Mzimba to Dedza

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MZIMBA
We stayed in Mzimba for a couple of nights; not a town visited by many tourists. The hotel was about a quarter full, mostly of working Malawians, some from the blood transfusion service and others from Save the Children charity. In the evening the bar is very quiet and Derek is able to play pool on a wonky table with challenging cues! One has no tip and the other has a tip like a burst thistle.
We did a lot of walking, making enquiries about the whereabouts of a friend. Amazingly, but not surprisingly, Richard calls us 2 days later as the messages have got through to him!
We meet Arthur in the internet cafe and he comes to find us in the evening to talk about the nature of democracy and world leaders and sharing personal life stories. What a gentleman!

DEDZA
We took two buses from Mzimba and from intense heat, we drive into the mountains where the air is clearer and cooler. we see spectacular views and everywhere people are working the land with hoes ready for planting once the rains are really here. We see more terraced areas in the mountains. We are packed in on the bus like sardines but eventually we have seats. Many people use the buses as their main way of getting about with bundles of clothes, sacks of grain, live chickens and fish. At everystop there are street traders selling fruit, hard boiled eggs, iced water, cokes, etc.

Dedza was peaceful, spacious and clean. We met with Bert who Derek met last year and hear that his community radio station is progressing well and expecting registration very soon. We have a view of Dedza mountain from our room and the sky lights up all evening with lightning although it is some days before the rains really arrive. Today we read of severe flooding in Dedza which has rendered a lot of people homeless as roofs of houses have been blown off and the school cannot open.

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