. We followed a path going in the general direction of where we thought Mt Binga must lie and an hour later we were very close to the peak. We didn't read the manual properly and decided after an hour of struggling to get to the top that there must be an easier route. Walking around we soon found a clearly marked path – straight to the top! What a fine-looking site!

I did warn Jimmy that I can't help crying when I have to go down a beautiful mountain so he didn't seem very concerned when my tears came.   We were back at the camp by 15h00.

Chimanimani is a beautiful mountain and my only regret is that we didn't spend more time on her. The scouts keep her clean and we could only fill a small bag with rubbish – apparently left behind by the smugglers. According to the register the following hikers were on Chimanimani in 2006: 217 from Zimbabwe, 6 from South-Africa, 2 from England, 2 from Denmark, 3 from Finland, 4 from Italy, 2 from Israel, 1 from Germany, 1 from Netherlands and 1 from America.

Going through Beit Bridge on our way back was a pleasure. We went through at 6h00 and it took us no more than 20 minutes.

Botswana – Otse Hill (Mt Otse – or not)

Driving back from Namibia, we stopped in Botswana to climb to Mt Otse. What can I say. It took us two hours to find the mountain and by this time, Riaan and Glen have had enough of mountains. I was told to go on my own, which took me exactly 30 minutes. Since there was no-one to take a photo, I had to do that as well.

A year later, I discovered I have been to the wrong peak.

Namibia – Brandberg (Konïgstein) (Tsiseb route)

“Leave your 4 season tent behind – it never rains in Namibia”. Parting words of Frans and since he’s been to Namibia I left the tent, splash cover and general raingear. It never rains in Namibia…..

Two days before we left South Africa I booked a camping site via the internet and made some enquiries about guides. “Are you fit?” came the reply. I didn’t have time to explain about my genes and I told Riaan and Glen to get fit two months ago so I ignored Basil’s e-mail.

The guidebook mentioned guides at the tourist centre in Uis so we stopped there and met Siegfried – our soon to be guide. He informed me that we were planning to take the difficult route. Difficult equals scenic and after some deliberations with Glen and Riaan we decided to go scenic. It was not that difficult to convince Siegfried to take us on the scenic route.

Day 1: We forgot to set our watches according to Namibian time but Basil had a sense of humour when we woke him up at 5. Mmmmm, so it never rains in Namibia. Well, we had to improvise and 3 minute tents were packed and our hike started officially at 7 at the entrance to the White lady – in the rain.

8 hours later I didn’t dare ask if anyone lost their sense of humour. The normal scenic route was not so normal anymore with all the rain and we went up one mountain side, then down it just to go up again 10m further. Eleven hours of boulder hopping (most of it done in the rain that never falls in Namibia) started to take its toll. I had another spectacular fall and landed with my face in the sand.

I felt like Livingstone exploring – my legs were a network of scratches and I ended with several thorns stuck in them. The evening was spent in our minuscule tents listening to the rain wetting our sleeping bags.

Day 2: 8 o’clock at night and we were lying in our tents in wet sleeping bags watching the tents getting wetter and wetter.

We started our adventure at half past eight in order to try and get some of our stuff dry and nine hours of falling over boulders followed. Glen behaved the best when he lost his sense of humour. Myself? Let’s not elaborate. Riaan? It was hilarious. Our guide? The last I heard was “Your boots can stay outside in the rain” when I asked him to keep them in his tent.

The hike was the toughest one so far in Africa. Boulder after boulder made us doubt our guide’s sense of direction and left us with something to talk about in the future.

Something I definitely will recommend is long pants. Our casualties? I can’t pick up my leg – I suspect a pinched nerve. Siegfried – not sure but he’s freezing in his tent – no sense of humour. Glen – battling to walk – been chafed badly. Riaan? Besides almost fainting his back is killing him.

Day 3: “Ek is bo. Waar’s die helikopter. Wie’t gesê dis nie vir moffies nie. Kaseb se gat. Ons het Tsiseb se gat geskop” was Riaan’s entry in the journal on top op Konigstein.

We all got up at 4h30 and by 5h00 we were on our way. The sun started rising at 6h00. So we made one mistake. When I asked our guide if I can leave my backpack and run to the top his inappropriate reply “If you can find it again” made my sense of humour splatter down the mountain. I told him that I will find my own way to the top and that it was in his best interest to stay as far as possible from me. Riaan and Glen have decided to take their time with the ascent. When they finally arrived at 7h00, peace was restored and we spent two hours on the top drying our stuff.

When we asked Siegfried how long it will take to get down, he replied: 4 hours.

Four hours later we were at Longipools. His reply when asked how much further was – four hours! It is a beautiful mountain so I didn’t lose my sense of humour.

The descent was quite adventurous with loads of boulder hopping/climbing/crawling and every now and again a voice yelling “Siegfried, I’m stuck! Come help”

Four hours later, when the reply to the question “how far still to go” came, it was a good test of character. Another four hours which made our total hiking time for the day 10 hours. Basil was asked to wait at the camping site and a unanimous decision was made not to ask Siegfried how far still.

When it got dark and Glen and Riaan had to fall over the boulders because Riaan’s torch batteries were flat and Glen had to give Siegfried his, it was another test of character.

“Thirteen hours of challenging hiking and dear Basil waiting for us with an ice cold beer. I have never been so glad to see a vehicle! Brandberg is awesome!” - Karen

“I know why it’s inappropriate to hike with a gun – we would have been without a guide by the end of day two” – Riaan

“Awesome mountain – my first and an experience that I doubt can be bettered” - Glen