Hiking the hills

We like to get out on the weekends, let the kids get some exercise. Malawi has some great hiking areas. One not too far from us is called Bunda rock. We'd heard that people go up to the top all the time, often spending the night and praying. "It's an easy hike" we were told. So we packed up the kids, the rock-climbing gear to let the kids practice rapelling, and lunch, and headed out. We obviously did not get enough information before we left, because Bunda rock is actually lots of tall rocks with lots of places to climb with lots of local villages surrounding it! We did out best, but clearly picked the wrong place to start climbing!

Chad was loaded down with ropes and lunch, Miriam had Isaac strapped to her back, and Anya and Ethan quickly got tired of the 40 children (yes, we counted, and there were literally 40) who attached themselves to us and followed us everywhere, pulling Anya's blond hair and laughing at Ethan. As they laughed, Ethan got grumpier, and they thought it was funnier, until poor Ethan was sobbing about things like the grass poking his legs too hard (meanwhile, the kids are all scampering up the mountain barefooted!)

With the rains so recently ended, the elephant grass is exceedingly tall, so we were actually pushing through grass taller than Chad--I suppose I should have been more understanding of Ethan getting freaked out over walking through grass twice as tall as he is! We got most of the way up the mountain when Ethan got stung twice by some kind of bee, and it was all over. Between me panting away trying to carry Isaac on the back and my growing belly out front, plus Ethan melting down, plus the grasses making things impossible, we turned around and headed home where we ate in peace at last. Sometimes our grand ideas work out great. Other times...not so much