Happy Birthday Charles from Nsanje!

          Right after graduation form Vassar College, Charles left for Sierra Leone as a Peace Corps volunteer, spending twenty-seven months in the bush in the guise of Gbinty Dibia where he was lucky to have cell phone connection despite no electricity or running water.  There he taught English and English Literature to secondary school students.  Almost half the class students did not have the wherewithal to buy their own books.  Oftentimes the students had to skip class to help out in the farms. The school library shelves were almost empty and later he learned that some of the books were locked and stashed in a room inaccessible to the students.  He connected to the outside world through the BBC on his solar-powered short-waved radio.  During his last year in the village he raised funds and helped to build two classrooms for the primary school and furnished one of them with his meager pay so the children would not have to sit under a tree for their instructions. In the end he was honored by the village and they bestowed on him a title in Mende or was it in Temhne?

Charles with Srudents

At End of PC

          I visited him at the beginning of his assignment having just finished my medical volunteering in Nigeria and spent two weeks in Gbinty and Freetown.  Every six weeks or so Charles traveled to Freetown, the capital for some socialization with other PCs and access to the internet.  The trip took a whole day on two changes of crammed minibuses frequently with the accompaniment of livestock and finally a shared taxi, a journey not for the faint-hearted.  We met the following summer in Addis Ababa after my medical volunteering at the Nakivalle Refugee Camp in Uganda and traveled for about two weeks in northern Ethiopia. 

St. George;s Church at Lalibela, Ethiopia

 

Awash National Park

Feeding the Wild Hyenas in Harar

      

          He ran his first marathon in Vermont when he was seventeen, one in Sierra Leone which was a feat running in the heat and the ill-fated Boston Marathon this year.  This past summer, like Cara, he biked across the country from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Vancouver, Canada raising funds for Bike and Build and getting a sore bum in the process.

Charles with Team at Niagara Falls

At 1000 Miles

          

          Charles is now at the Teachers College at Columbia University and teaching at the Academy of American Studies. Despite being the youngest and smallest, Charles is able to exert himself and builds up a personality uniquely his own.  He exudes kindness, compassion, enthusiasm and a strong sense of right and wrong.

First Day at the Academy

My Birthday Present to Charles Done at Nsanje

Happy Birthday BABY!

Charlesy Baby

         

Cape MaClear, Lake Malawi

Mothers’ Day was celebrated in October in Malawi.  I took advantage of a long weekend to go to Cape MaClear in Mangochi on Lake Malawi.  Fortuitously Gillian was heading that way and I was able to get a ride from her. I mixed up my dates when I reserved my stay in Mgoza Lodge and so I had to stay at Thumbi View Lodge which did not have an oasis like lawn as in Mgoza Lodge but served the purpose.  It was hot the day we traveled to Mangochi and I found the terrain very much like Nsanje, dry and arid and some areas had been so overgrazed that there was just sand with little by way of vegetation like in South Sudan.  The big difference was here unlike Nsanje even the limbs of the baobab were amputated so that they looked oddly and sadly deformed.          

            It was a four-hour drive and we arrived in time for a dip and then the sunset.  The village only has dirt and sandy roads and the lodges seem to blend unobtrusively into the rest of the scene, not at all overwhelmingly touristy.  There are several very old baobab trees with leathery and pitted swollen trunks which resemble elephantiasis.

Cape MaClear, Lake Malawi

Dipping in Lake Malawi

          In the early morning around five, I got up to swim in the lake.  Lake Malawi is known to have bilharzia. However since the water for our shower is piped from the lake even if one avoided swimming one would still be exposed to the water of the lake.  Even at this hour, I noticed many villagers, hundreds of them mainly women and children by the lakeside washing dishes, clothes, bathing, brushing their teeth, and fetching water.  Despite the fact that they do have tap water at various spots by the dirt road built by some NGOs Malawians use the water from the lake and some even drink it.  The Lake is a big bath tub.  Ducks and dogs milled around for left-overs and children caught small silvery fish and placed them in shallow sand pits where they struggled for their last breath.  Men sat on the edges of dug-out canoes people watching, perhaps they had just returned from their night fishing. Despite all that washing the lake is crystal clear. 

Morning Chores at Lake Malawi

          Later in the morning I joined Willaim and Verome from South Africa on a boat trip to Thumbi Island for some snorkeling.  There were many brightly colored cichlids: brilliant blue, purple and neon yellow and some of the blue ones had black zebra stripes.  We saw a baby chambo, a fish known here in the lake. There were several fish eagles perching on tree tops calling; Peter the boatman threw fish into the lake attracting them to swoop down to catch the fish. We visited Otter’s Point for some more snorkeling. 

Thumbi Island

Otter's Point

Cichlids

Fish Eagle Catching Fish

          I spent the rest of the days relaxing on chaise longue, reading, swimming when it got to be hot and walking on the beach.  I also swam in the evening as the moon was almost full. In the morning I ran towards the hills of the national park and saw the graves of two Scottish medical missionaries died in the late 19th century: Dr. William Black and Captain Benzie and then I ran back to the lodge by the beach.  Aiden showed me his rented place; a two story reed and thatched house with a bedroom and a sitting room overlooking the lake.  There are no walls to block the view. It is just a beautiful dream to wake up to see the turquoise blue lake with the gentle lake breezes constantly blowing. 

Sunset 

          On our way home Gillian took a short detour to Monkey Bay which is essentially a dusty little town on the beach culminating in a big shipyard where we were forbidden to go further. My visit to a small part of Lake Malawi has been a memorable one.  I am now ready to go back to Nsanje for my quiet life.

Thyolo and Satemwa

          For the last four days three of us expats were in Thyolo for a HIV/TB Integration workshop, the goal is to have all healthcare centers to be able to provide TB treatment in the ART Clinic and vice versa.  TB and HIV pretty much go hand in hand here.  Much of the materials covered are a review for me but because the audience has different levels of training the presentation has to be tailored for them.

            After the withering heat of Nsanje, Thyolo being in a higher elevation was heaven.  One had to wear a sweater or a scarf early in the day.  The Jacaranda trees were shedding their flowers covering the ground with their purple petals.  The Thyolo District Hospital is just a few years old, painted a reddish brown with well-kept grounds and flowers.  At the back stretched a vast green tea estate.

            Thyolo is known for its many tea estates, mahogany and cedar were sacrificed long ago, some parts of the forests are preserved but the indigenous forests are all but vanished.  There are also groves of macadamia trees in the Conforzi Plantation producing my favorite nuts.

Thyolo Countryside

          On our last night in Thyolo we went to Satemwa founded in 1923 by Maclean Kay.  He was a rubber planter from my neck of the wood, Malaya, an immigrant from Scotland and worked there from 1910.  Cameron Highlands named after Sir William Cameron built up in 1885 in Malaysia are also known for their tea estates and the temperate climate and probably are much like Thyolo. Once one steps into Satemwa, one is no longer in Africa.  Unfortunately we arrived at dusk so its full beauty was not revealed to us.  The mansion was built with somewhat of a Spanish flare with wide veranda and arches.  The reception area and sitting room with a fire place were open to the outside veranda through big low windows seemingly making the outside world as one with the inside.  The small library was cozy and that led to a dining room with a long dining table with tall candelabras and flanked by high-backed chairs.  It was opened into the veranda with terraced steps right into the garden with a pond of reeds and I am sure there must be fish in the pond.  We dined there that night.  In the courtyard was another small marbled pond with a tree arching over it gracefully.  Another table was set for some other guests.  One of the guest rooms was plainly a master bedroom with a big bed draped with gossamer netting; bowed window in one corner lined with comfortable chairs and at the end of the bed was a set of stained glass windows.  The bedroom had modernized bathroom, tub and shower.

            Outside was a huge lawn with two clusters of rattan cushioned chairs, bordered by arched way of creepers and perhaps wisteria.  We picked our steps carefully in the semi-darkness of dusk and detected the strong scent of gardenia.  At one section was an antique looking non-functioning stone fountain with a statue in a corner and then we found a wide field of hydrangea, it must be a lovely view in the daytime.

            At the Thyolo MSF expat house were two cats, Lucifer and Zikomo.  Lucifer was slated to go to Shire House in Nsanje before Kuyvina but twice when the cat carrier arrived Lucifer disappeared for a few days, and so he never was available to be transferred to Nsanje, perhaps it was not meant to be. 

Lucifer

Zikomo

Sapitwa: Don’t Go There

            Climbing to the highest peak of Mulanje, Sapitwa, had been Erin’s and my goal but it takes three days to do so.  So we took Friday off, headed towards Chetakali with our backpacks of three-day provisions, warm clothing and a sleeping bag.  However because it was a working day, we could not hire MSF vehicle. Erin brought along a friend, Daniel, a young man volunteering in Malawi in various projects and we met at the Limbe Market hoping to catch a Mulanje minibus.  Normally it takes an hour to get to Chetakali but the minibus had to be almost full (14 passengers) before departure.  When we did finally depart, the conductor continued to solicit for passengers on the way to the highway. 

            It seemed that we were stopped at all the police checkpoints and at the first one the driver had to pay a fine for some kind of violation.  The second one was because the police at the first check point left his cell phone in our vehicle and had called the police at the next check point to look out for our minibus. It turned out the passenger sitting by the driver picked up the phone intending to keep it.  While trying to leave the van he was accosted and caught red-handed.  As he was led away, we saw the police whacking him on the head.  The third one was for the same violation but the driver was able to show that he had already paid the fine.

            Once out of the city limit the conductor began to pack his van and the number of passengers grew to twenty-two along with bags and baskets of produce and utensils.  We were being squeezed and women with their babies on their back had a hard time.  At a busy market, a man, two women and a baby with bags of produce stood near the door hoping to get on and while I thought it was impossible for the conductor to take in more passengers, he did by asking passengers at the back to make more rooms and pushing bags of produce under the seats.  He then stepped into the van arching his body and lowering his head and closing the door behind him with a resounding bang.  After two hours of painful loading and unloading we reached Chetakali and the info-office of the Mountain Club of Malawi. 

            We first registered at the Info Office of the Mountain Club of Malawi and Christopher outlined our routes on a model.  Our hike would start at the back of the office towards Lichenya Hut, about a five and half hour journey for the first day then on the second day, we were to hike for four hours to Chisepo Hut and from there a three and a half hour hike to Sapitwa and three hour down to Chisepo Hut to rest for the night; that would be our hardest day of ten and a half hour hike.  On our last day we would descend to the Forestry Office, about a five and a half hour trek stopping at the waterfall for a dip on the way.  Christopher had already roused up Pius our guide and we gave him some kwachas to buy his food.   

Tea Estate at Bottom of Mulanje

          Our hike started in the backyards of small farms of some villagers which eventually led to a large tea estate with Mulanje as a backdrop, a very spectacular and peaceful view.  The path became steeper through some bamboo groves and more tea plantations, the Mulanje Boma became smaller as we climbed higher.  We reached a vast area of burnt forests, charred bushes and ground, soon our legs and hands were smeared with soot.  The terrain became steeper and rockier where we had to do some scrambling over the rock surface.  We were aiming for a plateau which could not be seen immediately as each time we scaled a steep section of rocky surfaces more sections appeared.  It seemed endless. Finally we pushed through a narrow path flanked by tall bushes onto the plateau, a vast expense with scattered bouquets of papery yellow everlasting flowers and purple irises.  The trek was long but thankfully it was relatively flat. We caught a glimpse of Lichenya Hut, but to get to it we first had to descend and then ascend a steep path.  By the time we reached the hut, it was almost five in the afternoon, a sign said Lichenya Pool, and none of us had the desire to go there.  A bath tub sat serenely in the front yard. I wondered how on earth did it find its way there.

Charred Slope

The Plateau with Yellow Everlasting Flowers

          Lichenya hut was grand with a wrapped around veranda and three big rooms and a loft. The hut keeper set a roaring fire of cedar wood filling the large room with its pleasant scent.  Pius said the keeper could warm up some water for us for a bucket bath but I just chose to towel myself.  We ate a simple meal of bread, cheese, apples, peanut butter and chocolates. The sky was cloudy but in the middle of the night it cleared up to reveal numerous stars but no Milky Way.

Lichenya Hut

          Around 6:30 am after a quick breakfast, we hiked for three and a half hours to Chisepo traversing over some steep terrain and crossing a shallow stream over some rocks.  There were spectacular views of mountains enshrined in mysterious fog.

On Our Way to Chisepo

Chilembe Mountains

          We brought along water, snacks and warm clothes and embarked towards Sapitwa following a dirt path bordered with ferns behind the hut and this soon gave way to steep rocky steps.  We negotiated narrow ledges or precarious perches on rocks, hopping over riotous jumble of gigantic boulders, stretching my legs to their limits.  Then came long stretches of steep sheer rock surfaces where either we walked if there were cracks to provide some traction or crawled on all fours.  My sneakers often slipped on the rocky surfaces. We squeezed through rock crevices or cave-like tunnels.  Towards the peak it was all rocks.  The sun disappeared when thick mists came rolling in and the temperature dropped.  For a brief moment the peak came into view enticingly above us. 

Chiperone shrouding the Rocky Slope

The Rocky Formation 

The Rocky Sapitwa

          We reached the peak, Sapitwa, 3002 m, around 2 pm.  Half of the view was obscured by thick mists and the other half loomed a breathtaking vista of rocky mountain peaks. Sapitwa means “Don’t go there” in Chichewa. Others say that Sapitwa derives from the phrases "musapite" and "sapitidwa" which mean "do not go there" and "the place you cannot reach". The locals believe that spirits live up here and hikers especially those who trek without a guide have disappeared. Pius told us that a Brazilian hiker got lost in 2009 and was found dead three weeks later.  Several spirits are associated with Mulanje.  Napolo, a serpentine creature is believed to move between Mulanje and Mchese creating the misty chiperone that often shroud the upper slopes.

Erin, Daniel and I on Top of Sapitwa

Pious Our Guide

Me on Top of Sapitwa

          On our descent we frequently slid down on our bottoms over the rock surfaces.  One false step one could tumble out of sight.  It was hairy at times when my shoes were caught in rock ridges and tangled among long blades of grass.  We reached Chisepo around 5 pm after hiking for ten and a half hours.  At the hut which consisted of one large room with a central fire place we were joined by four other hikers from the Netherlands, Afghanistan and UK. We were the only hikers summiting Sapitwa that day. 

Leaving Chisepo

          On day three of our hike, after a long night sleep we were ready to roll by seven in the morning for what we were told a five and a half hour hike, retracing our steps towards Lichenya until we reached a crossroad where we hiked up steeply for about six minutes with Chambe Mountain to our right.  This was followed by an endless slog of steep slippery stony path alternating with gravelly steps, quite difficult to traverse without feeling like falling or slipping off the cliff to our left.  We debated about making a detour to a waterfall with rocky pools of refreshingly cold water and in the final analysis we made the right choice. 

At the Waterfall

Mysterious Mulanje

          At the Forestry Department at the bottom of Mulanje at Likabula, we settled our bill for our accommodation and entry fees, walked towards the main road to catch the matolas (bike taxi) for the 10 km ride to Chetakali to meet our ride back to Limbe and Blantyre.  Apart from scraped and bruised knees and traumatizing the new toe nail that grew after the last Boston Marathon, I came out of this hike unscathed  The many enchanting faces and hues of Mulanje throughout our hike enthralled us all and the pictures cannot do justice to its beauty.