Mount Mulanje

With sore legs, a blistered toe and a myriad of scratches on my legs to show for it, I can proudly say that I have successfully climbed the highest mountain in Central Africa. Last Monday morning, I set out with Arthur, Rob, Eoghan, Katherine, Maisie, Laura, our guide Jones, and 4 porters to climb Mt. Mulanje for three days. We began at Likabula Forest Office and on the first day, hiked three hours straight up to the top of the Chambe plateau. I have to admit, I found it a bit tough going straight up for three hours and somewhat was questioning my decision to come to Mulanje, but of course, as it is with all hiking (or so it seems to me) when you get to the top – of the ridge, the plateau or the mountain – you forget in an instant that you didn’t enjoy getting there!

We stayed the first night in France’s Cottage beside Chambe Peak. Some of our group attempted to climb Chambe in the afternoon, but it was starting to get cloudy and rainy and then had to turn back. If people die on Mulanje, it is usually in bad weather on Chambe Peak, so it was probably a wise decision. We spend the rest of the day and evening in the hut, drinking loads of tea and chatting around the fire. I had brought the book “Venture into the Interior” with me, written by Laurens Van der Post about his exploration of Mt Mulanje in the 1940’s. I always like to read books about where I am when I am there, but never have I been reading one that so directly correlates to what I’m doing. As I sat on the veranda at France’s Cottage, Van der Post described the first part of his ascent to Chambe Plateau and the evening he spent with Dicky and Val France in – you guessed it – France’s Cottage. Everything he described was exactly how I saw it. Quite an amazing feeling, and eerie a bit because I knew that Dicky France (named Vance in the book) died on Mulanje on the Van der Post expedition.

“When we got over the edge, it was half-past twelve with the invisible sun at its strongest, and the mist lifted to about a thousand feet above us. The peaks were still covered but the valley, the so-called Chambe plateau up which we had walked, became more and more open to view...It was utterly unlike the Africa we had left down below...At first I thought there were palm trees growing on the banks of the streams, but I soon realized that they were huge tree ferns, the last remnants of the great cedar forests that once covered the valley too. They looked in a odd way prehistoric; lovely, but long before human time...All round the edges their branches were festooned and heavily hung with long garlands and veils of lichen and moss.” – L.V.P

We woke up to clear skies the next morning and hiked 2 hours over the plateau to Chisepo Hut, at the base of Sapitwa – the highest peak in Central Africa. After a quick cup of tea, we started our ascent. It took us about three hours to get up; at first, an hour and a half straight up the rock-scrable to the ridge – I found this to be the hardest part, not least because I felt if I looked up or down without sure footing I would fall and end up in a broken heap about 100m down – and then another hour and a half along the ridge. Quite a lot of the ridge was in forest and we clambered up and down, over, under and in between huge boulders. We came to the back side of the peak, which was in shadow and absolutely freezing, and then round the corner up and over some more rocks and there it was!! The top of Sapitwa! At the risk of sounding horribly cheesy, it was quite a rewarding moment, to be standing up there, on top of the world, looking out over the clouds down on Malawi. My biggest mountaineering feat so far!

Going down took about 2 hours and was much harder on the knees. We made it back to the hut by 3 and rewarded ourselves with a cup-of-soup. That night, the stars were clearer than I have ever seen before. Without any trace of light pollution, it is astounding to see how many stars there actually are.

“The evening around the fire seemed a very warm, blessed, friendly evening. Things like fires and food, warmth and a roof over one’s head, recover their original force of meaning on those occasions. We all ate too much, drank pints of hot, sweet tea, told one another funny stories and laughed as if we did not have a care in the world. But the night was the coldest we had yet. ‘Its going to settle fine for a spell,’ Vance said as he saw me out. ‘Look at Orion! I have never seen the Old Hunter so clear’” – L.V.P

Our third and final day on Mulanje was spent making our way back down. We walk about 4 hours over the plateau, through forests, grassland and up and down valleys. The final descent from the plateau was over Elephant’s Head - a rather steep path, but with the most amazing views! We made it back to Otto’s Rest House by lunch time and were dirty, sore, bruised and blistered -and very happy.