Once is Enough...

“Never again,”  I told my teammates, 10 years ago after we hiked the tallest peak in Clove Island - Mt. Ndziro, a staggering 5233ft summit. 

Tom & son on way up Mt Ndziro

We were a brand-new team.  We didn’t know what we were getting into.  We had little experience both as a team and with island hiking.  We were young—all of us in our 20s and 30s—and relatively fit.  But this was no easy hike.  I just went back and read our blog post from ten years ago about the experience.  You can read it too if you’d like.  The last line of the blog says… “I am so thankful for our team and thankful for the trip...but I never want to climb Ndziro again!”

But ten years is a long time, and you start to forget and grow a bit nostalgic.  Plus, Megan never got a chance to do the climb, and now one of our sons is old enough and interested.  Moreover, our teammate who made the climb with me ten years ago was about to leave us to go and get married—she wanted to climb it again—a sort of last hurrah for us all.  Finally, we planned to take a different route, one that was supposed to be less steep.  All these things together brought me around to a place of acceptance, even a bit of excitement about the trip.  And so on Saturday, we woke up early, gathered our supplies, and headed out to conquer Mt. Ndziro once again.

Two days later, we are still incredibly sore —especially our quads—walking the streets, even a hint of elevation seems to make our legs complain and make our walks become a little wobbly.  Stairs are a truly unpleasant matter.  Was it an easier than the last time?  I don’t think so.

The new route seemed just as hard, just as dangerous, just as unforgivingly and relentlessly uphill, but it had better views!  In fact, the new route meant we lengthened our trek and our elevation gain.  It took us 5 hours to reach the summit.  But we were rewarded on the way with a fern forest—a kind of fern tree I’ve never seen before on the islands that looked like something out of prehistoric times.

Some beautiful views

We ended up coming down the same route we took ten years ago.  It was just as hazardous as I remembered it, but this time with a lot more mud.  Somehow the fact that it felt a bit familiar made the going a bit easier, I think—that and poles.  We’ve learned that hiking poles are essential for a long trek downhill.  True, our son bounded down the mountain like a billy goat, his knees unaffected, but Megan and I took our time and used the poles to help us down.  I made a joke out of it.  In the island language, we often say, “Mpole, Mpole,” which means “slowly, slowly.” I would hold up each hiking pole in turn and say, “I’m going mpole, mpole.” (This got a wonderful eye-roll from my son and teammates.)  

It took us another 4 hours to come back down the mountain.  This time we were rewarded with the sight of lemurs, which was nice, and the fresh water lake, which is always a beautiful sight and a nice way to end the hike.  Ten years ago, the lake was not the end of the hike.  There was a long hike down from the lake to the nearest town.  But in the intervening years a road has been built that passes near the lake.  We thanked the Lord, that as we came off the trail, our guide had already been able to stop a passing taxibus to take us home.  Tired, muddy and dirty we scrambled into the taxibus, telling the islanders coming from their fields that we had climbed Ndziro for fun.  They smiled and shook their heads at us.  “Crazy foreigners,” they were probably thinking.

Lemur on the hike

Ten years ago I wrote, “I am so thankful for our team and thankful for the trip...but I never want to climb Ndziro again!”  That’s how I’m feeling this time around too. But I guess we’ll see how I feel about it ten years from now.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We survived our climb up and down Mt. Ndziro and are grateful for the taxibus meeting us when we exited the trail.  Tom got back safe from his travels and they went really well.  He was much encouraged and felt like the members of the conference were greatly encouraged too. Four islanders were dunked over the weekend by other island brothers and sisters.  The monthly women’s gathering went well and was also an opportunity to say goodbye to our teammate of ten years.  We are thankful that she has been able to have many good goodbyes and end well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our teammate just left this morning on her way to marriage and a new life on the Big Island.  Pray for all her transitions, wedding plans and coming marriage.  We are so happy for her and her fiancé who has shown himself to be a gentle, thoughtful, humble man of God.  May they be blessed! Pray for the housemate on her own now that her housemate has left.  Another teammate will arrive back from her time at home in the UK.  She has been recovering from long COVID.  Pray that the island heat will not be too hard on her and the great strides she has made in recovery will continue. The boats are still not going between Clove and French Islands. Some people rely on these boats to bring prescription medication from the French Island, pray for a way forward for them and for the boat company.