Malawi

After leaving Zambia last Thursday I decided I would take the seven day whirlwind tour of its neighboring countries starting with Malawi. Unlike Zambia which seems to be relatively flat and full of low lying trees and bush, the Malawi country side is made up of rolling green savanna plains with single crater like mountains that jut out of the ground every 10 - 20 miles. It is very green right now which hasn't been the case in the past three years. Malawi has faced some of the worst droughts in its history and many people have died. Its hard to believe after seeing how green and fertile the land is but this only comes after the past year of unseasonable amounts of rain.

I decided after spending a couple nights in the city of Blantyre that I would head to Mt. Mulanje in the southern highlands to try and climb one of Southern Africa's highest peaks. Sapitwa Peak in the Mulanje mountains is 3002 meters high and surrounded by several other 2500+ meter peaks including Chombe and Landa Landa. Although very beautiful I had heard that because it is the rainy season it was a bad time to climb and not advisable from a safety standpoint. However being from Seattle, I couldn't help think that rain wasn't going to be a problem as long as I wasn't cold.

My journey to Mt. Mulanje consisted of two minivan rides lasting around two hours where I was squished into a backseat with my backpack on my lap, then a pickup truck ride from the main road to the trail head where myself and 15 others either sat, knelt, or stood in the bed for 5km, then a 1km walk after learning a bridge had been washed out. No problem!

As I was walking towards the trail head, a small fellow about 5' 5'' walking the opposite direction walked up to me, inquired if I was climbing the mountain, and asked if I needed a guide. Seeing that he was so small and that my pack was almost the size of him, I had to ask if he could handle my pack. I think he felt a bit insulted so I quickly told him yes, as the cost of paying to have someone carry your pack in Africa is close to nothing. After negotiating a fair price, he proceeded to change directions, he grabbed my pack, picked up some maize flour at the market, and with exactly what he was wearing, we were off. Now thats what I call being ready to go!

Our first day of climbing consisted of a three hour straight up hill climb with absolutely no switchbacks. It was like the "Cable Line" trail on steroids for some of you familiar with Washington hiking. This was followed by a two hour romp through beautiful pine and cedar forests, then two hours through some of the thickest bush I've ever seen which had me wishing I would have stayed in Blantyre.


After finally breaking away from the bush, we were finally in the mountains, and after several more hours of climbing, we were finally at the hut. Yes, hut and this was one of the nicest huts I've ever seen. It had just been built by the forest service and was all mine as there was no other climbers on the mountain.




The views from the hut were unbelievable as I could see all the way to the northern part of Malawi and even parts of Lake Malawi.






After chugging down some hot soup and a warm beer, I was asleep by 7am with plans to get up around 4am to catch the sunrise on top. Around 10pm it started to rain and did it ever rain. For 5-6 hours the rain came down hard and with a tin roof over our heads, it was hard getting any further sleep. It sounded like there as a tin pot band just outside the door having one of their greatest concerts ever.

We awoke at 5am once it finally stopped raining and proceeded to start up the mountain. After an hour of hiking on slippery moss covered boulders with no hand or footholds, I knew it was going to be difficult going. We proceeded for another 1/2 hour or so and after slipping several times on the steep boulders and with another 500 meters to the top, I reluctantly had to call it quits or risk coming down the mountain on my tummy rather then my feet.

All was not lost though as hiking thru the Mulanje mountain range was a wonderful experience with some of the best views I've seen in Africa to date. It was tough but well worth the effort. Not sure if I'll ever be back but I'm glad I gave it a go.






After getting down to the bottom late Sunday afternoon, transport to the main road was tough to come by so I hired the next best thing. My pack needed its own bike. :)




My next stop, Zimbabwe, and another 10 hour bus ride. Joy!!