More of Malawi: Nkhata Bay, Glorious Nyika, Lonely Livingstonia and Catching up in Chitimba...

Where did we end off? Nkahata Bay- so after much deliberation, we decided to give the islands a skip and stayed two nights at the wonderful Mayoka Village Backpackers in Nkhata Bay. We explored the nearby village, bought some curios and went on a free boat trip with cliff diving, snorkelling and soccer. We met some great fellow travellers; two Dutch doctors (Tessa and Joost) who had just finished their 7-week internship at a nearby hospital, and Jason, a lone backpacker from Boston. We had a great day with them and finished it off with "Amazing Giant Burger's" at Mayoka's restuarant.

The next day we left, with Jason squished into the back-seat, and made our way to Nyika National Park, stocking up in Mzuzu along the way and dropping Jason off en-route. The shopping in Mzuzu was such fun- we went to the Metro Cash and Carry and found some great bargains- Boxes of biscuits for KW75 (R3), Mzuzu honey, and Malawian tea and coffee. So far, the grocery shops we have been to have had loads of imported South African products, and they have been outrageously expensive and also made us feel that we are just travelling through an extension of SA... but we are very excited to say that we are now North enough to be far away from South African products and grocery shopping has become one of my favourite 'outings'. After the Metro Cash and Carry we went to the busy market and bought 8 potatoes, 5 tomatoes, three big handfuls of fresh peas, 4 red onions, 7 eggs, 5 bananas and 10 oranges, all for KW640 (R30!)(Grant: I particularly liked the "plize" that one is rewarded with when buying at the market. For instance we bought 10 oranges and our "plize" was the eleventh one free.)  And we most likely paid the Mzungu price! Anyway, enough of my small pleasures :-)

The road from Mzuzu to Nyika National Park was probably the worst road we've driven on so far. It's rainy season and  there were huge potholes and muddy sections all along the 100km road. It started pouring for the last 60km's, but Michael just keeps redeeming and proving himself over and over. We had no problems whatsoever and i actually had a lot of fun driving the last 60km's (don't think Grant had such a good time though :))(Grant: I must add that Ang really does drive the Land Cruiser the way it should be driven, however, there were times that it felt like I was doing the Camel Trophy with Michael Schumacher behind the wheel). We arrived at the Chelinda Camp in Nyika and fell-in-love. What an amazing place... for the Loteni club and all those who have visited Loteni, picture camping on the top of the plateau, but you are surrounded by endless rolling green hills dotted with Eland, Bushbuck, Zebra, Roan Antelope and Mountain Reedbuck. Every night a huge bonfire was lit for us by Samuel and Patterson and the ablutions were spotlessly clean with endless hot water from the permanently-lit donkey.

We had planned to stay there for two nights and ended up staying for five! We had such a great time. We spent the days chain-drinking tea and coffee, reading, journalling, researching on upcoming countries, and reflecting on the trip so far and the upcoming weeks and months. After a great deal of relaxation, we went for a few short walks and then on the last day hired bicycles and explored the rolling hills. At one point i was waiting for Grant to catch-up to me (ha ha) and i spotted the distinctly round head and ears of a hyeana peering at me over the waist-high shrubs next to the road. He/she quickly ducked his/her head and we didn't see it again! Cool, but also a bit eerie :) We met a Dutch family while we were in Nyika: Chalmer, Kathljin, Paul, Anton and Chris (http://www.pacci.nl/). They decided to follow their dream of driving from The Netherlands to Cape Town with their kids, so they bought a truck, kitted it out and took their children out of school for a year and off they went. They home-school the children in the mornings and drive in the afternoons. We loved their company and were so inspired by them! On one day, they decided to go for a drive and their truck got stuck when the bridge they were crossing gave way beneath them. After 15 men and a tractor came to the rescue, the truck was free!

We eventually said our sad goodbyes to Nyika, determining to come back one day and made our way back to Mzuzu to visit the Toyota dealership.(Grant: I had noticed that the front left wheel bearing was loose. I have now officially had it with wheel bearings. It was a quick job and the lock nut was tightened and the wheel bearing re-packed and greased.)

We then headed north to tackle the treacherous 15km climb to Livingstonia. Engaging low-range for the first time, the 20 tight hair-pin bends were gobbled up by Mikey and we made it to Lukwe Camp at the top of the hill feeling very chuffed with our Buble. Livingstonia itself was a bit of a let-down. We had heard great things about the hill-top town, but after visiting the museum at Stone House, the church and Bell-tower, we were left with a lonely feeling and spent the day deep in thought about the missionaries who founded the town and what happens to an African town when Europeans invade and then leave...(Grant: To add to our last blog and the Malawian habit of replacing "R's" with "L's" and vice versa, we saw a classic example of it at the museum at Livingstonia. In one of the displays there was a photograph of the house in which Sir David Livingstone was born. The text below it read "The house where David Livingstone was born in Blantyre, ScotRand". I had a good chuckle and wondered whether David Livingstone knew that his coutry of birth was Scotrand. Oddly Livingstone, is not pronounced Rivingstone. Perhaps he made a point of it when he was here, Old Sil David Rivingstone of Scotrand (Just Reft of Engrand).

Having seen enough, we drove down the hill and decided to camp at Chitimba Camp on the lake and catch-up on blogging, e-mails, laundry and last minute planning before we hit Western Tanzania! We are so excited for this next stretch- it's apparently 'off the beaten-track' and really deep dark Africa. We have received lots of tips on the area and apparently we may get our first taste of bush-camping. But we'll keep you posted :-)

Things Ange has learnt:

1. God must have been really angry when He sent the plague of boils to the Israelites... i'll say no more.
2. The first word learnt by Malawian babies is 'Mzungu'- we have seen babies mid-breast-feed turn their head at us and utter in sweet baby voices 'Mzungu!'

3. Shopping in busy, bustling, smelly and colourful African Markets trumps Woolworths anyday.

Things Grant has learnt:

1. I am lacking on the fitness side of things. The short mountain bike ride of 22km left me totally and utterly knackered. (Steve when we get back we have some serious training to do, so get the silver bullet warmed up.)

2. Wheel bearings are unreliable,relatively small, ridiculous things that, unfortunately, make the wheels go round and, therefore, are crucial.Catch 22?

3. Surgery. Army style, in a tent, with crude instruments. Mostly curing the plague mentioned above... again, the less said the better.

Musings: While we were at Nyika, we met another great couple; Reuben (a Dutch doctor) and Jaimie (a Canadian Nutritionist). Both have a great love for Africa and Jaimie has been living and doing research in Malawi for the past 15 months. We had a great chat with them around a roaring fire one evening. Reuben was born in South Africa, but raised in the Netherlands and asked us "How much of Africa is in your daily lives?" A thought-provoking question! We have thought about that question quite a bit subsequently and realised that we would like to have more of Africa in our lives back in JHB. Sure, we are Africans, we live in Africa, but somehow, when you live and work in the Northern suburbs in Johannesburg, Africa tends to get pushed out a bit. So we have been thinking of ways to increase our daily dose of Africa... learning to speak Zulu, buying our tomatoes from the Spaza shops on the corner of every street instead of Fruit and Veg City... and we have realised that if we look for more of Africa, we will always find it. 

Birds and Birding: Volume 1

Birds and Birding: Volume 1

Before I commence this insert, I would like it to be known that I am not trying to brag or make anyone jealous, I am merely presenting the facts as they occured. But man, Steve, Pierre, Shaun, Craig, Andrew and Greg you guys would be loving the diversity and new species of birds! Again I apologise if you find this hard to read.

My life list since the start of the trip stands at 44 with some very notable species occuring on the list. The following species have been obsereved and where possible photographed (as I know Steve will never believe me unless he has some photographic evidence). I will include the photos at another point as the connection in Malawi is slower than Steve on a mountain bike:

1. Pale-Winged Starling
2. Orange River White-eye
3. Dusky Sunbird
4. Rosey-faced Lovebird
5. Rudy Turnstone
6. Ruppell's Parrot
7. Ruppell's Korhaan
8. Rufous-Tailed Palm-Thrush
9. Meves's Starling
10. Grey-Backed Camaroptera
11. Bare-Cheeked Babbler
12. Yellow-Bellied Greenbul
13. Swamp Boubou
14. Red-billed Teal
15. Abdim's Stork
16. Chestnut Weaver
17. Spectacled Weaver
18. Southern White-crowned Shrike
19. White Browed Coucal
20. Shaft-tailed Wydah
21. Cape Teal
22. Hartlaub's Babbler
23. Southern Pied Babbler
24. White-browed Robin-chat
25. Meyer's Parrot
26. African Pygmy Goose
27. Long-toed Lapwing
28. Bradfield's Hornbill
29. Black Heron
30. Southern Carmine Bee-eater
31. Blue Cheeked Bee-eater
32. Lesser Jacana
33. Red-billed Spurfowl
34. White-backed Night Heron
35. Trumpeter Hornbill
36. Bronzy Sunbird
37. Forest Double-collared Sunbird
38. African Yellow White-eye
39. Whyte's Barbet
40. Tambourine Dove
41. Trilling Cisticola
42. White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher
43. Bertram's Weaver
44. Yellow-bellied Waxbill

(1-34 = Namibia (including the Caprivi), 35 = Zimbabwe, 36-44 = Malawi

Now, as most of you are probably reading this at work, I suggest you look these birds up after working hours as you may need a bit of time to familiarise yourself with them and admire their beauty. 

Yours in Birding,
Grant

Harare to Malawi, via Mozambique: The Lake, Mountains and Malaria Tests

Due to our unexpected delay in the Caprivi we changed our route and instead of heading to Malawi from Zambia we would now get to the "Warm heart of Africa" by crossing through Mozambique's Tete Corridor. The border crossing from Zimbabwe was relatively smooth apart from the Police check. They wanted to see police clearance for the car, which, we did not have. We had been warned about this and the fact that it was not actually required and they were merely taking a chance. So after much discussion and me playing as dumb as possible, I apologised and promised to bring it with next time. I then asked "what else do you need from me" (a pretty loaded question). This sparked excitement in the lady cop, who suddenly awoke from her slumber on the table, and said "You can buy us a cooldrink". I could not contain myself an laughed out loud and denied her request politely, getting in the car and crossing into Mozambique.

The invisible line created by the border caused a change in the huts and villages we encountered. They were far smaller and more compact but occurred more often, dictating that one reduces ones speed to avoid any excuse for the notorious Moz Traffic Police to fine you. We had taken every precaution to avoid the attention of the cops and had two red warning traingles, a reflective vest, 3rd party insurance, a yellow and blue triangle sticker on the front of the car and all our documents copied and certified. We were invincible. Sadly, there was not a cop in sight to display our conformance to.

I am not sure what We were expecting of Tete, but, what we were greeted with was definately not it. Tete, although being a large city, is comprised mainly of small huts and shacks and the only large piece of architecture is the enourmous suspension bridge which straddles the Zambezi River. The bridge itself connects the southern and northern parts of Tete and carries hundreds if not thousands of people across the river every day. It was a typical bustling African city and we were going to sleep here for the night. Easier said than done. We had read about the one and only campsite and set out to find it. Travelling along a potholed dirt road, past huts and small stores, we were suddenly stopped by a throng of screaming kids. They were all shouting "Campsite, Campsite Campsite" in unison and pointing in the direction we had just come. We had missed it, not a good sign. The kids ran ahead of us and opened the gate to the "Campsite". I took one look at the patch of overgrown grass and decided we would not be camping there. Ang, however, had other ideas and quite liked the place. An argument ensued, which I lost, and we set-up camp on the banks of the Zambezi. In truth the campsite, although lacking a bit of TLC, was perfectly situated and a good place to absorb the sounds of the nearby families as they went about their evening routines. There was one other camper mad enough to camp there. Ben, from the UK, was backpacking through Africa by himself before heading to India on his round the world trip of two years. We got chatting and offered him a lift into Malawi, saving him an early start in order to catch a bus. After a good nights sleep we squashed Ben and his kit into the back of Michael and were off to a new country, Malawi!

At the border we acquired a friend, although his services were not required, Patrick seemed to like us and followed us around from immigration to customs and finaly to 3rd party insurance. When we were done Patrick politely asked for his payment. Payment? what payment? We asked. He then proudly announced he was a runner and he had helped us get over the border smoothly. We are learning, albeit slowly. we paid Patrick a fraction of his fee and headed to Blantyre. We were inistantly struck by the rolling green hills interupted by large granite domes. It was beautiful. The first police road block in a new country is always a tense affair. What would they need to see, would we have it, would they demand money etc. We were pleasantly suprised and at the first stop we were greeted with a big toothy smile and after exchanging pleasantries (no conversation here can start before asking how the other party is and them doing the same) he enthuisiastically said " Welcome to our country. Welcome to the warm heart of Africa". Warm indeed!

In Blantyre we did a bit of shopping but had to do without luxuries like butter, cheese and meat as it was crazily expensive as it was all imported from South Africa. Beans on toast it would be. The next day we made our way to the lake and specifically to Cape Maclear. It was this journey that we fully appreciated the multiple uses of the humble bicycle. Not only was it used as a mode of transport for the rider but for him and a passenger or 3. They also carried huge bags of charcoal, wood, reeds (for house building), fish, chickens (hung on strigs by their legs), live goats and pigs as well as other bicycles. These bicycles occupy a rather large area of the already narrow road and make for some interesting driving.

Cape Maclear is situated on a small peninsular on the southern shores of the lake, with views of the Thumbi and Domba islands that bob a few kilometres away. We liked this place and we would stay here for a bit. We set up camp only 10 meters from the water at the Fat Monkeys Lodge. All the lodges are located on the watres edge with the village situated around them and you really get the feeling that you are part of the everyday life of the residents. Fisherman stroll the beach with their catches of the night before, Kapenta (small fish) boats go in and out and local ladies wash their clothes. We organised a snorkelling trip to one of the island with one of the community guides and it proved to be one of the many highlights of our stay. the water was absolutly clear and the fish were pletiful. Hundreds of chiclids of all colours swam round us and occasionally the odd brave one would nibble at you toes. Snorkeling in the fresh water was great and being 28 degrees we stayed in the water for a good few hours. The snorkeliing was only interupted by some lunch on the island and a trip to the west of the island to "feed the Fish Eagles". I was a little aprehensive of this as it felt a little touristy and a bit like watching the lions getting fed at the zoo, but, I quickly discarded those thoughts as one of the fish eagles swooped down to snatch the fish we had thrown, from the water only 15m from our boat. It was amazing and to witness it so close made for some great shots.

Fat monkeys proved to be very popular with overlanders and we met an English couple, David and Jayne, that have recently come down the west coast of Africa from England and are now making their way up the east coast crossing into the middle east before heading to South East Asia and India, all in their 1996 Landrover Defender (risky). Check out their trip on http://www.lizzybus.com/. They plan to travel the world in their car and have taken 7 years to do it. It is meeting people like them that humble you and put things in perspective. We are not doing something unique by travelling through Africa in Michael. Unique would be cartwheeling the length of the continent naked. Overlanding is not new, but, everyone we have met doing it, loves it and have awesome memories and stories to tell.

After four days of relaxing, swimming in the lake and enjoying spectacular sunsets we left Cape Maclear in the rain that would follow us all the way to the Capital, Lilongwe. Here we would stock up with supplies and the medication for Bilharzia which could be contracted from swimming in the lake. We stayed at a backpackers and treated ourselves to take-aways for dinner. After a big shop off we headed north west into the Viphya Mountains for a bit of walking and bird watching. The road to the Luwawa Forest Lodge had taken a bit of a beating by the rain and the logging trucks and made for some white knuckle moments. Again Micael passed with flying colours. The Lodge is nesteld in huge plantations of pine, but, close by there are also large ares of indigenous forest which proved a good spot for birding. We met up with An and Jo (Belgians) here and enjoyed a walk through the forests and chilling in front of a huge fire place (it got a little chilly there being 2000m above sea level and with the rain). I woke early one morning to go on a guided bird walk and I managed to notch up a few lifers, the most exciting of which was a great sighting of Whyte's Barbet. Talking to George, the owner, he mentioned that there were in fact three roads one could take to get to the lodge and the one we had taken was very rarely used due to the state of the road. So it was decided we would take the path most often travelled on the way out and onto Nkhata Bay, our next stop.

A: We've been in Nkhata Bay for two days so far, and stayed at Njaya Lodge, a quiet spot with an amazing view. I haven't been feeling so good, but after a couple of sms's to Nads and Craig (our on-call doctors, thanks so much guys!) and lots of TLC from Grant, i'm definately on the mend! Yay! We are trying to send this blog through today and catch-up on emails etc. We were planning to head to Likoma and Chizumulu Islands today by taking the 8pm ferry, but after discovering an amazing gem of a place: Mayoka Village (a backpackers/lodge) we may just stay on here for a couple of days. Will see though.

Things Ange has learnt:

1. It's a lots harder to prick one's finger for a malaria test than one would have thought... picture grant making a running start and then chickening out as the lancet got close to my finger (the result was negative! Yay!)

2. Grant tolerates an ailing wife very well.

Things Grant has learnt:

1. March is the rainy month in Malawi.

2. Malawians battle to pronounce their R's and substitute it with an L instead (the chinese of Africa perhaps). Asking for directions can be quite interesting, for example: "you must drive on this load until a t-junction. Then turn light onto another load. It is a lough locky load. Then turn left and then light and light again" the problem is that i find myself repeating the directions using the new terms "light" for right and "load" for road.

We are using the internet at Butterfly Community Centre, an amazing spot where people are doing great things for the communicaty at Nkhata Bay. Painted on the walls are these words in Tonga on onde side and then the English translation on the other side:

"Linweka lidu likuta nkhuziwa kuti chimwemwe ndi vyaluta vidu chaziwika ndichandulu kukwaskana ndi wanthu wanyidu kuziya. Mukupereka ndi kuronde kuti tizenge vigawa vidu charo chose chapasi ndi ywe tawenecho".

"Hidden in our hearts is a longing to live deeply and with purpose and joy. To know and be known, to be concerned with another, and to make a difference. In the dance of giving and receiving, we create our community, our world and ourselves".