22nd August 2025
Now that we actually had coffee in the house, the morning seemed a lot smoother. It also helped that we didn’t have to rush off anywhere. Derek and I (and the ever friendly Ollie the cat) sat and enjoyed a few cups of coffee before breakfast and a hike.
The hill that sits just in front of the church compound is still there. Every year its sides shrink a little more as people excavate more stones and gravel from it to sell. I still remember walking along the hill on our first trip to Blantyre in 2017. The whole place was a lot quieter then. Barely any houses in sight, just a whole bunch of churches in the opposite direction. And off in the distance Mount Soche and that giant satellite dish on a smaller hill below it.
We started up the usual path on the side facing the church’s gate, but it was definitely too steep and too rocky for our purposes. We managed to get back down from where we started to hike. We got Derek a walking stick and headed up a different way. There are actually two peaks of the hill that is one of the last remaining elements of the Kanjedza forest reserve. It’s a short hike but with surprising views of the surrounding mountains and valleys in every direction. You can even look down and see the last remaining trees which are technically part of the reserve. The government has sectioned off one stand of trees as well as planted a nursery which produces some of the local plants.
We sat and enjoyed the view for a minute before coming down and walking through the neighborhood. We walked in the direction of the remaining trees to the edge of what looks like a fenced off section of forest. It’s actually land owned or leased by a lumber company who harvest those trees and replant them and harvest the next generation. Daniel has some friends who have a shop in the area so we walked down and got some sodas in glass bottles for a special treat. Derek had Coke and I had Sobo Ginger.
I was reminded that the area we were walking in was named “Angels Go There” at some point in history. The local Chichewa speakers heard that phrase in English and called it “Angelo Goveya” as we saw in one of the signs we passed. We finished our walk and headed home in time to accomplish a few tasks and get ready to head into town for some shopping (or rather looking at prices for bicycles).
After a thorough walk, we headed back to the church compound to get ready for the rest of the day. Our next task was to go into town and do some research on the cost of bicycles. Daniel made sure I had my drivers license so I could have another try at driving the roads of Malawi, this time in the daylight. Traffic through Limbe on a Friday was pretty terrible. And so was parking. But I survived to drive another day!
There are what some call bush bikes that are very common in the country. They are usually just a single gear bike with a simple build. There are different versions with a slightly stronger structure to them that cost a little more. These kinds of bikes used to be very affordable in Malawi, but with recent ongoing economic downturns and forex shortages, like everything else bikes have more than doubled in price. We found a few shops that had the bikes we were looking for, but also one small shop that had some even more sturdy bush bikes that we hadn’t seen before. They were of course more expensive, but ideally they would last longer. Derek did some preliminary research into the bike company and they were top rated among that style of bikes. We also found out we can get a discount if we buy direct and in bulk. We noted these things down as we headed off to compare some more prices if we could find another shop.
As the Sabbath began we headed over to the Mpilangwe’s home where we were invited over for dinner. Loney always outdoes herself and prepares enough food to feed the whole congregation. It was lovely catching up with all of them and their son Junior, and just relaxing before a busy Sabbath day ahead.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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