A nightmare in Mponjwane

On the second day of our Rockeries to Mweni loop over the weekend of 30 Jan to 2 Feb, we were overrun by a horde of Basotho in Mponjwane Cave. Mistakes made on day 1 cost us a long walk in and up Rockeries pass, but we made it. We had barely finished our hard won noodles and a nightcap, when a Basotho couple and a guide with a donkey showed up. The guide introduced himself to us as Bongi, and the couple were fit, young corporate types from Maseru. All looked good, so we scooted up and made some space in the cave.

Before long, however, more and more people showed up until there was 20 of them and two of us. In an 8 man cave… Also following shortly, were several donkeys carrying piles of wood, coolboxes and probably a ton of meat. Things were beginning to look bleak. We implored them to respect the space, explained to them the reasons behind the Heritage status of the Drakensberg – this was news to their so-called guide – but to no avail. At least they agreed to make the fire outside the cave. Anybody going to Mponjwane over the next few months will see the damage they caused.

So there we were, after two days walk, stuck in a cave with a bunch of completely ignorant desk-jockeys necking vodka and blaring Nickleback on their cellphones. We could not believe what was happening. The mist had come up and we had had a few whiskeys, so there was no packing up and heading elsewhere. You would have heard them all over the escarpment anyway. Somewhere throughout the night they tore open a bag of chicken pieces, stumbled, and strew chicken all down the mountainside. This carried on until about 3:30 in the morning, when the last one fell asleep next to the fire. The day before, their supposed guide had said that they were planning to leave at 4:00 in the morning…

Having bided our time, at 3:45 we flew into action. Ringing the alarms on our phones, we made coffee and proceeded to make as much noise as we could at these hungover ingrates. I banged on my cooking pots, sang songs, shined my headlamp into the face of every waking person. I preached history lessons about the origins of the Basotho people and the significance of these mountains to their nation. I walked up and down the front of the cave and chucked cans, bottles and half frozen chicken pieces at where the majority of them were still sleeping, hitting my targets more often than not. Grumbles and complaints were met with songs and camera flashes. Requests for coffee were laughed at. We explained to them their guide was a complete scam artist. When he finally showed up, we had marshalled a clean-up operation that none of them were expecting or in the mood for. I was breathing fire, and there was no arguing with me.

We wished them festering blisters, the raging squirts and biting donkeys on their long, hungover journey home and finally sat back, looking at the ashes and fat drippings on what was a pristine site when we got there. It was a long night, we were bone tired and our plan to go down Mnweni Pass was in tatters. We hadn’t slept a wink, so descending steep Mnweni would have been very dangerous. We made the call to have a nap and then proceed to Ledger’s Cave, gunning it for the MCC on the last day. At least we would have our quiet night in the mountains…
This was without a doubt, the single worst hiking experience of my life, and this on my friend Mark’s first ever ‘Berg hike… Always forewarned about the risk of petty theft by the herdsman, there seems to a new threat to the serenity of the mountains. The Westernised, clueless and callous, bourgeoisie Basotho middle class. Anybody heading up there, please be careful of the slippery fat drippings on the rocks. I cry inside, every time I relive it

Wow. That's hectic Darkwing.

Where did they hike from, how did they get there, and why on earth? These are probably not questions you can answer, but need to be established in order to better understand what is going on here.

The whole reason most of us enjoy the mountains is because we are forced to leave behind the excessive accoutrements of modern living, and enter a world where physical and mental toughness, a willingness to endure, and keen self-awareness prevail (Which is why we are able to co-exist with the shepherds and smugglers). This is not a world of excess, debauchery, and blatant disreguard for people and place.

One of the undesirable consequences that an easy-access cablecar to the top of the Escarpment will bring is that it will allow access to people with this type of attitude and mindset, and all the more reason for all concerned mountain lovers to get behind VE's efforts of resistance to the cablecar proposal.

This incident is unacceptable on many levels, and needs to be reported to all custodians of the Drakensberg in order that appropriate action can be taken.

I'm sure there will be a lot of comment and discussion, but may I say that I admire your tolerance and your ability to channel your righteous anger into constructively getting the perpetrators to clean up their detritus. And I'm sorry that your adventure in the mountains had to include this.

Andrew R

I'm very, very sorry to read the story in this thread. It is indeed a nightmare. Mponj Cave is a very special place.

My views might well be fringe, but at heart I think the issue here is one of guides in the mountains. If you can't get your own arse up the mountains, then rather stay at home and annoy your own neighbours! DD I think your response at 3:45am was unreasonably restrained.

As far as we could ascertain, before they got a snuff in the nose that we were asking too many questions, they were mostly Vodacom employees from Maseru. They had taken a bus to the diamond mine about 20km inland and had donkeytrained it from there. We informed Agrippa when we came back to the MCC, and I intend to plaster this content all over Vodacom Lesotho's social media spaces.

@Mnt Tiska, outnumbered 10 to 1, a days walk from any help, we thought better than to pick a fight with the type of people who neck straight Vodka, hence biding our time until they all passed out. A hungover 20km walk seems decent punishment, and they did clean up, after all.

Shocking

It is a lovely cave, sad that you had to have an experience like that

andrew r wrote: One of the undesirable consequences that an easy-access cablecar to the top of the Escarpment will bring is that it will allow access to peolpe with this type of attitude and mindset, and all the more reason for all concerned mountain lovers to get behind VE's efforts of resistance to the cablecar proposal.

Now just picture what Ifidi Cave will look like after the cablecar has been there for a few years. I doubt a lodge like Sani Top will be feasible up there, at least that provides a spot for non-hikers to spend their "mountain time" without messing up the environment too much.

DarkwingDave wrote: @Mnt Tiska, outnumbered 10 to 1, a days walk from any help, we thought better than to pick a fight with the type of people who neck straight Vodka, hence biding our time until they all passed out. A hungover 20km walk seems decent punishment, and they did clean up, after all.

You are right of course. I am just appalled. Of all places to go and behave like that. It makes no sense. I hope their journey back was sufficiently agonising for them never to want to come back. Ever.

andrew r wrote: One of the undesirable consequences that an easy-access cablecar to the top of the Escarpment will bring is that it will allow access to peolpe with this type of attitude and mindset, and all the more reason for all concerned mountain lovers to get behind VE's efforts of resistance to the cablecar proposal.

Indeed.

I've heard of this sort of thing happening at Sani Top, involving groups from Maseru, but admittedly it's probably just as prevalent there among South African and other foreign visitors. To have this happen at Mponjwane Cave (or anywhere else in the berg) is very saddening, besides the top of the Amphitheatre where the amount of drinks bottles and tins left at the hut shows it goes on a lot.

After this I hope you had a normal experience at Ledges Cave, and pleasant walk out down Mnweni Pass. No doubt after this you didn't make it to the pools you asked me about.

Thanks Tony

No, indeed we didn't make it to any pools. We didn't even make it all the way out. We were hiking in the dark when a dagga train caught up with us and told us of a safe place to camp, where we wouldn't get washed away if it rains.

How is that for contrast to what happened in Mponjwane...?