..."There's Always Gonna Be Another Mountain"

The top of the summit!
Literally in the clouds
I looked fear in the face this week and then conquered it....and honestly I couldn't be more proud of myself! This week we had our first excursion, which was climbing Mount Mulanje and summit Sapitwa Peak. In case you all were wondering in Chechewa Sapitwa means "Do Not Go There", and yes we went there! Sapitwa Peak is the highest peak bin Southern tropical Africa and the 3rd tallest peak in all of Africa. This experience was probably the hardest thing that I've done that tested me both physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, now I feel like I can do anything! 

So, the hike was a 3 day hike and we did 12 miles the first day, 15 miles the second, and 8 miles the last day. And these miles weren't just casual walking miles. On the first day, we went up equivalent of 500 flights of stairs, and that was just day one. There were also points where we had to rock climb freely (ie, without any rope), and it truly tested the strength of my arms! Don't worry Mom, I won't tell any of the scary stories until I'm safely home :) oh yeah, and it wasn't just that we had to summit one mountain, we had to summit many before we got to Sapitwa. So yeah, lots of hard work, sweat, and yes, tears. 

Found a chameleon on the hike! 
This experience taught me that the human body is INCREDIBLE. Before going on this hike, I didn't actually know what I was getting into. If someone had told me all the things that I'd be doing, I would've said no way and laughed in their face. However, our bodies can take so much more than we think!! I really learned to trust my body and the strength that it has (even though it may be little) and that 90% of the battle is mentality! After climbing Mount Mulanje, I feel so much more confident in myself and my capabilities. I know that I can push myself to do things I never imagined I'd be doing! I'm sure this feeling won't last forever, but I really enjoyed pushing myself to the max and seeing the results of it all. 

This is the chambo I ate....SO GOOD
One last cool thing from this week that I learned: when you are super hungry you will eat anything and anything will taste good! We burned about 4000 calories a day on average, so eating anything felt amazing!! Like, for instance, spaghetti noodles with ketchup. Never would've put the two together, but hey! It worked. We also had chambo this week, which is fish native to Lake Malawi. It was kinda scary looking so I was hesitant at first, but oh my goodness it was the best tasting fish I've ever had!! And I don't really even like fish. It had such a good flavor and I really hope we have lots more of it!!

Well, the adventures were quite fun this week and definitely plentiful! I encourage you all to go out and do something you never thought you could do, because you CAN do it. Believe in yourself and believe in your capabilities! You can do whatever you put your mind to. Malawi is great, the world is great, and life is great! 

BEAUTIFUL sunset that I captured...No Filter! Nature is incredible

Fun fact: Chamo is a type of fish here, but chamba means weed. Big difference for only one letter change!


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