Blantyre’s trendy and upmarket pub, the HS Winehouse on Saturday trekked down to Lilongwe to give a ‘heroes welcome’ to two of its members who were part of a contingent of 19 hikers who hiked Africa’s highest peak on the Kilimanjaro Mountain in Tanzania.
About 10 patrons and directors of HS Winehouse travelled to Lilongwe on Saturday morning to welcome Emmanuel Maliro, an avid traveler, hiker and environmental enthusiast and Tumpale Mwamondwe, a financial consultant and a patron of HS Winehouse.
Both Maliro and Mwamondwe reached the highest peak on Kilimanjaro Mountain.
The Blantyre crew was joined by their Lilongwe HS Winehouse counterparts who recently relocated to Lilongwe who included Edna Sewani, Towera Mpando, Yamikani ‘Ziggy’ Chinguwo, Golden Banda, Manganaye Kambauwa and Nkhwachi ‘Baghaya’ Mhango.
One of the patrons for HS Winehouse Alije Nyemera said they decided to give the heroes welcome to their colleagues for their achievements.
“These two colleagues have achieved a great milestone in hiking and we thought we should celebrate their home-coming in style, that is why we organized ourselves and travelled to Lilongwe to accord them a ‘thunderous’ welcome,” said Nyemera.
HS Winehouse made special T-shirts bearing the faces of Maliro and Mwamondwe of their exploits on Kilimanjaro Mountain.
After giving them a heroes welcome at Kamuzu International Airport on Saturday morning, the group went to Sewani’s house in the Area 47 suburbs where they had lunch and braai to celebrate their homecoming.
One of the directors of HS Winehouse, Gerald Tasaukadala said the joint felt ‘honoured’ that two of its patrons were part of making history as the first from HS Winehouse to conquer Kilimanjaro Mountain.
“We all followed the updates that our friends were giving us as they were hiking and to be honest it was not easy but through their determination, courage and faith, they made it to the top on Kilimanjaro Mountain. As HS Winehouse we thank all our patrons who contributed to support these two embark on this journey and also those who went to welcome them,” said Tasaukadala.
Maliro, who is also a director at HS Winehouse thanked patrons of the joint for welcoming them in a special way.
“I am elated! We did not expect that we were going to be given this huge welcome by our colleagues who travelled all the way from Blantyre despite some fuel challenges to be with us, we feel so special, I am at a loss of words,” said Maliro.
Mwamondwe also thanked HS Winehouse patrons for welcoming them in a special way.
“We are one big family at HS Winehouse and I am very happy with what they have done to give us this huge welcome, it feels so special,” said Mwamondwe.
Apart from being a drinking joint, HS Winehouse is proving a good venue for the development of arts in the country as some of the artists like musicians and cultural groups have been holding events at the venue.
The latest to hold an acoustic concert at the venue was the new music sensation Driemo early this month.
