Soaking up the South

Life was good! We had spent time with our family and friends over Christmas, Henry was cleaned up, I was feeling better and the Malawian people were proving to be as warm and friendly as their reputation held.

With all three of us back in good shape we headed out of Lilongwe for the Dedza mountain. We had planned to stay at another pottery lodge as we had before Christmas, with firm intentions of taking full advantage of the activities this time around.

The place was rustic and very beautiful

With a clear view over the mountain

We wandered over to the pottery and I booked myself in for a pottery class.

I wasn´t very good, my tutor had to be very patient and offer quite a bit of help

But eventually I was the proud creator of a number of little pots!

My stomach was still a little upset from being ill so James made a picnic for us out of crackers, cheese and sun dried tomatoes rather than attempting a large meal. It was perfect and for once it wasn´t raining so we spent a happy evening watching movies outside in the clear air

The next morning was cool and dry, perfect weather for a trip to see the Mphunzi Rock Art. We met our guide at reception and loaded him into the back of the Landrover.

It was only a short drive but the scenery was, as usual, breathtaking

As we were driving the long dirt roads to the site we came across a lorry that had sunk in the mud and was blocking the road. The local people were trying to dig it out and waved us back to a small turning which led us through a village and down some very small, overgrown paths

Before returning us to the main road a few miles later.

When we finally arrived at the caves our guide took us to eight different sites, all with art dating from the Chewa tribe 3,000 years ago

and the Pygmies over 10,000 years ago

The Chewa won the tribal war and are the people who still live in Malawi today. The Pygmies, short but very strong, dispersed into neighbouring areas.

It was fascinating to see how far up the wall the Pygmy drawings went. Apparently they started off drawing at high level by standing on each other´s shoulders but eventually ladders were invented….there is nothing stranger than the truth!

We chatted to our guide for a long time about the culture of the Chewa people and he was very interested to know about Europe. He couldn´t believe that most people in the UK had no idea how to farm, would drive to school or work even though it was only 1km or so away and would never carry anything on their heads. He looked at us sceptically thinking we were making it all up.

The final two caves were a short drive away and when we arrived the village children crowded round us excited to see visitors. They came with us to the first cave and listened intently to the stories our guide was telling

They clearly knew the drill as they were running ahead of us to the second cave, skipping over the ploughed fields to get there before us, and were very pleased to pose for a photo which they then crowded round me to see, trying to find themselves in the picture and giggling when they did…

A few of the children were carrying sticks with balls on the end like the one you can see in the arms of the small child in yellow at the front. They used to be part of the traditional dances but these days the kids use them to hit small mammals over the head for dinner!

The next day we were off to the Majete National Park. It was a very long drive, much longer than we had planned for but we were taking it slowly, enjoying soaking up this lovely country.

We noticed that it was becoming even more densely populated than the more northern areas with people everywhere all the time. Stopping for a bush wee was next to impossible and we didn´t manage to find anywhere to stop for lunch so had to settle for handfuls of nuts and banana chips enroute.

We were pulled over at a police checkpoint. The officer was very friendly and polite but for the first time since we arrived in Malawi he wanted something from us. ´A memory´ is how he described it, something we had heard a few times in Zambia. James bantered with him for a while, telling him we had given all our memories away and just meeting us was a good memory. He kept smiling but kept asking until one of his colleagues rolled his eyes and walked over to move the bollard out of our way and wave us through with an amused shake of his head.

We had been on the road for over six hours by now and were tired and hungry. We were only a few kilometers from the campsite but the sat nav couldn´t find the way. We stopped and asked a group of locals who jumped up with smiles and gave us simple directions – down the road for 200m, turn right at the sign.

We thanked them with renewed hope and carried on…and on…and on…no sign, no turning at all in fact. But finally, after about 5km there was the sign and a nice, smooth dirt road. We arrived at the campsite weary and a little fed up but what we found when we walked in took all our frustrations away

It was gorgeous!

We were greeted with a welcome drink and guided to sit and relax by the pool for a while

When we were ready we were taken to the campsite and settled in. We felt as though we had found a little bit of heaven.

This campsite was just outside the national park so we didn´t have to pay the daily park fees, we could just relax and take our time unwinding

I wanted to move in!

But Majete is located in the Shire Valley deep in the south of Malawi. Surrounded by mountains, but low lying and flat, the whole valley is a furnace

We stayed in the area for four days and thickly humid temperatures soared to 40 degrees in the day and stayed above 30 degrees even at night. Sweat poured from us in buckets and sleep was challenging.

But this campsite was worth the pain. It was owned by a Canadian woman who spent a lot of time chatting with us and giving us lots of good advice on where to go during our travels here. The food was good, the view was stunning and the staff were all wonderful.

On our first night we were settled in on the campsite reading when James saw something running by his feet. He got the torch and shined it on the ground but whatever it was had gone. A few minutes later there was another one. Then another and another. Dozens of them were all around us, running towards our feet and dashing under Henry. By this time we knew exactly what they were and I was not a happy girl – spiders! Solar Spiders to be accurate – large, fast, attracted to light and they run at anything that vibrates the ground – such as your feet running away from them as a random example!

We spent the rest of that evening and the next with our feet up on Henry´s step jumping as dozens of shadows ran around us.

But even our new friends couldn´t tarnish our love of this place and we decided not to go into the national park the next day but rather take full advantage of our new lodgings.

After two nights we set off for Majete itself – a ´big five´ park taken over by the conservation group African Parks in partnership with the Malawian Government in 2003. At that time it was decimated with the animals having been annihilated by rampant poaching. In just ten years they have transformed it into a wildlife haven.

The staff at the gate gave me a QR code where we could download a map of the park – an innovation we hadn´t seen anywhere else in Africa.

The roads were well kept and well sign posted. It was a joy to be there.

We saw plenty of waterbuck

Baboons drinking

Eagles resting

Some cute monkeys

And a herd of very friendly impala

A gecko rested on the beam of a hide by the waterhole, undisturbed by our presence

And of course there were elephants

One herd were not too sure they wanted us quite so close and peered at us intently

Two young girls were driving a truck in front of us and had to sit very still for a few minutes whilst the matriarch decided whether to go through them or round them!

Being the rainy season the grass and bushes were thick

But we still managed to see a lot of the usual suspects

We had to be inside the park campsite before 6pm so started heading that way in plenty of time. But halfway there we hit traffic!

This elephant was in no rush and there was no safe way around him. We had to slowly follow him, doing about 5km/hr until he decided to move into the bush. Time was ticking on and we were worried we would still be out in the park after curfew.

But in the end we made it through the gates at five to six. We were initially pleased until the guard came up to us and told us that we had just missed four lions walking through the camp a few minutes ago…..I was cursing all things elephant shaped!

It was so hot that the water in our bottles was like bath water. It was difficult to drink it at that temperature and even when we managed it we couldn´t hydrate properly – our bodies couldn´t absorb the water in our stomachs as fast as we were sweating it out. It was stifling.

We were up very early the next morning and back in the park by quarter past six. We saw lots more animals but still no lions.

By 10am we had done the whole park and were heading back to our lovely campsite outside the gates.

We ordered pizza for lunch and settled in at the bar area to while away the afternoon. We couldn´t do much, it was just too hot

But I made a new friend…

We needed to head back up to the major town of Blantyre to stock up on food and fuel before making our way east to the Mulanje massive.

We were excited, for the next few days we were going to be high up in the mountains away from the stifling heat of the valley. As we climbed the mountains we stopped to look back and could see the heat radiating off the valley floor

By the time we reached Blantyre we were already 1,000m up and the relief was palpable. We jumped out of Henry with big smiles on our faces – it was cool!

We stopped at Mandala House, the oldest European building in Malawi built in 1882 and now a historic monument and local art gallery

The manager inside welcomed us and told us all about the history of the building whilst we admired the artwork

Next stop was the old church

We couldn´t get in but admired the architecture from the outside

And that was it for Blantyre, we were booked in for afternoon tea at the Satemwa tea plantation and it was going to be a highlight of the south.

As soon as we arrived we felt at home

The whole of the south is covered in tea plantations and here at the Satemwa estate they had some of the best

We found out that they had 2,200 members of staff, most of whom picked the leaves

Whilst others worked in the factory or at the house. It was a huge operation but felt like a comfortable and welcoming home

Our afternoon tea was fabulous – ice tea, sandwiches and quiche, cakes and scones with real, clotted cream

We worked some of it off with a fascinating walk around the tea plantations

Learning all about the growing process

They also have a small number of coffee plants and we were told all about the coffee making process

Apparently they only employ women to pick the coffee beans as they have smaller fingers, tend to be better with colours than men and have more patience!

The estate maintains an area of natural forest to balance the ecological diversity and we were able to walk through

Seeing the difference between the areas where they grow their wood

And the areas that are left alone

By now it was after 5pm and our final stop, the campsite at Mount Mulanje, was supposed to be an hour away. The last thing we wanted was to be on the roads after dark so we quickly paid our bill and hurried away.

To our dismay the sat nav didn´t agree with Google and was telling us it was over an hour and a half to the campsite. What with that and our late departure we were going to be arriving at 7pm at the earliest – long after dark.

From miles away we could see the mountain soaring above in front of us and it felt almost like a film set

By 6:15pm dusk had settled and we had to put our lights on

By 6:30pm it was pitch black and Henry´s headlights were no match for the African night.

With people walking and cycling and animals everywhere it was a perilous drive. Before long we put the light canons on as it was the only way to avoid the other people on the road – no one wears reflective gear or even has lights on their bicycles. And added to that the fact that most cyclists are carrying huge loads, often sticking out for many meters either side of them, we were afraid for their lives with a 3.5 tonne Landrover making its way down unfamiliar roads.

We picked our way carefully through the narrow roads in the dark until finally, after what seemed like hours, we saw the sign for our campsite. Relieved beyond measure we pulled in and set up camp ready for a quick dinner and an early bed. It was almost cold up here, and there were no mosquitoes! We slept soundly.

Renewed by the cool temperatures we drove out early the next day to see the Likhubula Falls. The staff at our campsite had warned that we would need a guide to get there so we were pleased when we found local trained guides waiting at the gate ready to negotiate a price. We ended up hiring a lovely guide and a ´watcher´ who would wait with Henry and keep him safe.

We headed up the bumpy dirt road as close to the falls as we could get. Our guides hung onto the rock sliders showing us the way

After a short drive we parked Henry up on the side of the dirt track and started the walk

Our guide was very interesting, telling us all about the area and the history of the falls as a spiritual place

When we finally arrived it was very pretty

We climbed down the rocks to the water, me needing a helping hand to balance my wobbly knees

Then our guide suggested we scramble over the rocks to the other side of the river. I was skeptical whether my knees would manage it but determined to try.

First we had to take our boots off as we were going to get a little wet….

I must have looked a sight! Clinging onto either James or the guide with my hyper mobile knees twisting and bending all over the place whilst I wobbled on slippery rocks trying desperately not to fall into the rushing water.

But we made it to the other side and sat cooling our feet off in the crystal clear waters

By the time we were making our way back the sun had heated the rocks so much they were burning the soles of our feet. Our guide splashed water onto them to cool them down

But by the time we reached the far side my feet still felt like someone had barbequed them!

The campsite we were staying on was run by an Italian couple and offered proper Italian food in the evenings. We had to eat the rest of our chicken that evening otherwise it would have gone off so we extended our stay by another night in order to take full advantage of the restaurant.

It was no hardship, the campsite was lovely. We were surrounded by big trees

And I found the world´s largest snail!

A group of monkeys came wandering by and got a little too close to Henry

But when I went over to shoo them away they showed no fear at all. The young ones sat on a branch right next to my head and as I shouted, clapped my hands and stamped my feet to scare them away they just sat there looking at me as if I had gone mad!

James spent most of the day replacing Henry´s stub axel and I did some work on the blog. But our hard work was well rewarded by a wonderful dinner in beautiful surroundings

We were staying high up for a while, our next stop being the Zomba Plateau. As we drove away from our mountain retreat Mount Mulanje itself dominated the skyline for hours and I couldn´t help but stop every few minutes to take more photos of the spectacular mountain before we left it behind

The town of Zomba used to be the Malawian capital and was a peaceful place with banks and supermarkets where we could stock up on life´s necessities.

The Plateau itself is full of waterfalls and forests but much of it has been deforested over the years. There is an environmental project underway to save what is left and try to reforest. We were staying in the heart of this project at the Zomba Forest Lodge.

We had decided to treat ourselves to a stay here as it sounded too wonderful to miss. The reviews talked of a comfortable and friendly lodge with three meals a day of amazing food included in the price.

When we arrived it was even better than we could have hoped

The owner, Petal, was the sort of person you could talk to for hours – and we did!

Lunch was served in the garden as soon as we arrived

And the whole place was cosy and comfortable

We did very little for the rest of the day apart from eat wonderful food and hear all about Malawi and the forest project from Petal.

She then sent us off to a viewpoint just outside the gates to watch the stunning sunset, telling us the short walk would be worth it.

She was absolutely right!

There was no electricity in the forest so we spent a happy evening talking by the light of oil lamps

And went to bed very late but contented.

We had eaten so much we weren´t sure we could manage breakfast but when warm cinnamon buns were put in front of me they somehow managed to disappear!

But then disaster struck. I was busy doing my morning training when something crunched in my back. My hypermobility causes increasing problems as I get older – and living in a Landrover probably doesn´t help. But even by my standards this was bad. The muscles in my shoulder blade had gone into spasm and I could hardly move.

The lodge was expensive enough that one night as a treat was fine but it was not the place to rest a poorly back. So Petal called a lodge at the foot of the plateau who she thought offered camping and they welcomed us to go down and stay. When we arrived the Italian owners were lovely and took pity on me, offering to let us stay in one of their chalets for the same price as camping whilst my back recovered.

I couldn´t have been more grateful! I eased myself out of Henry, crawled onto the bed and pretty much stayed there for three days.

Boredom and frustration set in quickly. We were in Malawi with so much to explore but I was stuck in bed with raining pouring down all round us. We were more than grateful for the kindness of our hosts but this was not where we wanted to be.

After the second day my back was feeling a little better and we tried to go up to the main area for something to eat. I couldn´t even sit at the table and ended up lying on a bench groaning before hobbling back to bed.

The third day was more successful and we managed to have a very nice dinner with them.

On the fourth day things were significantly better and we both needed to get out and do something. So we drove the short distance to the Williams Falls. It was a very short walk from the car park down to the falls themselves but I was walking very slowly and carefully as if my back was made of glass

When we finally got down to the water the fresh air and cooling spray was a welcome relief from being couped up in the chalet

On our way back to Henry a local man came running up to us. He ran a small stall selling gems and told us that we were the first tourists he had seen for three weeks. He was out of breath from running down the hill to catch us so we spent some time looking at his gems and ended up buying a small quartz which appealed to James.

We tried to drive up to the viewpoint over the plateau but the road was too bumpy and my back wasn´t playing ball so we turned back and carefully made our way down to a dam.

On the way we stopped at various fruit stalls and bought so many passion fruit, avocado and berries they kept me going for weeks!

We pulled in to the dam and paid a small amount to walk across

The views were lovely and it was very quiet

Apart from the locals carrying wood back from the forests. Most just smiled and said hello as they passed

But one group insisted on having their photos taken!

By now the rain had started again so we dashed back to Henry and headed for the supermarket ready to stock up. The rain was torrential and the locals were all sheltering in the doorway of the shop. Even running from Henry to the door we both got soaked! We decided to leave the outdoor fruit market until tomorrow…

We had been holed up here for four days. We had enjoyed spending time with our lovely hosts and the rest had allowed my back to settle. But we were champing at the bit to get going.

We packed up and said our goodbyes the next morning. We were heading to Malawi´s premium national park, Liwonde. We had been a lion-free zone for at least a year and we needed that to change!