The last few weeks
have been a crazy blur of action-packed adventures. My sister and (as good as)
brother in law came to visit me and we went on a whistle-stop tour of Malawi
and Zambia.
The first big event was climbing Mount Mulanje.
We didn’t even climb any of the peaks, we just hiked up to and over a couple of
plateaux, but I think we seriously underestimated the amount of physical
strength and effort it requires just to do that. We arrived at the first hut in
the dark, soaked in sweat and then spent hours cooking dinner over the
fireplace. The hike to the second hut left Mary, Peter, Catriona and I freezing
and soaked from the rain/mist. The descent was less strenuous but included a
lot of slipping and falling (or as I like to call it, sitting down with style).
Despite all the pain, fatigue and discomfort, it was a brilliant experience and
we passed through some really beautiful and interesting landscapes.
Once off
the mountain our guide and porters kind of abandoned us in a village, saying a
bus would come along soon enough. We were a bit worried about all the attention
we were getting from the kids but I was pleased that I managed to communicate
to them in Chichewa that we didn’t have anything to give to them but instead
played clapping games and wrote in the sand with them. Eventually we gave up on
waiting for a bus and took bicycle-taxis back to Mulanje town, which is now my
favourite method of transport! I wish they had them in Blantyre!
Next stop was Lake
Malawi. We had a bit of excitement on the journey there; waiting to catch a
minibus on the highway in Blantyre, we were told to step back from the road
because there was a student protest making its way toward us. We stepped back
from the road a little, not realising that we were being told to get ourselves
out of the reach and sight of the, shall we say ‘rambunctious’, demonstrators,
until people starting shouted at us to run from the approaching crowd, many of
whom were also running and starting to chant “azungu!”. Don’t worry, Mum, we
were never in any real danger. We made it to the lake and spent a night at Cape
Maclear before getting a boat out to Domwe Island, where we spent the day
swimming and kayaking in the lake before hiking through the woods a bit to
climb up a rock where we watched the sun set, then stumbling back down in the
dark to our tents pitched on platforms hidden amongst the trees, and sat out in
the hammock, watching the stars before going to sleep.
The following day was
a bit stressful and included a lot of waiting around for transport which was
more expensive and even less comfortable than expected, but we eventually made
it to Lilongwe, where I was amazed by how big and fancy and capital-city-like
everything was. The next morning Mary, Peter and I left for Zambia, thankful
that all the transport from then on was already organised by the safari
company. We spent three nights at the safari camp which was right by the South
Luangwa River, meaning I was often woken up during the night by the sound of
nearby hippos roaring. The game drives were brilliant, we saw all sorts of
exotic and interesting animals, including antelope, giraffes, zebras,
elephants, hippos and leopards.
Then we made the long
journey to Victoria Falls, stopping at Lusaka along the way. I knew that
Zambia’s economy is stronger than Malawi’s but it wasn’t until we went to a
high-end shopping mall in Lusaka that it fully hit me just how much stronger it
is. The whole city in general was just so much more developed than Lilongwe and
Blanytre put together, but the shopping mall was too much for my brain to take
in and I just kind of spaced out, dazzled by how big, shiny and colourful the
whole place was. Victoria Falls, too,
was certainly big and dazzling, although there was so much spray that it was
pretty hard to see the falls themselves from Zambia. We crossed over to the
Zimbabwean side and got a much better view, complete with little 360° rainbows
in front of our eyes when the light spray of water was blown in front of our
eyes. The next day we floated along the Zambezi river in a raft float
(unfortunately during this season the water level is too high for the
adrenaline-pumping white-water rafting so we went with the more peaceful
version) before going on a walking safari and ticking another one of the big
five off our list by getting really close to a herd of rhinos. 
It was really lovely
to spend time with Mary and Peter, we had plenty of giggles and having them
around made home seem a lot closer. It also made it feel like no time since I’d
left home, and no time until I go back. It was great to finally see more of
Malawi, and see the difference in Zambia and that tiny part of Zimbabwe. I was
surprised by how much I enjoyed staying in a tent and living out of my
backpack. I’m happy to be home for the moment but I have a feeling that the
travel bug may be lying dormant within me, waiting to spring out and whisk me
off on more exciting adventures the next time my bank account can handle it.
