Clarens & The Kingdom:

A Fabtastic Weekend of Adventures and Mountain Magic

Let’s start with the obvious; an invisible gun was held to my head to drive to this weekend getaway. 😂 And I mean it. Everyone and I do mean everyone knows I despise driving. I’m a professional passenger, highly qualified and highly experienced, with a passion for my craft. So, the fact that I “voluntarily” drove 3.5 hours to Clarens? I deserve an Oscar. 😂

Now that I’ve finished venting, let’s get into it.

One weekend. Two countries. A mountain or three, and a whole lot of steps and LOTS of pictures.

We arrived in Clarens, a beautiful accommodation spot, on a cold winter night, high up on the hill, the house was 2km away from the entrance gate. But who’s counting? We were ready to forget adulting for few days. Clarens is a beautiful small town situated in the foothills of gorgeous Maluti Mountains in the Eastern Free State Province. If you’ve never been to this town, you are missing out.

Our weekend was filled with laughter, hikes, spectacular views, and more walking than I do in a regular month. The plan was to hike a chilled 10km hike on Friday, get back for an early dinner, braai and conversation around the fire. The reality was we ended up hiking 24km, all thanks to those who were in front of us and holding a map. I won’t mention names. 😂😂

On Friday morning, we started with what was first in our agenda: hiking. First mountain we conquered was the Titanic.  It’s called Titanic because it literally looks like a ship. Seeing it from afar was amazing. We were all excited to see this mountain up close and be on top of it. We climbed it to the top and let me tell you the satisfaction was fabtastic. Our quads may have been screaming, but our spirits were singing. The rest of other mountains we climbed were not as “famous”.

So, picture this; we’re mid-hike, and the lead group (with the map, naturally) texts us the route we needed to follow. We were all not familiar with the route hence the map. We followed the instruction, and we walked, and we walked and we walked some more. Then we see a spot in the distance and tell ourselves, “there’s No way we’re going there; it’s way too far.” Spoiler alert: we were going there. And this probably happened to us three times. Like a great packet of slap chips, it kept pulling us back in.

But we pushed on, at no point did any of us think of taking a break because we had no clue how far we had left. Just fabtastic conversations, epic views, and the kind of exhaustion that made you question your life choices. lol

After surviving on the reserve tank, we strolled into town. “Stroll” being the lie we told ourselves. It was 2km downhill into town. And then, because life isn’t fair, another 2km back up to the house. At some point, we saw the house in the distance, just 50 meters away but it felt like 1,000km. Bless bra Vuyi, who came and rescued us with a car. From 50 meters away. Yes. It was that serious. Don’t judge. After all this we still had our braai and conversations, call us crazy but after good body, leg stretches and nice shower we forgot all about 24km.

The next day, we switched countries like true globetrotters and headed into the Kingdom of Lesotho for some snow filled fun at AFRI -SKI, a stunning 3,222m above sea level. If this wasn’t on your bucket list add it now. Even if you don’t ski, like me, just being there is magic, buzzing, seeing all people from different walks of life. We played on the snow, others were bum boarding, and I used many of my talents and took videos and pictures of them. So much happened here can’t put it in writing, pictures will be my reciepts.

YOH! The drive up; Hair-raising. Literally. I have never in my life seen so many hairpins turns on a single road. It was gut wrenching in a good way. Thank goodness I wasn’t driving (remember, I’m a professional passenger). I was doing what I do best: taking pictures, offering driver some snacks services, and clutching my seat during the sharp turns. The whole experience, border posts, the people, was amazing.  Muscles were sore, spirits were high and souls well fed.  All in all, this weekend was everything:

• Two countries ✅
• Mountains conquered ✅
• Snow experienced ✅
• Endless laughter ✅
• And memories for days ✅

We celebrated milestones, hiked more than intended, made it through dramatic elevations and emotions, and came back a little more alive than before.

On to the next adventure!

Until next time, my Fabtastic people
Moira