Sapitwa (Where No Man Goes)

We had 4 days and 3 nights ahead of us. I was excited - everybody was. Finally we were going up to the highest point on our National Landmark. I had always wanted to go there and how marvelous to do it before turning 25! The birthday was coming up in a few weeks.

We were going up to Lichenya Hut on our first day and the records said it would take us 4 hours – apparently.

There were seven of us: Patrick(our head guide), Patrick AKA HH (our rescue team porter/guide), Allister (our Porter), Innocent, Taalumba, Angelina and Me.

Before it all went down

We started off at 13:45 hours on Friday afternoon. If it would take us 4 hours then we would be arriving at 17:45 which was not so bad. Mulanje Mountain is beautiful place to be at. The views never disappoint and the stream waters are chilled to perfection. We went up the Boma Path that starts from Kara O Mula Country Lodge, this was the shortest route to our Hut but it was also one of the steepest ones on the mountain. We would do this, piece of cake. Deep down I knew I was probably the most unfit in the group. I usually work out and should have made it a priority prior to this trip but I kept sleeping it off.

Walking to work every morning counts as exercise though... These were my stupid thoughts.

Bad idea.

A hippo could have done a better job than I was doing. I kept stopping to catch my breath yet we were barely going uphill. I thought I would pass out. Our main guide told us we could not drink water straight from the streams until we were at least 1800m high up to do so without being worried about how clean the water was, so, this meant carry your water bottles all the way. I thought he was joking, was he expecting me to carry water all the way up on this journey?? My small back pack was already a nuisance to me.

We got to our first resting point 2 hours later and had our picnic lunches, if they said camp here I would have gladly obliged. This was torture! But I brought it upon myself. I looked at my team and I seemed to be the only one having breathing problems. I was disgusted with myself and the shoes I had on literally fell apart 2 hours into the hike and that put a damp on my spirits…maybe the Mountain spirits were not happy that I didn’t thoroughly prepare for this? Maybe the spirits were just playing a dirty joke on me?

Luckily one of the guides had a pair of spare shoes and I got one to get me going. We went on till we got to another river – we were told the name of the river but I was too tired to care or even remember. This was where we would take another breather. I only caught up with rest of the team after they had settled down 5 minutes into our break.

I thought my lungs would burst!

What is wrong with me?? I found dry rock to sit on and placed my head in the water running next to my body from a river uphill on the same piece of rock. This felt refreshing but soon my face would freeze so I got up and attempted to stretch. We took some pictures and drank some water. For a while it felt like our hike had ended for the first day and our Mountain hut was just some 5 minutes ahead of us. That dream was short-lived when our Guide told us to get ready and start off for – the difficult times where now upon us.

“We are going uphill from here and Naomi you’re in front because you’re the slowest.”

I was too tired to be insulted from what Patrick was shamelessly announcing. Looking at the path we were now going on felt like looking at The Wall in Game Of Thrones. It seemed to go on forever. I could not even make out a flat surface from where I stood but there was no turning back. HH started off ahead of me and within minutes he was out of sight – maybe it wasn’t a wall after all and maybe flat terrain was nearer than I thought. After all, this was a 4 hour path and we had already covered two hours.

"The Wall"

The wet season had just ended and the path was still wet with rocks covered in moss. One had to be really careful when planting a step and you had to be on all fours. It was a strenuous ascent that required one's full concentration. I looked down to see the view and Patrick screamed, telling me not to look down. I wanted to tell him I was not really scared of heights but decided against it – all his scolding simply reminded me of my Mother.

 Twenty minutes into it and I felt good. The cold air hitting my face was very refreshing. It was here I realized that I preferred climbing to walking.

I carefully calculated each step I made so that there was no mistake. It felt like we were lizards slithering up a moldy wall. A glimpse down below told me the river we had left behind was well out of sight – we were making great progress. That is until my left foot slipped from where I had placed it. I was left hanging on using my right foot and two hands – I must have looked ridiculous dangling there. My mind had not yet registered what was happening and my hands were losing the little grip I had and then it dawned on me:  I was slowly sliding down and soon I would fall.

I am falling! I couldn’t scream but the fear I felt was overwhelming. I am falling! My mind went numb and crazy at the same time. Images and words flooded my head. Nobody was going to come after me or we would both go down. There were no trees this side to break my fall – just rocks and that river we had left behind. This was going to be a very painful fall and I was not ready.

Oh dear...!

Then, something steadied me again.

Taalumba was holding his hand under my foot. He must have seen me coming and acted really fast. That moment was enough for me to reposition my hands and I hugged the rock near me because well, my life depended on it. Moving was not an option at this point. I was going to remain there till tomorrow if possible because I didn’t trust my feet anymore. The sweat was building up under my coat despite the chilly wind blowing and I realised I had been holding my breath the entire time but I was afraid to breathe again...just in case.

 The rest of the team called for me to move up but I told them off. Taalumba was getting tired supporting my foot and I was holding up the rest of the team which meant there were all stuck in one position holding on but I had to compose myself. Patrick then called out for HH who walked over from wherever he was like this was all flat ground, took my hand and proceeded to guide me to a safer spot. This whole time I was wondering if HH had special type of feet that allowed him to defy gravity to a certain level.

The shock was real. Sitting there looking down and so many thoughts filled  my head. My life flashed before my very eyes in those few moments and my eyes started burning - I was horrified! what was I thinking coming up here? What exactly am I looking for? Mum was right. My eyes started burning - I was horrified!

You can't cry now surely!
My fellow hikers asking if I was okay wasn't helping at all. I wanted to scream out in frustration but it was nobody's fault. Truth be told I'm to blame because I love the outdoors and if Innocent asks me one more time if I'm okay, we will fight.  The view down below us was breathtaking and my phone's network at this point was excellent. I took it out and sent messages to my family telling them I loved them. Mum replying a few minutes later with "I love you too..please be careful" almost broke the waterworks but I stayed strong.

Lichenya Hut

Minutes later we continued to climb "the wall" using ropes most of the way. We finally made it to the summit and somewhere along the way I stepped in a small ditch and sprained my right ankle. The night was dark and the only thing visible were our moving figures under the torch lights. The night is dark and full of terrors. It was a rather spooky experience but I was too tired and drained to even care. It seemed as though we would never stop trekking and the hunger I felt came and left. We arrived at Lichenya Hut 10 hours later.


Lichenya is a beautiful hut and we only got to appreciate this the next day. It is the largest on the Mountain and can sleep up to 30 people. There are pools located within 5 minutes of the hut - it makes you want to move in permanently and devote your life to living on the Mountain which I would seriously do.

A glimpse of Sapitwa

We started off for our next hut and arrived there early afternoon. It was an easy hike with just over 300m of elevation gain and the weather was perfect. It was also on our second day that we spotted Sapitwa for the first time - exciting and scary is how I can describe it. Exciting because we were closer to our goal and scary because Sapitwa was all rock and fog. This was the only time we got to see it.

Chisepo Hut

Chisepo is a much smaller hut compared to the ones we've been to. Perfectly situated for an ascent of Sapitwa. It is made up of one large room which we shared with 30 other travelers from different parts of the world. We arrived early so we chose a cozy spot for our group and by nightfall it was crammed with some people sleeping on the veranda outside. Groups took turns cooking over the fireplace. There were no trees at this level - just rocks, hard grass and shrubs.The wind blew long and hard. I wore my coat and slept inside a sleeping bag that was covered with 2 blankets. It was a five to six hour return trip from Chisepo (to Sapitwa). Let's just get this over with and get back to our normal boring lives.  The memory of slipping the day before was upsetting each time I remembered.

The path going up to Sapitwa was not easy but luckily we had the rope and I was very at home with the rock climbing. It was much easier and faster for me in some places but some points made you rethink your sanity. One could easily get lost in this jungle of rocks. There were red paint marks on the slabs to direct you on the route but some of them were badly weathered and needed to be repainted. We climbed over and crawled under huge boulders. Some places required you to sit and move forward or upward with your bum, feet and and hands. The temperature kept dropping the higher up we went and the clouds started closing in on us. There were puddles of water everywhere but none safe to drink.

The road to Sapitwa

We kept asking if we were close to Sapitwa but the guides told us to keep pressing on. I was so fed-up and convinced we would never get there.The last point to test us was called Hillary Step - named after Hillary Step on Mount Everest which was named after Edmund Hillary, the first guy to climb Mount Everest. It was one huge boulder that seemed to be connecting the ground on which we were to the ground that would enable us get to Sapitwa. You would have to walk a few paces before getting to the other side on this boulder. Under this step were huge rocks and the open sky so falling off meant bye-bye. We contemplated ending our hike here. After all Sapitwa was just 2 minutes away and it was practically the same thing. No one would know too...

Patrick brought out the rope and suddenly I was rearing to go. The rope gave me assurance and I was fast on it. I've been watching too many action packed movies. 
The summit was foggy with cold showers of rain and not a ray of sunshine. We were on top of the clouds and also a part of them at the same time. This is why it's called "The Island In The Sky". Patrick started schooling us on directions and where our neighboring countries were but it was no good. Our vision was impaired. And our excitement too real to even pay attention. We were on top of the world (Central Africa at least). We had made it.

It was around 1600 hours when we got back to the hut and most of our roommates had already left. We were to stay another night before heading back down the next day and none of us wanted to think about how far we would have to go considering how far up we were. I kept asking if the path we would be taking to go down was as steep as the Boma Path but the guides assured me it wasn't. Going down the Mountain was always an easy thing for me compared to up so I wasn't really scared but I had to be careful and ready.

We stopped by Thuchila Hut for our lunch before proceeding (probably the oldest mountain hut at present). The hike back down took us 6 hours 30 minutes instead of 7 hours. We arrived in Blantyre later that night tired and happy. I had broken my nails and was in need of a massage.

Watchman's very old house..

I walked to the front door and contemplated on how best to explain the weekend to Mum. There would be a travel ban if she knew I almost fell.

She sucked on her teeth the moment I walked through the door "Are you happy with yourself now?!" Obviously Ma! For half an hour I felt like an Eagle. High above perched on rocks. Breathing the cold, clean air. Looking down on central Africa. The lakes were but a drop. I was part of the Earth and a part of the Heavens too. It was great.