Thabana Ntlenyana
- Likhabiso Kaibe
- Dec 15, 2021
- 5 min read
Weekend of the 3rd December, I put on the brave me and joined a group (Compass Hiking Crew - CHC) in Lesotho to hike Thabana Ntlenyana, the highest mountain in Lesotho and second highest after Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
It was a mammoth undertaking of 3482 up and down the mountains, through fog, pouring rain, biting cold and the beautiful spirit of the hikers.
I usually do day hikes, so this was my first camp/hike that I would be undertaking. Upon confirming the trip I was added onto the WhatsApp group and the legends of group warned us about altitude, loosing breath, mafafatsane etc, this unsettled me a bit. I had cold feet and wondered if I would make it to the end.
We arrived at Masobasoba lodge just before 20:00, was welcomed by our Tour Guide Mapaseka Makoae who gave us a brief induction. We then pitched our tents, made dinner and rested.
The bigger group that came by bus only arrived after midnight and their story is for another day.
The night was beautiful, excited to be sleeping in a tent, with the rain and wind blowing throughout the night.
We were up by 05:00am, got ready, had our breakfast, took some pictures and hopped onto the bus to our starting point at Kotisephola.
We traversed three rivers Sehonghong river, Senqu river and Sani river. The excitement in me despite the cold and fatigue was beyond comprehension. I felt so much in touch with nature and God.
Unlike the few day hikes that I’ve done, there was no map and we relied on our tour guide, however with the inevitable fog and a large group, we ended up missing each other and guessed the route up.
Along the route were heaps of stones that indicated the path, at times it was clear and most times faint. I stopped many times appreciating the beautiful landscapes and marvelling on God’s work.
The hike up was quick and took us close to 4 hours (with the stops) and with the fog and missing others, only 4 of us that were close to each other got to the top of Thabana Ntlenyana. Excited yet worried where the rest of the team was, we waited a bit longer hoping to see them join us at the top and after a bit of waiting and wondering at the top we decided to descent, taking a completely different route. Luckily we spotted a yellow rain coat at some hill along the route in the midst of the fog and followed it.
The descent took us longer, about 6 hours. It was still foggy with a rocky terrain. I was soaking wet despite wearing a rain coat, my bums were freezing and my fingers were numb.
We passed a number of ranches (Motebong in Sesotho) which I’ve only read about and confused it with Mophatong (circumcision school). The shepherds were kind and unbothered by the rain and cold, they’d wave at us and wish us well on our walk.
Despite not having a set map, I suppose there are many ways to hike the beautiful little mountain (Thabana Ntlenyana) starting and ending at any place like we did. We ended at Ntate Nkoebele’s ranch which was well constructed, beautiful and open, unknowingly using the Mangaung route just after crossing the overflowing Sani River.
You can do the entire hike in one go, as we did, or you can hike it in sections. You can do it solo, or in a warm welcoming and fun group like CHC . You can spend thousands of dollars on the highest-quality gear, or do it on a shoe-string budget. The possibilities go on and on.
While some people believe there is a “right” way to do the hike (a.k.a., their way), there’s also a culture on the trail that you must just “hike your own hike.” You focus on your journey, and if someone else’s journey is different from your own, you respect it.
I brought this thought back to my everyday solo hike of raising the Guccis and really embraced it despite the highs and lows. Hiking with the veterans, I asked a lot of questions and got a number of answers and also realised that I don’t have to follow their way of hiking and learned to block some of the noises.
Yes the route is not easy, and you need some counsel every now and then especially with the foggy rainy and cold weather we had, plus the high altitude, the spiky grass tussocks, the evergreen clusters and boggy ground, man this all made a saucy recipe for an intriguing hike, but I could and will only hike my hike.
At one point, i felt like the wind was going to blow me off like an A4 paper, my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't breath and started saying my ‘Hail Mary’s’, thankfully just few steps after a few ‘full of grace’… , heavy breathes and a short rest on my hiking pole did i get back to walking.
Missing some team members was a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to prioritize my needs. Who knows; had they been around I might have felt the urge to follow their pace, bagging my principles and ruining the entire experience.
The hike brought me closer to myself and constantly reminded me to listen to my body and my own voice and to put them into practice for me, which is a philosophy that equally applies to life and to parenting.
With the many ways of hiking Thabana Ntlenyana, so are thousands ways to parent and most of us have an opinion of how the other should do things, especially with parenting solo. Unlike the trail though, unsolicited advice is highly given.
We are bombarded invariably with the “correct” way to parent, but I argue that there is no one correct way to parent as we always cry that parenting doesn’t come with a manual yet are quick to share how and why things around life and kids should be done in a certain way and not the other way.
Momma, you must hike your own hike, and do your parenting the best way you deem fit.
Otherwise, it has been a beautiful yet long year. A friend grappled with my need for rest and opting to sleep in a tent and walk in the wilderness. It turned out I needed the discomfort to distress and re centre myself. It gave me valuable time and space to think through and plan my 2022.
Should you want some time out from the city buzz and a peaceful scenic isolation, this is your next excursion.
Allow me to continue on my experience in the next blog and share the lessons learned from the hike.
It’s a wondrous Wednesday
Hike it away
Likha~(biso)
Wow! This is beautiful. You had an amazing experience...