Muli bwanje, Mulanje

On Sunday night I left beautiful Michal and beloved Dinky for my medical elective attachment in Africa.

Dinky the Magnificent

The subsequent flight was mostly long and boring and the connection in Addis Ababa airport revealed it to be a foul place. It stank of stale cigarette smoke and was more like a souk than an airport. I didn't take many photos there because it was so grim. However, I didn't have to tolerate it for long before I was off again, and in daylight this time. Several hours of this:

Africa from 40,000 feet

were then followed by this:

Lake Malawi, as seen from the stratosphere. The country looks tiny on a map of Africa, but in fact it's not at all: it's still 750 miles from here to my destination.

Blantyre district, viewed from the air. It's quite hilly. The aeroplane was weaving about the hills coming in. The geography looked amazing but it was impossible for the camera to capture it all.

I then landed at Chikewa Airport, which serves Blantyre, Malawi's main commercial city and the largest town in the south of the country, on the 33rd anniversary of my birthday. The airport is a cratered runway accompanied by a concrete shed. The hospital had kindly arranged for one of their drivers to pick me up, who I met in the shed, and I was soon on my way to Mulanje.

Seen from the car on the road from the airport to Mulanje

The road from the airport to Mulanje

The famous Mulanje Massif, with the peak of Sapitwa (3002m) hidden in clouds to the left, which I fully intend to climb. Taken from the road from the airport.

The abrupt change in language and weather were the most immediate culture shocks when coming in from abroad, as they often are. I was particularly awestruck by the scenery which is obviously very different from England. The camera on my phone barely does it justice.

The driver helped me pick a few things up in Blantyre and then took me straight to my accommodation near the hospital. It was dark by the time I got there, but there was another elective student from the UK who had arrived a few days before me there to greet me.

Very soon, a welcome party of three of the four doctors at the hospital, all British, and a volunteer carpenter from Scotland, turned up and helped me settle in by cooking dinner.

Everybody---the welcome party, and the locals---were so overwhelmingly kind and helpful and friendly that I'm sure I will have a great time here.

Muli bwanje, Mulanje.