Hiking @ Nkhoma

Last weekend, I traveled about an hour away with some friends to the town of Nkhoma. The town was settled by South African Missionaries in the late 1800's and lies in the shadow of a mountain from which the town received its name. The mountain has a great trail that leads to one of the peaks, and I was excited at the chance to do some hiking close to my new home. 

The group (minus Amanda) ready to conquer the mountain 

A few of my students live in Nkhoma, and we were able to visit with their families before and after our hike. That's right, several of my students make an hour commute to and from school every single day. They were incredibly hospitable and the students weren't even upset to be seeing their teachers on a Saturday! 

One of the farming huts along the trail

My roommate Owen (more to come on him later) has done the hike several times before and acted as our guide of sorts. The hike wasn't too difficult, although it did get pretty steep at the end. Our "three hour hike" took much longer than anticipated, mostly because the Americans had to stop every 50 feet to take pictures (guilty). Unfortunately, my friend Melissa sprained her ankle on the way down. She turned out to be just fine, but it was another contributing factor to our slow decent.

Overall, it was a great chance to see more of this wonderful country, and spend more time with great friends. It's strange to think that I've only known these people for a little over a month, because they are already so dear to me. They have really become like family and it's so good to spend time with them.

The whole crew at the top

The view from the top was breathtaking. I can't tell you how amazing it was looking out over the entire country, knowing that I lived here. 

Nkhoma is an absolutely gorgeous area and as always, the pictures don't do it justice. I'll try to post some more pictures on facebook so that you have an opportunity to see more of them.