Middle-aged flash packers

Neither of us slept well last night. I think the reality hit us that this hike was serious. 1600 metres of ascent, 300 metres of which would be a completely vertical climb using chains and ladders to get to the summit – why hadn’t we trained for it? And would Beefy Man pressure us to exceed our fitness limits with his insane speed walking? Would our lovely but doesn’t take no for an answer guide insist we do it despite our pathetic protestations not to go?

I was awake and up by 6am, unheard of for me. S thought there was something seriously wrong when I thrust open the curtains. (Hoping probably.)

Bleary eyed, we packed our rucksacks and headed for an early breakfast. I could hardly stuff down two small pastries but hats off to S, he managed a full English in 10 minutes.

We saw our guide (I can’t pronounce or spell his name so I’m going to call him Kwesi from now on which is close enough)and told him about Beefy Man and how we would gracefully not do the hike so BM could do his stupid speed walking.Kwesi looked at us like we were excitable and mentally deficient children and said we’d meet at the allotted time and sort it out then.

Obediently, we did as we were told. No sign of Beefy Man but the entertainments manager was there as well asKwesi. Apparently BM had cancelled. There is a God! (We reckon he went off to do it on his own rather than get bogged down with two oldies). The downside was we had no option but to do it now.

Kwesi told us he’d walk at our pace which was very reassuring, but then he set off like a rat out of a trap, leaving us puffing and panting up the first incline. We were carrying loads of water, a huge picnic lunch and outerwear for every eventuality. We were beasts of burden trying to keep up with a greyhound.Kwesi did slow down once he realised quite how much we were sweating, but it took a while for us to get into a walking rhythm that was comfortable.

However, the scenery was beautiful and as we wound our way up the trail, I told myself that this landscape wasn’t unlike the Lake District where we have done similar meterage in the past. Not chains and ladders though. And when we were fitter. But otherwise the same. Oh and apart from the baboons we saw in the distance. They were fighting and the screams were horrible. They are not my favourite animals.

We didn’t really speak too much to Kwesi on the way up other than him checking we were ok. I have to say, his calmness was catching and I stopped worrying too much about whether my legs would be left with any strength to get back down after the ascent.

As we kept going up we met a group who had started earlier and were on the way back down. They had turned back because it was too cloudy to summit.

We carried on and had just got past Orange Peel Pass and on our way to Buggers Gully (I’m not making these names up) when the cloud started to get thicker. We had a sit down and a snack and Kwesi tentatively asked how we felt about continuing. When walking on our own in the mountains, we always avoid walking in thick cloud. One, it’s dangerous and two, what’s the point? You can’t see anything.Kwesi also mentioned he was a bit worried about our descent as it looked like it would rain and make the rocks slippy. It was interesting that he didn’t want to tell us what to do, but we took the hint and said sad though it would be not to summit, we thought the right thing to do would be to turn back. K then told us we still had 40 minutes to go before we reached the bottom of Cathedral Peak and then an hour of ascent from there to reach the summit. Clinched it for me.

K relaxed on the way down and we got to know each other a bit more. His kids are doing well – one is going to join the army and another hopes to study medicine. At the moment he can’t afford to send his youngest child to school but hopes he’ll be able to next year. It’s quite unbelievable that education isn’t free.

Covid hit him hard as the hotel was closed for 8 months. No help from the government at all. They were supposed to provide food boxes for people like him in the villages, but nothing happened. K joked about getting in our suitcase and coming to England with us. It’s always humbling to find out for yourself how difficult life is for many people,

and why the UK, quite rightly, is considered a great place to live.

Kwesi dropped us off safe and sound and we gave him a good tip. Then after a very refreshing shower, it was straight to the bar for a beer and a coke.

I suspect the rest of the day will be spent in a leisurely fashion (S has already had a long snooze) then tomorrow it’s time to pack up and head off to The Cavern Hotel on the other side of the Drakensberg.