The Warm Heart of Africa

We had a plan. It was a good plan and one which meant that one way or another we would be leaving Zambia that day. We would drive to the Nakonde border with Tanzania and find out from them whether the northern border with Malawi was open. If it was we would drive the 100km straight into Malawi. If it wasn´t we would cross into Tanzania and transit through for 60km, entering Malawi through a small, northern border.

Zambia had had its highlights – the whole of the Lower Zambezi area in the south, Lake Tanganyika, seeing the bat migration and the Shiwa Ngamu house. But as a whole this had not been a great leg of our journey – corruption, poor conditions and high prices had made us feel uncomfortable and irritated.

Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa. It is a small and very poor country but visitors regularly tell of the warmth of the people and the stunning beauty of the landscapes. Corruption is low, welcome is high. We were champing at the bit to get there.

But first we had to say our goodbyes to our lovely host at the farm and make our way to Nakonde. As we were driving the dirt roads it started to rain yet again – rain was becoming a major factor in our lives at the moment and before long the roads became waterlogged and the visibility was practically nothing

We ploughed through until we were surrounded by slow moving traffic and parked lorries. We had arrived at the Tanzanian border

We crawled along not sure where to go as we didn´t intend to actually cross until we had found out about the Malawi border. At one point our side of the road was at a stand still with lorries waiting to cross. The cars were trying to overtake on the other side of the road but there were so many that side was also at a standstill.

We could have been stuck there for days but managed to push Henry through some bollards into a road under construction and zig-zagged our way around sand bags to the front of the queue of lorries. Two gentleman came up to speak to us asking whether we needed an agent. We told them we were actually trying to get to Malawi and asked about the border. They shook their heads – the bridge had been washed out for years and there was no way to get through.

We didn´t need much persuasion. We jumped out and headed towards immigration. Tanzania has a reputation for being a bit of a challenge to get into by road but we found it surprisingly straight forward. Our passports were stamped and transit visas were bought with relative ease. We were held up for an hour or so waiting for Henry to be inspected and his various fees paid but everyone was friendly and helpful. One member of staff even appointed herself as our agent, signed various things for us and asked if we would take her with us!

After only a couple of hours we were through and found ourselves driving along smooth, clear tarmac roads through well kept villages and beautiful countryside. A thought struck me – after nearly two years we had finally left Southern Africa, we were now firmly in East Africa.

The drive was slow as the speed limit in most of Tanzania is 50km/hr and the police are extremely vigilant. But we eventually made it to the tiny border post of Isongole. We were efficiently stamped out and headed off up the road the Malawi border.

This border post was too small to be able to deal with our visas. Instead we were provided with a conditional right of entry on the basis that we were to report to the Chitipa border post (the post we would have entered through from Zambia had the road been passable) within 48 hours.

But here we found exactly what we had hoped to find – warm smiles, friendly welcomes and lovely people.

In fact, the border police were so lovely that just as we were about the leave through the barrier and enter Malawi proper we were hailed by a guard and asked to wait as one of the police officers ran towards us with our visa approval letters which I had managed to leave behind on the desk!

We had an idea that the road to Chitipa would be hard as we really were in the middle of nowhere up here, but our fears doubled when the border guard asked us what we were driving – we pointed to Henry and he looked relieved saying we should be fine. Should be?? Just how hard was this road going to be?

We found out soon enough and the answer was…very!

Thick, deep, slippery mud for 26km. We slid around nearly hitting the sides for over two hours – meaning an average speed of about 12km/hr. Henry´s wheels were deep in sludge

The sat nav was in free fall, trying to send us down tiny footpaths and through villages, spinning around in confusion. Google was useless – if there had been any internet coverage here I would have been amazed but either way we had no Malawian SIM card yet.

So we just followed what we guessed to be the main road at every turn and eventually everything started to dry out and we were on firm ground again

It was still slow going but we were finally able to look around and appreciate how lovely Malawi was

The villages looked pristine

Finally a town came into view and there it was….tarmac! We high fived each other, the relief at finally having made it to Chitipa after weeks of uncertainty and hours of mud putting big smiles on our faces.

We headed straight for the border to get our paperwork done. The border guards seemed surprised to see us and struggled to understand where we had come from. Eventually we managed to explain our situation and they happily took us inside the office to stamp our visas into our passports. As they handed them back I checked the details and saw they had only given us 3 month single entry visas – our approval was for 6 month multiple entry visas and this was critical. We would be flying out of Malawi for our Christmas break in the UK and flying back in again. With Henry left in the country whilst we were gone we were not about to take any risks with re-entry. I pointed this out to the officer who apologised profusely for not having read our visa approval letters properly.

He said he didn´t want to mess up our passports by crossing the visas out and starting again so he got a razor blade and proceeded to very carefully scratch out the word ´´single´´ and write over it ´´multiple´´. He then did the same for the ´´3 months´´ and replaced it with ´´6 months´´. We looked at our defaced passports with amusement, who knew whether we would even get past the first police checkpoint never mind back into the country after Christmas! We decided to keep our visa approval letters somewhere very safe just in case….

There were a few motels in town where we could stay and after consultation with IOverlander we chose a place that had apparently once been a glamorous hotel. It wasn´t quite so glamorous today but it was clean, cheap and friendly

We cooked dinner on the porch outside our room and the lovely receptionist came over with a chair for us to use whilst we chopped the vegetables.

As dusk fell, thousands of winged termites poured out from under the doormat covering the doorway into our room and making their way inside in their hundreds. I was caught inside washing up, James was caught outside drying and putting things away. We ended up having to pass the pots and pans through a tiny crack in the door to stop too many termites getting in. Eventually we were done and James leapt inside, closing the door firmly behind him and we settled in for a quiet evening and an early night.

The next day was the usual routine for our first day in a new country – cash, SIM card and food. Everything was easy to get. The lady in the mobile phone shop looked at us as though we were celebrities and actually curtsied to me when she handed me my change. The kids outside were peering in watching us and giggled when we came out.

We were followed around the supermarket by groups of young school girls, peering at us through the shelves and whispering to each other. Some of the braver ones came up and said hello, asking how we were.

We found cash at the first bank we tried but as we were waiting for it to come out James looked over at Henry in the car park and said ´´oh no, that car´s going to hit the Landrover´´. The next thing we heard was a big crunch. We hurried to the scene to find a family getting out of their car scratching their heads and about five bank security guards surrounding the vehicles

The driver had been trying to reverse out of his parking space but seemed to have even worse spatial awareness skills than me. He had turned his steering wheel far too early and crunched straight into Henry´s front bumper. Everyone was looking at us very worried

The driver got back in and James started trying to direct him on how to untangle the car from Henry. But I could see even more disaster looming so called a halt to proceedings and suggested that James got into Henry and untangle us himself. He nodded approval to my plan and slowly, carefully and perfectly drew the Landrover away from the car.

Once the vehicles were separated, we, the family and the security guards all peered at the damage. Their car was a mess – the whole front quarter mangled. Henry had a slight chip in the paint on his bumper. The security guards looked at us in amazement. James grinned and said ´´strong car´´! The guards burst into laughter and high fived him. We jumped in and drove away.

We headed out of Chitipa on our way to a Malawian institution – the Mushroom Farm eco lodge and campsite. They had written us our letters of invitation for our visas and were expecting us. They are renowned for their sustainable business, great food and comfortable facilities. This was where our Malawian adventure was going to start properly.

As we drove we passed by pretty villages

I noticed that every home had its own plot of land, perfectly ploughed and planted

It all seemed lovely. Every town and village we went through had at least one water pump where the people could access fresh, clean water. And since installing our Malawian SIM card we had discovered that even out here – well away from any major town or city – we had full 4G internet coverage.

I had been doing some research and discovered that the Malawian government has secured a lot of foreign aid money but rather than the usual story of aid going first into the pockets of the elite before any small amounts left over get spent on what it was intended for, here the money had actually been invested in infrastructure – water, internet coverage, power. The local people say there is still corruption, as there is everywhere, but it seemed to me that the corruption came after the projects had been funded not before.

I started to muse on what it meant to say that a country is poor. Parcels of land in Malawi are gifted to the people by the Chiefs so that every family has its own land for life. They cultivate it and grow what they need – the luckier ones in good years grow enough surplus to sell some at the markets. There do not appear to be many large land-holdings like in most countries where wealthy land owners grow commercial crops for profit and as such the formal economy is small. But which is better – lots of money in the hands of a very few or everyone having a little, enough to live on but not enough to ever get rich?

I am no idealist, the people here in Malawi do not have much and in bad rain years they often go hungry. They have little money to buy anything they cannot grow or raise on their land and their lives are hard. But if everyone has enough to get by and can sustain themselves on their own land by their own hands – is that better or worse than lots of money sloshing around the economy but never seen by the majority of the people?

Either way, what was becoming very clear to us, even on our second day in this country, was that it is astonishingly beautiful

Rolling mountains and greenery wherever we looked. Perfect, tarmac roads criss crossing through the landscape

We have spent many weeks in Malawi now and have still not got used to its beauty, it is absolutely captivating.

After a couple of hours we were excited to see our first glimpse of Lake Malawi appear over the brow of a hill

We neared a fishing village which was rustic and, well, a little fishy!

There were few cars around, as usual the locals were all walking but we did notice far more bicycles than we had seen in other places

Initially we were only catching glimpses of the lake through trees or houses

But as we climbed higher into the mountains the view got clearer

Until finally there it was in all its glory – the huge Lake Malawi, almost as big as the country itself and looking more like the sea than an inland, freshwater lake

We arrived at the foot of the mountain on top of which the Mushroom Farm perches. The road up in this direction is very similar to the Sani Pass in Lesotho – steep climbs, tight switch backs and perilous drops. We started the climb, slowly plodding up, me anxiously looking down the sheer drops on one side. We passed numerous locals on motorbikes coming down but managed to squeeze past without incident.

Eventually we made it to a sign pointing towards the Mushroom Farm down what initially looked like a sheer drop.

When we arrived in the car park the place looked very interesting

I hopped out to try and find my way to reception and check in. There were multiple winding paths creeping their way down the cliffside with staggeringly beautiful views over the valley and to the lake in the distance

I booked us in to the campsite and also for dinner that evening – vegetable curry with all the trimmings. We were given a guided tour of the place and welcomed to use all the facilities

The toilets and showers were a bit basic but took every advantage of the views…

There was an eclectic mix of people staying here. A large American group were on a yoga retreat, they appeared less well travelled and were loud and excited by everything. A Dutch couple were travelling Africa on their motorbikes and we found more in common with them, chatting about life on the road in Africa.

Having not seen many Landrovers at all for many months we finally found our tribe here

The couple in the orange Defender were on one of our overland forums and were delighted to find out who we were, being quite active members both giving and receiving advice regularly. They had also lost their gearbox in Namibia as we had so we had plenty in common!

I went down to the bar area on our first morning to work on the blog and the American group were finishing their breakfast. It all smelt so good I regretted having already had my muesli. So later on we treated ourselves to a huge lunch, the chipata fries being particularly amazing

I decided there and then that we had to return on our way back up to Tanzania in the new year and eat our way through the entire menu!

Being so high up we were relieved to have some respite from the heat and humidity of the last few weeks. There was a cooling breeze everywhere and we were so grateful we could have stayed forever.

But on our third day we realised we had to get a move on as our flights back to the UK were booked for 10 days time and we had a lot of distance to travel and a lot to see and do before then.

We headed up to the top of the mountain to the small and historic town of Livingstonia

There we found the old Stone House museum, a monument to the first missionaries that came to the area

But pretty as the town was there wasn´t an awful lot else to see so we headed south on our long, slow journey towards the capital, Lilongwe, and our flights.

Malawi is dominated geographically, culturally and economically by Lake Malawi. Most people live around the lake and that is where the tourism is centred. We had heard tales of pristine beaches, beautiful campsites and great food. The only problem was the scale of choice as to where to stay – there were so many recommended places we could only hope to scratch the surface.

Our first stop was to be the Butterfly Space Eco Lodge, nestled right at the foot of a cliff on the edge of the lake. It was a long drive and we arrived early afternoon to find ourselves very disappointed. They had a campsite but it was literally a building site – no facilities, no view, surrounded by building materials and rubbish bags. The ablution block was a long walk down a sheer, rocky path which I didn´t even attempt, I called the lady back and told her this was not going to work for us – I could only imagine the potential for disaster trying to get to the toilet in the middle of the night in my flip flops!

It was too late to find anywhere else so I asked her to show me a room instead. She took me to a nice little ensuite room perched halfway up the cliff, it was comfortable and clean and would be fine for one night. We packed our overnight stuff in dry bags, carried it down the steep path to the room and settled in.

Anywhere you wanted to go in this place – from the car park to the room, from the room to the bar or reception – entailed a perilous walk up or down steep steps. And it was very, very hot and humid. So at first we just lounged around in our room reading and watching a movie. But eventually we ventured out down to the bar

Being in the middle of the rains it was low season so there weren´t many people staying, making the place very peaceful.

The views were stunning

And the sky was amazing

But this place was not for us and we decided to try somewhere else the next day.

The morning brought no relief to our poor, dehydrating bodies. It was stifling even when I got up at 5:30am. I trained in the room with all the windows open and a litre of water but still went light headed and dizzy with the heat. We had a quick breakfast under Henry´s awning in the car park then headed off further south to find somewhere more relaxing.

As we drove I was struck again by how green Malawi is

With maize, bananas and cassava growing everywhere

The villages were clean and well kept

And the people seemed relaxed

At one point we were stopped at a police checkpoint and the two officers introduced themselves as immigration officers. They wanted to see our passports. I wasn´t sure whether this could spell trouble as it is unusual to be asked to hand your passport over on the road. The officers took both passports and I also gave them our visa approval letters. They walked away, I held my breath.

I watched them as they diligently typed details into their hand held machines, clearly doing something official. But they did look concerned. They typed again and again and shook their heads. I was convinced this was a problem caused by the razor-blading of the visa stamps and leant out of my window asking if I could help in any way.

They eventually came back with smiles saying that the border officer had written one of the visa numbers incorrectly – a 6 looked like a 0 – but thanks to the visa approval letters they had managed to find our visas online and amended the details in the passport. They handed our passports back with warm smiles and waved us on our way. We were reassured to find out that our visas were held online and not just in our passports – hopefully the bodged stamp would not cause problems at the airport afterall.

An hour down the road we pulled up at the Makuzi Lodge. It was everything the last place hadn´t been and was perfect

The beach was gorgeous

We had a spacious pitch and our own private, clean ablution block

The restaurant was fantastic

We loved it and settled in straight away feeling very at home here in Malawi

We cooked Moroccan chicken for lunch then sat taking everything in for most of the afternoon.

We pottered up to the restaurant for a light dinner of spring rolls in the evening

There was a warm but fresh breeze blowing in from the lake that cooled us down, but James in particular was very tired from all the heat over the last few days. We sat watching the stars all evening and had an early night.

An hour after going to bed the heavens opened and torrential rain poured down on us. Gales blew so hard that the sides of the roof were bending inwards, straining at the seams, and water was creeping through the sides. At one point there was a big crash as a branch ripped lose from the trees above and hit Henry on the roof. James jumped out to investigate, braving the wet, but fortunately it had bounced off the roof rack and not caused any damage.

We had cooled down at last but sleep evaded us for a few hours until the storm settled into a light patter of rain and a few gentle gusts. The rainy season in Africa can be an adrenaline ride!

The next morning was still hot but much fresher. We spent the day doing very little although a paddle in the lake in the morning was refreshing.

We were sitting in the beach hut later in the day when a large African wasp suddenly came flying straight down at me from the thatched roof. These wasps are very angry looking and have short fuses…

It must have had its nest up there as I couldn´t think of any other reason why it would attack. It swooped onto my leg, stung me and flew away only to start circling again. I felt a sudden burst of pain and heat spread from the sting up and down my leg building to worrying levels. I yelped and held my leg tightly in my hands

Fortunately the pain levelled off after a few minutes but the sting was sore for days afterwards – and we didn´t sit in the hut again!

We enjoyed a cooling swim in the afternoon – until something nibbled at my feet and sent me hurrying back up to the beach – and an enormous and delicious Mayan curry dinner at the restaurant finished off an almost idyllic day.

Most of the wildlife we were sharing the beach with was harmless

But not all!!

Malawi was living up to its reputation in style. We were beginning to relax again and enjoy our travels. But we only had a week left before we returned to the UK and it had started to feel like a count down had begun. I had been missing my family terribly for a while and was excited about seeing them all again and enjoying a proper family Christmas.

So there was a tug of war going on in my head, not wanting to miss out on the wonderful Malawi whilst at the same time counting down the days before I could see my Mum and sisters. We were both feeling a little unsettled and unable to relax, the conditions in Zimbabwe and Zambia had certainly taken a toll. Maybe we needed a break from life on the road for a while to rejuvenate and regain our sense of curiosity. We only had a few days left, the clock was ticking…..