Last month I scared myself stupid and agreed to climb Sibebe Rock with my friend Anna, what I didn’t realise was that we were going to climb ‘The Face of Sibebe’. Anna nonchalantly suggested we do it and I naïvely agreed, I do like a challenge. What I didn’t realise was that I was going to push myself right to the edge of my comfort zone, bordering the panic zone.
When Anna had initially suggested climbing Sibebe Rock I was delighted. It would be a great end to a fantastic trip to Eswatini and I had never been to the top of Sibebe – which is not a great thing to admit considering I represent Eswatini Tourism in the UK. However, I have tried a number of times but have had to come down after 100m because some of my guests were not that confident on the steep slopes. So I was really pleased I was giving it a go.
The face of Sibebe
I arrived at Anna’s to make lunch before setting off, and whilst we were buttering our sandwiches she suggested climbing ‘The Face’. Anna’s house is actually at the base of Sibebe so I could peer out of a window and look up at the dauntingly high rock. I have to admit at that point it did look very steep and I suspect that my eyes were out on stalks. But Anna reassured me that it was possible and people had done it before, in fact she had. We made an agreement to go to the base of ‘The Face’ ascent and make a judgement call. Obviously it was a very short drive and we were out of the car and getting ready to climb before my brain could really compute the enormity of the task that we had set ourselves. There was no turning back really.
As we started climbing it seemed to be OK, yes it was steep, but it was doable. I predicted that it would be challenging, however I hadn’t predicted how challenging that it was going to be for me in particular. The initial part of the climb is relatively easy, I could just about stand up, although I did have to lean towards the rock face, but it was manageable. You just had to keep going to keep the momentum. Anna was up ahead and was the route finder. There is no particular route up the rock face although every now and again you can see where some people may have trod. Well, it just looked a bit more worn away.
Steeper than it looks
After 10 minutes of upward climbing I was on my hands and sometimes my knees as well, there was no way at this point that I would be able to stand upright without a high chance of me falling backwards and off the rock. It took all my concentration to find the best handholds and footholds and to ignore the screaming of my muscles as they overworked themselves. I had not done much exercise for the past six weeks and it was really taking its toll.
I felt happier following a route on the pinker granite surface than the darker granite surface. Mentally I’d convinced myself that the darker granite surface was slippery, the pink was not. This was probably not the case. But I did have a couple of moments of scrabbling on the darker granite before finding a small ledge to prevent falling further back down the rock face.
We moved from one clump of grass to the next and at times I found myself kneeling on the grass clumps to alleviate the pain in my legs. This was certainly turning out to be a hell of a challenge.
My panic zone
There was a moment when I gently nudged my panic zone. Luckily I had recognised this and had shouted to Anna to keep talking to me – I cannot remember what she said but I just needed something else to concentrate on rather than the fear! The trick is to just keep going and keeping that forward and upward movement. Stopping is not a good idea, as I discovered.
I don’t think I have ever climbed up something so steep before without ropes or a harness. Risk assessments aren’t really a major part of an outdoor lovers activity schedule in Africa. I would certainly never consider guiding anyone up the route we did but I have to say the exhilaration when we got to stop was monumental. When we were very near the top I thought that we had come out of the ‘ danger zone’, but I have to admit I had a little wobble just before the top. This was when my feet lost purpose and I couldn’t make my legs work properly.
After 55 mins of upward purgatory we really did reach the top. And wow was the view rewarding.
I looked down the face that we climbed up and I was surprised that we had made it. Anna also admitted that although she knew people that have done it, it only totalled four! She said that she had been wanting to do it again for a while and a number of people had asked her not to do it, including her Mum. But she said she had confidence that I would say yes, that I would be up for a challenge and that I would be stupid enough to do it. Well, what are friends for?
We ate our lunch overlooking an incredible view whilst I had a fit of the nervous giggles fuelled by an overload of adrenaline.
Popular & more sensible routes up Sibebe
There are lots of different ways to walk up Sibebe, in fact there is even a gentle track on the other side so it is very accessible to all. I would seriously recommend going to top as the scenery and environment there is absolutely spellbinding. And the beauty of it all was that we didn’t see a single person on the way up (obviously!), but also at the top and for most of the way down. Near the bottom we met a local man who was climbing up the rock to go to his homestead on the other side.
That night I dreamt that I was running away from something, scrambling around on all fours – my fingers hurt in the morning.
I will certainly walk up Sibebe again, it is highly recommended. But, if anyone ever hears me considering climbing ‘The Face of Sibebe’ again, they have my permission to shoot me.
There are more pictures here.
Discover a host of other more sensible walks in Eswatini you can do, all of which are not as adrenalin fuelled as the face of Sibebe.