Malawi!

Malawi is probably the poorest country I have ever visited, but it was also one of the most relaxed.  It has a variety of geography that includes the third largest lake in Africa, Lake Malawi.

 For wildlife viewing, Malawi doesn’t compare to the Serengeti or Ngorogoro crater, but if you want to see more of the “Real Africa” this is the place to visit.  Of course, everything moves a little more slowly in Malawi, so bring plenty of patience and lots of books.  I spent 3 weeks in Malawi and only saw the North part of the country.

	The first  two photos shoe one of the beautiful sunrises over lake Malawi from the beach camp at Chitimba, in Northern Malawi.  The lake is about 500 km long and 20km wide making it the third largest in Africa.  It site on the borders of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.   It is only 37 meters above sea level, which gives it a tropical ocean feel, without the salt.
	See above.
	Here we have the beach huts at Chitimba beach camp.
	On the map, Chitimba looks like a “town” but it is really only a crossroads.  This is one of the “restaurants” where all they had was “Nsima Cassava” which is a staple of the region.  Cassava is a plantain which they mash to make a goo with the consistency of play-doh and serve it with a fishy curry.  Yuck.  It was one of the only meals I couldn’t stomach on the trip, and felt guilty since half the country was starving.
	This is the hut we stayed in at Lukwe Permaculture camp, which is up an escarpment from Chitimba.  The huts stand on stilts over the cliff edge giving you a view of the valley and the lake below.  The front is open so all you have to do is sit up in bed to have a view of the sunrise.
	Lukwe is run by Kevin and Sue,  a couple that immigrated to Malawi from the UK 6 years ago.  These are their children teasing the 6 chickens in the pen.  There will be only 5 chickens to tease tomorrow, because we are having chicken curry for dinner tonight!
	This is the open-air hot water shower, a rarity in Africa, powered by a wood fired water heater that heats stored rain water.    Luxurious!
	This waterfall is just a short distance from the Lukwe camp.  The area is full of trails and almost everyone gets around on foot.  They have roads like we have foot paths and they have foot paths like we have roads.  It makes being a pedestrian the only way to get around, and exploring on foot really gets you into rural Africa.   To get to Lukwe we had to do a 2.5 hour hike straight up the escarpment, since very few vehicles and no public transport run up to the town of Livingstonia.
	On the cliffs above Lake Malawi, an Australian named Mick runs an adventure business with abseiling, rap-jumping and a pendulum swing.  He took us for free because he needed models to make a new brochure for his business.  Here you see the platform that we abseil and rap-jump from.
	Here you can see me hanging in mid air half-way down the abseiling rope towards the bottom of the escarpment.
	Suzanne is getting ready for her first abseiling experience.  She refused to do the “pendulum swing” later, but I had to do it so Mick could get some pictures.
	Vwaza march wildlife reserve had lots of Hippos and tsetse flies, but we didn’t see much else.  Here you can see Suzanne standing in elephants prints left in the mud many days earlier.  We didn’t see any elephants anywhere in this reserve.
	One of the trees you see all over Africa are these “Sausage trees”.  The fruit is hard and I don’t think you would want to eat it.  However, I’ve seen monkeys pick them, break them open and eat the seeds.
	Getting to and from Vwaza was a bit of a chore.  Here we sat for just under 2 hours in the noonday heat waiting to hitch a ride back to “civilization”.  Fortunately, the first vehicle that came along gave us a ride back to the town of Rumphi.  We rode in a broken down Toyota truck that was on the back of a flatbed truck.
	This German man, whose name I never did catch, was on his 6th year of an 8 year round-the-world cycling trip.  His bike weighed 40 kg and his gear weighed 30kg bring the total to 70kg!  His bike was so heavy because he had all kinds of special components that were built for durability.  He had to replace his tired every 15,000km.   He told me that he loved British Columbia and had found a BC Motorcycle license plate that he duct-taped to the front of his bike.   This photo was taken in Mzuzu, a town in northern Malawi were he was stuck for a few weeks with a broken finger.  A few days before he was rough camping along the side of the road when some people tried to rob him.  They couldn’t figure out how to open his tent, so they threw rocks at it and one of them broke through and crushed his finger.  He managed to chase off the potential robbers, but was unable to ride for a few weeks.
	This little red car was driven all the way from Belgium, where it used to be owned by the postal service.  The Belgian that brought it bought 3 of them for $250US each and then combined the best parts of each to make one running vehicle.  He then took it on a 300,000km sojourn, finally dumping the car in Mzuzu, Malawi.
	My Malawian barber in his “MC Hammer” t-shirt runs his business from a reed hut along the side of the road in Nkhata Bay.  Half-way through my hair-cut his electric shaver broke down and I though I’d have to walk around town with a  half-shaved head.  He promised me that “another one was coming in 1 minute” which I didn’t believe at all.  This is Africa, after all.  However, a miracle occurred and another shaver showed up with a friend of his and he finished the job.
	Nkhata Bay is a small town on Lake Malawi with many nice places to stay along the lake.  We stayed in Mayoka Village, which had great western-style food (a nice change) and these lovely huts on the lake’s edge.
	We arrived in Nhkata Bay just before Mango season came into full swing.  Here are some mangos that will be ready to eat in a few weeks.  The problem with Mango season is that it’s also fly season and the flies get really annoying.
	To stay at Mayoka costs 300 Kwatcha per night ($4US) for two people and that included free use of the dugout canoes.  You could also rent inflatable kayaks cheaply and putter around or kayak into the town center to go shopping. You can see the huts and the restaurant at Mayoka on the steep hill over the water
	From Nhkata Bay we got on the Ilala ferry and went to Chizumulu island to start our 5-day kayak trip around the islands with the tour company “Monkey Business” Here you can see the stark colours of the island.
	Our trip cost $35US per person per day, all-inclusive.  We camped on the beach and Gyros and Arnold, our guides cooked the meals for us.   We camped at this bay at the end of day two, when we crossed the 10km of open water to Likoma Island.  From Likoma island it is only another few km to the Mozambique shoreline.
	A short 5 minute scramble up some granite cliffs from our campsite on the beach yielded this view over the bay where we were staying.
	Some young boys lay out a fishing line from a dug out canoe.
	Although Malawi is very poor, we saw what I would say is a very happy community in this little bay.  The men were out fishing, most of the kids were playing on the beach and at the end of the day the women came out and played with the children in the canoes.   There was lots of giggling, laughing and yelping as several of the women playfully overcrowded one of the dugout canoes and eventually sank it.  The boys rescued the canoe and they all piled in again.    It was one of the few places where we were almost completely ignored as people went about their daily business.  A couple of kids sold us some mangoes and two older girls had brief conversations with us, but mostly we were left alone.  It was a nice change.
	See above.
	Our guides, Gyros and Arnold, taking a bit of an afternoon nap in the warm sun before supper.
	Arnold climbed up this tree full of ripe mangoes and slapped them down with the end of a kayak paddle.    Fresh Mangoes, yum!
	One of our many beach lunch spots on Likoma island
	We stopped at this secluded hotel and restaurant for a cold drink.  A bit more fancy than most, it offered water skiing and other more luxurious sports.
	The Kaya Mawa hotel offers a honeymoon suite, which is located on it’s very own island in the lake.  The price is above backpacker range, but not bad for regular travelers at $150US per night with full board.
	Likoma island is home to a large church that was built by Dr. David Livingstone in the early 1900’s.
	The church’s grounds were beautifully landscaped and maintained.
	Suzanne is peaking out of a strangler fig tree that is hollow.  The inside is about 2 meters in diameter.  The villagers used to use it to store supplies.
	The view from above Mango Drift guesthouse west shows the island of Chizumulu in the distance.
	Our beach hut at Mango Drift with a huge baobab tree right behind it.
	Sunset at Mango Drift.
	Malawi is famous for its carved wooden chairs and we found the best workmanship in Chitimba.  Suzanne and I purchased 2 each and we hired this guy to carry them to the road for us.  We then had to carry them on various forms of transport all the way back to Dar Es Salaam.
	Steve is one of many young entrepreneurs in Malawi that help tourists out with whatever they might need.  If you need Mangoes, they will pick them, if you need a guide they will find one for you.  They also make hand painted postcards and greeting cards and Steve painted this picture in my journal for me.  By Malawian standards, the small tips they ask for ad up to a fair amount of money
	Here are the two Malawi chairs that I purchased and dragged all the way back to Canada.  Each chair has parts of Malawian life carved into them. Men fishing, women grinding maize, women carrying baskets and wood on their heads, men carrying fish over their shoulders, giraffes, and the sun and a star.   The seat of the chair comes out so that they are more easily transported.  Thanks to these chairs and other wood carvings, my luggage was 32kg when I returned to Canada