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We didn't know much about Malawi except that our good friend Phil Rinn, had attempted to climb Mt. Mulanje massif, and in particular, Sapitwa Peak in the south. He was doing this to raise some money for a charity he was working at in Malawi, called Ripple Africa….. and he highly recommended the climb.
A long, but beautiful bus ride gave us a taste of the spectacular Malawian scenery, as we came off the high plateau of Lilongwe town, down to the lowlands in Blantyre. Some amazing peaks and rock formations along the way, with some large plateaus poking up high above the flats. I must admit, it was a beautiful drive, and I was able to enjoy it more as the bus driver was actually a decent driver.
In Blantyre, we had a quick turnaround at the local supermarket, to stock up on food for our hike, then we were off to Mulanje town by minibus. I'm not sure if many of you know, but at present, Malawi is having a major fuel crisis, and we hear about it everywhere we go. It is definitely a reality, but used as an excuse everywhere we go to charge more money for anything, especially the minibuses.
Apparently, the good ole president has spent far too much of the foreign exchange currency on things like helicopters, jets, inland harbours, and probably more frivolous things, and now there is no more For-Ex money left to import fuel to the country. This is quite difficult to imagine, but it is definitely a reality, as you see massive lines of cars at fuel stations, most of them waiting days for the fuel truck to arrive. Given this, most of the fuel is bought on the black market at exorbitant prices, hence the increased pricing of everything.
Well, it turned out that this minibus to Mulanje didn't have enough fuel to make it there, so just stopped in a town halfway and told us - only fate about 20 minutes - to hop out. Luckily, we did catch another, but this meant we would be doing something we did not like to do - arrive after dark!!
Because of this, we got dropped off at the wrong place and had to spend a night at a pretty dingy little place. We decided not to move on with all our possessions an stayed put.
It could have been worse though, and the next morning we hitched a ride in the local ambulance, back to the small town of Chitikale, to the mountain office, where info-man Richard got us all sorted with a route, guide and porter!!
After a final shop for veggies and fruit to load down our poor little porter, Limbani, we were on our way. Right out of the back of town, it was a beautiful walk. We started through the large, rolling green tea plantations, before starting up the massif. The fields were lovely, especially with the huge wall of Mt Mulanje behind. From the base in town at 650m, we were to head to the first night's hut at about 2000m (1400m/4600 ft vertical). A big day, and the climb was steep. Saving grace was, that even with the intense heat, there was good wind that kept us a little cool.
Without the porter, this one would have been a hell of a grunt with all of our food, as it was straight up!! On the way, we hit some nice cooling rivers, to lower the body temperature. The views on the way up were amazing of the tea plantations below, and the different peaks in the distance as far as Mozambique. Just as we arrived at the plateau, the clouds rolled up and in. It was nice and cool to be in the mist, and we finished our first day with a final hour in the rain.
The CCAP hut appeared suddenly out of the mist, and we were well taken care of there, by the aptly named 'caretaker' of the hut - Boniface. He built us a fire to cook on, and boiled water for us to have a bucket shower with. After a good feast of tuna pasta we hit the sack early, as things start so early in the morning here.
We woke up to more fog, and hiked the entire day under the shroud of mist. Cooling to walk in, but no views to speak of, but still, it was atmospheric and had a beauty of its own. Even at our destination, the Chisepo Hut, we were socked-in. At the time, I imagined how impressive the views must be from here, but we would have to wait and see.
We met with two brothers, Fellipe and Fernando from Brazil, who in honour of their good friend, Gabriel, were climbing to retrace his footsteps. Gabriel died on the mountain in 2009, after fog rolled in and was lost for 3 days before passing. He had decided against a guide, and that turned out to be a big mistake. A sad story for sure, but Felipe and Fernando were here for a bit of closure, and to bring some items for his memorial at the top.
That evening, the clouds cleared and we could see lights of the town, now about 1600m below. Also, the stars and almost-full moon lit up Sapitwa (the peak) from behind giving us a good feeling about the day to follow.
A cool night's sleep on the cabin floor near the fire, and we awoke early for our summit bid, to clear skies above and a sea of cloud below in the valley. I love being above the clouds, and this was definitely no exception. We set off at 5:30 and were quickly greeted by the steep rock face that was going to be our escalator up. It was all on the toes and balls of the feet up, but thankfully it wasn't wet, as it would have been extremely slick and dangerous-going. Upon gaining most of the vertical, we then had to traverse across to the 3001m summit. It was up and down on big boulders, and even though the summit was in sight, it took some time to get there. We both enjoyed the surprise golden field of grasses near the summit.
After 4 or 5 hours, we finally summitted, and had the panoramic 365 degree views all across Southern Africa (or so it seemed)!! Maybe just a prelude to our Kilimanjaro climb. It was a special scene up there, made even more emotional with Fellipe and Fernando, as they spent about 2 hours up there remembering their good friend, and celebrating his life in quiet reflection.
The way down was even tougher, as those steep rock faces now created difficult footwork, and our legs got super-sore from pointing straight down for hours. We were satisfied, but exhausted when we got back to Chisepo Hut about 1:30PM. But because of a little poor planning, we had to quickly cook and eat lunch, then head on to our next hut, Thuchilya. We could have easily just parked ourselves at Chisepo, to receiver, but the plan was to hike 3 more hours across what was supposed to be flat-ish terrain. It was reasonable, and again stunning, but we were so tired upon arrival, we ate and went straight to bed falling asleep before our heads hit the pillow.
In the morning, we again awoke to sunshine and wonderful views back to the peaks and to the flatlands below.
Today was down, down, down, and quite quickly. My legs were not happy about this, because I would much prefer the slow slog of uphill, vs. the strains of going down. The leg quads will hurt tomorrow!!! Finally reaching town, we had some fun with the locals, whilst our guide Liaison and porter Limbani kept watching over us like good responsible chaperones. They were also trying to arrange a ride back to Chitikale in the minibus to finish the trip out in style - yep, crammed into yet another minibus on some bumpy roads, with some friendly albeit, a little-smelly locals. This time, our body odour probably matched theirs and we really didn't care.
Things Michelle will remember:
1. The intense vivid green of the rolling tea plantations that went on for what seemed, forever.
2. Walking in the fresh thick mist at the top of the plateau when suddenly (and thankfully) the CCAP hut came into extremely-welcome sight only about 80 feet away.
3. The painful ascent walking on the balls of our feet.
4. The amazing colour of the tall golden wheat-like grasses contrasted against the cornflower-blue skies - so tall that you could only just make out each other walking through it!
5. The stunning views of the (20+) peaks of the massif.
6. Waking to something moist and moving on her neck on the final night - which turned out to be a 2 inch millipede. Eeeeww.
7. Having fun with the locals as we came into the village at the end of the hike: Signalling to an older lady with a variety of things balanced on her head, if she wanted to join in a photo. Without a second thought, she literally threw all her stuff to the ground and ran over not wanting to miss out on such an opportunity, and before we might change our minds! It was great to see her child-like spontaneity and the joy other face as she saw herself on the screen afterwards!
*Stub
 |
| Michelle and Leason starting out through the tea plantations |
A long, but beautiful bus ride gave us a taste of the spectacular Malawian scenery, as we came off the high plateau of Lilongwe town, down to the lowlands in Blantyre. Some amazing peaks and rock formations along the way, with some large plateaus poking up high above the flats. I must admit, it was a beautiful drive, and I was able to enjoy it more as the bus driver was actually a decent driver.
In Blantyre, we had a quick turnaround at the local supermarket, to stock up on food for our hike, then we were off to Mulanje town by minibus. I'm not sure if many of you know, but at present, Malawi is having a major fuel crisis, and we hear about it everywhere we go. It is definitely a reality, but used as an excuse everywhere we go to charge more money for anything, especially the minibuses.
 |
| Night View of Chisepo Hut and Sapitwa behind |
Well, it turned out that this minibus to Mulanje didn't have enough fuel to make it there, so just stopped in a town halfway and told us - only fate about 20 minutes - to hop out. Luckily, we did catch another, but this meant we would be doing something we did not like to do - arrive after dark!!
 |
| Chisepo Hut in the Morning above a bed of clouds |
It could have been worse though, and the next morning we hitched a ride in the local ambulance, back to the small town of Chitikale, to the mountain office, where info-man Richard got us all sorted with a route, guide and porter!!
After a final shop for veggies and fruit to load down our poor little porter, Limbani, we were on our way. Right out of the back of town, it was a beautiful walk. We started through the large, rolling green tea plantations, before starting up the massif. The fields were lovely, especially with the huge wall of Mt Mulanje behind. From the base in town at 650m, we were to head to the first night's hut at about 2000m (1400m/4600 ft vertical). A big day, and the climb was steep. Saving grace was, that even with the intense heat, there was good wind that kept us a little cool.
 |
| With Limbani and Leason on the Summit of Sapitwa |
The CCAP hut appeared suddenly out of the mist, and we were well taken care of there, by the aptly named 'caretaker' of the hut - Boniface. He built us a fire to cook on, and boiled water for us to have a bucket shower with. After a good feast of tuna pasta we hit the sack early, as things start so early in the morning here.
 |
| Martin on Sapitwa with Chambe Peak in the Background |
We met with two brothers, Fellipe and Fernando from Brazil, who in honour of their good friend, Gabriel, were climbing to retrace his footsteps. Gabriel died on the mountain in 2009, after fog rolled in and was lost for 3 days before passing. He had decided against a guide, and that turned out to be a big mistake. A sad story for sure, but Felipe and Fernando were here for a bit of closure, and to bring some items for his memorial at the top.
 |
| Sunset Near Thuchilya Hut |
A cool night's sleep on the cabin floor near the fire, and we awoke early for our summit bid, to clear skies above and a sea of cloud below in the valley. I love being above the clouds, and this was definitely no exception. We set off at 5:30 and were quickly greeted by the steep rock face that was going to be our escalator up. It was all on the toes and balls of the feet up, but thankfully it wasn't wet, as it would have been extremely slick and dangerous-going. Upon gaining most of the vertical, we then had to traverse across to the 3001m summit. It was up and down on big boulders, and even though the summit was in sight, it took some time to get there. We both enjoyed the surprise golden field of grasses near the summit.
 |
| Thuchilya Hut |
The way down was even tougher, as those steep rock faces now created difficult footwork, and our legs got super-sore from pointing straight down for hours. We were satisfied, but exhausted when we got back to Chisepo Hut about 1:30PM. But because of a little poor planning, we had to quickly cook and eat lunch, then head on to our next hut, Thuchilya. We could have easily just parked ourselves at Chisepo, to receiver, but the plan was to hike 3 more hours across what was supposed to be flat-ish terrain. It was reasonable, and again stunning, but we were so tired upon arrival, we ate and went straight to bed falling asleep before our heads hit the pillow.
In the morning, we again awoke to sunshine and wonderful views back to the peaks and to the flatlands below.
 |
| The Descent down Elephants Head - Sapitwa on Left |
Things Michelle will remember:
1. The intense vivid green of the rolling tea plantations that went on for what seemed, forever.
2. Walking in the fresh thick mist at the top of the plateau when suddenly (and thankfully) the CCAP hut came into extremely-welcome sight only about 80 feet away.
3. The painful ascent walking on the balls of our feet.
 |
| Martin in the Wheat-like Grasses high up Sapitwa |
5. The stunning views of the (20+) peaks of the massif.
6. Waking to something moist and moving on her neck on the final night - which turned out to be a 2 inch millipede. Eeeeww.
7. Having fun with the locals as we came into the village at the end of the hike: Signalling to an older lady with a variety of things balanced on her head, if she wanted to join in a photo. Without a second thought, she literally threw all her stuff to the ground and ran over not wanting to miss out on such an opportunity, and before we might change our minds! It was great to see her child-like spontaneity and the joy other face as she saw herself on the screen afterwards!
*Stub
1 comment:
This post inspired us to visit Mt. Mulanje. And we are back from our 2 day trip. In the given time we were able to visit Chambe. Thank you so much for inspiring us.
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