7 days in Swaziland with R70

Two years back, I set out on a mission with a friend to try and explore as much of Swaziland as possible in 7 days with only R70, or R10 a day which is less than one US Dollar per day. WTF were we thinking?

Just take a look at the map so you can follow the journey with me as I write it:

It started on a Monday morning while everyone was rushing off to work, myself and Zakkie Odendaal were catching a lift to the Border Gate closest to Mbabane. We had one night planed out which was the first night. We would be staying at Legends Backpackers, kindly organized by our good friend and owner of Swazi Adventures. 

Although our means of transport worked out pretty well, we had by no means organized it. Besides our lack of form, holding our thumb to the sky directing the gestures at pretty much any vehicle we could find, the friendly drivers of Swaziland seemed more than willing to pick us up. The first time you catch a lift hitch hiking your short life flashes through your mind. Will my mom miss me, will my family find my body and have I lived a good life? The second time you are a little more comfortable and by the tenth or eleventh time the driver is probably a bit more nervous about picking you up than you are to be picked up. From all the places we had travelled we could have probably spoken a hole in most drivers ears by then. 

But lets rewind. We got to the border and hitched our first ride into the capital. From the lifts we caught on the first day to the back packers, I was most impressed with the young Swazi's  men ambition to make money, do business and change the world. Quite embarrassing actually as I was now for a week, choosing to go into poverty to see life from a different perspective. It was very difficult for them to understand how I would choose something like this. 

We stayed one night in Mbabane and then hitched a ride South through Manzini and then towards Big  Bend where we found a friend of a friend (thats how it goes when you are meeting so many people catching lifts) who offered us a place to stay with him and his wife. They stayed next to a game reserve where Tal (the husband) was a manager on a private reserve. It was a lovely little place, peaceful and full of hospitality. We even got to experience a Sugar Cane Fire Harvest, this was spectacular. Watching the fire lit from all sides of the field and then seeing the flames roar into action creating a thermal spiral sucking air into its core and feeding the beast was simply breathtaking. 

The next day we were in search of a road North to where we heard about a place where we could sit on top of a mountain and have our one foot in Swaziland, or other leg in Mozambique and our back in South Africa. Everywhere we looked online couldn't tell us if this place existed, even locals thought we were crazy and had never heard of it. So we went in search of it ourselves, which is something we hardly do anymore in this online internet driven world. We hitched possibly 4 rides before eventually heading off the main road, tracking our gps up the closest mountain we could see that hinted at these border points. We climbed and carved new tracks up the rocky hills and tall grass until we eventually got to the top...and there it was. We were now looking into all three of these countries. Something I will never forget. 

Back home at Tal's place we sat around a fire having dinner while sharing stories of a truly amazing day. Then, we were off the next day in search of the Northern farm lands, waterfalls and luxury resorts. Of course we couldn't really visit any of these with our R10 a day. Budget check so far, we had spent hardly anything over the first three days and had R60 still left, the help and support of strangers was seeing us through 

Day 3: Hitting the highest altitude

When I travelled by bicycle across Africa, I reached a magical place in the highlands of Ethiopia that was 3111m above sea level. It marked the highest altitude I had ever reached, its quite a profound experience going higher than you have ever been.

Second Cave Camp, mountain hidden by the clouds

My delight quickly turned to panic. Because I was traveling so fast, working so hard and not monitoring what my body was doing I quickly stated to feel sick as I got off my bicycle trying to appreciate the views. I had a headache that was pounding in my ears and I felt as if I was going to see my breakfast again. The feeling was terrible and at the time I had no idea it had to do with altitude.

Fast forward two years and Im waking up in the rain on the slopes of the highest mountain in Africa. The heavenly peaks cast shadows on our camp which lay at 2800m above sea level. Its cold and today I need to wander out into that daunting altitude having no idea what to expect. All around me the views just stole away my fear as God showed off his trees and rocks and cliffs. The birds just wouldn't stop chirping and in the green trees I could hear the monkeys playing.

Our first breakfast in the tent was awesome. Nico whipped up some oats and fruits, filled our water bottles and sent us back to our tent to pack and prepare for the day. Michael headed out in front of us, followed by my dad, then me and then Deo. We walked so slowly it was so frustrating but so important!

I spent my day being still, appreciating the views as I walked. Not much disturbed us up there. I wandered about this ancient place and all the people that had hiked out in front of us for many years. I said a couple prayers for the great men and women that had lost their lives on these peaks. I had a sudden realization of just how small I was on this planet we call home. Thinking of the mountain and the seas, the stars and the galaxies, the eternities of space created by a God so big we couldn't even begin to fathom...
And the beginning of it, and the end of it...It started from, nothing. The thought always played fiddle on my thoughts strung across my mind. God was the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, it must have driven scientists crazy trying to figure out how all this started from nothing? For an absolute nothingness, my mind is to small to comprehend.
I felt so grateful God had created me and given me a gift to walk on this earth and enjoy his creation and I sure was going to make the most of.

Afternoon acclimatization walk

We rested up high above the clouds and creeped towards camp on day two. 3000...3100...32000, as the air got less and less, we got higher and higher. Each day was a record for myself and my dad, heights we had never reached since then...it was a symbolic feeling.

The camps was a lot busier than night one. It was called Cave 2 and was at 3450m above sea level about. It was very misty by afternoon and we couldn't really sea the mountain peak in all its glory until afternoon. We hiked up steep rocky hills to get onto a plateau and as we did, the clouds majestically rolled away, like a table cloth being pulled away from over food to reveal a massive feast. Every white slope and rock up there shone in the afternoon sun, feeling as if it was so close, almost in reaching distance. It would be another 3 days before we would be anywhere close to it and that again reminded me how big it was.

Kilimanjaro Day 1: Let the expedition begin

I know I had always wanted to do an adventure expedition with my dad, and many times he had spoken about doing some small things back in South Africa. We both came up with the idea to combine the most epic adventure to do in Africa, and do it together! Mount Kilimanjaro.

Flying over Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru just before landing for a connecting flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport

The trip planning started up relatively easily!  I connected with my old friends from Kenya who owned and adventure company. They really made the process such a pleasure by explaining all the ins and outs as well as all the major budgeting we would need to do. I booked the trip, we secured the flights picked up some of the gear essentials we would need from Cape Union Mart and Kway and only then did we start doing a little more research on the mountain.

I started to read a book about a man who had summited Uhuru Peak on Kilimanjaro several times by the name of Henry Stedman. He gave a comprehensive guide to the mountain in his book: Kilimanjaro: The trekking guide to Africa's highest mountain. The book gave me some really cool insights into the planned adventure and also, quite frankly, scared the crap out of me.
I had heard about altitude sickness before but thought it was something only for those elite climbers who tackled Everest and Dinali and massive peaks like that, but it seemed that Kilimanjaro had its fair share of challenges.

During the planning there was a terrible loss for all South Africans when Gugu Zulu died on the mountain from complications from flu and altitude sickness. This sent shivers down my spine as well as my moms apparently who became quite un nerved about what my dad and I were planning to undertake. We dug into some serious research and found out that only 44 percent of all who attempted to climb the mountain ever summited and that 4 deaths happened on average a year.

Things were getting quite serious.

We slogged through all the planning, chose our route which we decided would be the Northern Rongai 6 Day route that passed the Mawenzi peak and started to do short hikes to prepare our bodies for the trip. The day after my final CrossFit Open Workout, we flew to Tanzania!

My Dad ready for Tanzania!

The Kibo Slopes driver picked us up and transported us to what felt like forever into Kenya, up some hills and to an altitude of 1700m Above Sea Level where we would spend the night acclimatizing before we would start the hike the next day. The border posts proved quite tricky as my dad and I had both forgotten our yellow fever vaccination card at home. We had thought up all sorts of scenarios to explain our dilemma only to find out we didn't get asked for the cards once!

The Kibo Cottages where incredibly beautiful and tucked away from modern civilization, it was a special time for my dad and I to share a great meal and a local Tusker beer and catch up on many months of conversation. Both having busy lives, we would come to appreciate these moments more and more as the trip marched forward.

Packed and ready to spend the first night in the hills on the slopes of Africa's highest mountain

The next day we would start on day one of an epic club up and epic mountain.... (Check the blog for day 2)