Hiking in Malalotja

Last Sunday, Doug and I went hiking in Malalotja Nature Reserve with our friend, Shaun. Shaun is a writer and he’s on a Fulbright Scholarship in Swaziland for 10 months. He’s writing a novel and working with a non-profit organization called, Young Heroes (which Doug also works closely with to support HIV positive teens). Shaun is one of the world’s ‘good people’ and also seriously funny which made him an excellent hiking companion. It was a perfect day for a hike as it was sunny and cool. We left Mbabane pretty early in the morning because the days are very short and we weren’t exactly sure how far Little Lemmy could progress down the ‘service road’ once inside the park and therefore, how long our actual hike would be. After registering as day visitors in the park, we navigated our way toward an old mine where we left our car and picked-up the trail. All of this took a little longer than expected, so we decided from the onset of our hike that we’d only hike 3 hours out before turning back as to avoid hiking/driving once the sun went down. Since our original goal was to climb a mountain and the revised timing might not permit this, we opted to climb a different, closer mountain. This provided the 360 degree view we were seeking, but also guaranteed that we wouldn’t flirt with darkness in pursuit of a summit.

The 'service road' probably hadn't been used in a while and was a tad bit overgrown

Lemmy's parking spot

Big dork, 'er I mean Shaun, getting ready for the hike

We decided to do a loop and to walk 'out' in the valley and 'back' on the ridge

Valley (and cloud shadows)

Ridge

Malalotja is a large reserve and I always feel like I am discovering new territory when hiking there because it is possible to go without seeing another soul (even on a 5 hour hike). There are layers and layers of mountains that are truly stunning

We passed a waterfall

It was at this point that we decided to summit a different mountain. So, we made a sharp, right turn and went up, up, up, up, up (through really long grass)

When we got to the saddle of the mountain, Doug decided that he wanted to also climb the peak to the left so that he could see what was on the other side (one of his favorite things). I had had my fill of up, up, up and since we still had a stretch to go before completing the climb of our intended mountain, I took a nap in the long grass while Doug and Shaun ran up the neighboring mountain. They are the two little people in the middle of the photo

And finally, we were all at the top. Shaun celebrated. Doug checked his map (another one of his favorite things)

View from the top

It's difficult to capture the vastness of Malalotja, but I always insist on trying...We literally never saw a single person!

A little exercise, a lot of fresh air, some good company, and candy at the end of it all. It was a good day.