Hiking Mt. Mulanje

Saturday morning our day started early to make our trip to Mt. Mulanje.  Doug had invited two other friends, so there were six of us--Doug, Bridget, Aagtje, Bill and Elizabeth (from Seattle) and me-- off to tackle the mountain.  After a 1-1/2 hour drive, we arrived at the base of the mountain to begin our hike.  Doug had also arranged for a guide to join us.  Samson was our guide for the day.

tea farms at the base of the mountain

our group at the start

helping each other across the water

a view of Mt. Mulanje

Those of you who really know me, know that I am always up for a challenge.  Well…a challenge it was!  We began around 8:30 a.m.  Unfortunately, about an hour into the hike, Bridget became very sick.  She hadn’t been feeling well, but really wanted to push through for this opportunity to hike the mountain.  She made the wise decision to not continue on, so both her and Doug went back to the van to rest while the rest of us continued on with Samson. We had packed many snacks to sustain us and pulled our water from the clear mountain streams (please join me in prayer that we will not get sick from this!)  

climbing the mountain

filling my water bottle from the mountain streams -- please pray that I don't get sick!

taking a break on the way

more climbing

While climbing the mountain, we came across many of the nationals working, collecting firewood.  Some were carrying these things down the mountain.  What incredible strength these people have!

what amazing strength!  They were in flip flops, too!

It was a cloudy day, but the views we had were just breathtaking!  The trail was VERY challenging.  For those of you who know about the Hyner Trail Challenge I did in April, this was even more technical!   It took us about 4 hours to get to our destination…the ridge on the way to Lichenya Hut.  It was very cold and windy at the ridge.  We stopped for a quick lunch before turning around and heading back down the mountain. 

a view from the ridge

we made it!

got pretty cold, pretty quickly

We were making good time, so Samson asked if we would like to hike to the waterfall on our way down.  We were all in!  So glad we had the chance to fit in this sight as well!  Beautiful!  And, the icy, cold water felt amazing on our tired feet and calves!  After resting a bit, we returned to the base of the mountain.  All in all, our hike took about 7 hours.  What an amazing opportunity among great company!  It was so fun to get to know the others and make some new friends. 

all of us including Samson

Just beautiful!

enjoying a brief rest at the waterfall

We stopped for some delicious pizza in town before returning to Blantyre.  Just an amazing day!

Please continue to pray for Bridget.  We have a lot of time left in the trip and ask for prayer that she recovers quickly and is strengthened for the remainder of the trip.  Prayers for protection over both of us for health and stamina would be appreciated.  On Sunday, we will be spending some time with some of our other workers, Earl and Lois.