First South African to visit the highest peaks in Continental Southern Africa

Karen Hauptfleisch’s Trip to Morro Mocco

 Karen Hauptfleisch has a personal dream to visit the highest peak in every African country and has to date been fortunate to have seen the “sunrise” on 30 African peaks.  This adventure started in 2002 when she climbed Kilimanjaro and then decided to continue to visit all the 54 African countries in support of an initiative called Sunrise on African Peaks (SOAP).

 

Karen has chosen to take the long road, deciding to get to know Africa, its people and its cultures as part of this adventure which culminates in her visiting a local high point or peak.  This commitment has allowed her to explore Africa, enjoying the challenges of local transport, cuisine and the many diverse cultures.  It is this approach which differentiates her from other adventurers as she realises that getting to her destination is a crucial part of the trip and her stories recall these experiences and her personal growth.

Her travels have seen her travel in southern, eastern and western Africa; however the one country which she struggled to visit was Angola.  Challenges included the high cost of accommodation, air travel and the requirements for the necessary permits, etc.  She once had a plan to drive from South Africa, but was warned about the perils of such a journey and it seemed a distant dream to travel to Morro Mocco, near Huambo.  Some people will say that good things come to people who are willing to wait and this is definitely true in Karen’s case.  After scouring ticket prices and making contact with local Angolan businesses, things fell into place at the beginning of June 2012.  Plane tickets were suddenly realistically priced and local contacts facilitated accommodation and logistical support in Angola.

Using local contacts and knowledge a plan was forged and the trip was underway.  Utilising commercial flights, she arrived in Huambo and immediately realised that she could have used the local bus services as they would have been far more fun.  It is sometime difficult to get sound information regarding local transport, roads, etc. and this would have allowed her to see the scenery along the way whilst saving money.  The highest peak in Angola, Morro Mocco (2620m) is situated about 120km north of Huambo and would require travelling to the local village and finding transport to Konjonde, the local village, was a bit of a challenge.  However her local contacts were very helpful and a local scout master and teacher offered to take her party to the mountains. 

The village

Spending time in Huambo, allowed Karen to get to know more about the local history and the challenges faced in the recent past.  The local people were positive, friendly and very helpful, whilst being very fascinated by her trip to the local mountains. 

Over and above spending time on the highest peak in Angola, the highlight of the trip was the time spent in Kanjonde, the village at the base of Morro Mocco.  Her Karen got to meet the local people who were quite used to the visitors who visited their village from time to time to walk up the mountain. 




Sunset

After spending close to two days exploring the village, the mountains and the local environment, she started to get an appreciation of the local villagers and their day-to-day challenges.  The village is about 15km from the closest tar road and basic services such as clinics, etc. require motorbike travel or a long walk.  The local school and church are however functioning well and the local chief was very philosophical about the people and their future.  They see the local mountains as a source of clean drinking water but are not able to realise the value of the tourism due to the limited facilities.   There are ablution facilities that have been built for the visitors and the chief speaks of maybe building a place where people could sleep with a shop for basic provisions.  This vision to improve the livelihood of the village is distant from the hustle and bustle of the outside world; however is a dream of the local community to move forward and progress.  Karen could not help to wonder what could be done to improve the local village in the foothills of Morro Mocco?  The local community use the mountains as a source of fire wood and grazing for their cattle and the effects of this utilisation can be seen with the loss of trees and the erosion which is prevalent on the steeper slopes.  Having a source of income would help to alleviate the problems highlighted earlier and realising the value of tourism maybe an option to this community. 

The trip to the summit of Morro Mocco was a pleasant hike where Karen had the opportunity to see amazing scenery, vistas, fauna and flora including an African Rock Python.  The mountain had recently burnt and the stark contrast of the green vegetation versus the burnt areas was phenomenal.  The team, including a local guide from the village, was humbled by the trip and was able to walk away with a new appreciation of the local area and its customs. 
Reaching this peak allowed Karen to realise an important milestone in her adventure when she became the first South African to visit the highest peak in each of continental southern African country.  Since this trip, Karen has visited another three eastern African countries and will continue to travel on this amazing continent whilst growing as a person and learning about the local humanity, nature and the adventures of travel.  

Karen would like to thank the Angolan people for their hospitality and assistance in this endeavour and would furthermore like to thank her hosts in both Luanda and Huambo for offering their assistance and furthermore opening her mind to this fabulous country.

Countries visited in Africa

 

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