Mulanje Mountain

Yes, I did climb the highest peak of Malawi’s highest mountain. We, the three girls and Joeri (a Dutch guy who also stays/stayed at Likuni Parish), decided to climb Mulanje Mountain (3001 meters) around twelve hours before we left. So, of course, we forgot sunscreen and some stuff to treat blisters. Eh, we’re always só incredibly well prepared whenever we’re undertaking something… Our faces and necks are turned from dark brown to pink again.
But. We got there. All the way to the top. And we had a super, great time. Travelled from Lilongwe to Mulanje in several minibuses the whole Saturday. While the sun was setting we arranged a guide (Peter), a porter (Juma) and food for the coming days. We left Sunday morning early and were back down on Thursday. Home last Friday. Bij de weg, the picture with the water drops (in case you can’t see); it’s me. We found a natural water slide on the mountain, ending in a basin with clear, COLD water. But it was loads of fun. Torn another trouser…
O. I almost forget to tell you, but before and after the trip to the mountain, we were actually doing some work for our project; we biked to different villages to interview smallholder farmers. The first pictures in this post are from a village I visited. At the time I’m typing this, we’ve collected enough data to start analysing and write the report. And as soon as it’s finished, we’re free to leave this place, to start to travel up North, to visit the Northern part of Malawi and Tanzania and Kenya for about seven weeks.

Thinking about my life, as it is right now and will be in the coming months, is enough to keep on smiling non-stop for a whole week.