Al-Qalam 
To celebrate their 80-year-old father’s love for nature, camping and trail hiking, his children sponsored a public bench at the Mahai campsite in the Berg to honour him, Ismail Suder reports.
For over four decades, 80-year-old Farooq Motala of Johannesburg was a regular camper at the Mahai campsite in the Drakensberg Mountains – but despite failing health, he has not given up on his love for the great outdoors.
Mahai campsite, situated within the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, is about an hour’s drive from either Durban or Johannesburg.
Due to him regularly visiting Mahai camp for over 45 years, virtually all the staff know him, and they are in awe of his zest for camping and the outdoors.
But when COVID struck, Motala became a victim of the deadly virus. Although he survived a Covid attack, it left him debilitated to such an extent that he struggles to walk these days, even to the bathroom.
For a man who could outwalk many of his younger compatriots on the trail, Motalas’s inability to walk was a huge setback for him. When he turned 80 three months ago, his children decided to honour him by sponsoring a public bench at the Mahai campsite, which he considers to be his second home.
At the back of the bench, Motala decided he wanted the poetic words of William Wordsworth pasted on it.
It reads: “Am I still a lover of the woods and mountains and all that we behold from this green earth?”
Below it, the family’s message reads: “Dedicated to our dad, Farouq Motala, on his 80th birthday celebrating 45 years of camping”.
But Motala told Al-Qalam that his inability to walk will not stop him from enjoying the beauty of Mahai campsite. Recently, his family hired a large, fully-kitted Iveco camper van for him to camp in comfort.
The camper van had two comfortable beds and even a toilet.
“Yes, it was nice, but it lacked the raw fun of roughing it out in a traditional canvas tent at the peak of winter. I had to contend with it given my health,” Motala said with a chuckle.
For 45 years, Motala has been camping at Mahai at least three times a year – it’s like a second home, he says.
Asked what he enjoys about hiking at any of the 70 trails at Mahai, Motala’s eyes light up. “It’s the stillness of the footpath, the cool breeze wafting over the mountains, the twittering of birds, and the sound of your footsteps as you navigate the trails. For me, nothing can beat that, ” he added.
Motala said he got hooked into camping by chance when, 45 years ago, a friend dragged him along on a camping trip to Rugged Glen campsite, the only one in the region that was open to “non-white” campers under Apartheid law.
When the Apartheid rule crumbled, the gates of the beautiful Mahai campsite, just a few kilometres away from Rugged Glen, opened its doors to all races. When he first camped there, his jaw dropped at the magnificent beauty of the mountains. Ever since then, He’s been there about three times a year without fail.
Asked about his future plans, Motala says, unfortunately, he is unable to camp like he used to. However, he treasures the memories of the many adventures that he enjoyed with his extended family.
He has one wish, though – to go and sit on the bench that his children sponsored in his honour and reminisce about all the wonderful visits to Mahai and the cherished years that Allah Ta’ala has blessed him with.
If you ever happen to visit Mahai Campsite, go and sit on “Motala’s Bench” and gaze at the misty mountains in the distance, and you’ll understand why it piqued Motala’s interest so much.
