April 18-20
Hello everyone!
Malawi is quite a small country and I’ve travelled around
most of its highlights. One yet to be seen, however, is its highest.
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| The Mulanje Massif |
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| Tea fields with Mount Mulanje in the background |
Mount Mulanje is tucked away in the southeastern corner of
the Warm Heart of Africa. ‘Tucked away’ is probably the wrong phrase; after
all, it soars to 3,002 metres above sea level. Then again, its upper reaches
are indeed hidden behind fluffy white clouds.
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| Mulanje town is about an hour from Blantyre |
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| The view of the Massif on the way to Mulanje town |
We weren’t climbing to the peak of Sapitwa on this trip.
That name is apparently from ‘sapitidwa’ - ‘the place you cannot reach’. It is
supposed to be quite difficult to get to the peak and its views aren’t said to
be any more special than others you see as you scale Mulanje. In fact, we
hardly climbed it at all, instead content to observe the soaring rock as part
of a stunning background.
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| There are many 'peaks' to scale near the top |
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| The southern side is dominated by tea plantations |
Mulanje has many stories and legends. The most interesting
to me is the idea that JRR Tolkien climbed the mountain and used its
surroundings as inspiration for The Hobbit. Though people think he visited
Malawi, the story is unsubstantiated.
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| The 'Shire' river is nearby! |
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| Malawi would get a lot more tourists if they marketed this as Hobbiton |
Below the big rock, much of this land is tea country - one
of Malawi’s main exports, some of which will probably have ended up in the brew
you’re drinking at the moment. Verdant green bushes stretch for miles, all
neatly cropped to hip height. Though a breathtaking sight, one can only imagine
what natural beauty lay here before it was razed for tea cultivation.
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| Tea pickers, with the canopy being their base |
What you see in these fields as you walk along the
terracotta tracks are off-white canopies, with hessian sacks bobbing up and
down nearby. Those sacks belong to the tea pickers, who spend their days
hand-picking the leaves come rain or shine. In this particular area, they get
paid 1500 Malawian kwacha - $2 - a day.
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| Workers collect leaves and fill their sack |
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| This man asked for a picture, then laughed when he saw it |
This particular area is close to the Mozambican border, away
from the relative hustle and bustle of Mulanje town. Driving from the major
city of Blantyre doesn’t take too long, and is a spectacular journey as the
granite massif looms ever larger from your car. Judging from some of the
driving we saw, it may be quite the distraction, though I think the swerving of
many saloon cars may have been down to what the drivers were drinking.
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| Cycling without a helmet on a 'motorway': suicidal |
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Cycling is the way many get around - this bike belongs to a tea
picker. Not sure how they'll remember where it is... |
The incredible panorama is partly due to the sheer steepness
of the mountain - many of the towns at its base are over 2 kilometres lower. It
probably makes for some steep hiking - I’ve read that reaching the top is a 3
day return trip. Unless you do the Porters Race, a famous half-marathon up and
down the mountain which happens every July. Friends who have done it have
equated it to a marathon because of the sheer incline.
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| We walked the beginning of the 'Skyline Loop' |
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| It's a long walk to the top |
I imagine it is a place I would visit regularly if I lived
in Blantyre. Coming from Lilongwe, it’s likely to be a six-hour journey each
way. I am confident that I’ll be back to climb - though probably not run up -
Mount Mulanje in the future. For now, I’m more than content to gaze up at the
big rock from the vivid tea-studded landscape below.
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| Acacia trees are currently in bloom across Malawi |
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| I hope I'll be back to do the big climb in the future! |
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| Mulanje |
Love you all,
Matt
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