Malawi Travel Blog

While others race up as many peaks as possible I like to have an easier day after the tough ascent to the plateau of Mount Mulanje. While there are many great things to do on that great island in the sky one of my favourites is exploring the numerous streams, waterfalls and pools on that beautiful mountain. 

Some of the pools are very well known and close to the mountain huts and paths. Others are probably almost completely unexplored. The largest pool (not pictured) on the mountain has a length well beyond an olympic pool with a sandy island we camped on. The early morning first light view of the high peaks surrounding is quite beautiful. While it's the only pool I know up there will an island suitable for camping, other pools have sandy beaches.

The most rewarding experience can be finding pools during the exploratation of a stream. A determined walk upstream under over-hanging trees led to the emergence of a pool at the bottom of a high waterfall with steep...

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A mixed group go on a trip trip to Frances Cottage, Chambe on Mulanje Mountain. I first published this blog post here in 2011. Does a small group of young adults and a young family work for a trip like this? Why not?

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The first step, well the first step for me at least, is to find people to climb Mulanje with. One reason for that is the number one rule on Mulanje - don't climb alone. Also, the point of climbing Mulanje is to enjoy it, so therefore best to share the fun.

If you don't have anyone you know to climb Mulanje with and don't have time to wait for the right person to come along, then climb with a porter and / or guide. Mike Petzold in 'The Peaks of Mulanje Mountain' lists 59 peaks and tops. He says that he has been on the top of all but three of them, some of them several times, 'but NEVER alone.' If one of the most experienced Mulanje people is NEVER alone up there -...

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A few years ago I wrote a blog about our time in Malawi then. Now that I have resumed blogging rather than dispense with the previous written material I thought I would use some of the 'vintage' posts that are still useful. Some of what I wrote before is an introduction or was intended as part one of a series. We therefore may have some work that can be something upon which we can build.

In the meantime, let's go back to 2011.

We have just returned from a long weekend and three nights on Mulanje Mountain. Mulanje Mountain is the highest mountain in tropical southern Africa or the highest mountain in all of the band of countries running from Mozambique on the Indian Ocean over to Namibia and Angola on the Atlantic.

I have heard several people say that Mulanje is the third highest mountain in Africa. That is not true - it is far from that. Instead it is better to point out that it is one of the largest inselbergs (literally 'island mountains') in the world and the...

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