Travel Journal: Hiking Up Dedza Mountain

July 25, 2011: Dedza, Malawi

Today we "bagged" (i.e. hiked) Dedza Mountain with a guide to go along and lead the way. This was after a lovely breakfast in the Dedza Lodge garden, in the warmth of the sun.

We left straight from the hotel and walked towards the hills. When we turned from the footpath to the "main road" that leads to town, I started noticing signs of people - a shell from a roasted peanut, a corn cob from a roadside snack - and two women passed us, trotting down the road with long arches of firewood on their heads. The wood is balanced just so and looks similar to someone portaging a canoe. It rests on a crown of cloth or a twisted, dried grass wreath. They trot by and mumble greetings to our guide. "Wah-wah" with a hand held up is a sign of respect to your elders as you greet them.

We saw women and children with babies and wood loads all along our walk. Going down the steep, steep slope their bare feet held them so much more steady compared to our slick shoe bottoms. Exactly why do Americans need to send shoes to Africa? Certainly not to help these women! (In the photo below you can see the arch of the wood.)

In Malawi there are lots of fires burning all the time. A line of smoke in the distance can mean a farmer burning off dried maize plants or it could mean people are hunting mice or hares and are smoking them out. All the smoke fills the sky with a haze and so we couldn't see much from the top of the mountain, only a layer of brown reminiscent of the Los Angeles basin. However, all the smoke does make it smell like camping!

Soda pop in bottles at the summit made a great treat and I felt a good sense of accomplishment, even if all I did was climb a mountain for fun.

Our guide answered lots of our questions about Malawi for us. He told us about how the official language in the parliament is English but that some politicians only know their tribal language and Chichewa, which is the language of the largest tribe and another national language. He told us about how the Dedza golf course is famous in Malawi. See for yourself how it sizes up...

As we walked into town lots of people stopped to wave and call greetings to us. People stared but didn't jostle or jeer at us. Maybe that's a reason they call Malawi the "warm heart of Africa." We saw people running to sell their wares through bus windows at the bus depot. We saw bikes with cushions and handle bars for passengers on the back. (Hiring a bike ride is the most economical mode of transportation in Malawi, besides just walking. Very few people have their own cars and travel by mini-bus is relatively expensive and only used for long distances.) A "fixie" (one gear bike) in Africa is actually hard core.

Another picture of the path:

Our nice room at Dedza Pottery Lodge: