Mmegi

Hiking the Mpumalanga mountains

Breatht=taking views: The author takes in the sights during the hike
Breatht=taking views: The author takes in the sights during the hike

A two-day hike is never easy; neither is the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Again, there is something special about carrying the blue, black and white flag of Botswana in a foreign land, regardless of whether one is personally representing oneself or being there on behalf of the country.

So, when the body wanted to give in after a 10-hour hike up the Elangeni trail with endless, ruthless yet beautiful mountains, something kept reminding me that, behind my backpack is a Botswana flag and just this was motivation enough to keep going. They call it a moment of ‘mind over matter’.



Early December, a couple of fellow hikers from Gaborone took a 10-hour drive across borders to the picturesque, panoramic region in Mpumalanga – Where the sun rises; South Africa.

As a hiking and nature enthusiast, one can hardly say no to this kind of escape, an escape pinching to the body but soothing to the mind, a painful joy if you may. Anyway, the 25km hike was in two days, I must say a kilometre going up a mountain feels like a 15km.

I counted three mountains going up carrying my daypack and I was glad I had opted for ‘slampacking’, where the rest of my 76-litre backpack with sleeping bag, tent, mat, a teapot, a plate, a cup, extra pair of shoes three-day food supplies, a fleece blanket, and extra clothing, gets dropped at the overnight camping spot while I hike with a daypack filled with only one day supplies.

Having backpacked over the years I know very well that carrying a 76-litre bag (just less than 20kgs) up three mountains in a day is not a joke. I advised some first-time backpackers against it but they wouldn’t yield. Lo and behold, in the first kilometre going up the first mountain, I could see that the struggle became real for them and I fell short of saying ‘I told you so’.

We traversed the green mountains, all filled up into forests and plantations of pine and eucalyptus, mostly harvested for hardwood timber and paper production, along the N4 national road in the scenic Elands Valley, 50km from Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, the capital of Mpumalanga province. A company called Sappi, that does paper packaging, operates a commercial plantation and mill with a production capacity of 86,000m³ of sawn timber and 660,000 tonnes of paper annually. This made me think twice about all the paper we print, shred and chuck in a bin daily! I was amazed how reforestation can change the landscape, the view, the smell of the air! When they harvest one tree, they plant another!

Just above the Elands Valley, in the small town of Waterval Bowen we arrived at the cabins and shared bunk beds; typical backpacker set up! Here they really want you to disconnect with the world and focus on the wild. We asked for a WiFi connection and our host, seemingly a pensioner, Adam, said he had no idea what the Wifi code was, let alone if there was any Wifi available.

We initially thought he was joking but eventually realised his message really was” ‘Switch off that gadget. You are in the forest. Pretend its 1994, talk to each other!”

This was on Day One and on Day Two when we summited and retired to the overnight hut, we learnt even more, that here, nature rules! No cell phone reception or network, no charging ports for gadgets let alone WiFi. We all made peace with it and it actually helped us bond with other hikers from across South Africa because no one was busy online then.

I prefer to be a self-appointed sweeper, the one who walks behind everyone; slowly taking in every moment, pausing in intervals to just appreciate the sound of chirping birds, the rocks, the ants. There is no way I could travel all the way and summit a mountain without pausing to meditate and take shots of these small little things! Unlike a marathon, hiking is not about arriving in record time, it’s not about hurrying up, because as ‘sweepers’ always say; we will summit and we will get home at the end of the day.

Day One was somewhat ruthless. The South African hikers didn’t have a problem starting the hike at 8am while we, Batswana, insisted that the latest should be 6am. I guess because we come from a country where temperatures reach 43 degrees by midday, it means most of our hikes at home begin at 5am as the heat dictates so!

Bocebo, one of the South African hikers, joked that Batswana hikers dress up in an intimidating way: the cargo pants, the leg-gaitors to protect against harsh terrains and snake bites, arm sleeves for protection against sunburn, the sunglasses, the boots! Well, we can’t hike with gym shorts in Botswana, mainly because our terrains and trails are harsh, not readily marked. Ours is pure bush, you literally blaze the trail. You need to fully protect your body!

The ‘sweepers’ a group of five started, running out of day supplies one by one and by the sixth hour we had also run out water. That is the moment where you learn to only sip and not gulp. Remember you also want to pack a bearable load for such terrains.

On Day Two, descending the mountains, the body was complaining, the feet started showing signs of blisters despite doubled pairs of socks. That’s where sanitary pads get handy, where we line our hiking boots with pads which gives a bit more comfort and prevents further blistering.

But, we conquered the mountains, swam in the natural pools, drank from the springs and basked under the fountains wedged in between the Mpumalanga mountains.

Editor's Comment
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