18th August:
I met the supposed 'guide' the two girls had befriended last night, called Dan, who said he'd take us up to Chingwe's hole for free. Turns out he's never been to Chingwe's hole and just wanted to keep us company! We got lost twice but then we got back on path and it still only took us two hours to get to the top - we were walking quickly! I spent nearly the whole walk talking to Dan about Malawi life compared to London life, and he learnt lots about our country and visa versa. We had some really good discussions about opportunities here, and also rights, equality and government corruption. Then the girls taught me a German hiking chant/song, which included me learning the numbers up to 7. When we got to the top I missed the hole completely, walking straight past it to the edge of the mountain top.
I became dizzy because of the view and my eyes couldn't physically focus on the bottom of the valley!
Then the girls called me back to this small area of trees they were huddled around and as I got closer I realised they were all circling this deep dark hole. Chingwe's hole is 60 metres deep, 8 metres in diameter and is about 1,500km high on the top of Zomba Plateau.
Apparently hundreds of years ago everyone would throw all of the sick people (with a certain skin disease) into the hole, and it has lots of spiritual stories linked to it. Some people claim to have heard voices coming from the hole.
I became dizzy because of the view and my eyes couldn't physically focus on the bottom of the valley!
Then the girls called me back to this small area of trees they were huddled around and as I got closer I realised they were all circling this deep dark hole. Chingwe's hole is 60 metres deep, 8 metres in diameter and is about 1,500km high on the top of Zomba Plateau.
Apparently hundreds of years ago everyone would throw all of the sick people (with a certain skin disease) into the hole, and it has lots of spiritual stories linked to it. Some people claim to have heard voices coming from the hole.
Nearby there was also a gorge which was the cherry on top of the incredible views and stomach-flipping heights.
We left the hole at 1pm and after a few seconds of walking we heard shouting and barking coming over the hill. We asked Dan what was happening and he said there was a woman shouting "thief!" and the dogs were running after the robber.
All the locals carrying the wood on bicycles from the top of the plateau, must've taken them the whole day to get down!
All the locals carrying the wood on bicycles from the top of the plateau, must've taken them the whole day to get down!
We waited a few minutes as to not get caught up in the middle of the chaos and then made our way down to our starting point- Ku Chawe Inn. We took a taxi up there this morning, but it cost 7000kw (nearly $10!) so we decided we were going to walk down.
Luckily we caught a lift with a tractor we jumped on and it saved us about an hour of walking.
But when they dropped us off half way down the plateau road we still had another 40 mins walking until we got to the town. Rosa was struggling because her right shoe was hurting her. When she was born her right foot was severely sickled and although she had corrective surgery it's not the same as her left. She walked barefoot for the whole way down, which the locals (and Nadia) found hilarious!
Luckily we caught a lift with a tractor we jumped on and it saved us about an hour of walking.
But when they dropped us off half way down the plateau road we still had another 40 mins walking until we got to the town. Rosa was struggling because her right shoe was hurting her. When she was born her right foot was severely sickled and although she had corrective surgery it's not the same as her left. She walked barefoot for the whole way down, which the locals (and Nadia) found hilarious!
We were so hungry and were relieved when we finally got to the little place in the market which has nsima, vegetables and beans for dinner.
Before we left the market Nadia and I needed to get some warm clothes for Mulanje and I bought a hoody and trackies for the equivalent of £3.70!
I played a few Bawo games with one of the local guys before bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment