Day 45: climbing Mt Mulanje

20th August:

Mount Mulanje - Day 1:

 

The two girls and I were up at 6am and packed one big rucksack for the porter to carry and then two normal ones for us to take it in turns carrying. The chips and a fried egg for breakfast (?) as it was the only option, then waited nearly an hour for our taxi driver who was very late! This meant we started an hour later than we wanted to, so we were climbing in the heat of the sun for most of the day.

Our guide Fred had hurt his neck or something, so his brother Witness was going to be our guide instead, but Witness's English wasn't great and he wasn't as friendly or chatty as Fred which was a bit of a downer. We felt bad for the porter because the bag that we gave him to carry was way over the 18kg limit, it was more like 24/25kg!! I think we'll have to give him a big tip!

Left the bottom at 8ish from Likhibula Forestry Station.


After a gruelling steep 3 hour uphill climb we arrived at the Chambe basin (the top of plateau and bottom of the Chambe peak (another peak of Mulanje mountain)

At 10:30 we ate a couple slices of bread with butter, an apple and banana, two biscuits: lunch!
After lunch the terrain was much flatter, thank god!
 

      
Rosa refilling her water bottle               This wobbly thing was the only way across!

Left at 11 and after a few hours of walking (felt like much longer) I saw a big peak and thought it was Sapitwa.. Nope, Sapitwa was behind it and we only saw it after another hour of walking over this peak, but it was above the clouds!

The terrain was quite slippy and although my trainers are reasonably grippy, they weren't walking boots like the others had. Throughout the day we all slipped a bit but we always caught our balance and carried on. The one exception to this was when we were less than 10 minutes to Chisepo hut (we could see it!) and I must've gotten so excited that I didn't concentrate on my footing. Of course I slipped and cut my hand on a rock 10 minutes from the end of the day! After 6 hours of hiking we arrived at Chisepo Hut at 2:30, leaving just over 3 hours before sunset.

We all bagsied a little sleeping mat and a spot on the floor in the hut then washed in the freeeezing stream and put on all our warmest clothes for the cold night ahead. 

He girls and I at out on top of a big rock outside the hut and soaked in the sun's last rays until we started cooking dinner over the open fire at 4pm. Rice, baked beans, green lettuce/cabbage stuff & tomatoes & onions. Gourmet meal- we were so hungry!

  

It suddenly turned very cold between 4 and 5 and we decided this was the appropriate time to start boiling the water for our hot chocolate. It turned out to be pretty disappointing, but it was better than nothing.

   Nothing like seeing a sunset 2000 metres high!

I went to go ask Witness about the sleeping bag I had rented from Info Mulanje, but when Nadia and I stepped outside we were star struck... Literally! I keep saying in my blog that I have never seen so many stars, but this one tops them all! 

I. Have. Never. Seen. So. Many. Stars! 

It was mesmerising.

We reached the staff hut and asked the guys outside sitting by the fire for Witness and they said he was already in the hut. We found him lying on the floor in the hut and asked him about the sleeping bag and he got up and started rolling up the sleeping bag he was just in! We said "no no no what are you doing that's yours!?" And he said that he had his own, but we didn't believe him. To make matters worse he was wearing his shorts and a tshirt. In comparison... I was wearing a vest, a long sleeved top, another top, and then a thick woollen jumper, and a big hoody over the top. Plus my sarong as a scarf. It was cold! I felt so bad for taking his sleeping bag but he said it was the one I rented and that he was fine so we left.

We all sat by the fire chatting with the other hikers and warming up before bed. There's nothing quite like sitting by a fire up in the mountains after a long day of hiking. I'm going to sleep well tonight (if the cold doesn't keep me up)!