Musa's Mountain

Our ascent of Mt. Sinai began at 1:00 am in the morning. With our headlamps blazing, we climbed the Camel Path Trail. It's not a clever name. Camels would appear out of the darkness breathing down your neck. The warning of "camel!" was frequent and they don't break for tourists.

We were hiking with the group from the minibus we took from Dahab. Our mountain guide gave us the name "Katrina" which he would scream almost non-stop in a Marco Polo fashion. He would also stop the group for head counts and ask, "Have you seen the woman? The large woman?" After one too many stops and rests on what wasn't that challenging of a hike, we, along with a French artist, decided to push ahead on our own.

We soon met up with a Canadian couple who had also left the Katrina group but didn't have a headlamp. The five of us climbed alone to the end of the Camel Path where the stair climb to the summit begins. When we got to the final concession stand before the summit we learned we were the first ones up. A full three frigid hours before sunrise. We took shelter in the shop where they sold coffee and rented out blankets. We wrapped ourselves up and chatted with our climbing partners.

Soon the shop filled up with other climbers and our guide arrived. "Katrina!" At 4:45 am we walked the final 100 meters to the freezing summit. The group found the perfect spot at the edge and huddled together for warmth. The horizon began to glow long before the sun appeared, lighting the landscape we had just hiked through. Standing in a shivering mass of humanity we waited.

"Here comes the sun!" Temple called out, seeing the orange orb under the clouds. I wish I had said, "it's alright", but I was cold. Besides, it was better than alright. It was biblical.

Cloudy Kilimanjaro

We stopped in Moshi for a day just to see the snows of Kilimanjaro. When we arrived, the summit was completely covered by clouds. No snows. We left our camera in our room and went for dinner at a rooftop restaurant where a clear day offers great views of the mountain. When we ordered our Kilimanjaro Lagers the summit was still obscured. But about half way through the first round the clouds began to part. Soon we could see the roof of Africa. In the setting sun the peak looked like a Varsity Frosted Orange. We toasted the mountain with our second round and enjoyed the views in the last moments of daylight. The next day we returned to the rooftop for photos but the clouds had returned.

I Stayed At A Farm in Africa

After the tropical heat of the islands, we were ready to escape to the cool air of the Usambara Mountains in northern Tanzania. We packed into a bus which traversed curvy mountain roads to drop us in Soni, a small dusty intersection with a few shops and people drifting about.

Maweni Farm is two kilometers outside of town at the base of a large rock face. When we arrived, we knew we'd found the perfect mountain getaway. In colonial times the farm was a coffee plantation run by a German family but now it is solely a lodge. The main house where our quaint room was, sat on a small hill next to a lovely pond, home to many yellow weavers. Next to the pond was a huge boulder and some lovely jacaranda and acacia trees. The first night we shared the dining room with two other couples but after that we had the place to ourselves. We had private picnics in the thick grass next to the pond and went for walks along the main road past villagers busily working the farmland or walking from the market.

The day we left, Msheba, the friendly manager of Maweni Farm, offered to drive us the 45 minutes to Lusotho which is a bigger, though still tiny, town higher up in the mountains. He took us all the way to our next destination, Irente Farm, curious to see the accommodation for himself. Unlike Maweni, Irente was still an operating farm producing cheese, bread, juice and jam. The farm belongs to the Luther Church which also runs a neighboring school for the blind, a center for kids with mental disabilities and an orphanage.

The manager, Peter, has gotten the farm certified as a biodiversity reserve and has begun to protect the native plant species in the area. He gave us a tour of the operation, taking us through the farm pointing out native and invasive species before walking us down to the Irente Farm Children's Home. Here we were greeted by a gregarious Swedish woman who gave us a tour and told us a few of childern's stories. We met the young Tanzanian women who volunteer here for two years in order to help pay for future education. The children were precious. We got to feed them lunch before their naps.

Later we walked to the Irente Viewpoint which offers amazing views of the Masaai Steppe. We met a local and watched the sunset with him. Then he invited us to his house which was a small hut right behind the lookout. We met his son and wife, then her sisters. We had a nice visit before heading back to the farm.

In the Clouds

We woke to dark skies and cold rain on our first day in the Ukhalamba-Drakensberg mountains. With hope and disregard we loaded into the minibus to hike to the Ampitheatre, a five kilometer wide, one kilometer deep rock face. Our fearless leader Sim drove through Free State province with the wipers on high yet maintaining a positive outlook. Hakuna matata. It'll clear up. We reached the trail head. Stepping out into the clouds, we were completely soaked in seconds. One Dutch girl refused to get out, saying she'd rather spend six hours in the van. Visibility was low but the hale and hearty set out on the trek. Six of us with Sim in the lead pushed through, our heads down and wind and rain blowing in our faces. About ten minutes in, a German girl and the Dutch girl's boyfriend turned back. And then there were four. We marched on but as the weather worsened and gusts of cold rain persisted with no hope of clearing, we all decided to turn back and try another day.

Two days later it was still cloudy and cold but the rain and wind held off so we jumped in Sim's van and were determined to get to the top. At the starting point, the cloud cover was incredibly thick. Sim described what we would be seeing had it been a clear day and the canyons and river valley all looked great in our imaginations. After a series of cutbacks we got to a rocky climb straight up to the top of Amp. Once we arrived at the top we enjoyed our cheese sandwiches and hard boiled eggs but no Amp view. I could barely see Temple 20 feet away. She walked across the way curious if there was anything to see besides white. When she turned around she yelled, "I see something!" Yes, the clouds were moving! The Ampitheatre materialized before our eyes. Pure joy. Everyone ran for the rim of the mountain taking pictures furiously of the cliff walls and river valley, not sure if the next wind would obscure the view once again. But the lingering clouds stayed back and actually added to the dramatic views.

We walked along the rim and saw the 2nd highest waterfall in the world though it was just a trickle in dry season. The clouds were moving back in as we made our way off the mountain. We climbed down chain link ladders which were bolted into the rock face. There were two ladders to choose from: the more stable one and the more fun one. Temple was the first on the more stable one and I was next to her on the more fun one. For an added degree of difficulty it began to rain as we stepped onto the ladders. Many people in our group were a little nervous about the descent. I told Sim I was lucky to have a girlfriend without fear. After the climb down it finally cleared for good and we saw all the views that we could only imagine hours before.

Kingdom in the Sky

From the foothills of the Ukhalamba Drakensbergs, we traveled through the Manontsa Pass to the village of Mafika-Lisiu in the small and very high kingdom of Lesotho. We pulled our jackets tight and walked around the village comprised of small clay houses and rondavels. We climbed into the hills above the town to see ancient San rock paintings which were likely over 2000 years old. After the climb we received our just rewards at the local shabeen, the village brewery. The white flag flying outside a small rondavel told us there was traditional maize beer to be had. Villagers, mostly older, crowded around a fire while a large cup filled with the brew was passed around the circle. It was cider-like, a little gritty and warm but pretty tasty.

After a walk back to the village school, we played with the kids during recess. Most were jumping rope or playing soccer. They were curious and spoke a little English. Not surprisingly, the kids that live in the highest country in the world were just like kids everywhere else.

When school let out for the day we went to meet with the village sangoma who smiled as he answered questions about his job as the traditional healer. He was quiet and soft-spoken but very gracious in his responses, translated by our guide Sim. Afterwards we tried some mealie pap which is eaten all over southern Africa- though under different names. It's like sticky grits that's eaten with your hands and usually with cooked spinach.

Our last stop was the Two Sisters market for some more beer but this one, called Maluti after the surrounding mountains, was a regular lager available only in Lesotho. We bought a large bottle of the hoppy brew and toasted the mountains, the people of the village and the kingdom of Lesotho.