A Weekend Up in Zomba's Mountains

Saturday:

Leila had decided that this weekend we all would head down to Zomba so that we could stay a night up in the mountains. At eight AM, we left for Blantyre. We made good mileage and arrived after forty-five minutes.  

Leila also decided that it would be good to pick up snacks from the local ShopRite, which is pretty much like Walmart, for the weekend.

Back on the road again. Next stop Zomba city.

When we arrived in Zomba, we rushed around for the first thirty minutes trying to find a bike shop called, 'AfroCycle' to get Keiran's bike fixed. I rested in the back of the Toyota Rav4 while they fixed the cycle. Headaches in Malawi....

We went to a college that one of the Hope Village boys would be going to in January. His name is Chickenbootso. The Hope Village will be paying for his schooling. It will cost five hundred thousand (1250$) Kwatcha a semester.

Here's some more thorns.

A courtyard.

And another one

Another angle of  the second courtyard

Outdoor hallway

After finding out some information about Chickenbootso's payments and arrival dates, we jumped back into the Toyota and headed back into the city to get lunch.

Toyota Rav4

We found a nice small restaurant called 'Kips.' The food wasn't to expensive, and the surroundings were good. I got a pizza and a very small milkshake. It was a good start to a vacation-like weekend.

After letting the food settle, we jumped back into the car and started up the hill. We saw a ton of these kids alongside of the road on the way up selling their fruit. Leila and Darren didn't want any fruit, but after awhile, she got suckered in and bought some strawberries.

After about ten or fifteen kilometers, I saw this amazing view and had to take a shot. That is Zomba city below us. It might be my eyes, or am I seeing that in this photo it looks like the Earth is curving a bit. It actually looks like it to me. (The editor of this blog: I see the curve. It's not your eyes. Pretty radical shot!)

We stopped again at a dam to look at this small waterfall. Yeah, they say 'Warmly welcome,' and other welcomes when you go and visit a Malawian. 'Most welcome,' and such sayings.

 Here is Keiran across from me.

And a bit closer, so you can actually see him. Haha.

Keiran (or as the children call him: 'Kiwi', or how Benji - the last director's boy - called him: 'Kitten.'

 And now I took a couple photo of Darren and Leila.

They didn't stay long enough to get a better photo than this one, so this is the only close-up I have of them.

The waterfall.

The waterfall.

Here Darren was trying to teach me how to get a still shot of the waterfall, but I couldn't figure it out, so I wasn't able to get one. Only a very small still one right -

- here. There is a young couple photo-bombing it at the top of the falls.

I climbed up and got this photo of water on its way down here.

Climbing up a bit farther, I got this picture of where the water was coming from. It looks amazing. Something I would like to go down with a canoe. 

Heading back to the entrance because Darren wanted to get to the house before dark, I took some photographic memories with my Canon.

Once we arrived at the house, we all felt like we were in Heaven. It was so peaceful and cool. We quickly started talking about staying another night, but we knew that we had to go back and that there was someone staying at the place the next day. There was no beach, as my Mum thought, but it was just as great. It was really quite amazing.

A bit of Heaven on Earth

The flower that is in every computer and phone's wallpaper selection.

We found this swing-set around the corner of the house. Like the lizard.

After we set up our rooms and put our food away, we walked up to the curio market so we could go shopping for some wood carvings.

This is up the dirt road about two hundred feet from the house. The market was just around the corner.

Darren was playfully tugging Leila's arm, and the purse dropped from her arm. They continued walking for a while, Leila telling Darren to go get it, and Darren saying no. SO, I ended up going down the hill and getting the purse for her.

The market.

They sold everything at the market: Paintings, carving, jewelry holders, bracelets, shirts, and more carvings.  My favorite place. Lol. I just really like carvings, but I still haven't bought myself one. The nice sized ones cost around fifteen thousand Kwatcha. (40$ around.)

After buying a few things, we went up to the Sunbird Resort's Mulunguzi Restaurant to get some dinner. We ordered some coffee, but it turned out to be a little off, so we got the cappuccinos for free. 

                 

This is the view from the restaurant that we were eating in. 

It is part of the mountain that we would be climbing tomorrow. There are pretty amazing sunsets up in the mountain here.

Our dinner room. We were shown to an actual table, but we asked to sit in more of a lounge area next to the table. We stayed there chatting for awhile after the meal. It was an amazing resort. Especially with the great views.

Sunday:

This morning we were up early - for vacationers. Seven AM. We ate some eggs, baked beans and strawberries - the ones from the guy on the street. 

As I was walking around the outside of the house, I found this praying praying mantis. They are a lot smaller than I thought they'd be, but it still was pretty awesome to finally get to see one up close.

At ten AM, we started up the mountain with our guide. It wasn't that big of a mountain from where we started - maybe a few hundred or so feet. 

The path behind us.

Here is the resort that we are staying nearby. The Sunbird Resort. I really recommend it for its views alone.

Here I am taking the photo of the Sunbird. Photo credits to Darren for taking this good shot of me. I have been needing a bit more with me in them, so this is perfect.

Stepping a bit back further. Photo credits to Darren. Thank ya, thank ya, thank ya.

Keiran and I decided to run/jog up the mountain for most of it. Here we are sixty feet or so above them. Photo credits to Darren again. Lol. It is very good.

Letting them catch up a bit. And yes, I climbed all the way up the mountain in my flipflops.

Nike's the best

That lake below us is the one that we were at yesterday afternoon. Mulunguzi Dam. It may not look like it, but it is fairly steep here.

Nearing the top, I got this photo of the other side of the mountain. It is a complete drop-off - very high up.

Just to make a point.

Nike flipflops

 Almost there. About another forty feet to go.

Here is a great photo of me now at the top. I stayed just long enough on the edge for him to take a photo. I didn't like being that close to death, especially with the wind blowing a bit. Photo credits to Darren. Thank you so very much for this memory. It is a GREAT shot.

So ya, I ended up backing up by choice due to the wind blowing and all. It was blowing towards me, but I was worrying about it stopping and me falling forwards due to the stop of pressure. Photo credits to Darren.

Here is the photo I got up at the top there. It was super high up. Three thousand feet up.

Because my glasses were on, I could see some people on the road below us. Zooming in, I got the photo of the three of them.

This is where Darren was taking the photo of me from. Another great view. Photo credits to Darren.

I got a copy of the same shot, but cropped it a bit.

Here is a more distant shot of where I was standing.

These brick columns mark the top of the point that we were climbing to. It used to be a tower, but life goes on. 

We made it down the mountain in around twenty minutes. I was the first down the hill, so first to take a breather and some photos. Here is a house for a person. Well, duh. I guess you know that. Lol. There are no termites up in the mountains here, so the villagers can build their houses from wood. They normally only use the bricks due to termites.

The top of the mountain. The next mountain we will be climbing will be Mount Mulanje which is over nine thousand feet tall.

After we got back from the climb, I decided to go back to the market for a few more things. 

We are on our way back Hope Village now. Here is one of the frogs that they have here in Malawi.

Leila really wanted some more strawberries, so we ended up buying a bunch from the same guy as yesterday. Not this guy though. I didn't take a picture of him. This man is just another one that was selling strawberries.

It was raining a bit from Zomba to about twenty kilometers out. 

In Malawi, passengers in the back of the vehicle don't have to wear seat-belts. It's at least not as bad here as Jamaica where you can drink and drive without seat-belts, too.

Stopping for some onions and cabbage at a street shop.

We arrived in Blantyre at 2:30 and went shopping for a few things.

I don't know what's with soldiers and such. They all don't know how to smile. 

We then went to Gelato Carnival to get some bread and an ice-cream cone each. Found you, Colt, in Malawi.

The bakery.

I got some aerial photos on the way back to Hope Village.

College boy on his way home.

As soon as we got back, we were talking about the heat. I could feel the air burning up my nose, just like what happens when you are in a hot sauna. It turned out to be about forty-eight degrees.

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