Lilongwe, Blantyre & Zomba - Malawi (see Aug for photo's)

By the time we packed up it was 9.30am before we left Mfuwe en route to Chipata and the border with Malawi. The road from Mfuwe to Chipata is mainly gravel/dirt all the way except for some steep bits where they have laid short stretches of tarmac.

The road is bad, worse than many bush tracks with loads of potholes so progress was slow and even though it is only 76 miles we only arrived at Chipata at 1pm. We had hoped to pick up some supplies at Chipata as in Mfuwe there is virtually nothing but sods law it was Sunday so nearly everywhere was closed.

The main and probably only supermarket is Shoprite a sort of South African Tesco which you see in nearly all Southern African countries. As we pulled up they were closing up for the day too and just the manager was about to leave.  However, in true African spirit he re open just long enough up to allow us to get some bread and milk (later we found it had gone off but at least the thought was there!)

The border post is not far from Chipata so we were there by 2pm and had finished with both sets of immigration and customs in half an hour, something of a record! From the border its just 120km to Lilongwe the Malawi capital so after buying our third party insurance (mandatory for each country you visit) we were on our way.

About 10km before Lilongwe we passed a place called Barefoot Safaris which advertised camping however we needed to be closer into town so continued onto Lilongwe arriving at 4.15pm just in time to set up camp and shower before dark. A South African couple we met in Zambia had recommended we camp at the Lilongwe golf club which seemed a strange spot to us but we thought we would give it a go, the only other options in town being hotels of variable pedigree and quality.

Being a Sunday the golf club was humming when we arrived so we had to battle through golf trolleys and bags all over the place. The campsite is between the first tee and one of the fairways and even though it is separated by a chain link fence it was very off putting putting up the roof tent and getting the camp sorted while people were teeing off close by!

After having such a wonderful site at Wildlife camp it was a bit dreary and depressing but it was secure and at $3 p.p.p.n we couldn't complain. Being Sunday it was also the day when Africa goes to church so we were treated to an Evangelistic gathering going on close in the football stadium where an African Jimmy Swaggert was giving all and sundry rock all for being total sinners - I swear they could probably hear him in Cape Town.

Thankfully at 6.30pm he packed up and we enjoyed a brief period of peace and quiet before an open air disco kicked off with music blaring out until 4am, to top being a golf course with the mandatory water hazards once it got dark we had the added bonus of loads of Mosquitoes around the camp - such was our introduction to Malawi - the warm heart of Africa!

Not surprisingly we didn't get too much sleep that night and next morning wasn't much better, first we discovered the litre of milk bought at Chipata for our breakfast was sour, so we gave that to 'Happy' the camp guard - which consequently made him very happy!

Next we discovered the rear roof rack had shifted forward and needed to be knocked back into position, (this was a re-occurring problem each time we travelled over rough roads) and on closer inspection we found the weld which we gone to all the trouble of getting re-done in Lusaka only a three weeks before was cracking again - shit this was all we needed!

Malawi has only two towns/cities of any note, Blantyre in the south and Lilongwe so it was a fair bet that once we left here we would not be able to get the rack fixed. However first order of the day was to find new digs for the night as we sure as hell didn't want to stay another night at the golf club!

We had heard of another place called Kiboko which turned out to be less than a mile a way from the golf club so we packed up, paid our bill and hot footed it to take a look. Kiboko is mainly an overlanders place, a bit like Jollyboys in Livingstone but it was a lot better than the golf club and for a few dollars more we could have a small A Frame wooden Banda with electricity, which would be ideal to store all our stuff off the roof rack.

Next stop was Constantine & Co which we were told was our best bet to get the roof rack sorted. After eventually tracking down the Italian manager it became quickly clear they could not or would not help. He suggested instead we go to Blantyre and speak to a Mr Tony at a company called TEM. This was a bugger as we hadn't planned on visiting Blantyre, it would mean a major detour further South than we wanted to go.

Looks like there was nothing for it but to head off to Blantyre tomorrow but first we did some food shopping as we needed to re-stock and check out an Internet cafe to check emails etc. The next shock was to discover virtually all businesses in Malawi do not accept credit cards so we had to change some money, which was a right bugger as we needed to keep our dollars for the game parks, we were starting to realise we had definitely been spoilt in Botswana et al.

Next day we headed off for the 320k journey to Blantyre, at Dedza we hit our first army/police roadblock where an officious guy gave us the third degree, same thing at the next roadblocks at Balaka and Mwanza, we were starting to go off Malawi - so much for the warm heart of Africa tag! 

The road to Blantyre is pretty hilly and Rupert doesn't do hills so it was 3pm by the time we hit town - now to find digs again. We had been told there was no where to camp in Blantyre so we needed to find a hotel or lodge where we could park Rupert close by and off load all our stuff easily.  We ended up at a place called Kabula Lodge, not really a lodge but more like a big guesthouse so we couldn't get Rupert right to our room but Paul the young Malawian son of the owner was very helpful and helped us lump our gear to our room.

With the aid of Paul's rudimentary map of Blantyre we located TEM hidden amongst the industrial estate and met Mr Tony the Portuguese owner who turned out to be very helpful, a complete contrast to Mr Constantine in Lilongwe, we arranged to bring Rupert in first thing in the morning.

On the way back to Kabula we missed our turn and ended up in a massive traffic jam, which really pissed me off. Malawi even by African standards is a poor country and seems to have one of the largest number of foreign aid workers per capita! Most of these people are working for or affiliated to a church of some sort, Jehovah's, Evangelists, Methodists, Catholics, Seventh Day, you name it, Malawi has it.

Consequently all the kids seem to think every white face is a 'do gooder' who will give them money. They get very insistent especially the kids in the towns so as we crawled along a couple of urchins suddenly appeared begging for money. We had passed them laughing and playing on the pavement but as soon as they caught sight of us they raced through the traffic to catch us up, hands out, looks of total despair on their faces!

Little did they know they had picked the wrong day with us as we were tired, hot and irritable. At first we just waved them away but they persisted following us as we crawled along mumbling and shoving their hands at the car. What really grinds our gears is beggars in Africa never bother the locals only the Mzungu's so when they caught up to us for the fourth time at the lights I suddenly lost it and bellowed at them "bugger off,  go hassle the local guy in front in his nice shiny Merc!"

One kid was small so his head barely reached the bottom of the window frame but his mate was older and taller so he got the full effect of my outburst. At first he was totally speechless,  taken aback that a Mzunga would act this way, but as we pulled away he recovered just in time to shout an insult, not in the local language, Chichewa mind you but a clear "F**k Off" then for good measure before we were out of earshot his little mate shouted "Yeah F**K Off" !  It was so funny we laughed all the way back to the lodge.  

While they must do some good we have become somewhat cynical of the 'do gooders' as everyone we have come across leads a very nice lifestyle thank you very much, all funded presumably from donations from the earnest congregations in the 'home' country - still we digress!

Back at Kabula before tackling the onerous task of off loading the roof rack we enjoyed a welcome sun downer sitting on the balcony looking down on the rest of Blantyre and the surrounding hills. By 7pm with the watchman's help we had off loaded the rack and safely stored the contents around our room (which thankfully was huge). By now we were in desperate need of a shower, so Sue retired to enjoy one first, turns on the tap and nothing comes out!

I tracked down Paul who is enjoying a movie, it turns out that for over a month Blantyre has been subject to water rationing (which is amazing given the size of Lake Malawi) and the supply has been off all day. Now it was back but the system had an airlock which would have to be sorted by the odd job man in the morning - for tonight we could use a flatlet away from the main house which he said had plenty of hot water, he was right it did, in fact it was scalding, the problem was the cold tap just gave up a trickle!

At 8pm totally knackered and suffering from third degree burns from the shower we had a snack and called it a day, we just hoped we could get everything done tomorrow then could get the hell out of Blantyre on Thursday!

We arrived at TEM just after they opened and soon Mr Tony had organised a small army of guys to remove the roof rack after which we head off to see what Blantyre has to offer. Because we spend most of our time in the bush or on the road we have scant access to decent shopping centres so whenever we reach a major town or city we like to see what we can get.

In Blantyre's case much excitement was being caused by the opening the day before of GAME a big South African department store which before now we had only encountered in Gaborone, Botswana. Yesterday there had been huge queues to get in and crowds resembling a football match hanging about outside.  Today the queues were not as bad but still long so we decided to give it a miss and go do our food shop at Shoprite. The problem now was cash flow, it was a real bugger that Malawi does not accept credit cards and this will soon start to hit our dollar reserves hard.

Sure enough after paying Shoprite we had no choice but to exchange some more dollars in order to pay TEM etc. We had decided not to battle getting into GAME then we met a local woman carrying two folding camp chairs which she said were on special offer, as it happened we needed a new camp chair so being English we decided to join the queue. Other Mzungu's who were either German, Dutch or South African clearly felt queuing with the locals was somehow beneath them (as did some Indians) and tried (unsuccessfully) to persuade the security guys into letting them in, damn foreigners! 

Actually we were inside in quick time and headed straight for the chairs which at less than £5 each were going like hot cakes (you know if the locals are buying then its a good deal) so although we only needed one we bought two and ended up giving our old one to the watchman who helped us unload Rupert.

What was very noticeable was the amount of Asians who were buying up huge amounts of gear, especially electrical goods. They were constantly on their mobiles quoting prices, models etc to their associates. Our guess is many were Dukka or shop owners from various towns and villages in Malawi, Zambia or Tanzania (where luxury goods are in very short supply) buying up in bulk what they could resell at a good mark up over the course of time, the result being some items were being sold out as soon as they went on display!

After GAME the next stop was a pharmacy to buy some Praziquantel tablets. We would need to take these after leaving Malawi as if you go in the Lake there is a risk of contacting Bilharzia and these fellas would nip any infection in the bud. 

The amount of tablets you take is determined by your weight, we were given five 600mg tablets each, which I'm not sure was a comment on our waistlines or not! You have to take all the tablets at once about three weeks after you have left the infected area  regardless of whether you are showing symptoms of Bilharzia or not. The problem with Bilharzia is it can take up to a year for symptoms to materialise and by then the damage is done. The good thing is the tablets are very cheap, less than a dollar each so it's not worth taking any risks by not buying them.

Back at TEM we found the guys were still working on the roof rack and no sign of Mr Tony so we rushed around to BOC gases to get our cooking gas bottle re-charged. Back to TEM, the foreman says the rack is ready at last, apart from re-welding the cracked struts they had also fitted two new struts in the middle in an effort to cure the problem of it sliding forward on rough roads.

As soon as we see the rack I can tell the bolts for the new struts are too short, but the guys don't believe me until they try the rack on the roof and see for themselves. We are well unhappy as by now its late afternoon and we really don't want to spend another day hanging around Blantyre, equally if they try fixing them now it will mean us working late re-packing tonight. Just then Mr Tony arrives sees what has happened then starts bollocking all and sundry. How this happened when they could see how long the existing struts and bolts were is anyone's guess, but this is Africa.

The rack is taken away again and we wait in Mr Tony's office were we are given coffee and a potted history of Malawi. Tony has been in Malawi for more than 40 years so has seen all the changes since independence from the UK in the 60s. 

Eventually at 5.30 the rack re-appears but they still need to re-do one of the new bolts which they promise to do first thing in the morning before we leave Blantyre. At least we can fix the rack back on the roof and pack it tonight but we had expected to be doing this in the daylight! Back at Kabula at 6pm it's dark and getting windy, we start re-packing the roof straight away but still don't finish till 8pm, then it's shower time!

Yippee there is still no hot water in the main house so it's back to the flatlet again, tonight the cold water is coming through ok but the hot water pressure is low but we go for it anyway, by the time we went to bed at 1am the pressure was back to normal, seems Blantyre is just not our town!

Up again at 6am we pack the rest of our stuff, have breakfast , pay the bill (two nights B&B is $US 70, which included a $2 discount for the lack of hot water) and head off! At TEM we wait yet again while the remaining bolt is made, in all the rushing around we had had no time to visit an Internet cafe so Mr Tony allowed us to connect our laptop to his office line so at least the time was well spent downloading emails and updating the website!

Even so it was after 11am when we finally leave Blantyre heading northwards through the mountains to Lake Malawi. I still wasn't 100% happy with the new brackets but only time will tell. On our way of of town we pass GAME, no queues today, obviously the novelty has worn off or there out of stock! The little street beggars are still about in numbers though, many holding up puppies and kittens for sale, we cringe at what may happen to them!

Our destination is the old hill town of Zomba which fortunately is only about 50 miles away. Zomba was the old capital when Malawi was called Nyasaland, favoured by the colonials who preferred the cooler mountain air to the heat and humidity lower down on the plain.

We arrived at Zomba itself at 1pm, our plan was to drive from there into the hills to see what the Zomba Forest Lodge could offer us. We had met Ronald, the guy running it, whilst we were camped in South Luangwa and he had said come by if we were in the area. The lodge is very high up in the hills near the Zomba Plateau so we started climbing steeply over thickly wooded mountain roads, just the sort of road Sue hates. 

The Forest Lodge lives up to its name perched on a hill hidden away in a huge Pine and Cedar forest. Unfortunately Ronald  had gone 'to town' so we decided to wait awhile to see if he pitched up meanwhile Solomon the very nice old factotum showed us around and served us coffee. The place had been built before the wars serving for a long time as the district commissioners summer retreat and was small having only four bedrooms but very cosy with log fires, chintzy furniture and wood panelling, like an old cottage an old lady would live in.

There were just three guests a father and his two teenage daughters who were sunbathing in the garden. The place was nice but at $US 90 p.p.p.n was a bit more than we wanted to spend, especially having just laid out on the roof rack so as Ronald showed no signs of returning before it got dark we took our leave and headed to camp at the Trout Farm.      

The Trout Farm is even higher than the Forest Lodge, which pleased Sue no end! Consequently it gets cold, very cold, especially at night, but it is a lovely spot surrounded by tall Pine and Cedars, it just that it felt like you were in North Wales not Africa!

We arrived just after 4pm and it was already chilly so we quickly put the roof tent up. Apart from the local guys who worked there there was no one else around. Sensing we were in for a cold night we asked for some firewood and a couple of guys brought over a big bundle of what we thought was Pine but which turned out to be Cedar. Not old wood mind you but beautiful new stuff it was a travesty to burn it but needs must, we must say the scent from the camp fire was intoxicating.

As we relaxed with a drink we could hear the bleeping sound of heavy trucks reversing and the buzz of chain saws somewhere deep in the forest. On the way up we had passed huge areas that had been cut down, very sad, eventually all work stopped  for the day and we were left completely on our own with just the sound of the fast running stream nearby, quite a pleasant change from the usual African night sounds.

Even with a good fire it was a bitterly cold night, something we are just not used to, we polished off half a litre of Drambui just trying to keep warm!  The Trout Farm was started by an Englishman called Anderson in 1901 and we believe in it's hey day was quite a going concern but now it has just two ponds and is pretty small fry - no pun intended.

Next day despite the offer of guided walks in the forest by the local guys we packed up to leave, it was sunny but still cold, pretty though it was that and the constant noise of tree felling was too much for us.

We were missing the bush so we headed down from the Mountains back to the plains and the rivers, our next stop was to be Liwonde, Malawi's premier National Park.