June 1st, Saturday
Mt. Mulanje
Today
the crew woke up around 6am in order to get ready, eat breakfast, and get
everything together to be on the road by 8am. It’s kind of funny how easy it’s
been to wake up so early here, a couple of us were talking about how waking up
and going to bed are both so easy here, it must just be some of the magic that
goes on. The sun rises around 5:30am every morning and I feel that because it’s
so warm and bright so early, waking up isn’t a chore anymore. We all got onto
the bus and headed out for our 3-½ hour drive to Mt. Mulanje! The trip is
really only around 2 hours but because some of the roads we are taking are
literally piles of dirt, it takes longer to get there. Driving here is so
different than what I’m used to. People here drive on the opposite sides of the
road and instead of having right on red; it’s left on red. The drivers are also
on the right side of the car, which makes driving here very interesting to me.
We finally arrived to Mt. Mulanje
around noon! By mistake I told you that it was the highest mountain in Africa
but it’s really the 3rd highest mountain. Which, after hiking this
bad boy, I couldn’t imagine the top 2. On our way to the start of the hike we
picked up 2 mountain guides, Sanderson and Patrick. They were both telling us
about the race up the mountain that happens in July. The contestants literally
run up the mountain and the best time ever recorded was 2 ½ hours. We asked
them if they wore shoes and they said they do if only they can afford it, which
was crazy to me. The first 5 minutes of walking up the mountain I was already
out of breath so I couldn’t imagine sprinting up it. As we were walking I saw a
large group of women walk down the mountain. These women were as young as 7 and
as old as 50 and some women were even doubling up with a baby strapped to their
back. The women were carrying large stacks of wood ON THEIR HEADS. Yes,
balancing 25-40 lbs of wood on their head while walking down a mountain, oh and
they were barefoot. I was in total amazement and immediately regretted any
complaining I had done within the first five minutes. I had shoes, I had water,
this was a one-time trip for me, and I didn’t have a bundle of sticks on my
head so I had nothing to whine about. Even with what I would consider to be a
terrible job of carrying sticks up and down mountains these ladies didn’t fail
to smile at us as we passed them. They would even stand aside so we could get
by, which made me feel like such a snobby American. I honestly just want to hug
all of these people because they are literally the kindest people I have ever
known and it’s just natural for them.
It took us about 45minutes to 1
hour to get to the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. The whole hike
itself was breathtaking; the amount of green that was around me just took my
breath away. While walking up this mountain I felt like I was in this perfect
fantasyland. One of our walking guides, Sanderson, started going up this cliff
and stripping his clothes; needless to say we were confused. But then he stood
on the edge and jumped right into the water, it was so amazing! Naturally, Liz
climbed up right after him and like a champ, jumped off without any hesitation.
By the way, the water is freezing cold. The next thing I knew when I turned
around there was a line forming to jump off the cliff. Liz went 1 more time and
then her and Amy jumped off together, which was adorable. I really did want to
give it a try because it’s probably an experience I won’t have again here in
Malawi but the low tolerance I have for wet clothes mixed with another hour of
hiking got the best of me. Looking back now I wish I would have jumped but I
was the official photographer for the other people so at least I was able to
capture their memories! It was great getting to watch everyone and they seemed
to have really loved it. Dr. Kelly said that this was the first group to ever
get into the water and that she was terrified for us, no one was hurt though,
only good memories were made. We headed out after the cliff jumping and I
thought the walk down would be better but honestly I am clearly just out of
shape. My legs felt like blobs of jello and I didn’t feel in control at all of
how I was walking, which I am sure was entertaining to the ones around me. A
group of us towards the front were coming down this certain part of the
mountain and it was so slick that we were falling over like little dominos
every 30 seconds, it was quite hilarious.
Once we got down to the bus we
drove a little ways to the vendors of Mulanje. The vendors specialized in cedar
carvings and had some of the most beautiful pieces! Dr. Kelly told us not to
buy anything the first time because once we got on the bus the vendors would
run up to us with much better prices than they started out with. Genius is all
I have to say. The minute we were on the bus the vendors were running up to us
with the items we had our eyes on and were ½ing all of the prices, it was the
funnies thing I have ever seen. I didn’t see anything that I absolutely loved
so I got the pleasure of watching everyone around me shout prices and hand
money out the window and barter with the vendors. It kind of reminded me of the
scene from Mean Girls when they are in the cafeteria and it turns into jungle
mode and everyone goes wild. This was a jungle for sure. I didn’t even want
anything but the blood in my veins was pumping so much that I bought this
little elephant wooden statue for 500 Kwacha, which is a little under $2.00 in
American money. The bus was moving and the vendors were literally running after
the bus and still making deals. It was so exciting to watch and everyone got really
wonderful deals. Stephanie, who was sitting behind me, bought two tables and
was telling us she didn’t even need 1 but the excitement of the bartering just
got her adrenalin going, haha.
The bus ride home was
semi-terrifying. As I said before, the roads are literally just dirt. The sun
here also sets at exactly 5:30pm everyday so we were on the back roads in
absolute darkness. I was scared for my life a couple of times but we made it
home safely. Our bus driver, Willie, is really wonderful and I didn’t doubt his
driving at all, just the roads. We were all so exhausted after we got home so
Liz and I watched The Little Mermaid and fell asleep by 9pm. In case you were
wondering, we’re really wild.
Until then,
Xoxo
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