Malawi
For photo album click on any photo.
Wednesday 7th October
Heading for the border at Malawi today. We got packed up and left around 8 0’ clock. We are really looking forward to Malawi as we have heard such good things about it. Malawi is said to be the friendliest country out of all of them. The drive to the border was spectacular and the scenery stunning. The gearbox was not too bad, but Bob drove because it needs some tender loving care and I tend to grate it when going into second. To keep the gearbox cool, Bob used the Scottish overdrive down the hills by putting it into neutral. The problem seems to be when the drive train is slowing you down, probably a bearing. When we arrived at the border we did the necessary paperwork on the Tanzanian side, and then went through to the Malawian side. Did the normal visa, passports and we were free to go it all took 45 minutes so not bad. We stopped for some breakfast just off the road, within minutes we were surrounded by kids, all 26 of them, but not one of them asked us for anything, they were polite and we chatted about school, perhaps it is right about what they say about Malawi. So far the people are the nicest. The Lake is huge, it looks like the sea rather than a lake.
 26 kids and not one asked for anything.
Then we were on our way and made our way to the Ngara Resort for the night.
A view of Ngara resort from the Lake.
Some road signs need no explanation.
It looks like so much.
Thursday 8th October
We moved on today a little further down the lake to a campsite called Chitimba Beach which is run by a Dutch couple. Again right on the water front it is a big site and is used a great deal by over Landers. Surprisingly there does not seem to be many mosquitoes about. We swam in the lake as it is free from Bullzaria which is a bonus. The rest of the day we just relaxed had a few beers as you do.
Friday 9th October
Bob decided to put the new springs on the front of Sandy today so we stayed here for another day, there was also internet access so we tried to upload some pictures but not with too much success. There was a French couple Marc and Claudine here who had travelled down the West Coast of Africa complete with two children. A South African couple Jan and Lize going the other way up to Uganda. We all chatted to a fair bit and swapped information about campsites and what is value for money etc.
Saturday 10th October
Today we moved on a further 150kl further down the lake to Kande Beach campsite. Bob woke up this morning with a rash down one side of his body, we put it down to the fact he had been laying on the sand yesterday to do the springs. There were plenty of ants we assume that is what caused it. A lovely journey to day and once again the scenery is good. The road was very twisty and we saw four trucks that had overturned. We can only assume that they either take the bends to quickly or have fallen asleep. We arrived at the campsite at about 4 0’ clock. Had a very pleasant evening chatting to the two guys who own the place. They gave us the names of a couple of people who do gear boxes in Lilongwe the capital which is our next destination. Although we will probably do it in two days as it is quite along way. We are still in too minds what to do about the gear box as it seems not to be too bad at the moment. We are wondering if it will get us to South Africa, but on the other hand we could be in a game park somewhere and it could pack up all together, not something we want to happen.
Sunday 11th October
So, making our way to Lilongwe but plan to stop at Sani Beach campsite just for the night. We had only got about an hour down the road when the gear box started to make an awful noise, we just knew we were in real trouble this time. We kept stopping every twenty minutes to let the gear box cool down. We now realised we were not going to make it to Sani Beach, we were also too far along the road to turn back to Kande Beach so we litcherly limped it in to the closest Lodge called Ngala Lodge. Fortunately they also do camping. The owners were very helpful and said that he had no objection to Bob changing the gear box there once we had found one. Bugger that was a real bonus otherwise we would have been right in the “£$%! We had to find a way of getting to Lilongwe. That afternoon in the bar, (yes we had a few to make us fill better) we were talking to a resident and he said there is a car hire place 20kl down the road. We could have got the bus tomorrow but didn’t really want to do that so he took Bob down to the car place that evening and arranged a car for 7 0’ clock tomorrow morning. Right result that was, thanks Mohamed, you just don’t know how much that is appreciated.
Monday 12th October
Picking the hire car up at 7. 30 we set off for Lilongwe, we had packed a small bag as we expected to be away a few days or so depending on how long it takes to find a gear box. We had a good run but it was a four hour drive. Checking into the Mabuya campsite we had booked a room but it was not good, but it will do for the night. We had no time to be picky on accommodation. Across the road was a Safari company who ran about 30 land rovers. We started with them asking advice. We came up trumps they pointed us to a Land rover specialist . Unfortunately they had parts but no gear box. But they knew a breaker who had a crashed Land rover in that had only done 32000kl. Thinking ok, 32000kl a likely story but on viewing it was an ex Red Cross Landy that had rolled over. It was nearly new. I don’t think it had ever been off road properly, just dirt tracks. The breakers knew the value of it ok but we managed to buy the gear box and transfer box together. We thought if the gear box is new we may as well do the transfer box as well so that we should have no further problems in that area. Next problem was finding the cash to pay for it. Yes they wanted cash, no visa. Visa limits you to 20,000 K per time and we wanted 350,000K.(£1600.00) you see the problem. Quick solution at hand was to get Mark to send £1500.00 out by Western Union first thing in the morning. Problem solved. Thanks Mark once more for your help. The cash should be back in your bank anytime now. Having solved the problem we went for a curry to celebrate.
Tuesday 13th October
So we went to pick up the gear box at 2 0’ clock, but we did some shopping first and caught up with the internet in a local café. Once loaded, the car sat down a bit at the back. They are heavy, far too heavy for one to pick up. Taking about 4 hours to get back we just unloaded the shopping and had a sandwich and a beer before hitting the sack.
Wednesday 14th October.
Had an early start, up about 7,30 and I started breakfast whilst Bob started getting the spanners out. By lunch time the transfer box was out and on the floor. Next to come was the gear box, a little bit more difficult this one, it was accompanied at times with a few choice comments. At 2 0’ Bob took the hire car back. Retuning at about 3.30 the spanners came out once more. Later on I heard a crash followed by a cry of “it’s out”!!!!! Swapping over the clutch bearing a plastic clip broke. OH! Sh*t and Boll**ks. No chance of getting one of them out here. This clip held the clutch slave cylinder piston on the bearing fork. It is a gear box out job to change it. Bugger the gear box is out and we didn’t want to have to remove it again, certainly not for a silly plastic clip. After a bit of head scratching and a few more choice words we drilled the plastic clip and secured it with a self taper. Must last better than a bit of plastic. (WE HOPE). Finishing at about 5.30 the new box was under Sandy ready for morning. Spag boll for tea and up to the bar to update the web site. (It’s as good a place as any to do it).
Thursday 15th October
Got up really early again, 6.30 to be precise, the sun rises around 5.30 and shines in the tent. But Bob had a busy day in front of him again with the gear box. I did offer to pass the tools but as I don’t know one nut from the other (Land rover nuts that is) he declined the offer. So what is a girl supposed to do when there is a lovely pool and the lake to swim in? Not forgetting the odd bit of sunbathing. The gear box went in first. That was not too bad it was manageable on your own. One of the guys gave Bob a lift with the transfer box in the morning, so gear and transfer boxes are back in place and we are nearly home and dry. Bob however is exhausted and already asleep sat beside me whilst I am typing this. But not for long. My beer is getting warm. Hopefully we should be up and running around lunch time tomorrow. But probably and early night is on the cards.
Friday 16th October
Bob finished off a few bits that he had to do on Sandy and taking her for a run we kept fingers crossed. But she ran like a dream and so quiet. So we have the all clear to move on tomorrow. A couple arrived on the camp site from Germany in the biggest truck we have ever seen, they are called Sabine and Burkhard. To our amazement they told us they had been travelling for six years, they have currently travelled from Germany down the west side of Africa and now going up the east. Another couple Rowan and Iris who are from Israel have been touring Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi and have been back packing. We all had a get together in the bar swapping information and stories.
Saturday 17th October
Hooray!! We are on the road again today. We are actually going to back track a little and go north again. We want to stay at a campsite called Makuzi Lodge; the Bradt guide describes it as a little bit of paradise so we thought we would have a bit of that. Rowan and Iris also wanted to go there so we squeezed them in the back along with the old gear box which we are taking back to the guy at the garage at Lilongwe. We said our goodbyes to Chris and Sandy, the owners of Ngale Lodge who have been fantastic to us. It’s not everybody who would let you change a gearbox in the middle of a campsite, so thank you Chris and Sandy. Leaving at about 11 0’ clock we only had about 80 kl to get to Makuzi Lodge, however, when we arrived at the little bit of paradise (and it certainly was) we were informed that it was 10 dollars each to camp. Ouch!! As nice as it was that is far too high for the rates that other Malawian campsites are charging so we decided to go up the road to Kande beach where Bob and I had camped before. At the end of the day it is still the same lake that we will be swimming in so it’s not a lot of difference. By the time we arrived at Kande Beach we were extremely hot so had a dip in the lake, so warm its great.
Sunday 18th October.
Leaving at about 9am complete with 2nd gearbox (we will have this for a few days) and Rowan and Iris who wanted to go back to Ngala Lodge. On the way we had to stop at a police road check point. Where you go, where from, normal questions. However this one must have missed breakfast and thought we were going to provide it. Wrong! First he did not believe that we had driven from England. Showing him the map on the door he came around a little. But then declared that he wanted to look in the back. Of cause opening the door there was Rowan and Iris. Stating that we could not carry passengers in the back he wanted to see the insurance. Ok, no problem we have the yellow card for all East and South Africa. Then he wanted the import documents and receipts to prove we had paid import duty. That was his downfall. He was talking bulls&*t. Explaining that we do no need and don’t have his eyes lit up. You could see it in his eyes, $ signs. Showing him the Carnet, the official customs stamps and explaining how it worked the $ signs dropped. Looking in the back once more he spied the fridge. Asking what this was Jackie explained that it was a FRIDGE. Then he wanted to look in it. Jackie by this time was shall we say was not amused. She opened the fridge and told him quite curtly be quick, I don’t want the warm air to get in. Obviously he must have been disappointed, no illegal substances, no fire arms etc. It just was not his day. He then told me that we have to pay a fine for carrying passengers in the back. That was it. I had had enough of his bull. I told him that if all the pick ups and trucks carry passengers in the rear, on the top and hanging over the sides too then I could. Go and fine them I told him. We do he said. OK then we will wait until one comes along and if you can get $5 from all of them I will pay the $5. His chances of getting $5 from any of them was 0 out of 10. If they could afford the $5 they would be on the bus not in the back of a truck. Telling us to go, he went and lifted the barrier. Game set and match!!!! England /Israel 1, Malawi 0. Dropping them off an hour later at Ngala Lodge (very nice lace by the way) we headed into Dwanga to find a bank and food. (Yes even Overlanders cannot live on beer alone). Having completed the raid on the ATM and purchasing the essential commodities of life (food) we headed off to Sani Camp some 160kl. The road was good tar and we quite quickly arrived. Oh dear! It looked like it was closed. No tyre tracks or footprints in the sand. Eventually finding someone, we had an immediate language problem. But were informed that it was 500Kw to camp (233 to the £). But it was a mess. The toilets and showers shall we say “have seen better days” no lets be truthful they were disgusting, the absolute pits. Having viewed the ablutions we quickly moved on. We had two options open. The first to go to Cool Runnings on the lake about 140kl or to Lilongwe some 190kl. Choosing the second option as we could then loose the old gear and transfer box sooner rather than later. Arriving at Lilongwe at about 4 pm we set up camp and hit the pool. Life can be so hard. It wasn’t heated. Bugger, but it was nice.
Monday 19th October.
Went and delivered the gear box, while I was there I asked about my front wheel wobble. There head fitter came t have a look and within 5 min he had sorted the problem. I had checked and double checked everything. He commented that everything was in order, all bushes etc were new. Then he picked up a 17mm spanner and tightened a nut. Ok that’s fixed that he commented, you should be ok now. He was right. No wheel wobble. Wow! We have been looking for the cause from Sudan and not found it, and then find it’s a nut loose. Makes you wonder where the real nut sits??? But I don’t feel too bad Landrover could not find it either.
Tuesday 20th October.
Left Lilongwe for Cool Running which is on the lake via the town centre for some shopping, internet and to fill the spare gas bottle. Jackie did all the driving today giving me a break. On the way we came to the normal police check points and were waved through all but one. We were waved to the side but Jackie had other ideas and just continued on. They never bothered about it so neither did we. Arriving at Cool Runnings for about lunch time. Green grass, and was it a lush green. Right next to the beach. It looks to all purposes like the sea. This will do us for a few days.
Wednesday 21st October
Had a real chill out day to day, had a quick walk on the beach watching the locals do there washing in the lake as we walked. We read for a bit, and chatted to a Dutch couple called Lisette and Ron who have been travelling for some time now. They have been all over Asia and are now on there way back home. In the afternoon Iris and Ronen arrived at Cool Runnings, they have to be back at Lilongwe for Friday to get a flight back to Israel. From Cool Runnings they have not too far to go. They are a nice couple and it was good to see them again before they went home.
Thursday 22nd October
Made our way to Cape Maclear today. We left the site fairly early as we wanted to go to a place called Dedza on our way as we had seen some wooden land rovers that people build on the side of the road. (Not ones that work, models about 15” long) A South African couple had bought one who we met in Kenya and they build it as close as they can to your car. We eventually found them and placed our order. We go back in six days to pick it up. Arriving at Fat monkeys (where do they get these names. Has to be a story somewhere) once more we were right by the beach. Sun, breeze, warm lake. This is going to be hard to drag ourselves away from as from here on in we go inland and up into the mountains. At night the wind starts to blow a little and they say the rainy season is on the way. Apparently it travels from East to West so hopefully we should stay in front of it. Otherwise we may find ourselves using the sand boards and winch, or worse still that thing they call a shovel. We packed on somewhere but to date it has never seen daylight. Or do I speak too soon. We shall see.
Friday 23rd October.
Such a nice place we decided to stay another day. Jackie has a bite on her side that has swollen up for a few days now and it is quite sore. She has been experiencing intermittent stabbing pains. Part of it scabbed over but part of it didn’t. Yesterday I put Vaseline over it and today when I looked I found what looked like part of a maggot sticking out. Removing it with tweezers (Jackie just loves being doctored by someone else as you can imagine if you know her) it looked like a grub from a Tumbu fly. When you are bitten by the Tunbu fly it forms a batch of boils. They lay the egs on your skin or cloth and they burry themselves into the skin. Eight days later they start to hatch as grubs. Which is exactly what has happened. Just to be sure it is clear we have re-covered it once more with Vaseline and will check it later. As you can imagine Jackie is over the moon. We have already had all the jokes, that she is grubbing about, more than one of her, fly by night, etc but if you know any better ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
We intend to spend the remainder of the day having a walk through the village and on the beach and move on tomorrow.
Saturday 24th October
We have decided not to move on today as it is so nice here. We just relaxed, read our books and chatted to Adam and Louise another English couple.
Sunday 25th October
Having had a very enjoyable few days at Fat Monkeys we have decided to finally drag ourselves away to pastures new. Had a chat with Adam and Louise before we left but we were heading in the same direction to a place called Zomba as it happens, so decided to meet at the campsite later. We had a 200kl run or there about but we had a good run down. Arriving at the Forest camp site we were told it was no longer open. So the other option we had was to go the Chitingi camp site, we assumed that Adam and Louise would do the same thing. The track from the main road to the site was 8 kl of the most uneven rutted road you could imagine, interesting was not the word. We arrived to find Adam and Louise there, although the site was not a good one we all decided to stay anyway. There was only the four of us so it was very peaceful. We lit a lovely campfire, got the cooking pots out and waited for tea to cook. We were all saying what meal we all really fancied at that moment, it ranged from a roast beef dinner, to stew and dumplings, to fish and chips. But we made do with what we had cooked. Adam introduced us both to Cider, bad man we enjoyed it. But we now need to buy some. We all had a very enjoyable evening in the middle of nowhere on the top of a mountain.
Monday 26th October
Bob and I headed to Blantyre to day, we said goodbye to Adam and Louise as they were making there way to the border of Mozambique. Hopefully our paths should cross when we get to Namibia. Blantyre more commercial than Lilongwe and is the main town of Malawi. It is on the way to Dedza where we will pick up (hopefully) our wooden land rover. We stayed at Doogles campsite, it was ok but nothing to keep us so next day it was to be back on the road.
Tuesday 27th October
Arrived at Dedza for lunch time and we just had to visit the pottery shop and the café. Their cream cakes and cheesecake are to die for, the coffees not bad either. They have a camp site as well but unfortunately it looks like a bit of spare ground that needs cultivating so we moved on. Shame as the coffee shop and restaurant was so good, so well done and presented. Looking a bit further afield we had noted that about 12kl outside town was the forest College which had a camp site. We just need to stay the one night so off we went. It was in the middle of the forest as you might expect. Basic, but adequate. Very peaceful part of the Chongoali Forest where we camped. But as it was quite high up it cooled down quite a bit, quite a bit to the extent it was coats!!! Whatever next!
Wednesday 28th October
Set off early to the Land rover guys. What they came up with was pretty good; it looked like Sandy so we were really pleased with it. With that done we set off to Lilongwe and back to the Mabya campsite. We now have to decide whether to visit a game park north from here, or go onto the Zambian border. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Thursday 29th October.
Decision is made we are off to Zambia. We intend to go directly to the South Luangwa National Park. Apparently you can camp outside the park by the river. Hopefully we should see quite a bit of wildlife. So in the morning it bags packed and off we go. Leaving behind the swimming pool, Malawi sun. But you can’t have everything. Today has been spent shopping and doing bit and bats ready to go. Just to change some money over into Zambian Kwacha. 7668.76 to the pound so it looks like fun with the money. I just hope that they have a larger note than 500 (which they don’t have in Malawi) otherwise we will need a trailer or wheelbarrow to carry it.
Friday 30th October
So into Zambia today which will be our tenth African country. We got away for 8.30, after filling up with fuel we set off for the border. There is talk of a fuel shortage in Zambia it’s also dearer than Malawi so it made sense to fill up before we left. We were sorry to leave Malawi; it is a beautiful country, the people extremely friendly and helpful. But in comparison to other African countries it was fairly expensive, particularly food items.
We only had 150kl to the Zambian border and arrived in no time. The whole process for both borders only took 35 minutes, which to date is a record. Passports stamped on exit and entry, carnet stamped, visas paid for which was another $50 each, and a charge for carbon tax which cost 150 thousand kW (now carbon tax in a country that lets vehicles emit smoke and pollution like you have never seen in the UK. But that’s all over Africa) and we were free to go. We drove to the town of Chipata where we camped at Deans Campsite. A Belgium couple called Vincent and Marjon were also staying there who we chatted to in the evening over a beer as you do.
Thoughts on Malawi.
On the down side, the country is expensive by comparison to other African countries. Fuel is expensive, as is food and most commodities. Accommodation is also way over priced for the state of the economy. $80 US for a standard hotel or lodge room (about 12000kw) when the average worker only earns 5000kw per month. Seems to me to be a little out of balance somewhere. The traffic police need to be sorted out (as in other African countries), bribery seems too commonplace and the impunity of how they ask for money. It leaves a bad taste. Probably if they were better paid it would help.
On the up side, we loved it; people were friendly, happy and helpful. Children are on the whole much better than in previous countries. And remember Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. The lake is the jewel in the crown without a doubt. White sandy beaches, warm water and lots of sun, and it is not a tourist hot spot like Tenerife or Egypt. But they could make it much better and earn a lot of revenue by catering for the tourist just a little bit more. The roads are quite good and the driving is not bad. But overall one of the better countries and one we would visit again given the opportunity.
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