Day 164 – 18th March 2010 (Mbeya, Tanzania – Chitimba, Malawi)
For any eagle eyes amongst you, you may have noticed that we have diverged slightly from our original planned route and instead of Mozambique, today we find ourselves on the opposite side of Lake Malawi, in Malawi. The wet season has hit Moz, as it has pretty much everywhere in these parts, but apparently the roads in Moz are terrible, even in the relatively developed south, not to mention the remoter north which was our original plan. So we opted to go to Malawi first – where next is still up for grabs, the joys of being flexible! A very easy border crossing, apart from the final hurdle of the gate into Malawi where, in true African leadership style, despite it being surrounded by 50 people, no-one seemed to have the authority to open it for us – not bad though, only waited about 15 minutes which in African time is positively speedy.
But shock horror, we arrived at the campsite to bump into our old friend, the chav from Bunyoni and two other overland trucks. Now you may be thinking that we do not have a high opinion of overland trucks and you would be right, today was the perfect example (apologies to any overland truckers reading this – I am sure there are some very nice ones but we have just been rather unfortunate!). A third overland truck arrived after we had set up camp. Now this campsite was not small, had a lovely beach on which to camp and at least three other separate grass areas but, for some reason known only to these overland truckers, they decided to, once again, surround William with their tents - Ness returned from the bar run to find James at breaking point sitting trying to enjoy a beer smack bang in the middle of 10 tents and 20 overland truckers. The nice South African family next to us even took a few pictures, we were utterly speechless and in true English fashion it was Ness who suggested to them that perhaps we should get out of their way … I am sure they will be equally considerate in the morning…
Miles travelled: 176 miles (total 16,803 miles)
Highlight of the day: The very gay border control officer in Malawi who almost deserved the 500 Kwatcha he was trying to swindle out of us just for the theatrical fashion in which he delivered his “I’m hungry, I have not eaten for three days” patter
Comment of the day: From the Bunyoni Chav to Rodney, the barman at the campsite “Oi, Rodney you plonker” … genius
Day 165-167 – 19th -21st March 2010 (Chitimba - Chintheche)
True to form, we were awoken at 7am by the calls of wild Africa – the sound of overland truckers packing away their tents. We decided to make a quick exit although, regrettably in hindsight, we did stay for the worst breakfast of the trip so far. 150 miles down Lake Malawi we found a perfect campsite, right on the lake, with a swimming pool (you can’t swim in the Lake because of Bilharzia – a nasty little snail parasite the frequents fresh water that digests its way through your skin when you swim in infested waters and sets up house in your liver … oh, the joys of Africa) our own personal TV to watch the last Saturday of the 6 Nations and, best of all, we were the only campers – until we were joined once again by our old friends, Oli and the Surf, yay!
We also finally discovered the art of the African barter system by trading a tin of Egyptian tomato paste for a Malawian piece of art … I think we came out the winners here. Since we are carrying numerous other useless items, the new trip mission is to see how much African wooden “art” we can accumulate in similar exchanges … watch this space for your next Christmas presents J.
Miles travelled: 146 miles (total 16,949 miles)
Highlight of the days: Watching the rugby drinking Carlsberg Special Brew… we’re not turning into tramps, honest
Comment of the days: It’s a tossup between the manager from Chitimba
campsite to James “Is the coffee not good
enough for you?” vs the manager at Chintheche Inn, a upmarket lodge and
campsite “No, there is no Bilharzia or
Malaria here because it is fresh water but we did find a crocodile next door”. Hmmm,
1. Bilharzia only lives in fresh water … twit; 2. Malaria is rampant anywhere
below 2000m in this country and the lake shore is only about 500m above sea
level … confirmed twit; and 3. big fat crocodiles … s**t, no swimming in the Lake for us then!
Trade of the day: 2xtomato paste tins + 1xchicken curry instant
noodles packet = 2xMalawian water colours
Day 168 – 22nd March 2010 (Chintheche – Senga Bay)
A late start for the Team after an astronomical bill at Chintheche Inn – despite being one of the poorest countries in Africa, pretty much dependant on foreign aid to survive, it really is not cheap for tourists here - does that count as foreign aid too though!?! Hey ho. The late start meant we didn’t get quite as far as planned today and ended the day at Cool Runnings – excellent name for a campsite guarded by two Staffordshire Bull Terriers. A fairly comical meal later (see comment of the day), we picked up a chap from Linklaters (really … Africa seems to be full of lawyers, we were trying to escape you know) and headed for a local bar – not quite the scene but the beers were significantly cheaper!
Miles travelled: 184 miles (total 17,133 miles)
Comment of the day: Waiter to Ness “we didn’t have any pasta so I made you a pie”
Ness to Waiter “oh great, perfect,
what kind of pie is it?”
Waiter to Ness “Cheese and Apple”
Days 169&170 – 23rd & 24th March 2010 (Senga Bay – Monkey Bay)
The countryside of Malawi does not look that different from Tanzania, it’s the first border we haven’t noticed a significant difference when we crossed, very green and lush still. However, once you’ve been here a few days, you notice the differences – the roads for starters are a dream … there’s no other traffic, no maniac bus drivers or trucks trying to kill you and no surprise speed bumps – happy days! Instead, there are quite a few wobbly bicycles and a lot more people on the road – everyone walks or (the more affluent I guess) get a taxi-bicycle in this country. I read about a Malawian girl the other day that had a five hour round trip walk everyday just to get to school – I don’t think that’s uncommon here. Then there’s the lake of course – which looks more like the sea surrounded by lovely beaches and on which we find ourselves again today in another lovely campsite … hammock up, it’s a hard life J
Miles travelled: 110 miles (total 17,243 miles)
Highlight of the day: Ness getting her hair groomed by a 3 month old baboon that the owners of the campsite had rescued from some local kids who had chased it away from its mother. Once it is strong enough, he will get reintroduced to a bachelor troop of baboons in the National Park.
Comment of the day: Oli, after being invited to play football with
the locals “I hope they have different
kits otherwise I won’t be able to recognise who’s on which team”
Tune of the day: The Best of Air Guitar, the Album – oh yes
Days 172-176 – 26th-30th March 2010 (Monkey Bay – Liwonde National Park - Lilongwe)
What a very pleasant change – a National Park which cost us a princely total sum of $12 for 24 hours, slightly cheaper than the last National Park which cost almost $400! However… as we soon found out, there’s a good reason for that … a bonking baboon was the highlight of our morning game drive. I guess you get what you pay for! Still, we fell asleep to the sound of hippos and the view we woke up to was stunning J
We decided to cut our losses and head for Saturday night in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Only the streets seemed a bit deserted when we arrived. But, not to be put off and with bellies full of Nandos and a few Carlsberg Special Brews, we were determined to find the nightlife so we followed a local down a deserted, dark back street. Interesting decision. As we were walking I recalled all the very sensible warnings against such follies in an African capital city … but true to his word, instead of being set upon by an angry mob determined to relieve us of our valuables and probably our clothes, we found ourselves in Pirates Casino – OK, so it was no Bellagio but we did end the evening with more money than we started with* … result!
The next day was mostly spent recovering … and the next day fixing cars (oh and Oli chasing James around the garden with a set of clippers), then dinner with the enigmatic Don Briani followed by the delights of the Pirates Casino once again. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky this time probably partly due to the rather copious amounts of Don Briani’s wine we quaffed ... which was also the reason we spent the next day recovering again.
Miles travelled: 265 miles (total 17,508 miles)
Highlight of the days: Morning swims and lazy days
Comment of the days: Oli “why does my brain hurt?” … no comment
Tune of the days: Roxette … really, I think travelling braided hair Eurotrash should keep their music to themselves
* or at least James did, Ness just lost most of her money and had her chips confiscated