te sure how far we were going to have to go or how much of an elevation gain we had to look forward to but we were excited. After a little bit of trouble finding a minibus that was going in our direction (apparently the bigger bus that we'd be planning on left at 6am not 7am) we were on our way to Mulanje. Minibus journeys are usually a little cramped (they more people they can fit into the bus the more money they make), but in this case the journey was very pleasant and broken up by people selling fresh macadamia nuts when we stopped.Once in the village nearest Mulanje mountain we immediately found a guide to take us up the mountain. Our guide's name was
Besta and he helped us get ready for our hike. We found the local market and stocked up on excellent hiking foods like oranges, boiled eggs, and rice and we were off. We decided that we probably didn't need any of the small fried mice that they were selling at the entrance to the market. Our collective reaction to the little fried mice was mostly 'are those what I think they are'. Sometimes being a vegetarian is such a good excuse for being a coward when it come to the local cuisine.
At the base of the mountain we signed the log book and found out what we were up against. Day one: 6 km of distance and 1.3 km in elevation gain. Easy peasy! Right away climb began and my poor out of shape body started to question the whole climbing up a mountain idea. It was very hot and very steep. But, we soldiered on, took several breaks, and eventually the views started to get pretty fantastic. The pictures really don't do it justice, but hopefully you can get a little bit of an idea from looking at them. Every time we came to a stream we stopped for an extended break. Besta told us that we were 'fast' compared to his other clients but somehow I think that his strategy was that a little bit of flattery wouldn't go amiss. We finally arrived at our 'hut' just after dusk. Our hut turned out to be more of a cabin, with beds, blankets, pots, and a watchman. Quite nice actually when you're arriving after dark. We ate well that night (rice, boiled eggs, and oranges are delicious in combination) and the only sour note of the day was when Mike joked about having chocolate with him.
The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed up for another hut on the other side of the mountain. Mulanje is actually a section of igneous rock (?... I think). It started out at the same level as it's surroundings, but being harder than its surroundings, has grown higher and higher over the years. So, Mulanje is a fairly large area with several peaks. We decided to head a really interesting peak 3 or 4 hours away. The walk was much more relaxing on the second day and we walked pretty slowly and took lots of breaks to enjoy the views. We arrived
at our hut around 1pm and decided to be lazy and enjoy the rest of the day at the hut rather than trying to rush and climb any of the surrounding peaks.The hike down on the last day was probably the most strenuous day of all. The path that we took down was spectacular, but extremely steep. My legs resembled jelly by the time we were done. I would say it was all worth it for the views though. We started early and made it to the base of the mountain by 10 am. The minibus that we found for the trip back was a little bit less comfortable, I had zero mobility and Mike didn't move for fear of crushing the chicken sleeping underneath his seat, but we arrived safely back in Blantyre by lunchtime and treated ourselves to a delicious post hike lunch.
A fantastic trip all in all.
Stay tuned for pre-election coverage.
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