"New month, new me", this was the notion at Malawian Style HQ this June. Upon learning a group of 9 students from BYU in America were hiking Mulanje a few members of our team decided to join them, including managing founder Mike Varndell. How did we fair against one of Central Africa's toughest climbs? Scramble on and find out.
Sapitwa is the highest point of the Mulanje Massif, 3,002m. In the local language, Chichewa, Sapitwa translates to 'unreachable'. Other sources state the translation to be 'don't go there'...
We faced two days of (on average) 8 hour a day hiking to reach the 'unreachable' summit. The third day would be spent working our way down the mountain back to base.
Day 1:
We met our Malawian Style guide, Boniface, and the group we were joining at the Limbe Country Club in Blantyre. Boarded the bus and set off to Mount Mulanje. Once in Mulanje, the journey to the mountain goes through a typical Malawian village, but what isn’t so typical are the tea plantations you pass on the way. Lush green tea leaves set against the mountain backdrop makes for a tranquil landscape.
We arrived at the foot of the mountain it was time for an introductory briefing with Moses from Mulanje Outdoor Adventures. He spoke through the route and explained what the next three days would entail.Health and safety chat complete it was time to don our backpacks and head for Hope Cottage, privately owned by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), approximately a 6-hour hike.
Within minutes, we were crossing over a stream, a very pleasant start to what would be a challenging first day. It wasn’t long before we started to ascent and the group began to filter. Everyone persevered, this was rewarded with a snack stop at a picturesque stream, unfortunately, we were not yet high enough to drink straight from the spring thankfully, MOA supplied plenty of drinking water and snacks to fuel our engines. After a 15 minute break, it was time to put on our backpacks once again, onward for another 2 hours through varying terrain and an ever-changing landscape. It was time for lunch, this provided our first opportunity to take in an open landscape and appreciate the distance we had already covered. Upon arrival, the chef had our lunch laid out and ready for us to savour. Each day, we enjoyed a selection of imported meats, cheese, biscuits, sauces, and crisps, as well as locally sourced fruits. Lunch consumed, the team was energised, unleashing a new enthusiasm to continue onward to CCAP.
The team hiked for another three hours in search of CCAP cottage and a well-deserved rest. As with Malawi, the landscape of Mt. Mulanje is ever changing and fascinating to the eye. After what felt like forever, we stopped ascending and enjoyed a stroll along the plateau, a chance to enjoy our surroundings and take a break from concentrating on our next step. From the top of the hill, we were told the CCAP hut was 15 minutes away. We triumphed to the top of the hill and could see the hut in the distance. As we descended towards the cabin the sun began to set, a fitting end to our first day of hiking.
As the sun had almost vanished we reached the CCAP hut, greeted by a roaring fire and tea/coffee making facilities. It felt good to remove our bags knowing we would not have to put them on for at least 12 hours. Before dinner was served there was an opportunity to freshen up – the hut caretaker prepared a decent sized basin of hot water for those who want it.
Day 2:
We woke up to the smell of burning wood as the fire was primed to cook breakfast and boil water. After a rather chilly night in bunk beds, the fire and boiled water were most appreciated. Most grabbed a brew and congregated on the decking to admire the beautiful skyline. Soon after it was time to eat, once again the MOA team served us well a fantastic selection of food, including egg, sausage, fruit, peanut butter and toast. Breakfast devoured it was time to put on our, now lighter, backpacks and head for Sapitwa. Due to the route we were taking it was advised to the group to only bring what was needed. We would gather the remainder of our stuff at Chisepo later that day.
Our altitude at CCAP was approximately 1,981m, Sapitwa stands at 3,001m it was going to be a day of up, up, up and more up. When asked how long we would be hiking today, our guide, George, responded “all day”… We anticipated reaching the peak around 14:00hours give or take an hour, depending on the pace of the group. Before we could even contemplate reaching Sapitwa, we had to get it in our sights and before that we had to tackle West peak.
The voyage to West peak involved varying terrain and action, from strolling through grasslands to jumping between boulders. And of course, it wasn’t just up; we had to go down, down, down and more down. When climbing a mountain what goes down must go up, a particular notable incline was tackling a very steep rock face amalgamated with what can only be described as miniature palm trees. This steep and demanding climb saw many of us using our hands to scramble to the top; the trees were welcomed and useful points of rest. As well as being top resting posts, the trees are used by locals to weave baskets and make brooms, amongst other things.
We continued towards West peak, the strong sunshine was no more, the clouds had gathered, scuppering our chances of capturing the Malawi landscape in its entirety. The cloud cover and increase in altitude resulted in a decrease in temperature, for many it was time to put our jackets back on and rock a beanie, or makeshift a hat from a scarf. To reach West peak we climbed enormous boulders, snaked through crevices and slinked under stones. At West peak, we were greeted by a large rock painted white, red and black – we made it.
Following all the up it was time to go down, we worked our way down and headed for Sapitwa. We tackled more boulders, some requiring a team effort, as the drop was too long and steep for some. Following this we met the porters and chef, in a valley-like spot, they had lunch ready for us – much like the day before, we were to gain much-needed energy before confronting the final furlong and reaching the unreachable summit.
Once everyone had finished eating it was time to make haste, there was no time to hang around, it was really quite cold, and people were tired we needed to move. As soon as we were moving spirits rose and excitement grew, we were closer than ever to Sapitwa. An hour more and we would be on top of central Africa. To get to the summit we scrambled some more, skulked through tighter crevices, and clambered over boulders, stooped under trees and even used a rope. The rope had been in our guide, McKenzie’s bag for the entire two days, we intently waited for the moment it would be called upon, one by one we scaled the riotous boulder and came within touching distance of the summit.
With the summit of Sapitwa in our visions, the final few metres were met with a leap in our step. We hurdled over boulders, everyone secretly wanting to be the first to touch the beacon and reach the summit... Irrespective of who touched the beacon first, WE DID IT!
Feeling like champions we headed for Chisepo hut, the newest on the mountain, and our home for the night. We went back on ourselves to the point where we had stopped for lunch, once again encountering the unruly boulder this time round we shuffled down on our bottoms. No rope needed.
The most significant part of the journey to Chisepo was the rock face we perilously descended, legs weary it felt like we were never going to reach the hut, after what felt like an eternity of decline the trail levelled out and the hut appeared. Everyone was thankful to reach base we had almost lost light and it had been a very long day.
Chisepo is different to CCAP, there is only one room at Chisepo and everyone sleeps on the floor. We were supplied with mats and sleeping bags; it was rather comfortable and not as cold as the previous night.
Day 3:
We woke to a picturesque sunset; the view from Chisepo hut is magnificent, we were able to see Zomba and Lake Chilwa, this made up for our cloud filled view the previous day at Sapitwa.
We were at 2,219m; it was time to make our way down the mountain but before we could go down we would embark on a major ascend for the penultimate time. The landscape at the top was a fair reward for the early morning exertion. From here we could see where we’d be heading for the next couple of hours. We trekked downwards towards a forest, passing a couple who were on their way to Sapitwa it’s safe to say nobody in the group envied them.
Following two hours of hiking we reached a natural infinity pool which sloped down the mountain providing an opportunity for the craziest among us to jump in the water and rejuvenate our tired muscles. We didn’t spend long at this pool the main event was another few hours from here.
Onwards we went in search of the much glorified waterfall, a few more hours of trekking and we would reach our lunch spot. On this trail we passed many streams, providing the chance to enjoy the freshest of spring water.
Around 13:00 we reached the waterfall, it did not disappoint. Lunch in one of most scenic spots in Malawi was consumed quickly in order to get closer to the water and muster the courage to dive into the cold spring water. The general consensus was ‘I won’t get this opportunity again’, one by one we clambered another boulder and soared into the water, then hastily swam out – it was far too cold to spend more than 30 seconds in the fresh, icy pool. Once out of the water, we quickly warmed and looked upon the next wild soul. Playtime over, it was time to endure the final hour of our marathon hike. This was met with mixed feelings of happiness and sadness, our journey was coming to an end.
As we walked back to our start point, we passed many adults and children collecting wood. We saw more and more people as we got closer to base signifying we were no longer alone, no longer intrepid explorers, we had reached civilisation.
On our return, we were greeted by Moses and each handed a bottle of fizz…y pop. We high fived, patted each other on the back and reflected on the great feat we had accomplished.The ‘unreachable’ was reached.
Get even closer to the action through this short video.