Made it!

I actually made it to the top this time! Went up Loleza Peak (8714 feet high) with another couple of friends on Monday (a public holiday here) and had quite a time of it. We made really good time to the top (about 3130 feet of climbing in just over 2½ hours), stopping every now and then to exclaim over the clouds forming below and wafting up the side of the mountain.

At the top there are several telephone towers and a radio mast. We got chatting to one of the engineers who lives up there, and he let us into the compound and even allowed us to climb the mast! We didn’t dare go far, but we took it in turns to climb the ladder to the first platform; fun!

Unfortunately our return didn’t go quite so smoothly, after lunch we rocketed down until suddenly one of my friends realised she hadn’t got her camera. Last seen – lunchtime, nearly an hour ago. So, back we went, an exhausting return, only to find it wasn’t there. Coming back again, we found ourselves in the clouds, and then it started to rain. Fortunately it was a clear track so we didn’t get lost, but we slipped and slid on the mud and arrived back exhausted and soaked through, and very ready for a hot shower!