We came into Malawi on Tuesday 17th September, we’d set off late from Chipata due to the tyre/inner tube issues, but the border crossing was relatively quick – although the visas are free for Commonwealth citizens, they sting you for road tax and insurance.
Malawi looks a lot greener than Zambia, the border crossing is in the hills so it was a lot cooler, the villages and fields on the way down to Lilongwe look a lot tidier and better kept than those in Zambia, in spite of Malawi apparently being one of the poorest countries in the world. We saw a lot of big square sheets with what was obviously white maize flour spread out to dry in the sun in the various settlements at the side of the road.
The first police roadblock we came to was manned by a very smart, friendly and welcoming policeman, the second roadblock in the next town was also friendly, but not at all in uniform (he appeared to be wearing an American basketball T-shirt – most odd), the third was very smart again with a sign up proudly stating that the roadblock was sponsored by the local secondary school – odd again! The road to Lilongwe is exemplary – smooth, comfortable and well maintained tar.
In Lilongwe we stayed at the “Sanctuary Lodge” which is situated in a reserve in the middle of town! We heard a lion roaring at night – we later learnt that there is an “animal orphanage” within the reserve – and they have a lion! The campground was good – no power but decent ablutions and lots of trees (not really suitable for any vehicle much larger than a Mog though). Overnight it was MUCH cooler than Zambia – in fact we were really pleased to actually feel cold during the night! The duvets made a reappearance! We were almost the only people on the campsite – the only other vehicle being an Australian Toyota Landcruiser being driven around Africa for 2 years by Liza and Jason from
Melbourne.
We had made a decision to get the fridge re-gassed as it was still playing up (running almost 25 hours/day and draining the batteries), so we asked around the lodge and the general manager phoned the person they use for their fridges (Joseph) and got him to come straight away! When he turned up, he took one look at the fridge, agreed that it needed re-gassing, took out a valve that he’d already brought with him and got on with soldering it onto the compressor.
After maybe ½ an hour the fridge was modified (why don’t the manufacturers put re-gassing valves on in the first place?), re-gassed and working – I could see the difference as ice was starting to form on the pipe returning to the compressor rather than the compressor over heating – this all cost us the princely sum of 11000 kwatcha – about £20.
We set off towards Senga Bay on Lake Malawi – but we had a couple of jobs that we wanted to try to get done whilst in Lilongwe – first was cash – we spotted an ATM at a fuel station and tried to get money out – my usual UK card wouldn’t work (not an unusual event), so I tried my French card – no problem (as usual) – but limited to only 40000 kw each time (about £80) – so we took 2 lots – each withdrawal was quite a bundle of notes as the largest denomination seems to be just 1000 kw (£2)...
There was a small supermarket at the filling station, and as it seemed to be in quite an affluent area we decided to have a look – we were pleasantly surprised by the selection available so stocked up on a few bits. On the way out of Lilongwe Sue spotted a sign for “tyres, tubes etc” (the inner tube supplied by the “tyre-wrecker” in Chipata turned out to have the wrong valve – aaarrgghhh!) – so we followed it – into an industrial area and around and around looking. We asked – no-one seemed to know – we drove some more, nothing, so we gave up and left.....The road to Selima and Senga Bay was good with a lot of changes of altitude, shortly before arriving at “Steps Campsite” we spotted
another ATM outside a pub (!), so we got another bundle of Kwatcha out! A
little further and Eagled-Eyed Sue spotted a “Clinic” sign – so we popped in to
find out if “clinic” really meant “pharmacy” – in a way it did – it was a small
two-room shop with a few packages of common medicines on shelves and a
gentleman who turned out to be some form of health worker. When we asked him if
he could supply a specific anti-bilharzia medicine he said “yes”, weighed both
of us and then gave us two lots of tablets to take after leaving Lake Malawi
(it wasn’t clear exactly how much “after”, but we were glad to have got our
hands on them...) – all this for about £6..
When we got to the camspsite, we found it to be on a large, empty white
sand beach right on the shore of the lake! We found a spot under a tree with
power and a view right onto the beach and got settled in, then a truck arrived
.......it was Vince & Ellen! Hooray!!!! They told us how we had been “ripped
off” at the border – somehow they had discovered that the rate for insurance is
actually negotiable! We had paid 26000 kw – they got it down to 15000.
Poo!
Vince and Ellen parked up on a lawn and we had a
few drinks on the beach to celebrate our arrival at the lake, as darkness fell a
small group of locals who had been swimming were joined by some others who all
started to drink and make noise, but they soon left when security asked them
to....we went to bed early but were woken a little after midnight by a noisy
group of 8 drunk Chinese who had arrived sometime in the meantime and had
decided to have a party on the beach. Security this time were totally
ineffective (or had been paid off), the hotel management did nothing in spite of
Vince & Ellen ringing them, so we tidied the truck up and moved to the other
end of the campsite as the Chinese were now running around and acting
suspiciously in the dark. Vince was out and about checking on what was going on,
we eventually got the hotel manager to come and do something – he told them to
be quiet, by the time he was 100 metres across the beach they were all jeering
again – probably at him! Finally they threw them out at 3am – then we could go
to bed and try to get some sleep. Unluckily for Vince & Ellen, the Chinese
had left all their undrunk alcohol behind – security now moved in and partied
until their shift changed at 5am – we didn’t hear them as we were far enough
away, but we all agreed that we weren’t staying another night. We refused to pay
for camping, the hotel management offered us the “discount” of a
2nd night for free (did
they REALLY think that we wanted to stay at their place for another night!!!!?)
– we refused and left. Not happy.
V&E headed south to Cape McClear, we took the road north towards
Nkhotakota to try a beach resort called Fish Eagle Bay – the road to the
campsite gradually got smaller and smaller with more and more overhanging mango
trees which we brushed through collecting mangoes on the roof until after a
small junction it became a sandy track leading to a bridge – a wooden pole
bridge. We stopped, got out, had a look and decided that we had the wherewithal
to quite thoroughly break it – a 7.5 ton truck! We reversed out with a growing
audience of children (where did they all appear from?!), did a 20-point(?) turn
and went back to the main road. Plan B – Bua River camp in the Nkhotakota
National Park – so another 40 km of main road followed by 11km of dirt road –
some good, some bad. After paying to get through the park gates we drove towards
the lodge, our GPS indicating that the very last section was “Very bad road” –
we took the turning to “reception” and luckily met John the owner (from the
Wirral) coming the other way, he told us that we probably wouldn’t be able to
get the truck down to the campsite due to trees etc, but he had built an area
for overland trucks but it hadn’t been finished....would we like to stay there?
This was just outside “reception” which in fact is a thatched roof on poles
with comfy chairs marking the entrance to a long steep footpath down to the
main lodge buildings in the valley below! We asked John if we could have a meal
in the lodge, he sent the chef all the way up to confirm the menu and ask us
how we wanted the meat cooked – all the staff here are very friendly, open and
seem very happy. In the afternoon we took a guided “stroll” for a sundowner
with an Australian/Japanese couple, on the way we saw a dead croc in the river
being eaten by another croc, then back to the lodge seeing a magnificent
moonrise from the river bridge for supper by candlelight (there is no apparent
electricity here, so lots of oil lamps and candles). Dinner was delicious,
Godfrey had cooked the steaks to perfection (even Sue agreed) – the accompanying
aubergine bonne femme was superb.A perfect nights sleep followed – cool and very
quiet!
The following day we started slowly, then headed off to Chinteche
further north. The road doesn’t follow the lake shore, but heads slightly inland
through villages and small settlements, but still quite scenic. We stopped at
Dwangwa and sue bought a couple of chitenges (not too good but very cheap) and
we got a SIM card for the phone. On to Sunga Moyo lodge – again down a tiny
track towards the shoreline, just 300m from the campsite we found another mango
tree, this time far too low to pass – do we get the saw out and cut it? Sue
suggested walking the rest of the way and having a look at the campsite – off we
went. The camp is right on the shoreline, with a gorgeous white sand beach and
shady trees – perfect. The owner dispatched a man-with-panga to cut the branch
down and we were in! A fabulous spot! A hawker came round with paintings – we
ended up buying one even though neither of us really wanted one – we must learn
to communicate better! We went for a short walk but there wasn’t really anywhere
to go to, so had a quick drink at the bar and learnt that the owner would be
leaving the following day – we therefore decided to move on too as our
experience of lodges-without-owners hasn’t been too good so far!
Saturday morning – major panic! I couldn’t find my credit cards
anyhwhere! We searched the truck on the roadside, couldn’t find them, so we
bought bread in the village and went to Makuzi Lodge just a few km away. This
place is beautiful! A lovely bay, superbly landscaped and planted campsite and
another white sandy beach! The Australian couple we met in Lilongwe were here
too! A more thorough search for the cards, still no joy – then I found them –
in the pocket of the shorts I was wearing! Too many pockets – in odd places. Oh
dear. Lunch in the bar, reading guidebooks, another hawker (artist) came by and
Sue bought some postcards, went for a swim in the lake, a simple supper and
early to bed. We’ll probably stay here a few days.
Sunday – another lazy day camping on the beaches of Lake Malawi! Hard
life. Sue got laundry done (10p/item!), I continued looking at the fridge
problem (it’s STILL running all the time!), we chatted with the Aussies, more
swimming and cooked on the fire. Perfect – a great spot for a
break.
Monday – Patrick (the local artist/vendor) brought us bread, bananas
and papaya from the village (he had come round the previous evening with a young
girl selling tomatoes), the lake was choppy so we enjoyed swimming in the surf.
Sue had a long chat about malaria, bilharzias and campsites with the aussies.
Dinner on the deck of the lodge by candlelight – chambo (local fish) – but with
flies falling onto the table/meal/drinks! Most of the accommodation here seems
to be filled wityh Jehovas Witnesses from the US/Europe who are doing some work
in the area – so the beach has been very quiet!
Tuesday – still at Makuzi – we’ve got a big list
of things to do, but this is such a nice place it doesn’t bother us too much.
However, we found a big wet patch on the bed – the mattress was soaked – the
aircon the box hasn’t been draining properly! An investigation showed that the
drain pipe was blocked by a wasps nest – the 3rd one!!! The pipe is now clear, we’ve had
to do the impossible (turn the mattress over) and dry it, but it’s now sorted.
Sue made chapattis from rye flour – they didn’t look too good but apparently
taste good (they’re reserved for Sue as they are wheat-free) – a nice change
from ryvita and pumpernickel for her. In the afternoon we tried out some of the
lodges canoes/kayaks – a dipping was very quick – not sure if it was one of us
or the equipment, but we couldn’t get it right! Hilarious, we haven’t laughed so
much for ages!
Wednesday – we decided to stay until Sunday as we don’t want to be in a
major town (Mzuzu) at the weekend – particularly not the last weekend in the
month (payday). It’s likely to be busy here too as there are some large groups
coming.....Sue saw a snake – it fell from a tree with a “plop” – a long thin
green snake heading more or less towards her with its head up, but she lost
sight of it when it got to a tree. Maybe a boomslang
(treesnake)?
Malawi looks a lot greener than Zambia, the border crossing is in the hills so it was a lot cooler, the villages and fields on the way down to Lilongwe look a lot tidier and better kept than those in Zambia, in spite of Malawi apparently being one of the poorest countries in the world. We saw a lot of big square sheets with what was obviously white maize flour spread out to dry in the sun in the various settlements at the side of the road.
The first police roadblock we came to was manned by a very smart, friendly and welcoming policeman, the second roadblock in the next town was also friendly, but not at all in uniform (he appeared to be wearing an American basketball T-shirt – most odd), the third was very smart again with a sign up proudly stating that the roadblock was sponsored by the local secondary school – odd again! The road to Lilongwe is exemplary – smooth, comfortable and well maintained tar.
In Lilongwe we stayed at the “Sanctuary Lodge” which is situated in a reserve in the middle of town! We heard a lion roaring at night – we later learnt that there is an “animal orphanage” within the reserve – and they have a lion! The campground was good – no power but decent ablutions and lots of trees (not really suitable for any vehicle much larger than a Mog though). Overnight it was MUCH cooler than Zambia – in fact we were really pleased to actually feel cold during the night! The duvets made a reappearance! We were almost the only people on the campsite – the only other vehicle being an Australian Toyota Landcruiser being driven around Africa for 2 years by Liza and Jason from
Melbourne.
We had made a decision to get the fridge re-gassed as it was still playing up (running almost 25 hours/day and draining the batteries), so we asked around the lodge and the general manager phoned the person they use for their fridges (Joseph) and got him to come straight away! When he turned up, he took one look at the fridge, agreed that it needed re-gassing, took out a valve that he’d already brought with him and got on with soldering it onto the compressor.
After maybe ½ an hour the fridge was modified (why don’t the manufacturers put re-gassing valves on in the first place?), re-gassed and working – I could see the difference as ice was starting to form on the pipe returning to the compressor rather than the compressor over heating – this all cost us the princely sum of 11000 kwatcha – about £20.
We set off towards Senga Bay on Lake Malawi – but we had a couple of jobs that we wanted to try to get done whilst in Lilongwe – first was cash – we spotted an ATM at a fuel station and tried to get money out – my usual UK card wouldn’t work (not an unusual event), so I tried my French card – no problem (as usual) – but limited to only 40000 kw each time (about £80) – so we took 2 lots – each withdrawal was quite a bundle of notes as the largest denomination seems to be just 1000 kw (£2)...
There was a small supermarket at the filling station, and as it seemed to be in quite an affluent area we decided to have a look – we were pleasantly surprised by the selection available so stocked up on a few bits. On the way out of Lilongwe Sue spotted a sign for “tyres, tubes etc” (the inner tube supplied by the “tyre-wrecker” in Chipata turned out to have the wrong valve – aaarrgghhh!) – so we followed it – into an industrial area and around and around looking. We asked – no-one seemed to know – we drove some more, nothing, so we gave up and left.....The road to Selima and Senga Bay was good with a lot of changes of altitude, shortly before arriving at “Steps Campsite” we spotted
another ATM outside a pub (!), so we got another bundle of Kwatcha out! A
little further and Eagled-Eyed Sue spotted a “Clinic” sign – so we popped in to
find out if “clinic” really meant “pharmacy” – in a way it did – it was a small
two-room shop with a few packages of common medicines on shelves and a
gentleman who turned out to be some form of health worker. When we asked him if
he could supply a specific anti-bilharzia medicine he said “yes”, weighed both
of us and then gave us two lots of tablets to take after leaving Lake Malawi
(it wasn’t clear exactly how much “after”, but we were glad to have got our
hands on them...) – all this for about £6..
When we got to the camspsite, we found it to be on a large, empty white
sand beach right on the shore of the lake! We found a spot under a tree with
power and a view right onto the beach and got settled in, then a truck arrived
.......it was Vince & Ellen! Hooray!!!! They told us how we had been “ripped
off” at the border – somehow they had discovered that the rate for insurance is
actually negotiable! We had paid 26000 kw – they got it down to 15000.
Poo!
Vince and Ellen parked up on a lawn and we had a
few drinks on the beach to celebrate our arrival at the lake, as darkness fell a
small group of locals who had been swimming were joined by some others who all
started to drink and make noise, but they soon left when security asked them
to....we went to bed early but were woken a little after midnight by a noisy
group of 8 drunk Chinese who had arrived sometime in the meantime and had
decided to have a party on the beach. Security this time were totally
ineffective (or had been paid off), the hotel management did nothing in spite of
Vince & Ellen ringing them, so we tidied the truck up and moved to the other
end of the campsite as the Chinese were now running around and acting
suspiciously in the dark. Vince was out and about checking on what was going on,
we eventually got the hotel manager to come and do something – he told them to
be quiet, by the time he was 100 metres across the beach they were all jeering
again – probably at him! Finally they threw them out at 3am – then we could go
to bed and try to get some sleep. Unluckily for Vince & Ellen, the Chinese
had left all their undrunk alcohol behind – security now moved in and partied
until their shift changed at 5am – we didn’t hear them as we were far enough
away, but we all agreed that we weren’t staying another night. We refused to pay
for camping, the hotel management offered us the “discount” of a
2nd night for free (did
they REALLY think that we wanted to stay at their place for another night!!!!?)
– we refused and left. Not happy.
V&E headed south to Cape McClear, we took the road north towards
Nkhotakota to try a beach resort called Fish Eagle Bay – the road to the
campsite gradually got smaller and smaller with more and more overhanging mango
trees which we brushed through collecting mangoes on the roof until after a
small junction it became a sandy track leading to a bridge – a wooden pole
bridge. We stopped, got out, had a look and decided that we had the wherewithal
to quite thoroughly break it – a 7.5 ton truck! We reversed out with a growing
audience of children (where did they all appear from?!), did a 20-point(?) turn
and went back to the main road. Plan B – Bua River camp in the Nkhotakota
National Park – so another 40 km of main road followed by 11km of dirt road –
some good, some bad. After paying to get through the park gates we drove towards
the lodge, our GPS indicating that the very last section was “Very bad road” –
we took the turning to “reception” and luckily met John the owner (from the
Wirral) coming the other way, he told us that we probably wouldn’t be able to
get the truck down to the campsite due to trees etc, but he had built an area
for overland trucks but it hadn’t been finished....would we like to stay there?
This was just outside “reception” which in fact is a thatched roof on poles
with comfy chairs marking the entrance to a long steep footpath down to the
main lodge buildings in the valley below! We asked John if we could have a meal
in the lodge, he sent the chef all the way up to confirm the menu and ask us
how we wanted the meat cooked – all the staff here are very friendly, open and
seem very happy. In the afternoon we took a guided “stroll” for a sundowner
with an Australian/Japanese couple, on the way we saw a dead croc in the river
being eaten by another croc, then back to the lodge seeing a magnificent
moonrise from the river bridge for supper by candlelight (there is no apparent
electricity here, so lots of oil lamps and candles). Dinner was delicious,
Godfrey had cooked the steaks to perfection (even Sue agreed) – the accompanying
aubergine bonne femme was superb.A perfect nights sleep followed – cool and very
quiet!
The following day we started slowly, then headed off to Chinteche
further north. The road doesn’t follow the lake shore, but heads slightly inland
through villages and small settlements, but still quite scenic. We stopped at
Dwangwa and sue bought a couple of chitenges (not too good but very cheap) and
we got a SIM card for the phone. On to Sunga Moyo lodge – again down a tiny
track towards the shoreline, just 300m from the campsite we found another mango
tree, this time far too low to pass – do we get the saw out and cut it? Sue
suggested walking the rest of the way and having a look at the campsite – off we
went. The camp is right on the shoreline, with a gorgeous white sand beach and
shady trees – perfect. The owner dispatched a man-with-panga to cut the branch
down and we were in! A fabulous spot! A hawker came round with paintings – we
ended up buying one even though neither of us really wanted one – we must learn
to communicate better! We went for a short walk but there wasn’t really anywhere
to go to, so had a quick drink at the bar and learnt that the owner would be
leaving the following day – we therefore decided to move on too as our
experience of lodges-without-owners hasn’t been too good so far!
Saturday morning – major panic! I couldn’t find my credit cards
anyhwhere! We searched the truck on the roadside, couldn’t find them, so we
bought bread in the village and went to Makuzi Lodge just a few km away. This
place is beautiful! A lovely bay, superbly landscaped and planted campsite and
another white sandy beach! The Australian couple we met in Lilongwe were here
too! A more thorough search for the cards, still no joy – then I found them –
in the pocket of the shorts I was wearing! Too many pockets – in odd places. Oh
dear. Lunch in the bar, reading guidebooks, another hawker (artist) came by and
Sue bought some postcards, went for a swim in the lake, a simple supper and
early to bed. We’ll probably stay here a few days.
Sunday – another lazy day camping on the beaches of Lake Malawi! Hard
life. Sue got laundry done (10p/item!), I continued looking at the fridge
problem (it’s STILL running all the time!), we chatted with the Aussies, more
swimming and cooked on the fire. Perfect – a great spot for a
break.
Monday – Patrick (the local artist/vendor) brought us bread, bananas
and papaya from the village (he had come round the previous evening with a young
girl selling tomatoes), the lake was choppy so we enjoyed swimming in the surf.
Sue had a long chat about malaria, bilharzias and campsites with the aussies.
Dinner on the deck of the lodge by candlelight – chambo (local fish) – but with
flies falling onto the table/meal/drinks! Most of the accommodation here seems
to be filled wityh Jehovas Witnesses from the US/Europe who are doing some work
in the area – so the beach has been very quiet!
Tuesday – still at Makuzi – we’ve got a big list
of things to do, but this is such a nice place it doesn’t bother us too much.
However, we found a big wet patch on the bed – the mattress was soaked – the
aircon the box hasn’t been draining properly! An investigation showed that the
drain pipe was blocked by a wasps nest – the 3rd one!!! The pipe is now clear, we’ve had
to do the impossible (turn the mattress over) and dry it, but it’s now sorted.
Sue made chapattis from rye flour – they didn’t look too good but apparently
taste good (they’re reserved for Sue as they are wheat-free) – a nice change
from ryvita and pumpernickel for her. In the afternoon we tried out some of the
lodges canoes/kayaks – a dipping was very quick – not sure if it was one of us
or the equipment, but we couldn’t get it right! Hilarious, we haven’t laughed so
much for ages!
Wednesday – we decided to stay until Sunday as we don’t want to be in a
major town (Mzuzu) at the weekend – particularly not the last weekend in the
month (payday). It’s likely to be busy here too as there are some large groups
coming.....Sue saw a snake – it fell from a tree with a “plop” – a long thin
green snake heading more or less towards her with its head up, but she lost
sight of it when it got to a tree. Maybe a boomslang
(treesnake)?