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journal entries22 Oct 04: [TS] Etosha Nat Park
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malawiIts 6am November 10 when the border opens and we leave Mozambique to enter Malawi. There's a huge line up at the border. People everywhere either wanting to change our money, sell their intricate wood carvings or sell the compulsory car insurance in case we run into or over someone. Also people around wanting our assistance in the form of money to help them survive or to pay for their education. Witnessed an accident just over the border. A bloke on a pushbike rode across the path of a motorbike carrying husband wife and child. All came down and no one seriously hurt but the motorbike guy started punching the other guy, so suspect this is how these things are dealt with around here. There has been a noticeable difference with the geography since leaving the deserts of Namibia & Botswana. Its quite green through northern Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and Malawi even greener. Some may say its because we are getting closer to the equator which draw the big rains. I say its nice to see the palm trees and full rivers. The Portuguese explorers were in Malawi in the 17th century and David Livingston cruised through in 1859. Later in the 19th century, the Malawi people were rounded up and sold as slaves to the Arabs at the ports on the Indian Ocean.
We stayed in a place that has a bush bar next to the pool and even an internet. Found a great Indian
restaurant of all things.
Headed north to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, going through the Zomba plateau which has spectacular I stopped near a village to take a photo and within a minute there were 50 kids around us asking for money. I took some photos of them on a digital camera and showed them which they were very amused about distracting them from their initial purpose. Arriving after dark in Lilongwe,
we spent the night in the van inside the security gates of a hotel that ran out of rooms. Our hitch hikers on our way north to Mzuzu included 3 elderly ladies with a few 50 kg sacks of maize,
some sacks of charcoal and a couple of chooks. They are so grateful for the ride and when we don't
charge them, as is the norm with people hitching, we got beaming toothless smiles. Another car load A local mechanic usually has his set-up on the side of the road. His tool kit would be a few spanners, a screwdriver, a hammer and sometimes a welder. We have used them a couple of times to get the odd thing done like mend the exhaust. They seem to have plenty of offsiders around giving advise and drinking beer but they get the job done straight away and pretty cheap. The kids have schooling from 7 until 1, 5 day's a week and sit in large groups under big shady trees. Lake Malawi is like an inland sea, about 600 km long and 80 km wide. Its the focal point of the country We first see the lake from Nkhata Bay in the north and what a site it is. The colour of the water a deep
blue turning into aqua green around the white palm lined beaches. A tropical paradise where the locals fish The only white guy we saw
here who had dreadlocks to his bum was from South Australia. He was on his way home for Christmas
after managing a hotel here for a while.
Kande beach, further south, was a place recommended to us a few times and we spent a few days at this The days were spent snorkeling around a nearby island checking out the amazing colors of the fish. Its another world underwater with a heap of different communities as fascinated with us as we them. Lots of times I was surrounded by schools of fish just being curious and when I looked behind I had a fan club following me. All the different species swim in harmony with each other eating the algae from the rock
caves. Some colors of the fish are iridescent blue, yellow, orange, black, clear, striped and many more.
The crabs are colorful and interesting to watch also. One night I spent some time with the local beach boys, drumming, around a fire. They passed around the
Malawi gold rolled up in newspaper and about the same size. Their rhythm is so true. I had a go at the We went further south and eventually ended up at Cape Maclear at the bottom of the lake. Yet again
another paradise with crystal clear water, so more snorkeling around rock pools and caves. Stayed in When we left the lake to go east back into Mozambique, we traveled through populated villages with their roadside stalls selling food, clothing, plastic containers, lottery tickets, luggage, shoes, radios, batteries, animals and mobile phones just to name a few. Some have tables and some have a blanket on the ground with as little as half a dozen tomatoes for sale. We got some unusual looking food from a stall and sat in the gutter to eat it. One girl went off searching for a couple of cokes and came back a few minutes later
with some warm ones. We were the audience for the whole village it seemed with some wanting to touch
us or talk with us. Once this started the crowd drew right in. These scenes happen quite a bit and I enjoy
as they do, getting this close and communicating by any means possible. |
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email us!tom@stuckintoafrica.com.au | damien@stuckintoafrica.com.au
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