well, this week will be the last full week of work for me in Malawi. Apart from a trip to look over the venue for my seminar and a day working from home on wednesday due to the threatened demonstrations (which didn't transpire) I have been in the office tweeking the last details for my 'Management Excellence' seminar, getting the advertisement in the local paper and tying up loose ends ready to hand over when I leave next week.
I had been hoping to get down to Majete reserve on my final weekend but Daisy is currently impounded in the garage because of insurance disputes so I had no available transport. I was looking at hiring a car or going by local transport but was begining to feel I was walking through treacle! so when my houemate asked me if I wanted to join a group going down to do a bit of a walk around the Mulanje masif, I took the opportunity and said yes.
We were up and away just gone 6am and I took the wheel as we headed off out of Blantyre and to the mountain. The drive took a little over one and a half hours and we arrived at Kara O Mula country lodge for coffee and breakfast just after 8am.
From Kara O Mula you can get guides (would be quite stupid to walk the mountain without one!) so I asked at reception and they said they would call one and he would be here soon. The guy from reception came back and said the guide had asked if my name was Brian!! on my last visit here I had spoken for about 5 minutes to a guide about the mountain and said I would like to climb it sometime. Amazingly he had remembered my name.
Three hours later! (well, this is Malawi) our guide arrived on foot and sweating. God knows how far he had come but I felt a little sorry for him as he thought we were looking to do the summit which is a two day treck overnighting in a cabin on the plateau but we were only looking at around a two hour walk on the lower slopes as far as the first waterfalls. having made clear what we wanted and agreed a price we got back in the vehicle and drove back to Mulanje and then right onto the dirt track by the pizza house and headed across country, skirting around the mountain towards Kabula and a forest conservation parking spot from where we could treck to what our guide informed us is the mountains number one waterfall.
The picture right is taken from the dirt road as we skirted around the north side of the mountain to the start point for our walk.
We arrived at our start point having wound our way up an increasingly rough track and parked the vehicle off the track in the bush. Our guide tasked a local boy to sit and gaurd the vehicle, which is common procedure and would cost us about 50 kwacha, otherwise the lad as his friends may end up damaging the vehicle! yes, its a bit of a protection racket but it keeps the car safe and puts a little money back in the local economy and after all 50 kw is around 20 pence sterling!
We started off along the trail through the bush and commenced a steady incline. As the journey uphill continued in the mid-day heat I could feel the muscles in my legs tensing up and my heart rate increase as i took deep breaths and stopped intermitently to sip water. My only consolation was the fact that my walking campanions who were all half my age were also feeling somewhat similar. The picture above was taken along a flat part of the trail which followed the course of an old road, now fallen into a state of disrepair, along which they used to bring out timber in years gone by. After about an hour of walking (uphill) we came to the waterfall which was well worth the effort of getting there and even more so when (after checking my underwear was appropriate for revealing infront of my female compannions) i stripped down to my boxers and dived into the cold refreshing waters of the pool at the foot of the waterfall and swam along with our guide across to the rocks on the other side.
we took the opportunity to just enjoy the tranquility and beauty of the place in the heat of the mid-day sun before scrambling back over the rocks and climbing out of the river back up onto the trail.
We headed back down on a different trail and me with my keen eye for anything historic noticed a pot sherd in the grass. having shown our guide he took us a few steps and uncovered numerous large pieces of old cooking pots which he said were all from a time before europeans really habitated the area and that local tribes lived up here on the slopes.
back at the car we paid our 'security guard' and then drove a short distance to look at some more rock pools a little further down stream. Then with the expert local knowledge of our guide we headed off over dirt tracks through several villages towards the tar road that leads from Mulanje through Tholo to Blantyre.
As we passed through one village a group of children came beside the road to see who these strange nzungu's were passing through their village. They were so cute we took photos and then showed them their pictures which had them in hystirics. we gave them a few kwacha each, took some more delightful, memorable pictures and headed off leaving the village and the kids in a cloud of dust.
Once we hit the tar road we dropped off our guide, paid him 2000 kw and thanked him for his work. The tar road was a joy to drive after the rutted, bumpy, dusty tracks we had been on previous and we made good time heading north west arriving at the gates to Satemwa tea estate around 4pm. Once through the barrier we passed through the plantation and its fields of many tea varieties until we arrived at Huntingdon house. We sat on the porch of this beautiful one time tea plantation family home, and ordered drinks. My chilled south african white wine arrived in the usual goldfish bowl glass and we sat chatting as we enjoyed our surroundings to the sound of the water sprinklers watering the lawns around the lovely garden of the house. We stayed at Huntingdon having a wander around the gardens and a stroll out into the tea fields before having more drinks out in the rear courtyard. as darkness fell the bats started returning to their roost above our heads as the manageress confirmed the myth that bats really do sometimes fly into your hair!
With darkness covering the landscape we said our farewells and left Satemwa and drove back to Blantyre. being hungry we decided to end our day at a nice Italian style local restaurant where I had chambo fettucini and more wine. As we dropped off our travelling companions at their various homes we headed back to 'Big Brother House' picking up colleagues from Mustang Sally's as we passed by (not safe to walk the streets at night here despite it being safe during the day). we arrived home some 15 hours after we had left having had a wonderful day out. As my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.
Today (Sunday) i am taking it easy and maybe just going to the sports centre for a swim later. monday and tuesday will be busy and wednesday morning I catch the coach to Lilongwe early for the start of my long journey back home to peterborough, family, friends and loved ones.
Take care all
Brian
Brian,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you are in the Malawi Army but my boyfriend and I are from the US and we have been trying to find Malawi Jump wings! but we cannot find them anywhere. Is there any way you could find some for us? and if you have a paypal account we can send you the shipping cost, I mean if there is a way that you could ship them internationally...we would love to wear your country's parachutist badge!