Into the wild

Together with an eclectic group of foreign missionaries and some Malawians we ventured into the wild last weekend. Marc, a South African who spent 12 years in remote Lesotho, led the way up Elephant Mountain. Our group of climbers included an orthopedic surgeon, water irrigation experts, agricultural experts, an electrician with one leg, etc.  In two large SUV’s we drove South of Mzuzu onto an overgrown dirt road and eventually parked the car when there was too large of a tree blocking the road.

The climb was a bit more than we had bargained for as there was nothing remotely resembling a path. We hiked through the dense overgrown bush. The climbing started with an 80% incline where we clung to patches of grass to mount the slope. Finally the summit had a 90% incline where we forced to do unsecured rock climbing. I believe our well-willed guide had other standards of a casual Saturday hike.

However, the summit was stunning and the view of the surroundings worth the climb. On the descent I nearly lost my  backpack to the mountain but it luckily hooked onto a bush while tumbling down.

Later by car, we visited a remote lookout point with a small “lighthouse” where a guard watched for fires. We signed his guest book (the first ones this month) with an average of 2 visitors a month. He explained that he surveys the surrounding mountains for fire. However, the capacity to subsequently do anything about a fire was limited (read: non-existent). He was all too happy to pose for photographs with his walkie-talkie, guestbook, pen; see photos.