Lazy Days on Lake Malawi

Been a while, eh? Considering internet is not nearly as abundant here in Malawi and so incredibly expensive (up to $30 an hour!!!), we have been away from the keyboard.

Malawi so far has been great. Really, truly some of the friendliest people we have met. Such a difference from Tanzania. Our crossing over into Malawi was smooth as ever, and we were pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of the immigration officers. Usually, I think it is in the job description of these folks to be as surly as possible and not crack a smile, but these guys were all smiles and hello, how are you's.

Malawi is a very small country surrounded by Tanzania to the north, Mozambique to the East and Zimbabwe and Zambia to the west. A large part of the country consists of Lake Malawi - a huge freshwater lake famous for its many species of fish. Lake Malawi sits on the east side of the country, while the west side is lined with several different mountain ranges and plateaus.

Our first stop was along the lake about 100 km south of the Tanzania border near a town called Chitimba. We stayed about 5km north of town at a rustic little beachside place called Mdokera's Campsite. It is a small, family run place with open air huts that sit right on the beach.

Here is the hut at Mdokera's:


We landed there on the right day, because Mr Mdokera was having some sort of celebration. Family and friends were all gathering there for a day of fun. Mr. Mdokera welcomed us with open arms and encouraged us to join in the celebrations. It was a fun night. Lots of traditional food, traditional song and dance (of which we were of course forced to participate in), and so many friendly gazes, laughs and conversations no one could understand. One of the nice things about Malawi, is that they haven't yet discovered that they can charge muzungus to take their picture. Quite the contrary here. They can't get enough of the camera, and once it is taken out, you are surrounded by children (and adults) that want their photo taken. Walking through villages, you aren't asked for money, instead you hear, "picture, picture!" with no expectation of money. After spending 7 months in SE Asia wanting more people-pictures, but never wanting to be intrusive with the camera, here we found ourselves hiding the camera because we had grown weary of taking photos and being the center of attention while the celebration was going on.

Upon arrival at Mdokera's we were instantly welcomed in and given some of the local grub - fresh fish from the lake and ugali (tastes like Farina cereal):


Dancing and singing. Can you find us in the crowd?


More dancing. These women can move! And sing...their voices were amazing.


Just west of Chitimba sits a small, colonial town called Livingstonia, named after one of the original white settlers/explorers/missionaries to this area, David Livingstone. Livingstonia sits way on top of a plateau overlooking Lake Malawi. The road to the town is little traveled, and apparently quite treacherous. So unless you have a 4WD or are having a medical emergency (the main hospital is up in Livingstonia, while the bulk of the population is down at lakeside...yeah, that makes sense) the best way to get there is to walk. With one of Mr. Mdokera's nephews as our guide we set out the next day at 7:00 AM to walk up there. It was a great hike, although a bit harder than we expected. It was an all day affair - about 4 hours up, two hours in town, and 3 back to camp. The walk took us through many villages, up steep hills with nice views of the lake, behind a roaring waterfall, and finally into the town. Livingstonia itself, was not much to see - lots of old, brick and stone buildings very spread out in a pine forest - but the walk was worth it. Our new shoes did us fine - they are not great (actually quite crap compared to what we had), but they serve the purpose and neither of us has blisters. I can hardly complain as our guide walked the whole thing in flip flops with holes in them (at a much faster pace I must add).

Here is a view of Lake Malawi (yes it is a lake and not an ocean) on our way up to Livingstonia:


The church in Livingstonia - built in the late 1800's. We were lucky enough to hear a small bit of singing in it.


The next day was another scenic bus ride into Mzuzu, the largest city in Northern Malawi. We have been doing our best to avoid the infamous minibuses of Africa (old worn down minibuses with bald tires, a crazy driver, and which are notoriously overcrowded) as they are the biggest danger to our safety as we travel. So far, we have only taken one from the border of Tanzania to a small town called Karonga. After that we've been able to catch "half-buses" or "cruisers" which are 30 seaters with more sane drivers or even full size (although so, so old) buses. And while the seating has been cramped at times, we have been overall pleasantly surprised with the quality of roads and the efficiency of the buses. The climate so far has been nice. Lake Malawi sits at about 475 meters and it is winter here, so the days are warm and dry like a Pacific NW summer and the evenings are refreshingly cool.

Mzuzu sits even higher up, so it was down right cold at night which we had absolutely no problem with. Nothing much to say about Mzuzu, we were just using it as a stop over town on our way back to the lakeside. At the place we stayed, however (which was a backpacker mecca), we met a guy who runs a resort out on an island way on the east side of the lake. He was heading to Nhkata Bay to catch the once a week ferry back to his island and had offered to give us a ride. Between him and his friend that was living on the island for a while, they convinced us to come out with them. We had read a little bit about these islands, but the transport on the ferry (Ilala) was too restrictive for our taste and we were unsure about being 'stuck' in one place for almost a week. After listening to them talk about the peace and beauty of the place and reading about how there is absolutely no crime on the island (we have been hearing a few too many mugging stories and warnings), we decided last minute to jump on the ferry and go, and just bypass the rest of the beach stops we had originally planned from the mainland side. Turned out to be the right decision as it was a fabulous 6 days, and Nhkata Bay (where we had originally planned to do most of our beaching) proved to be quite a dismal place in comparison.

So off we sailed at 9:00 PM to Chizimulu Island. Its neighbor, Likoma Island, is the more popular tourist spot, so we were only one of 4 tourists on the island. It is a small island, with maybe 1,000 inhabitants spread out over its coastline. It was a very lazy 6 days. Lots of reading and cards, and a new game called Bao which is very similar to Mancala (moving rocks around). We also did a fair share of swimming...not just splashing about, but actually swimming from one side of the bay to the other. The owner, Nick and his friend Aggie had gotten in the habit of swimming the bay 5 times a day, and while we never got to the full five laps (the equivalent of 2,000 meters!), we did manage to join them for some morning and evening exercise each day. We also did a dive among a bunch of boulders where we saw tons of small, colorful fish and went through lots of swim-thrus. We also managed a bit of walking - around the island one day and a couple tramps up the hill to watch the sunset. Other than that it was lots of lazing around reading, eating, and gazing out over the water. The people on the island were so nice, and the biggest nuisance we encountered were the never-ending calls of, "Hallo! Hallo!" and "What is my name?!". Pretty cute.

Another sunrise picture. This one from behind the very common baobab tree:


A look at the bay. Amongst those trees somewhere is our sand-floored hut that we called home (unfortunately this is the closest picture we have of it...):


Some of the water sports besides swimming and diving included playing around in this dugout canoe and on some very tippy surf boards.


Saturday night we caught the ferry again at 10:00 PM and by 3:00 AM we were back in Nhkarta Bay. A lousy time to show up in a not so great city. We found various safe places to hang around waiting for a bus and by 9:00 AM were on our way to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. While walking around Nhkarta Bay looking for somewhere to have a cup of tea and sit down (as we were tired of sitting on steet corners getting stared at and approached by every tout in town), we walk into a restaurant. After unloading our packs and getting settled, and having a table set in front of us, the following conversation took place:

Em: Do you have tea?
Gentleman: No
Em: What do you have?
Gentleman: No
Em: Do you have food?
Gentleman: No
Em: What do you have?
Gentleman: Nothing

Well, why in the heck did you seat us at a restaurant then???

The day to Lilongwe was long. 10 hours on a bus. Our stop in Lilongwe was short - just a reload on cash, and a good night's sleep (well deserved after the two hours of sleeping on a wooden floor on the ferry). Although it is the capital, there is not too much going on, and a very lengthy list of where not to walk around town. We were happy to push on. So the next day we continued south to Blantyre which is the commercial capital of the country. Much more happening and apparently safer. We spent today turning our passports over to the Mozambique Consulate, and stocking up for a multi-day hike we are planning. Tomorrow we push south a tiny bit more for some hiking in the spectacular Mulanje Plateau.

Before signing out...on a completely different note: Remember our inner tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos and the crazy rope swing? We finally got the pictures, so here they are:

Me trying to get the courage up to launch myself off that insane platform:


Keith in mid-flight. The pictures really don't do it justice:


Oh yeah, one more thing....

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! (The Bauer Mom)