The morning began with the fun of laundry day. This usually consists of hours of washing clothes by hand, scrubbing, rinsing, wringing and finally hanging. By the end of it my knuckles are raw, as PCTs we have strawberried knuckles as our badge of honor. After hanging up everything it was time for me to change and get ready for the hike to the fronteira (boarder). There were about 35 of us PCTs that embarked on this excitement. We met on the edge of town near the customs boarder, if this were the boarder we were going for then there would be no excitement at all. I made a stop at CDD before heading out to grab a couple bottles of water since it was a hot day and it was going to be a long hike. We all left the customs boarder area down to where the main road turned to go towards the village behind the town where we live. The side of the road was lined with barb wired fence, so clearly we were going the right way. As we walked down the road towards the mountain there were trees with red, blooming flowers, ruins of old houses, a couple large new houses, lush green trees all over and my favorite a sign on the side of the road next to a path that said “No taking baths, No washing clothes.”

The trail to the fronteira took a turn off the road down a dirt path, which looked as though trucks must have driven through there on occasion. The path was lined with dried grasses as tall as us and machambas spotted throughout. Slowly but surely the trail began to become more steep. Look over to one side I could see caniço (reed) huts across the boarder, and it just seemed like what I would expect to see. There’s always the perception of the bush of Africa with caniço huts in the savannahs. Soon the path made by trucks ended and it was just a walking path the rest of the way up the mountain. The trail was littered with patches of barren rock as we climbed higher and higher. Occasionally I would turn back to look upon the town we left and admire the openness. The last bit of the hike up the mountain was pretty steep and just rock, but we finally reached the top.

A much needed rest break was in order and we all gladly relaxed. Our families had packed lunch for us to take so we enjoyed a picnic at the top. From the peak I could look down upon the town of Namaacha, Swaziland, where the custom boarder leads, and South Africa. Of course I had to get a picture from on top the marker of where the three boarders meet, with my OSU flag. Near where we had hiked there was a communication station with a group of tall trees surrounding it to try and hide it. On the way up I had started feeling a bit of an upset stomach but thought it was nothing more than being incredibly out of shape. Before heading down I quickly realize it was not just do to being out of shape but the time I had been dreading was upon me. Needless to say I successfully left a Stage 5 in South Africa and a Stage 6 in Mozambique, these are references in which only fellow PCTs will understand and I will not elaborate.

On the way back to town we decided to take a detour off the road and take the back way home. The path lead to an area covered in very dense, green trees. The shade was something we all were looking for. As we continued on the trail was littered with ruins of old buildings, some were homes, some were stores, even a large old school with a cement soccer area and an old church. There were goats wandering around the ruins and just bathing themselves in the sun. There were a number of beautiful trees blooming with yellow and white flowers. Finally, arriving back home, I was exhausted, dirty (there is a picture showing the dirt line on my legs from where I had my socks), and of course still feeling ill. Upon getting home, Ana, my cunhada (sister-in-law), said I looked like a tourist. After a bath and dinner I was off to sleep.