May
HELLO + WELCOME to our adventure as we drive from Sydney to London, via Africa.
It’s Kirsty here today with more of our travels from hiking in Malawi and finding a few very different places to park off.
It had been a long time in between hiking sessions and when we neared the Malawi’s Mulanje Mountains we knew it was time to stretch our legs. The views were beautiful but the track was more landslide than path. A lot of the track was steep and had loose rock underfoot. While hiking I actually thought “I should either never hike again, or never be this unfit again!” (…the latter may be the wiser decision!)
We slept the night in a mountain hut kept warm by fire and boiled tea …and the bodies of ten ex-pats who rocked up at sunset. Among the Muzungus was a lone Chinese guy. The American peace core set about making friends and winning him over with their best jokes. At one stage a particularly loud yank set about explaining a joke that the Chinese guy didn’t laugh at. “No, I understand the joke” the Asian fellow replied, “But it is basic”
Now that made us laugh! Out loud.
:: Don’t worry about the armed mountain men when you are hiking in Malawi
:: Out of the Troopy and hiking the Mulanje mountains
:: Our beds for the night in the mountain hut
:: Fireplace
:: Washing off two days of hiking sweat in icy mountain water
Our next destination was Matjete Wildlife Reserve. It was a beautiful drive towards out of the area passing tea plantations with the Mulanje Mountains as a backdrop. The evening however in the Nation’s Capital Blantyre was not so scenic as we camped up in a carpark for the night. Parking amongst rubble isn’t as luxurious as it sounds I assure you. Although the price to ‘camp’ was technically the same as a room we prefer to sleep in the Troopy. It just feels like home now.
The next night we camped overlooking a river and swam in the camp’s infinity pool! We smile sometimes at how swiftly we now adapt to different surroundings. One night carpark. One night river. One night insane luxury in the form of Mkulumadzi in Matjete… but that’s the story for the next blog post! 🙂
:: Mulanje Mountains framed the roads
:: Driving towards Matjete Wildlife Reserve via Blantyre
:: Carpark camping
:: A much nicer campsite!
:: Gareth makes friends with yet another camp dog. A great strategy really, the big boy ended up sleeping on our back mat the entire night guarding us.
Thanks as always for dropping by our corner of the web guys. We love having you here.
Cheers,
