Day 192-198

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MLW 10th -16th June 2007, Malawi

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Day 192 10/6. Mabuya Camp, Lilongwe, Malawi
13°59.97'S 33°45.57'E. Miles today 91, Total Miles 17870
chips big yellow mogWhoa, best border crossing for a hangover, ever! Hello, welcome to Malawi. How are you? Stamp, stamp, stamp. Off you go. Ace! Enquiring here about the Comesa Yellow Card Insurance, which covers Southern Africa, we were told it was only available in Lilongwe, so picked up the obligatory one month temporary insurance at Prime Insurance. (€25) The road was good all the way to the capital, with bicycles most certainly being the preferred mode of transport. They seemed to be using them as donkeys piled high with all manner of stuff and more so, as taxis. Take note of the signs some of them have painted on the back. Some say Toyota, others offer 4x4! There were also heaps of street food stalls selling fried potatoes and we just had to stop. Man, they were awesome. Just 50c for a bag. Lashings of salt. Perfect for clearing the fuzzy heads. We pulled up at the backpacker and overlander haunt called Mabeya Camp (the old Kiboko). "Hey, check that out honey," says Rob, "There's a huge bright yellow unimog parked in the corner there." And so I see his mind wandering off to thoughts on the next truck… Hmmm… Torn! Unimog or Bedford??? At the small bar inside, we met the owners. "Hi, I'm Tom and I'm Janey", they say and looking around, we notice a dog who looks remarkable familiar. Click goes the sausage deprived brain! Hey, this is Tom and Janey who travelled the same route as us through Africa last year in their Unimog with their dog, Alf!! Now, they had reached Malawi and promptly bought a campsite. Wow, how cool is this. We had actually printed off some of their diary entries for Gabon to Angola and had found them invaluable along the way. Now, at last, we could thank them in person. Needless, to say, the evening was spent in the bar, laughing hysterically about the antics of travelling through Central Africa.
Day 193 11/6. Mabuya Camp, Lilongwe, Malawi
13°59.97'S 33°45.57'E. Miles today 0, Total Miles 17870
Spent the day trying to sort out this Comesa Insurance thing. After much traipsing around town, I'll save you the trouble and tell you to go straight to Nico Insurance. (The office upstairs in the Nico centre in the Old Town) It worked out at €70 for 3 months and covers a whole heap of countries. Even though we only have a few countries left, so won't actually save a huge amount of money, it was still worth getting just to save on the hassle of having to pick up insurance at each border. All you need to take is your V5 (car registration papers) and the cash in Kwacha. There are plenty of exchange bureaus around. For cash, it's better to try the Lebabnese guys who run the 7 eleven, who are always eager for dollars but we needed to get rid of these silly travellers' cheque things, for an even sillier exchange rate. A quick wonder around the zillions of craft stalls in town and I can see that I'm gonna be in trouble. Heaps of very cool things to buy. Another quick stop at the Shoprite in the old town, which is well stocked (Hurrah! Sausages) and has guarded parking. Back at Mabeya camp and after a quick tour around the famous Unimog and more crying with laughter with Tom and Janey over the joys of African travel, we flopped into bed.
Day 194 12/6. Cool Runnigs, Sanga Bay, Malawi
13°43.84'S 34°37.14'E. Miles today 85, Total 17955
Decided to head south for a bit to explore Southern Malawi before heading up north. On advice from the Big Yellow Mog guys, we headed towards the haven of Senga Bay on the lake. Not to mention a pit stop for more fried potatoes. There is a great campsite, tucked in behind a bustling village, called Cool Runnings. Sam, who runs the place, really has made a huge effort in making the place special. We felt very at home. Not much to do here though, except chill, which we did particularly well, enjoying their awesome G and T's in the breezy bar and the lounge with comfy sofas, Mnet and all! Caution: poor woman is trying desperately to train her three staffie bull terriers to stay out of the campsite and these blinking overlanders keep coming in and going " Oh yay…doggies….yay….come play with me!" She has a point but it's hard work for you to leave them alone. They are so cute.
Day 195 13/6. Fat Monkey Lodge, Cape McClear, Malawi
14°01.46'S 34°50.50'E. Miles today 103, Total 18058
ally carving sunset
Drove south along the lake with a quick detour at the Mua Mission, which has a cool workshop selling outrageously elaborate carvings. There is a museum in the village and the gardens are lush and beautiful. Generally just a fab place to get the feel of local life and hang out for a bit. We finally reached Cape McClear and settled into the Fat Monkeys campsite right on the beach. Eager to stretch our legs, we went for a short stroll along the lakeshore. Village life still goes on here, with everyone either doing the dishes, the washing, brushing their teeth or fishing in the lake. The zillions of kids kept us entertained by continuously asking us our names. We told them my name was "Bollocks", which may have been a silly idea as it resulted in thousands of little ones running after us shouting "Bollocks! Bollocks!" Crying with laughter, we headed back to Fat Monkeys and witnessed the ever-so-famous red sunset over Lake Malawi. We hoped to go kayaking tomorrow, so after a sweet potato and pea curry, we visited the bar for a cold Carlsberg beer and to find out more info. As luck would have it, the guys who run Kayak Africa were shooting up a storm on the pool table. Me, being a bit of a pool buff (mis-spent youth, as Rob puts it!) couldn't resist the challenge and so the party began. The rest is all a blur but somehow we ended up back at their VERY cool house on the beach dancing the night away until the wee hours with some Irish doctors! Fine evening.
Day 196 14/6. Fat Monkey Lodge, Cape McClear, Malawi
14°01.46'S 34°50.50'E. Miles today 0, Total 18058
Rob's in agony. He must be getting old as cannot move his neck after all that headbanging last night to AC/DC's top tunes. I find this particularly amusing. Urgh…..but can we still muster up the strength for kayaking? Hurrah, it's terribly windy. Will have to take a rain check. Yay…lazy morning on the beach. Watch out for the fruit man, he's a rip off. I paid a stupid amount of Kwacha for a papaya. But it was delicious and sweet though. Met a great Canadian guy called Rene, who was motorbiking round the world for six years. He had just mastered the art of making bread in the ground. "Well, guess that's my entertainment sorted for the next few days, " he says. Guess, he's not in a rush then. That's Malawi for ya. Also met a wicked couple, Eric and Winsome, who have invited us to stay with them in Nelspruit. They were off on a journey up the lake on the famous Ilala Ferry. Great idea actually. Wish we'd done it.
Day 197 15/6. Trout Farm, Zomba Plateau, Malawi
15°21.29'S 33°18.14'E. Miles today 131, Total 18189
toy 110Gotta get off this beach and do something before we too start mastering the art of underground breadmaking. Back on the road, we stopped just before Monkey Bay and bought a wooden carving of a fully kitted out Landrover 110. Rob is like a small child and very happy with his new toy. Drove south towards the old capital of Zomba and up the windy (but thankfully tarred) road to the top of the plateau. It's an incredibly rich and fertile region and you'll see locals selling the plumpest strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries along the way. Also, lots of baby potatoes. Irish potatoes, they call them??? The only campsite that was running was the Trout Farm. (€3pp) Great camping amongst the pine trees. There's a definite nip in the air and our guard offers to bring us some wood for a fire to keep warm.. Bumped into the two couples from Knysna (that we met in Livingstone) They warned us, yup, it gets cold here!!! Made a huge fire and hauled out all the warm stuff, which was well buried since those cold desert nights in West Africa. Thought a quick Chilli with Naan Breads was the best plan of attack.
Day 198 16/6. Trout Farm, Zomba Plateau, Malawi
15°21.29'S 33°18.14'E. Miles today 0, Total 18189
zomba view plateau boysNot too bad last night. Up early and walked up to the fancy hotel past more berry sellers, to get a map of the walks on the plateau. Visited a few lookout points. We were lucky, as it was pretty clear. It can get very misty here, which makes it all a bit damp and miserable. Amazing to watch the locals pile enormous stacks of wood onto the back of their bikes and guide them back down the incredibly steep hill. Unbelievable how much wood they can carry. I do wonder just how much they get for all that hard work. Nice day in all and good for us to get some exercise. Seven months in a car is no yoga retreat. After another huge fire and more chilli, we suddenly realised that, Duh!, we need to get visas for Mozambique, as it's not guaranteed that you can get visas at all border post, so it's back to Lilongwe tomorrow.
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