Back in the hut, I spent some more time reviving the fire before I finally fell asleep again shortly before Emily got up at 6 am. She and the guys wanted to climb up Chambe Peak this morning. I had already told them last night that I wouldn’t join, after I had read that it would take five to seven hours to get to the top and back. Emily and I still had the portion of our regular hike ahead of us this afternoon and I didn’t want to overexert my body. So when I finally woke up around 8 am, I was alone. I had a bit of breakfast (white bread with peanut butter) and then cleaned the dishes everyone had left behind. Yeah, sorry, I just can’t deny that bit of Monica in me... Afterwards, I sewed a button back on my trousers (yes, ME) and spent the rest of the morning reading. I had borrowed a book from Emily and although I can’t remember neither the title nor the story, I know that it was quite captivating. Andrew, Dan and Emily came back shortly before noon. Apparently, my guidebook had slightly exaggerated the required time to reach Chambe Peak but Emily said that nevertheless I wouldn’t have liked the climb, since the path was very steep, much more than our hike yesterday, and that they had to crawl on all fours on some parts of the way. Hearing that, I was sure I took the right decision.

After a short lunch break and saying good-bye to Dan and Andrew, Emily, Ramson and I set off towards the Lichenya Basin, an area in the south-west of the Mulanje massif. It took us roughly five hours to get there but the hike today was much less strenuous than yesterday. The terrain was more or less flat with only very slight ups and downs and the scenery was stunning. Light blue sky without a cloud, rocky peaks sticking out of the green landscape and lush vegetation as far as you could see. Only once in a while the result of the wood porters work would be visible: some forest areas had clearly become victims of logging operations and the deforestation left ugly marks in the otherwise flawless territory. It was sad to see the remains of a stubbed area with splintered stumps rising above cleared fields and dry branches scattered on the ground. Sometimes we could hear lumberjacks chopping down trees from a distance. Unfortunately, sustainable forestry seemed to be unknown to these people, who were only doing what they had to in order to make a living.

We reached the CCAP Cottage just before it got dark. This place was much better equipped than the hut we slept in last night. It actually had three different bedrooms, each of them containing real beds with warm blankets. The common room had a big table with several chairs, a fire place and a kitchen corner with basic pots and pans, some cups and cutlery. In addition to the obligatory outhouse, this cottage also offered the luxury of a “bathroom”: a separate wooden stall in the yard, equipped with a stool and a plastic basin that, upon request, could be filled with heated water by the caretaker. The only weird thing was that this place had no door to close... There were three other guests at the hut: an English-speaking couple and a Japanese traveller who was very impressed by my (scarce) knowledge of Japanese (Itadakimas!). Again the guides and porters stayed in the separate house of the caretaker. Emily and I had dinner and tried to finish the rest of our provisions, just leaving some bread for breakfast tomorrow. Afterwards we still sat by the fire for a while before going to bed around 9 pm. Thanks to the beds and blankets provided in the hut, this night was not as cold as the last one and I slept much better.