Malawi - high mountains and a very big lake

Travelling in Malawi

Then, finally, after 2 very strenuous days in the bus, I arrived close to the border with Malawi. Bus rides in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania are quite strait forward and are usually relatively quick. In Tanzania it is possible to travel 300 or even 350 kilometers in 5 or 6 hours by bus. In Kenya many streets are under repair at the moment, so it takes a little longer, in Rwanda the distances are very short anyway; you can cross the whole country in something like 4 hours….
Well, Malawi seems to be a little different, when it comes to public transport. Most busses are extremely slow, drive off if they are crammed full, to some destinations no public means of transport goes, e.g., to Livingstone….

Mushroomfarm

However, Livingstone lies at the end of a bad street on a mountain. At last I had luck and after waiting for nearly 5 hours, a truck with a big load of sand and 30 passengers on top took me uphill. It was only 10 kilometers up to my camping ground, the so called Mushroom Farm, but at least we sat on sand on this very bumpy road…
Mushroom Farm lies directly with a precipitous slope, from where it goes several hundred meters downhill. There are small platforms, on which a tent well finds place. The view is great, however, for a run to the toilet at nighttime the setting is a kind of adventurous…

Jacaranda

Some staff from Australia celebrated his birthday one evening, so all guests were invited for a barbequed pig, great salads and potatoes and a lot of drinks. Drinking at a setting like this one can not consider as safe, the only accident that night ended just with some painful bleedings….
Next, I went to Mzuzu, one of the biggest towns in the north of Malawi, which does not necessarily say much. This was a very easy travelling because Richard from the States filled his jeep with backpackers, who wanted to go down as well. As we shared the petrol costs, this helped everybody.

Lske Malawi

In Mzuzu, I spent the night in a hostel with the amusing name Mzoozoozoo. Tasty burgers and cheap beer make the bar with restaurant a magnet for all kinds of travellers, locals and others, who got stuck here already for months and seem to belong already to the inventory…

Dani, Nkhata Bay

From Mzuzu it takes only 1.5 hours by minibus to Nkhata Bay. The street winds down the mountains and each 5 minutes it becomes warmer a few degrees. Nkhata Bay is a rather tourist place mainly for backpackers. In Nkhata Bay, there are (still) no expensive hotels. I stayed in a place called Mayoke Village, which is some 20 minutes walk from the village. It caters mainly for backpackers. From the englishman, who is already 10 years on the road to expats, and volunteers, who come from various parts of Malawi to the lake for the weekend. Travel tips are available from other tourists as well as from the staff. According to the funny geography of Malawi, the main question among travellers was, whether someone was travelling north or southbound. So, one gets info for onward travelling or people rave together about things they have seen on the way coming here…
After I met Dani, a German lady running a restaurant called Kaya Papaya in Nkhata Bay, I also had a nice place for Thai and other food in town.

As we got along pretty well, we decided to travel together for 2 days by ferry to Ruarwe. One needs about 5 hours there by ferry. There is also a street to Ruarwe, but this one is in very bad condition, so everybody advises against using it, because too dangerous. The journey by ferry was an experience for itself. Most tourists travel first class on the upper deck, we took the whole sportily and travelled 3rd class together with the africans. It was quite a mess with loads of luggage just anywhere, congested wooden seats, but the malawians are ready with pleasure to make some room for newcomers. So, this was nice traveling with friendly people.



Ruarwe is a rather small village in the northern part of lake Malawi, which is served twice a week by ferry. The only other way to reach the place is this extremely bad street.
Zulunkhuni Lodge is located close to the waterfall with the same name about 15 minutes walk off the village. There is a big garden with big trees, flowers and veggies. The chalets allow a wonderful view over the lake and here the water is particularly clear. It was a wonderful time there, without electricity, without radio or television, also mobile phones do not work here as there is no reception. It was very peaceful and quiet and a good spot for a rest.

As we did not want to use the road, there was only a choice to stay here for one or for 8 nights, because the ferry northbound has only one more place to go and returns after that coming back to all the places in reverse order.
After a few more nights in Nkhata Bay, I went by bus to Senga Bay in the southern part of the country. After picking up more and more people on the way, this bus was completely overloaded. Apparently, this was so obvious, that we got struck in a police control. The driver had to pay a fine, then all passengers were allowed to board the bus again! This is once again a very African logic.
Or another funny story yesterday at the market: 2 bananas cost the exorbitant price of 20 Kwacha, there are 4 for the special price of 50 Kwacha…. Some people in this market will not win a price for the best mathematicians in this world!

Senga Bay is a very extensive village with about 30,000 inhabitants. There are no mountains in the background like in Nkhata Bay, but they have a nice sandy beach. The hostel Cool Running, where I stayed, is very pleasant with a big garden, many trees and particularly comfortable couches under shady trees near the beach. Very nice for a lazy afternoon.
One morning here I spent with the local army who had parachute training. The commander was very happy about curious tourists with their cameras… Just imagine tourists with big cameras in an army camp in Germany!
Next step was Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. This was an especially easy travelling because the owner of the hostel had to go by car to Lilongwe the very same day as well. Somewhere outside the city I was picked up by Guenter Baumann, a friend of a friend of my mum. As I arrived very early in the morning, I got a superb breakfast with self baked brown bread and self-made jam. Great!
Lilongwe is a very green city with lots of trees and gardens, but so far, I could not find a real city center here. Walking here is not the best choice as everything is very widespread and far away. Actually, there are at least two city centers, one with a big market and the other more quiet and modern city center with banks, insurances and supermarkets.
My first evening in Lilongwe, I was invited with Guenter and Marianne Baumann. They had some friends for dinner in their house. Dinner again was very delicious with meat, different veggies, hash browns and salad. After dinner, we sat together for some card games. Apparently, I learned fast, as I won…. Many thanks to Guenter and Marianne Baumann, who are wonderful hosts and Marianne is a great cook on top!
Today, there is my last day in Malawi, a country I enjoyed a lot as people are very friendly and calm. Tomorrow, I will leave going to Zambia. This is going to be another story.