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Malawi

Entry 7 : Having turned back to Lusaka, half way to Malawi, homeward bound, I didn't think we'd get to see Lake Malawi - for sure not on this trip! However as things turned out we figured we would give it another shot!
Malawi

flametreelodge

Just as in Zambia, in Malawi motorcycles are referred to as "hondas"... when we heard this the first time in Zambia: "I like you BMW honda", we just thought he was confused... but indeed, all motorcycles are referred to as "honda"... talk about market penetration! Even when Ray explained to his driver, who was going to escort us to the homeland office to have our Visa extended, he mentioned to his driver that he should say to the customs officer that we are on motorcycles, as he can see by our honda suits! ;-)
Of course, no sooner had we thought we'd solved the clutch issues, my bike developed a very severe clunk-screech sort of metal on metal sound that penetrates the depths of your soul, and you just know that it can't be good! It seems to be the bottom shock mount - probably the bearing... but as long as it's not the shock itself, I'm going to let it be... At least now I have something taking my mind of the clutch ;-) As a friend said: "If it weren't for bad luck you wouldn't have any luck at all!"
Our first night in Malawi was at Steps camp, the campsite of the Livingstonia hotel in Senga. After 2 long days in the saddle, having to make up some time for all the days lost in Lusaka, a swim in the lake was just what the doctor ordered to revive aching muscles.. That night a thundershower caught us off guard. We were awakened by a soft drizzle, followed by furious lightning and thunder - and neither Kobus or I had our flysheets over our tents. Nothing like a little 3am scurrel to interrupt a peaceful night's sleep.
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The next stop was Flame Tree Lodge, just south of Chinteche. This place was recommended by the German couple we met in Eureka (Lusaka) and is well worth a visit - a fantastic setting! 

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On our way there, we noticed what we thought were smoke stacks on the lake, but there was no sign of any ships... Once we got to Flame Tree lodge, we saw a couple more and asked Tony (the owner of Flame Tree) about this. It turns out these are Lake flies.. yes, that's right, dark clouds of teeny weeny flies, smaller than mosquitoes. under the correct conditions they hatch in the lake and the breeze takes them off! The locals catch them and fry them as they are (apparently) high in protein... I think I'll stick to beans as an alternative to steak!
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Malawi is a beautiful country. Here's a portion of a small valley driving from Chinteche to Mzuzu.
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And I thought this one was classic. Omo is a well known detergent in Southern Africa.
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We were referred to another lodge / camp site a little further north, but we needed to get our third day even more north than that, so we could do the Tanzanian border crossing and have enough time to get to Tunduma (from where we would take the B8 north-west in the direction of Burundi and Rwanda). So we found Ngara lodge. Although they are officially open, there's still a lot of construction going on. Never less, for the price we paid, there was nothing to complain about.
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In Malawi the local population still use dugouts, called "wato", to fish on the lake.
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That evening we met Floor and Jan, a Dutch couple that are the neighbors to Ngara lodge. They run a daycare center for orphans and other kids. They've been in Malawi for 1.5 years and built the centre from the ground up. They received the piece of land from the local chief and with help from their family, friends and a couple of volunteers in the Netherlands who are their sponsors, have changed a barren piece of land into a well organized organization, including a little school building, a kitchen that is used to prepare breakfast and lunch for the kids, their own little house, 2 little volunteer houses, a water reservoir and several vegetable gardens. Quite an impressive setup, and if you would like to look them up, have a look at http://www.flojamalawi.nl
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Another thing that struck us in Malawi, was how desperately the people wanted to move to South Africa. We think this has to do with DSTV, the satellite television service from South Africa that covers most of Africa - where ever we stopped, people were watching the soapies... and they have a very skewed vision of life in South Africa. People asked us many questions, about how to get there, how long it takes, where to find jobs... and whether we didn't have a job for them. Wages in Malawi are pretty low, however people stay and for the most part eat for free in staff accommodation and don't understand that they would have to spend their wages on accommodation, transport and food.. Nor did any of them realize that they would need a work permit to be officially employable..


Next up: West Tanzania!