Our first Easter in Malawi was on top of Mt. Mulanje. Once again our dear friends, Deb and Eugene and their sons, provided us with a memorable and wonderful experience. We hiked up the mountain for six hours on Friday and found our first rustic cabin where we spent the night. There we met ten others from a variety of countries in Europe. The hike was steep and reminded us of our climbs up Mt. LeConte. We all slept outside under the porch overhang and enjoyed a beautiful evening without a light or sound of civilization. On Saturday we hiked for five hours along the upper ridge of the mountain to another rustic cabin and shared the space with three families. Rain greeted us for some of the hike but the arrival at the cabin made it all worth while. The trails are very primitive with no markings, except when a trail “fork” was reached. One must rely on a deep trust in the guide (which we hired, along with a few porters to carry our essentials) that he knew where he was headed. Again, we slept on the porch and listened to rain as it pounded the tin roof during the night. Upon awakening, we found the sky covered with stars and a beautiful moon. The stars are so beautiful when there is an absence of human made light to dampen the effect.Easter morning greeted us with chocolate eggs, French toast, and wonderful hot tea. We did a leisurely hike to a natural pool and found some of the most beautiful scenery that one could imagine. Easter was hard as I (Kaye) felt my first serious pangs of homesickness as I remembered hikes, Easter sunrise services, and the fun of dying eggs and hiding them with the kids. I am reminded of how very much I love holidays and the traditions that surround them. It is great to have this family to share our lives with and be able to create new traditions.
Monday we hiked back down to the base of the mountain and cooled our feet in the natural pools formed by the flowing river. The entire weekend was a reminder of the incredible natural beauty of the world and how very fortunate we are to experience this and to be able to share it with each other, our “virtual” friends, and with the Murphys. The four days of hiking found us landing on our butts several times, slipping on very smooth and clay covered rocks and being very thankful when we were back on relatively level ground.
More photos of the mountain and our hike can be found to the left under “Our journeys”.
2 comments:
I'm pooped! After reading about your hike, I seem to be wore out....soaking my feet in the cool water felt heavenly! A missionary couple that our church supports is in Africa and is currently fighting Malaria....how likely are you two to contract that? Dara
Kaye and I take a weekly dose of an anti-Malari medication and also sleep under a mosquito net every night. Not too worried.
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