BINGA

This trip went down at the very beginning of April.

It was epic. Which is why it has taken so long to post about it.

Without getting into all the details of our misadventures at the apex of the Chimanimani mountains, I will leave you with the following lessons learned:

1. It's going to take SEVERAL days so bring lots of food and water treatment supplies.

2. To get there by chapa, you take a chapa to Sussendenga and from there you take the "Rutanda" chapa100 (open-bed-truck) and ask to get dropped by the park gate (an hour into the trip). The chapa100 will wait until it's full to leave unless you pay a big chunk of change. It's another 4 km to the park gate. The park entry fee is 100 mt for Mozers/DIRE holders and 200 for foreigners. It's another 100 mt per night to sleep inside the park borders. They will tell you chapas run in both directions every 30 minutes, but you could wait 3 or 4 hours.

Here's the kicker: IT'S ANOTHER 18 km FROM THE GATE TO THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN. It's a boring walk along a long road. It took us five hours. All told, we left Chimoio at 6:00am, but only got to the base of Binga at 5:00pm.

3. The guides are easy to find in the village at the base of the mountain. They will show you where to pitch your tents and tell you what expect the next day (although it may be a sugar-coated version if that's what you want to hear). They charge 500 mt per guide per day. They can go a month with only one visitor, so this price seems pretty fair.

4.  The first river we crossed at the beginning of the hike was super slippery and the guide just raced across it with no warning to those behind him. Be careful - it's easy to slip and fall in the water.

The accent is steep and tiring in parts. Don't waste time swimming and resting by every river you see because there is an amazing gorge with a watering hole and cool photo ops near the top.  That's where you drop your stuff and return to for the night after summiting. It should take about 6 hours to that spot, and another 3 from there to the top (without packs).

5. The reason I said don't waste time is that it will still take several hours to get TO the peak and if you dilly-dally, you wont get back DOWN to your camp site before dark. That is what happened to us and all we packed for that summit hike was water and snacks - no flashlights. This created a giant ordeal - the kind you don't call home about.

6. Unless you have many days to kill and want to test the endurance of your legs and mind on everlasting, uneventful terrain, DON'T GO BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT. If you want to "just do it" get a ride in a 4x4 vehicle all the way to the base of the mountain, relax and enjoy your trip from there.

All that said, we saw amazing views, gained great pride from having been at the highest point in the country, and lived an epic, life-altering experience. No regrets.