In my quest to see/ hear/ smell/ taste/ explore as much as I can possibly can around me here in Malawi, these past two weeks have been packed pretty full. I will try my best to give a brief synopsis of what I have been up to.
Thyolo District Hospital:
I went with the ICEMR research team on one of their visits to meet up with the Malaria Coordinator, the DHO (District Health Officer) and the DMO (District Medical Officer) in order to introduce myself and explain the project that I am working on. It was an excellent visit, despite the FREEZING cold rain that lasted all day. When I'm in the field I wear long skirts like the other women on the research team, and this time brought along a chitenje (fabric traditionally worn by women wrapped around the waist as a skirt) just in case I needed an extra layer. Definitely a good idea since the unusual winter rains eventually soaked through most everything. The turnout by patients in the hospital even reflected the weather, having only 5 patients presenting with malaria and almost no new patients after noon. The majority of the day was spent escorted around by a clinical officer named Oswald after the morning handover meeting (which was mostly spent outlining the new treatment procedures for ART's starting the first of July). During the slow times Oswald and I chatted about differences in dating customs, who he will vote for in next years presidential campaign, the rivalry between the local football teams (Bullets and the Wanderers) and how nsima completes every meal like no other food. Another entertaining and productive day in the field.
Satemwa Tea Estates:
Wow. That's all I can say. We had driven past the tea plantations on our way to Thyolo and Mulanje, but seeing the endless fields of bright green tea leaves contrasted to the red earth was truly breathtaking. The girls and I drove out to the Huntington House, built in 1928 and managed by the same family ever since. Originally a tobacco farmer, the owner brought over the first tea plants in Malawi. We took a tour of the picnic grounds at the very top of the mountain on which the tea is planted before heading down to the house, now a fairly exclusive and ridiculously beautiful b&b, for high tea. We brought our fancy skirts particularly for the occasion :) It's not very often that we get dressed up around here so being lady like and sipping on 3 kinds of delicious tea, scones and cream, finger sandwiches, cookies, and coffee seemed to be as good excuse as any. I loved touring around the old house, and of course the food was absolutely exquisite.
Carlsburg Brewery Tour:
Every Wednesday at 2pm there is a free walking tour around the local brewery in Blantyre, and FINALLY everyone had a free afternoon to go explore. The tour... was a little suspect. Our guide seemed to want to rush us pretty quickly through places that I'm not entirely sure we should have been walking through. But it was totally entertaining, and it ended with a beer tasting, aka drink as much as you can until they kick you out at 4pm. We got our fill of greens, special brew, and kuche kuche while bonding with the Canadians who also showed up for the tour. They happened to be on a 12 month tour of Africa and Asia, and before we knew it we had invited them on our Mount Mulanje trip for the upcoming weekend!
Mount Mulanje Camping Trip:
This is what I have been waiting for :) It's taken a few weeks of planning and sorting out, but last Friday Abbie, Dee Dee, Evan, Jenna and our new Canadian friends Cat and Germie were on our way for a three day, two night adventure on the Mulanje Massif. It's this gigantic mountain with 20-30 peaks and a dozen or so huts on top that you can stay overnight as you explore around the plateau. A 4.5-5 hour hike got us to Thuchilla hut, where we set up our base. Thankfully no other hikers were using the hut besides us, allowing us 7 to somehow fit onto the 4 provided mats and 5 sleeping bags we brought, all lined up on the floor in front of the fireplace to keep warm. The following day we hiked to the summit of Nadalanda peak, at 8,558 ft. Hi lights included breathtaking views, squeezing through a fairly small crevas, and having the best picnic lunch on the peak as clouds began to roll in. That evening we shared our site with 15 Scottish high schoolers working on their Duke of Edinburgh award (they all had to tent camp, thank goodness for us and our 4 mattresses... not sure if they would have spread that thin lol). Loved chatting with them around the campfire and feeding off their excitement. Our final day was spent hiking down the way we came just in time for lunch at Mulanje Pepper, where we celebrated with pizza and delicious fanta. Despite some sore legs, everyone agreed that the weekend was a success :)
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