Exploring Malawi

This article will focus on the genesis of the project, the climbing in Malawi and information for people who want to climb there. For a more in depth behind the scene look, our Behind The Scene video will be released late January.

Haroun Souirji [Vast Motion Pictures], producer and director.

GENESIS:

Africa has always been an important part of my life. As the son of a man who has dedicated his life helping African populations with his work, I had the chance to visit and spend time in countries such as Senegal, Mozambique and more. So as a climber and filmmaker, it has always been a dream to explore Africa to develop and film rock climbing.

In 2013, I was lucky to visit Rocklands with Mélissa Le Nevé. While this is certainly the best introduction to bouldering in Africa and probably as good as the rock gets there, it lacked the exploration part. Yes the bouldering is freaking awesome but what about the rest of that massive continent? Following that trip I spent a lot of time searching for boulder fields in Africa, mostly using Google Earth. Zimbabwe quickly showed a lot of rocks but a lot of it seemed explored and videos were even available. I was looking for a country that was never really considered for bouldering.

Countless hours on Google led me to some pictures of people climbing on boulders above a lake. They were pictures of Hot Rocks truck tours (climbhotrock.com). Bouldering on the banks of the third biggest lake of Africa sounded great but it was not enough to justify going there, especially since the rock did not seem to be very good quality. After a lot of Google Earth "exploration", I found a few hills which seemed to hold an almost infinite amount of boulders. No photo of the rock though... this was going be a risky bet... but we told ourselves that such a big amount of boulders HAD to offer some good lines. Also the average high size of the boulders was encouraging.


The Seminary: this satellite picture is what convinced us to visit Malawi.

For the team I invited climbers Mélissa Le Nevé and Benjamin Rueack. Julie Guignier (Additional Cinematography) and Scott Noy (Still Photography and general help) completed the production crew. With the team ready, I started organizing the trip. Using producing sorcery I managed to get us a catamaran for free to explore the boulders of Lake Malawi. The trip looked like an easy one...

But we quickly realized it would not be a calm trip as Ben had a lost luggage which resulted in him having only one (white...) shirt for the first 10 days. The "One Shirt" event quickly became a running joke... more of that and other behind the scene aspects in the behind the scene video out in January.
The climbing:

Before our trip, climbing in Malawi meant a few routes on the granite big walls of Mount Mulanje. Expatriates there opened a few routes in other areas but most of the climbing happened some time ago and was limited to a few easy routes. While the potential for routes is real (we might go there again for routes someday), the abundance of boulders is incredible.

 


Developing bouldering in Malawi is a frustrating game. We crossed many areas with an immense amount of boulders but only spent time in 3 because we had limited time. In some areas, vegetation can be dense, itchy or even try to cut you open as Ben learned the hard way… twice. You will often see tons of boulders at the distance but never find the time to reach them. Many boulders will have no holds and some will be flaky, but once in a while you will find a pure line with great rock, which will make you regret you only planned a few days in that area. This is not specific to Malawi. Even in Rocklands, some parts have very few actual lines compared to the amount of boulders. So if you plan to explore in Malawi, go there for a month at least!

I. Chambe Boulders:

This area was discovered out of pure luck. Chambe face is the biggest rock face of Africa (1600m if you combine the bottom slab and the vertical wall...) and is part of Mulanje Massif. We initially planned to walk up the mountain to search line in boulder  fields at 2000m+ elevation. But when we drove past the face, we noticed hundreds of big boulders lying at the bottom of the mountain. Surprisingly we missed them on Google Earth.

 

The boulders were massive. We later realized that this is a constant in Malawi. Many 10m high but some would be as high as 20-40m. Some boulders turned out being flacky but many boulders featured very interesting lines on great rock. That was the case for Mélissa's "3 min left", a crimpy vertical line on gorgeous rock. Some of those granite boulders had even huecos on them. We only spent a few days there and checked maybe 10% of that boulder field. There are other boulder fields higher in the mountain but we did not check them. As a bonus there is a limited potential for bouldering in the river beds from rivers coming down from the mountain. While many would be very hard to explore (but with lots of rock), Benjamin found a "deep water bouldering" line on a boulder right next to our lodge (Thuchila lodge). The boulder lies above a natural pool with fresh water and amazing colors at sunset. One of the multiple magical places we would visit during our trip and the best average rock quality of the 3 areas.

 

There is unfortunately one downside to the Chambe boulders. There are many villages next to the dirt road at the bottom of the rock face. Expect many kids to follow you and ask for money. While kids are rightfully very curious (they are extremely poor and have never seen climbers), it can get a little bit out of hand when you have 20-30 running next to you at the end of the day. In those situations I find that the best is to keep things at a playful level; surprise the kids, smile and keep calm. It is not advised to give money to the kids as this will make the situation worse for you and future visitors. It is STRONGLY advised to pay for an official guide (only 8-10$/day which you can divide between your group members) as they are nice people, will handle the kids and translate. If you want to give something to the kids, they appreciate empty bottles so they can transport water. Best is to give them to the guide who will divide equally between the kids. For more information about the mountain and the guides: http://www.mcm.org.mw/. Please note that this is the only area we had that “problem” and it got better each day as they got used to us and us to them.

II. The Seminary (Mangochi):

The main goal of our trip was checking the boulders behind the Saint Paul the Apostle Seminary. The place is almost empty during the summer but teaches future priests during the rest of the year. Google Earth showed a dense 3km long boulder fields with many very big ones. The first visit is overwhelming: boulders for a life time, an extremely calm atmosphere with only baboons, birds and the wind as the soundtrack. This is one special place.

 

 

When you first start touching the rock and pulling on holds, you start to understand that a lot of it is flaky. You can open many slabs on blank rock but most of the holds on featured rock just brakes. But the seminary offers the highest density of boulders we have seen and despite the low percentage of solid lines there are again many great lines to be developed. Some of the rock is coarse but not worse than what you can find sometimes on boulders in popular crags. Most of the climbing is on crimps on vertical to 35° overhang. If you are lucky and find a big line with solid rock all the way to the top, then there is no limit with boulders as high as 5, 10 or 20m+. It really comes to sampling as much rock as possible. We checked only a few percent of the area and maybe other parts offer the best rock. The advantage of this part of the hill is that you can park in the Seminary itself and reach the first boulders very easily. There is also a road along the left side of the hill, which seems to feature even more boulders, but you will have to park on the side of the road and most likely face 30 kids during your climbing session.

 

It is a very special feeling to go climbing knowing that every day you will be followed and spied on by baboons in a strangely calm place. If spending time exploring with no certainty of finding "the line" works for you than it is absolutely worth it. 

III. Cape Maclear:

As mentioned in the "genesis" of the project, I discovered Malawi looking at a photo of people climbing on boulders above Lake Malawi. This lake is the third biggest in Africa and has more fish species than any other lake in the world. With a length of 500km and sand beaches, it feels like facing a sea.

 

The photos of people climbing gave us hope the rock would turn to be ok but it turned out to be by far the worst of the trip. Holds break and the rock is very coarse. From what we have seen it is not worth a visit if your only goal is climbing. If you want to spend time sunbathing, scuba-diving and watching gorgeous sunsets after a few intense weeks of bouldering in other areas than you are at the right place.

But important information: Lake Malawi, which until recently was the only big body of water of central Africa free from schistosomiasis/bilharzia (an infection caused by a parasite) in Africa, is now contaminated in some parts. Luckily you can prevent it with a pill you take after you get back (very cheap if bough in Malawi). Lake Malawi has the most fish species of any lake in the world (very colorful ones) so it would be a shame not to be able to swim in its warm water. 

IV. The future:

If you have the time and motivation to explore this uncharted territory, no doubt you will find some special lines. Not only did we only explore a very small part of Chambe boulders and The Seminary but there are many other boulders field and walls. There is one place that we only spend half a day that offered amazing rock in a more tropical setting. Also many giant boulders offer great options for bolting. This could be the goal of a second trip.

PLANNING A TRIP TO MALAWI:

Malawi is unlike any other climbing area we have visited. Unlike Rocklands, it has the true tropical Africa feel I remember from countries like Mozambique and Congo. South Africa, while maybe being my favorite place on earth, is extremely influenced by western culture so is in a way separate from the rest of Sub-Saharan countries. If you also want to experience such a trip, here is some information for you:

When to go: this is a very simple one. It is very hot most of the year. Southern Winter (June-August) offers the lowest temperature (26° average max, fresh at night) and the wind will often make the temperatures very tolerable. During our 3 weeks in July, we only experienced rain during one evening so rain should not be an issue.

Safety:  Malawi is very stable and the people there are the most friendly I have encountered in Africa, despite being some of the poorest. They are genuinely curious about what you are doing and will try to help you without asking anything in return. We never felt threatened. One time we left a car window open for a whole day in a village with the lens case open inside the car. Nothing was stolen.  You should of course be careful but safety is not an issue.

 

Health: There are no vaccines imposed to enter Malawi but it is highly recommended to be up to date with common vaccines such as tetanus, hepatitis, etc. You will however need to take Malaria pills (and bilharzia pills if you plan to swim in Lake Malawi). Do not forget mosquito sprays.

Transportation: it is highly advised to rend a 4*4 if you plan to explore. Good thing is that it is much cheaper than in South Africa. We rented ours at Beta Car Rentals. Malawi is a rather small country so unless you want to go north, most travels will take half a day at most.

Wildlife: a lot of the country is burnt each year. It is a shame for biodiversity but when you get to a safe spot for creepers you understand that locals do it to protect themselves. At our lodge, which had many big trees, we saw tarantulas on multiple occasions and other big spiders. We only encountered “friendly” tarantulas but do not touch them… Malawi also has lots of venomous snakes (including many Black Mambas) and unlike Rocklands they do not all hibernate in Winter as temperatures stay high. Encounters are extremely rare but it is a good idea to bring a kit like an Aspivenin in your bag. A great experience is going on a car or boat safaris in Liwonde National Reserve. It is only a few hours from Mangochi and you will see crocodiles, MANY hippos and if you are lucky elephants. The park has less variety than South African reserves but costs a fraction of the price (15$ for a nice tent, 20$ for a boat ride… you easily pay 5 times or more in South Africa).

Official documents: you need a passport but a Visa is required only for trips longer than 30 days.

Costs: the plane ticket is very expensive for sure (1500€ or more) but if you go to local restaurants (we almost made the whole trip without being sick…) or cook your own food, this is counterbalanced in part with low travel costs once you get there. Accommodation should not cost you more than 10$ (spacious room) or 20$ (for a shared house with living room and kitchen) per person and per night and was always very clean.

 

You probably get it by now. This is not your usual climbing destination. It is unlike any trip within Europe and very different than Rocklands. If doing first ascents on a daily basis in t-shirt weather deep in Africa sounds good to you, Malawi could be the place for you. It certainly is not as good as Rocklands for climbing but you will not forget your trip there. Everybody in the team wants to go back there… Stay tuned for our behind the scene video or watch the video of the trip if you have not seen it yet!