On Saturday, we traveled to the southern region of Malawi to hike a portion of Mount Mulanje, which is the third highest mountain in Africa. At the base of the mountain, vivid green tea plantations fill the landscape. The mountain itself is rocky and grand, with a cloud of mist at its top. Clouds hover around it, adding to its almost mystical presence. There are many myths and legends about this mountain. Some claim they have seen “little people” living at the top of the mountain. Other tales include creatures that lure hikers away, never to be seen again. Some also believe that Tolkien visited Mount Mulanje when in Malawi and that this influenced his descriptions in The Hobbit.
At the bottom of the mountain, we were greeted by several people hoping to serve as our guides, as well as an eager group of vendors showing off their wares of carved wooden crafts made of fragrant cedar, which comes from the mountain. We hired two guides, one to lead us, and the other to remain at the end of the group, for those who needed more time to get up the trail. Lucious was our leader, and Wise One helped those at the end of the group. Lucious said he would take us on the “gentle walk” for our climb. As we walked along, we were treated to magnificent views of the mountain and the beautiful panoramic views of the landscape below and beyond the mountain. We saw a group of monkeys jumping from tree to tree, brilliantly colored flowers of blue and passed many young girls carrying large bundles of fire wood on their heads (and also barefooted) down the mountain.
The climb, however, kept getting steeper and steeper, making it more and more difficult to climb. I was at Mount Mulanje two years ago, and didn’t experience anywhere near the difficulty climbing that I was experiencing on this trek. I kept thinking to myself that I have aged more than I realized in only two years time and/or I am in worse shape than I thought! Did I block all of this out of my memory? Had I forgotten? Or, was I just in bad shape? It seemed to be totally up and down, and my frequent heavy breathing indicated the level of difficulty. It made me feel somewhat better when the students also had to stop to catch their breaths, but I was quite honestly embarrassed about the way I was handling it all. At one point in the walk two people decided to turn and go back. It was too much. I kept going and finally Lucious lead us through dry grasses that were taller than my head. It was at this point that I realized I had not, in fact, been on this route before. When questioned about it, we learned that Lucious (who has served as our guide before) thought this was the same group that comes each year. So, he was taking us on a different route, one that was clearly more challenging!
But, alas, we neared our destination. I hear roaring water in the near distance and it was a sound my ears welcomed. Finally, I saw it….A beautiful waterfall cascading down the side of the mountain, clouds decorating the sky above, and an array of rocks at the bottom of the falls. It was here that we paused to eat lunch and take in the refreshing view. We took several group photos and enjoyed the scenery.
The way back down was much easier, but we had to watch our every step, for fear of slipping. We were all happy we had “conquered” Mount Mulanje, or at least a portion of it. Our gentle walk was over. We were told that it takes about 12 hours to walk to the top. Each year, there is a Porters Race to the top and the winner usually makes it (often without shoes) in two hours. Amazing!
Following the hike, we drove to Blantyre, where we visited Annie Fletcher’s new Annie’s Lodge. We were greeted by her beautiful daughter Catherine, who had prepared high tea for us. We enjoyed tea, sweets and good conversation. The new lodge is beautiful and I think it will do very well. I was quite impressed. Annie and her family always go to such great lengths to make us welcome. It was the perfect ending to an adventurous day!
0 comments:
Post a Comment