Zomba Plateau

Between national park visits we spent a couple of nights at a lodge on the Zomba Plateau, one of Malawi’s many beautiful landmarks and particularly well known for the hiking trails. Our hosts were Tom and Petal, long-time residents with both a commitment to warm hospitality and deep involvement in their local community. This off-the-grid lodge (no electricity, cell service or wifi) was honestly one of the best places we have ever stayed in our many years of travel. The property includes several acres of beautiful gardens, flowing streams, soaring monkeys overhead, a vast array of colorful birds, full size poinsettia trees (who knew poinsettias grew as trees?!) and their two playful dogs. We saw a snake during a long walk and Miriam handled it pretty well ... because only later did we find out it was a forest cobra. Yikes! Our meals were creative, gourmet family style feasts with flavors and variety that we have rarely experienced. We told Petal that they could open a restaurant in any city in the world. “Too much stress,” she quickly replied. “We prefer the intimacy and connection to our guests here.”

We took advantage of our full day on the plateau to get in some exercise after a few days of mostly sitting. Tom and Petal suggested a hike that should have been four miles, but somehow turned into six as we got lost a few times, double backed and later wandered through a small village where children raced out of their homes to point the white people in the right direction. They knew where we were going! The views across the valley were amazing though we were also curious about the acres of terraced gardens, fed by an intricate system of canals. We learned later that the development of these gardens, mostly locally cherished berries of various kinds, is just one of the projects that Tom and Petal have been supporting for many years.

Tom and Petal have a particular passion for preserving and replanting trees along their side of the Zomba Plateau. Much of the rest of the massive plateau has been stripped of trees over the years (along with much of the country where there are roughly 85% fewer trees in Malawi than just 30 years ago). The incredible success of their investment bore fruit in the wake of the massive Cyclone Freddy that hit Malawi earlier this year. Many communities were devastated by mudslides down mountainsides that were stripped of trees so there was nothing left to hold the water, taking with them houses and lives. In the area surrounding Tom and Petal, people were able to realize that their lives had literally been saved by the work they had done to preserve and replant trees over the years because mudslides that started were quickly stopped by the trees. Amazing.

Another perk of staying at the lodge was meeting and sharing meals with the other guests. We were joined our first night by a couple, she is American and he is British, who are working at the hospital in Blantyre: he is a pediatrician and she is doing infectious disease research through Harvard Medical Center while also navigating how to raise two kids in Malawi. The next night we were joined by a young Dutch doctor on rotation working at another local hospital as he considers whether a longer term assignment in the developing world might be a good fit for him.