Waking Up at the Mushroom Farm in Malawi
Good day on this April 16th. Waking up at the mushroom farm is pretty exciting. You don’t want to move too many feet from the cabin because then you get a drop that you may not survive. And there’s not really much fencing going on. My restroom is a little building next to the Kopp house where I’m staying. The Kopp house has a double bed and a stacked bed — room for 4 people — but I’m taking care of it by myself.
There’s a few steps to the outhouse, if you want to call it that. They have composting toilets with no water, but they do have hot water for each building. The one interesting part is that one whole wall is pretty much missing from that room, and it’s a sizable room which gives you an outlook all the way to Lake Malawi when it’s clear. An absolutely beautiful sight. And farmhouses down below — and I’m talking below. It is an incredible drop. So you want to stay with your wits at this place.
Morning Coffee and Planning the Day
I would be staying at the farm another night, so the question was whether to do any activities or just catch up on things, since there’s good Wi-Fi from Starlink. It’s also a vegan place — no meat — which I can tolerate for a few meals.
In the morning I decided to have a really big pot of Malawi coffee, which has the strength of Ethiopian coffee. I got the big French press with 3 cups. After ordering that, I looked at the activities and the only one that caught my attention was a coffee tour. I tried to book it for the same day, even though I should have mentioned it the day before.
In hindsight, I should not have had 3 cups of this strong coffee after being mostly on Nescafé. But this was the real thing, and I consumed most of those 3 cups.
The Coffee Tour with Lyson
Lyson, the coffee farmer, came to pick me up for the coffee tour that I ordered for about 20,000 kwacha — roughly $15 at the bank rate of 1,700 kwacha to $1. A very reasonable price.
The tour meant about a 2-hour leisurely walk up to Lyson’s house, which sits above 3,000 meters or 9,000 feet — that’s where the coffee grows. He’s a small coffee farmer with about 1,250 coffee plants. It takes 2 or 3 years before the plants carry beans, so there’s a lot of waiting involved.
Interestingly, the land cannot be purchased — only leased. Lyson even leases land from other people who are themselves leasing from the government. It’s all fascinating.
Crossing the Creek and the Mountain Walk
The walk was very scenic. There was a creek we needed to cross that had a few tree trunks as a bridge, which didn’t look all that stable. Somehow the 3 cups of coffee were getting to me in a way that I felt unsafe walking over those logs. Normally I have no issue with that, so I just lowered myself and made my way over very close to the logs, which worked out just fine.
The walkways don’t allow for any cars, so people there are very fit because they have no other way to be. Their homes are in the hills, and they need to always walk a bit to do anything else but be home.
Freshly Roasted Coffee at the Farm
Lyson introduced me to his property and explained a lot about the coffee growing process. He had some beans there that he roasted for me right on the spot, and I got to drink the coffee immediately after roasting.
He also showed me a contraption a little further away that about 42 farmers use in a co-op arrangement. They use it to shell the coffee, and then they either sell the green beans to wholesalers or roast and sell the coffee themselves. It’s a lot of carrying things around, but it’s a very good process to understand, especially since I’ve been a coffee drinker all my life.
The crucial thing I learned is that you need a certain altitude before you can grow coffee. In the lower parts, there was no coffee at all. They also grow some maize and other crops alongside the coffee.
The Walk Back and Wood Carvers
I made it back mostly by myself since there was no need for Lyson to accompany me the whole way. We took a different route to avoid crossing that same unstable bridge again, which was a good decision. It was a fabulous way to spend the day.
On the way back I came past some wood carvers and ended up buying one or two things from them. I probably paid too much, but that’s what happens when you’re in Africa — you think you’re getting a good price, but you probably could have done better.
Evening at the Mushroom Farm
It turns out the owners also have an orange car — a Prado — which is apparently very old and not running at this time. But just seeing that orange again was fascinating. I had another delicious vegan meal, and it was a really special day. Coffee wins every time. Thanks for coming along.
