15 July 2012
Hey all!
I am so sore…and I love it!!! Kathleen Sarah (one of my remaining Kabula friends from UK), and I went to Zomba plateau this weekend; we’re taking our baby steps towards Mt. Mulanji!
On Friday Kathleen and I were very pleased to see that a group of 6 new people had arrived to Kabula lodge, and we’ve discovered that they’ll be here for 4 weeks! Yay, more friends!!! This day was the first I’ve ever had a working lunch at Queens…I was so wrapped up in getting things done and I was on such a roll I couldn’t manage to stop.
That evening the 4 Manchester girls, Sarah, Kathleen, and I had a wonderful evening of scrounging together each group’s scraps of food to make a pretty awesome dinner of vegetable chili and rice…which I shortly thereafter added beef sausage to because the thought of chili with no meat offends me. Later on I went to Doogles and played pool with two of the Manchester girls that were leaving this weekend…I’m going to miss all of my UK friends! I definitely have to make a trip to visit them all next summer.
On Saturday Kathleen, Sarah, and I set off for Zomba at 8am and got there around 11:30am. Our plan was to take a taxi up the mountain, go to the view points, get a few souvenirs, then walk down the mountain.
We took a taxi most of the way up Zomba which dropped us off at a hotel/touristy point. We walked on a dirt road the rest of the way up; I was expecting more of a narrow trail but I had not considered the fact that this heavily forested area was their main source of lumber. Walking up to the plateau was not so bad; approximately an hour-and-a-half journey up to the Emperor’s and Queen’s View…we did make many scenic stops on the way up, so it was a bit quicker coming back down.
When we got to the top we had lunch at the Emperor’s View point; coincidentally met up with some of Sarah’s friends at the Queen’s View point, then started our way back down. We got some great valued souvenirs at the stands near the hotel then started our EPIC journey down the mountain.
To go down the mountain we took the Potato Path, which I’m assuming is the path that the locals take to go down because it was definitely not tourist friendly! The path was never wider than 2-3 feet of walking area and had tall grass and brush obstructing the path. It was rocky and sandy all-at-once and the terrain seemed a consistent 45 to 75 degree decline which rarely leveled off to give pity on my poor left knee! At one instance we had to do a surfing slide down the mountain because it was too sandy to try to walk down; I know Kathleen has a video of me going down at this point…I will have to talk her out of revealing such embarrassment.
Everything we saw was simply beautiful; the windy path the water flowed in the spring, looking out on the towns in the distance from the plateau, the way the sunset lit up the town below us, even the baboons lounging on the edge of the road on the way up the mountain…I kind of felt like my 3-year-olds in Sunday school saying “Thank you God for the trees, and the spring, and the rocks, and the animals…”
When we got back to Kabula I was so hungry; we made spaghetti and meat sauce and I don’t think we could have picked a better night to cook meat. And the Manchester girls got me an early birthday gift! They’re a sweet bunch of girls, I’m going to miss them so much! After our meal, some early birthday chocolate cake, and 2 episodes of Modern Family I called it a night and went to bed the earliest I have since we’ve been in Blantyre.
Of course on Sunday morning I woke up to feel the aftermath of yesterday’s adventure…oh man, I love the soreness after a good work out! We treated ourselves to another wonderful homemade French toast, caramelized apples, banana, and eggs breakfast on the veranda; and despite the fact that I got nearly 10 hours of sleep I took a 2 hour nap shortly after brunch.
When I woke up we went to market to pick up fabric to get outfits made; I’m going to have a tailor make my both of my nephews pants, and dresses for my nieces…maybe even a skirt for me if there’s enough material. I still haven’t decided what to get my brothers and sisters yet…but I know what to get their children!
To finish off the evening we met up with some friends at Veg-Delight for dinner, and came back to Kabula for an ever-so-girly night of braiding hair! I taught Kathleen how to underhand braid, cornrow, and even cornrow with extensions! Sarah is such a good sport for letting us play in her hair.
I’m ready for another action-packed week of work! I have a broken wall heater, an oxygen concentrator with disintegrated internal tubing, my apnea monitor to fix, and normal CPAP checkups and tests to run…I can’t wait for tomorrow!
With love,
Bridget
Things that were new to me:
Walking down a mountain!
Braiding kinky-twist weave into fine-blonde hair
Watching The Notebook
Things I wish I had:
A spare toothbrush to scrub the gunk and dirt off of my sneakers
Non-stick pans to make French toast
A real can opener
For my parents—I promise I’m eating:
For breakfast: Toast, jam, eggs / banana in oatmeal / French toast, caramelized apples, banana, and egg
For lunch: PB&J with banana sandwich /
For dinner: Vegetable chilli…with sausage and rice / Spaghetti and meat sauce / Tons of Indian food I fail to remember the name of (Veg-Delight)