We got to our residence quite late at night; needless to say we had trouble locating the place. So unfortunately, I had to wait till dawn to take in the beauty of the scenery around me. Yes Cape town is a beautiful place and country side Cape Town is simply breath taking. It was about 6 o’clock, but strangely the sun hadn’t come out to say hallo as yet. I wondered why? Maybe it was just a diiferent environment and I was not accustomed to the atmospheric conditions as yet. Maybe the sun decides to sleep in a little while longer on this side of the earth , I thought.

As I stepped out of the room I was confronted with this heavy darkness, like there was some really huge something, that was some sort of barrier. It scared me so much, my heart shook inside my chest. I felt a vivid sense of fright. I looked to the other side and it seemed clear and this made me wonder, what this huge something was. Was it from the earth or part of the sky. Whatever it was , it gave an overwhelming feeling of reverence.

Not long after that I was told, well , that is the table mountain and that we were going to climb it. Now I felt a cold lump rush through my spine and my heart seemed to melt in side my chest, and oh yes , tears started to flood my eyes. I may be sounding a bit dramatic , but this was my reality. I could not imagine myself climbing the table mountain. A little voice told me, ‘that super huge thing, you cant climb that , you will just die.’ And thoughts of all the ‘Braves’ of times past who had died trying to climb mystics of this nature came flooding in my mind

When we got close to the mountain interestingly that cloud of darkness disappeared, the sun had come out and though it seemed like a long way up I told myself its not that bad, you are with friends who will help you up, plus you have all the time in the world. Not much water and no food, but you will be fine.

We started the ascend as a team, and then suddenly the distance in between each of us started to increase. The easy steps had been left behind and the terrain was getting stepper. I mean there were places where you had to put one foot before the other and then bring the other foot around in order to move forward because there was just not enough space.  At such cliff like points I dreaded looking back or down because it wasn’t a pleasant sight. Of course I couldn’t go back, it didn’t seem like an option, and down , well lets just say if you looked down you would have to imagine yourself rolling down , and believe me if that happened , its one of two results, either you didn’t come out alive, or you didn’t come out alive and your body couldn’t be found.

Step by step I sojourned up this mountain, and with each step I whispered to myself, ‘ you can go another step, don’t think of how far you have to go , just keep going.’ By this time my water bottle was almost empty and i had to ration it well, the sun was at half mast and I began to notice that there were fewer people around me. I had left many behind, and yet still many had surpassed me. But it wasn’t a competition anyway, no one was keeping score. One step, two step, up the mountain, and then suddenly, my heart began to palpate unordinary , there was a sharp pain in my chest, I felt as though the energy in my muscles was being sucked out of my system and I fell to the ground. By this time I had been riding up this beast for close to an hour and thirty minutes. I needed water, an energy boost, a cap , some sunscreen, miraculous body fitness and possibly a  new heart. Oh and a friend to lift me up and carry me to the top. But by this time I looked around and before me was what seemed to be a cave, but no I wasn’t going to enter it , I was gonna find a way around it.

I looked around and unfortunately there was no one in sight. I called out for help a few times but only heard the echo of my voice. The worst of thoughts came flooding in my mind. What if I had taken the wrong route, seeing as there were no markings for direction in certain areas, what if I was lost and no one came to carry me to the top or to the bottom which was much safer, what if I couldn’t find the strength to go on? I cried out in the depth of my heart, ‘Lord, is this how I die!’

The skys suddenly became a little darker, and I felt a rush of cold air slap my face. And I felt He was saying , ‘Baby you are alright. You will make it.’ Like a transformer I felt the strength rush into my being, My heart took a shift back into place and I was confident that the mountain that stood before me was one I could conquer. Several may have tried and died trying , others may not have even started the climb, but I was here and I came to conquer this mountain. UUhhh can you hear that ! I can , it’s the sound of Victory. Victory is not really when you get to the top. It is when you decide that against all odds you will win, and you take the next step.

I picked myself up and started to go forward, I would feel weak at some points , then I would rest, or crawl up the rocks on both hands and knees, and at some points this strength would just rush back in and I would even ran a little while.

As I went further the number of people started to increase, I met some friends, and boy was I glad  to realise that I wasn’t the only human on the mountain. They congratulated me and encouraged me on as we raced for the top together. It was such a beautiful feeling, and yes , such a relief.

I could barely find the words to describe how I felt when we got to the top. For starters it was difficult to see each other, we were surrounded by clouds of fog, and strangely we were much closer to the sun, but there wasn’t a ray in sight of that scorching sun that had tormented us about two hours earlier. The entire journey up here was about three hours long.

We took pictures in the fog and then just took a moment to take it all in, we were quite close to heaven, I said my prayers of gratitude and I knew I was definitely heard. We were literally in the skies , and if I had make an appointment earlier , I probably would have met Arc Angel Michael (wink)..

The journey back took surprisingly much less time, literally less than an hour, the terrain was much more bareable, we literally ran down this magnificence. And all the way down I kept contemplating my experience. The numerous lessons I had learnt, Realising that strength and potential have been given to me in the right measure , that there is nothing I cant do that can be done…. And so on and so forth.

When I got to the bottom I looked back and said to the mountain, I came and I conquered. And this time it didn’t look back at me with blood shot eyes of intimidation. And this thought came to mind…there will be mountains, everywhere all around. Emotional mountains, financial mountains,  spiritual mountains and even literal mountains. Some will be so intimidating, others may seem like a walk in the park, But treat them equally, you don’t know where there may be a catch, carry your full amour and when you feel you cant go on , tap deep, you have got what it takes. Victory or defeat , its up to you to decide. It may seem impossible, but take the first step, you may just make it , and the view at the top is heavenly.

My experience might sound dramatic, I actually left out a few things, but this is as real as it happened. I wanted to dive into my experience climbing another mountain. The great wall of china hahaha caught me there, its actually a wall but well it’s a wall along a mountain so yes lets call it a mountain. Must I dive into the story, it has its own edge to it. Well maybe another time, enough drama for one day , don’t you agree?

 Gift Mbewe

Gift is a development strategist who possesses wide experience in planning and project management across the globe. She is also a competent communicator who has mentored many in public speaking and leadership, from high school debate club to organising TedX Platforms. She sincerely believes in a united, thriving Africa and is very interested in welfare for the greater good for all communities big or small.