About a five mile hike outside of Namaacha is “Tres
Fronteiras”, where the borders of Swaziland, South Africa and Mozambique
meet. About 20 of us ventured to find
this location Sunday morning, not quite sure exactly where we were headed or
what was in store for us. Our only instructions
from past volunteers were to follow the Swaziland – Mozambique border fence to
the top of a hill.
For the first few miles it was a fairly easy walk
along the road, but in the distance we noticed the fence ascending straight up
the looming mountain… Not quite sure if this was the correct trail, but seeing
no other path, we decided to just stay along the fence as it was the most promising
option of finding the Tres Fronteiras point.
The trail began to ascend steeply as it narrowed,
on our left a barbed wire fence, on our right spikier and spikier bushes. Soon our “trail,” if it could be called a
trail at all really, basically disappeared, but we were determined to continue
to follow this fence to our destination and there was no turning back. At one point, spiky bushes blocked our path
and we had to cut through them a bit, then duck down (pretty much on our hands
and knees) under the spiky branches, helping to free each other’s caught clothing
and backpacks. Then the trail got even
steeper, at least a 50o incline, and the dirt under our feet turned
to loose rocks, requiring one to walk with caution and ensure one foot was firmly
planted before lifting the second.
Finally we reached the summit, and what an
incredible view!! Hopefully I can upload
some photos soon!
The view definitely made the hike up worth the inflicted
scrapes and effort, but it is a hike I am fine with only ever doing once and don’t
really need to venture out to do again.
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