We headed out with no problems on our drive and made it to the Pottery shop.. at the shop is there also a cool little restaurant that we had a quick bite to eat after our hike(it took 50 minutes to get our drinks and food). I bought a few lamps for the house and we headed down the dirt road toward the mountain... On the road, you get a sense of what life is like out here in the middle of nowhere.... very peaceful, quiet and simple.. Living off the land, getting your water from a well.. We saw tons of children running through the fields, men dancing outside their huts to the transistor radios, women washing the clothes, etc.. Walking through the hills there were random tilled plots, growing squash , pumpkin, maybe onions, etc.... There was no marked trail for our hike.. When we left the pottery shop, I asked the lady how to get to the mountain.. She said we could use a guide for 7$ if we wanted. We opted to hike it ourselves... She then looked at me and said..."then turn left and go down the road.. you'll see the mountain. "
We started down the road, took one of many carved out paths through small villages and made our way slowly up the hill. We had to stop a few times to assess the situation.. On one of those stops, two young boys started to follow us.. Eventually I stopped to ask if they could help us.. Of course, they did not understand english except to say.. "Can we have some money?".. They continued to walk with us and eventually helped with direction.. We headed up the mountain and I was probably 10 minutes from the peak.. Then reality set in.. I started to feel pretty nauseous , weak in the knees and short of breath.. I'm sure it was due to the altitude... because I am in peak shape. The young guys continued and I took in the view from where I sat.. I envisioned me passing out, hitting my head on one of the huge boulders surrounding me, and dying a slow death.. I think I'm getting old and was totally content with where I was on the hill. So I sat, took in the view and soaked up a little african landscape.. Then I started to think about all those National Geographic shows, where they show deadly snakes snapping at the camera.. Of course, this is prime country for those snakes.. I saw a few lizards climbing the rocks, but no snakes.. Sometimes you get too much time to meditate on life, and your fears set in and you start to become irrational. Fortunately , my 8 year old guides and my co-workers came down and we headed back to our car.. All in all about a 3 hour hike...
And we ended up giving the boys 7$..
On the way home, we picked up some giant potatoes on the side of the road, made good time back to the city, only to get stopped in traffic for about an hour (10 minutes from my house).... yep, the soccer match just finished and there was a mass exodus... Great people watching though.... Nothing here goes as planned... nothing.. you have to be patient every day.. When it does go accordingly, it is such a rarity that you don't even realize it.
Sunday is upon me and I have no plans unfortunately.. anyone want to come over and grill out??
On a post it note I have written - "school work, boil potatoes, grill boerwurst"... those are my goals today.. aiming high.... hope all is well at home...
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| Dedza potters |
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| dirt raod to hill |
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| 2$ for a giant container of potatoes |
