Mulanje 'safari'
I say!
Here, as promised, are some snaps of our trip to the Mulanje Massif.
First of all, so that you can place where we went, the first snap shows the view over towards Mulanje from Zomba. This one was taken previously, when the area was quite green. It shows the town of Zomba in the centre, with Ntonya hill to the right. Mulanje is in the clouds in the far distance.
The highest point of the Mulanje range reaches nearly 10,000 feet. We approached from the Fort Lister Gap, to the north, and climbed Namasile, which is 8815 ft.
The Fort Lister Gap is an old slaving route. In the last century, slaves were rounded up in the area and transported through the Gap to Mocambique and thence on to the coast, by Arab traders. Unlike West Africa, less has been writen about the destination of slaves from East Africa.
The people from around the lake (Nyasa), so it has been written, made good slaves. They were hard working and not prone to revolt. The Masai, from much further north in Kenya, on the other hand, made poor slaves, as they tended to simply lay down and died.
The Fort Lister Gap, was, therefore, the last part of their homeland seen by thousands of slaves, and it was fascinating to visit this area.
This shot shows us starting out. Some of the party hired local porters. Of course, Menzies did not. I prefer to carry my own provisions, though at times I regretted this decision!
Looking down into the Gap, and to the right, into Mocambique.
Interesting cloud formations, looking to the west.
Sombani Hut, our base camp. L to R - one of our party, the local carpenter, and four porters.
Looking back down to the Gap.
Not much of a panorama from Namasile.
MM III
Here, as promised, are some snaps of our trip to the Mulanje Massif.
First of all, so that you can place where we went, the first snap shows the view over towards Mulanje from Zomba. This one was taken previously, when the area was quite green. It shows the town of Zomba in the centre, with Ntonya hill to the right. Mulanje is in the clouds in the far distance.
The highest point of the Mulanje range reaches nearly 10,000 feet. We approached from the Fort Lister Gap, to the north, and climbed Namasile, which is 8815 ft.
The Fort Lister Gap is an old slaving route. In the last century, slaves were rounded up in the area and transported through the Gap to Mocambique and thence on to the coast, by Arab traders. Unlike West Africa, less has been writen about the destination of slaves from East Africa.
The people from around the lake (Nyasa), so it has been written, made good slaves. They were hard working and not prone to revolt. The Masai, from much further north in Kenya, on the other hand, made poor slaves, as they tended to simply lay down and died.
The Fort Lister Gap, was, therefore, the last part of their homeland seen by thousands of slaves, and it was fascinating to visit this area.
This shot shows us starting out. Some of the party hired local porters. Of course, Menzies did not. I prefer to carry my own provisions, though at times I regretted this decision!
Looking down into the Gap, and to the right, into Mocambique.
Interesting cloud formations, looking to the west.
Sombani Hut, our base camp. L to R - one of our party, the local carpenter, and four porters.
Looking back down to the Gap.
Not much of a panorama from Namasile.
MM III
posted by zomba at 4:30 AM
4 Comments:
Wow MMIII, those are extraordinary pictures. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing!
Mingin! Nice to find nothing disgusting here! In fact, a total education. Zambia looks awful like Malawi. They might be the same age. Hotboy
I especially enjoyed the giant archway mountain, it's surprising that isn't better known.
Are there any photos of yourself? They can be fully clothed, I don't mind.
My dear friends,
Thank you for your kind comments.
I cannot, for hush hush security reasons, etc, etc, post up to date snaps of myself that would allow my identification, but I have some which do not reveal much, which I will endeavour to post.
MM III
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