Emily, the World Camp manager staying at the house for a few months, volunteered to take us to the Mphunzi Rock Art site on Saturday for an all day excursion. Early in the morning the four of us (Emily, Zoey-WC intern, Kelly and I) climbed into the WC SUV and headed off to Mphunzi. The ride was beautiful (of course) as we headed up into the mountains, an hour south of Lilongwe. After a missed turn or two (the signage here is something to be desired) we found our selves in a court yard of a small clinic located a kilometer down from the old Mphunzi Mission. As this site doesn't often see outsiders, the guide found us quickly and we were off on our hike.
As we walked the guide educated us on the two kinds of rock art we would see, roughly the age of the art, and it's importance in today's Chewa culture. It turns out that the Chewa still hold religious and coming of age ceremonies at many of the sites, which range from 2000 years old (Chewa) to 10,000 years old (Pygmies). After our very steep ascent up the mountain to see the first site I understand how such a place can inspire a spiritual awakening! The rock art itself was painted not in cave like I had envisioned, but rather out in the open, exposed to the elements. The boulders of the mountain formed a sort of covered porch, if you looked up there was a rock ceiling not 5 ft. above you, with round cool stone worn smooth after the thousands of years of use, to lay on as one gazed up at the paintings.
The next few sites the guide took us to were much easier to get to and were surprisingly integrated into the village that surrounded these paintings; one site being just a few steps from a farmers field. I truly wonder if Malawi knows what precious artifacts they have? The final site we visited was a place that Dr. Livingston had camped at when he was in Malawi on one of his expeditions. Dr. Livingston and his party camped atop a large rock formation that had been known by the Chewa people to be a preferred sleeping spot for the large animals to keep cool during the hot days. It is said that while the human party camped atop the rock formation, the large animals slept below.
After the last picture was taken, we had to move on to our next adventure of the day, which was a trip to Dedza and the famous ceramics studio. Dusty, tired and a little bruised, we clamored into the SUV and headed out.
Dedza turned out to be a large town, with a beautiful lodge and restaurant where we fed our weary bodies. The food was delicious and exactly what we needed after our long hike through the mountains of Mphunzi. We then made a quick trip to the ceramics studio to purchase a few souvenirs to remember the day. As it was 430 pm we needed to head back to Lilongwe so that Emily was not driving on the highways at night. We made it back to WC just in time to see the sun slip below the horizon line, signaling the end to a very momentous day.
When I look back at the photos, it's hard to imagine that I was so close to something so ancient. I have only read about these sorts of paintings, never did I think that I would one day be able to see them in person (though I had always hoped). I truly hope more people come to Malawi to see these artifacts, they are most definitely worth the airfare. Until next time!
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