Ben Nevis trek!

Climbing the Ben Nevis Mountain was never on my bucket list, but I soon found myself in Scotland standing in front of Ben Nevis. Although we were in the middle of August, the clouds were heavy, and it had covered the peak of the mountain. I tilted my face and stared up at this giant beauty. I was in awe. It was so beautiful! I always imagined mountains to be white, and really scary. Ben Nevis, however, was absolutely stunning. It was green, all green and so inviting. There was stream of water gathering somewhere, probably forming a big lake. I had to pinch myself because I was still in a daze; I had never seen a mountain this close! Being from London, mountains were something which was really out of reach for us.

For those who have never heard of the Ben Nevis, it is the tallest mountain in Britain and stands peacefully in Scotland. There are many people who attempt to climb the mountain each year, a lot of them who are amateur like me. The summit is the remains of a very ancient volcano! I had never climbed a mountain before so Ben Nevis was a massive deal for me. Anyway so there I was standing in front of this giant mountain. I am a strong believer in God’s beauty and this confirmed to me that God really did care about his creation. The way this mountain was so carefully structured and moulded I could not believe it!

Our guide gave us a safety briefing and gave us some tips. I was with a large group of young people who had also never climbed before, so we were all so nervous. As we began our ascent, we all huddled together so that no one gets lost and so that we were all at the same pace. Our guide told us the best way to start was start slowly, and to take smaller steps. As we climbed, I remember thinking to myself that it is not as difficult as I thought it would be. How wrong was I!  The views of the world beneath me was something I could not even comprehend. It gives me goosebumps even writing about this! As I tilted over to look at what was over the cliff, I remember seeing loads and loads of trees, lakes and masses of greenery. It was so stunning, it was out this world.

The guide had told us the trek would probably take up to 4 hours to climb. We were onto our second hour and we were still not even halfway up. It was probably the most difficult and most challenging thing I have ever done. I remember sitting down because I was so tired and mentally drained. The guide started barking at me to move and walk otherwise my muscles would stiffen. I just could not do it. My legs were hurting so much. One of the girls from the group sat down with me and massaged my leg for me. A lot of the team members had began to wander up by themselves. I guess it was each man for himself! The guide had then told me if  was tired then I should just turn back. However, he did remind me that my mind can cope with it. It was just my body giving up so if I really wanted to carry on then I would need to train my mind to see that I was strong and I was capable. The 5 minute mental strength talk got me up on my feet and ready to tackle the next 2 to 3 hours. However, many people began to turn back and go back down because they could not do it anymore. I didn’t blame them; it was probably more mentally tiring than physically. I remember having so many urges to turn back but I kept telling my mind to continue and to walk. As we climbed higher, it began to rain, it became harder to breath and we were in the clouds so we could barely see anything in front of us. People kept disappearing into the clouds, and there was a moment when I got slightly scared thinking everyone left me and that I was on  my own.

I don’t know what kept me going; I guess it was what the guide had said about being mentally strong. Every step I took, I had to constantly remind myself that this was a challenge that I could overcome because although my body was tiring out, my mind was going. My mind was encouraging my body to keep going, to keep walking and that nothing was stronger than my own mind.

It took me five hour to reach the summit. We all clapped when we reached there. I just flopped back onto a rock, catching my breath. I didn’t know the people in my group, but we all hugged and cheered. It was such a beautiful feeling to know that I had climbed the biggest mountain in Britain and that it was all down to me. I made myself do one of the most challenging tasks, and I did it without fail. I was so proud of myself. As we were so high up in the clouds, we could not get a view of what was below us. However, this didn’t ruin my mood. I was just so relieved to have achieved such an a difficult challenge. After climbing Ben Nevis, I always find myself reflecting on this. Now when I come across a difficult task, I always remind myself that if I could climb Ben Nevis, I can do anything!

Atlas Mountain Trek!

While we were out in Marrakech, we decided to do the Atlas Mountain Trek. We booked the trek the night before and we didn’t have the slightest idea what the trek would entail.

“They’ll probably drive us up to the foot of the mountain,” my sister had said. I nodded, maybe that’s all we would do and I was quite happy with that. My sisters and I did not come prepared to Morocco. We had no trainers or solid shoes. My sister had a pair of sandals, I had a pair of Flossy shoes and my younger sister had a pair of Converses. I guess Converse trainers were, at least, a bit more sensible than what I had on.

On the morning of the trek, we were awake early and ready to go. As we left our hotel, a slight breeze ruffled our clothes. My sisters and I looked at each other; no jackets and no sensible shoes. Let’s just hope the trek didn’t actually involve any trekking! A minibus waited for us outside our hotel. As we climbed into the bus, we noticed other people staring us probably thinking ‘typical British tourists.’ They were tourists themselves, but they were dressed appropriately and seemed to understand what the term ‘trek’ actually meant.

“Never mind,” I shrugged. I was sure they weren’t going to take us up to an actual mountain. The sun, however, made it’s appearance gradually and the temperature began to rise.

Finally, we had arrived at the foot of the mountain and our tour guide told us that we will first stop to see the Berber women who make Argan Oil. That was a fascinating experience; there were a couple of women on the floor who were crushing the seeds against a large metal tin. This was supposed to be the first part of the process. They use the seeds to make oil, and some of it was used for cosmetic reasons while another oil was made to put in food. We all purchased some oil and took pictures of the mountains ahead of us.

“Ok, now we will go up to the mountain,” our tour guide shouted to get everyone’s attention. “Follow me.”

“What?!” I heard my sister screech.

I looked down at sister’s feet. She had on a pair of pink sandals with little straps across the sandals. I tried not to laugh. We looked up ahead at the mountains in front of us; it didn’t look too difficult. There were little Berber children running up and down like it was a normal path.

“But they live here, for them is second nature,” my sister grumbled.

We had no other choice but to do this task, That’s what holidays are for aren’t they? To do something a little daring and challenging?

We trekked. It went smoothly! There were a few times when we got stuck or almost slipped but we did it! We didn’t go right to the top because that could take days. We trekked till we got to the famous Marrakech waterfalls. It was so beautiful and so serene; the trek was worth doing. Water was flowing down smoothly making little splashes as it touched the ground.

We ended the day by stopping near the foot of the mountain where there was a little outdoor restaurant. As we ate our food, we admired the beautiful mountains right in front of us.