Robin in Malawi: Music Scene

This month I though I would take you though the Music scene and one of the treks I did.

The Malawians love music, there is alway an african beat around.

Before the rainy season started, every Fri/Sat/Sun evening you can always hear a beat going on until at least 3 in the morning.

And sometimes it's so loud it sounds as if in your back garden.

The music is of a reggae origin and everybody knows Bob Marley which is played frequently.

There are many Malawan bands but the most famous are from Zambia or South Africa.

To get you in the swing try this youtube from Mampi… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udJCKv5X5A

In Lilongwe most weekends there will be an open air gig on with several bands playing. at a cost of £5-£10

Local to where I live we have a very nice bar with an open lawn and they have bands/singers on most weekend but only £2-£3.

It's run by a Scottish who also runs with me on Mondays with the Hash. He is also the leads singer of his own band and funnily enough he has just employed our own VSO Country Director as his rhythm guitarist.

The band is very good.

The Bars/Disc's in Lilongwe tend just to play local music all the time but the beat is good and you begin to feel it and you cannot help flow with it.

Down on the Lake where you think all the fun would be, it tends to be very quite. Plenty of people staying in each lodge but no one lodge get the action going. However once you do get a few in one bar people come off the beach and then things can happen.

Also at the lake each year except for last year they have a festival at the lake in September. This is supposed to be the biggest music event in Africa with loads of African bands, you cannot beat the settings for this. We await to go this September.

I have managed to find a group who go walking/trekking regularly.

It's very difficult normally as there are no maps or guides, but loads of Mountains to trek up.

So for the last bank holiday I joined up with 5 others and went to Mount Mulanje

As you can see from the picture it's a big lump of rock, however what you see is just a ridge. It goes up again a similar hight.

The Tea plantations are at 800m. The ridge you see is at 2200m, then the highest peak goes to 3006m all in the cloud.

The first day trek/scramble for 5 hours up one of those steep gullies ascending 1400m to get to the ridge. From there you view one of the massive plateau's. The lost valleys!

You then descend sharply by 300m to get onto it and trek for another hour before reaching our log hut. there are about 10 spread around the mountain range.

Fortunately 2 of the group belong to the Mountain Club so have a key to the room with mattruesses and cooking equipment.

There is no running water or electricity so a fire is lit in the fireplace so cooking cane be done.

For sleeping most would take their mat outside.

Second day was going to be going to the top but every ware was covered in thick mist and pouring with rain so was declared far to dangerous to attempt due to the steepness of the track and the full flowing rivers.