Zimanga Volunteers Tackle Ghost Mountain
Situated just East of Zimanga Game Reserve are the Lebombo Mountains, running along the border between Mozambique and South Africa, all the way through Kruger National Park and down into KZN. One of the mountains in the range, the infamous "Ghost Mountain", happens to be right across the valley from Zimanga. Our volunteers recently tried to conquer it., and this is one of their stories.
Kitted up, we looked at our journey ahead
of us before taking a deep breath and setting off the only way we could..up.
The sun was high and belting out heat, bodies shocked from sudden physical
exertion, blistered feet, burnt skin and dehydration set in…..this was only 5
minutes into our climb. This was our Everest. Brie egged us on with enthusiasm
as we carried on picking up our deadweight feet. The view at the top was
spectacular and well worth the sweat! The Mkuze river ran straight through the
mountains and we could see the reserve in the distance. Once we all had time to
ourselves we all scrambled for a little shade to eat our well deserved lunch.
Legend has it Ghost Mountain is haunted
strange lights, flickering fires, and strange noises and calls can be seen and
heard from the top. Back in 1819 a section of the Ndwandwe tribe lived at the
bottom of the mountain before they were conquered by the Shaka tribe. They fled
to Mozambique but still carried out their traditional burials of their chiefs
in tombs within the mountains. They did this under the cover of darkness to avoid
detection from the Zulus. It could be the spirits of the Chiefs in these
ancient burial sites that people are experiencing today…….or it could be the
exasperated sounds of GVI attempting to trudge up the mountain.
Niki Merrilees
Long term Intern
GVI Zimanga
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