Journey through Malawi

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On the road again..

So after the luxury R&R we returned to the truck and back on the roads which were slowly getting worse as we headed south. Our next port of call was Lake Malawi- the 8th largest lake in the world, lake Malawi spans the length of the country and is also said to have more species of fish in it than any other lake in the world.
Our mission in Malawi was really to make it to the other end, well Zambia anyway. Our journey didnt get off to the best of starts, when we stopped to get our stamps the passport control men were really moody and harsh to us and gave us a hard time as we tried to get our visas and then the journey continued with any 6/7 hours on the truck.
As we made camp at the shores of the lake i was just so suprised at the vast amount of water spread out in front of me, the fact that there were waves! (didnt think lakes had waves lol) and that it was pretty much a beach with all the sand i got really confused-surely we were at the coast!
Our second day didnt start well- it was raining. We were planning on heading down south in the truck but as we drove up the winding roads in a mountain setting we came to a stand still. A road block- African style. 2 massive HGV lorries had stopped either side of a lost load(a trailer that had come loose off the back of a HGV) The 2 lorries either side of it had ignored the trailer and tried to squeeze past on both sides and had come stuck too. One looked like it was wedged between the trailer and the mountain side and the other was half on the road half on the green verge next to it. Just before the cliff dropped away there was a steep muddy hill that cars and lorries were using to pass. It had been like this for 2 days.

Our massive yellow truck tried but the rain had turned the road into a muddy slide and we coasted back down everytime our truck tried to climb it. There was nothing we could do, cars were trying and only suceeding when all the passengers(about 7 people!) would get out and push!
This amused us for about an hour- literally just watching each car to see if they made it and some came so close the the edge of the cliff with their back ends sliding out towards it, i couldnt watch.
Then from the top of the road a huge fuel carrying lorry looked like it wasnt planning on waiting for the road to clear so this huge monster of a vehicle was coming down the mud slide! We were all watching from the road as it slid down at such a speed- there was no friction at all and i thought it was going to come crashing down into us. I screamed as everyone ran out of the way of the uncontrolable fuel tanker! As it joined the road at the bottom it looked like it would plough straight into the mountain side, lucky we escaped an explosion as the driver hit the brakes in time!
This was african driving-MAD.
Since we wanted to pass and continue our drive our group tried as much as possible to get the ball rolling on moving the wedged trucks- but because this is Africa the drivers had lefted the scene along with the keys. So then we thought maybe the trailer could be moved if its load was taken off, its load just happened to be bags of cement! Couldnt really get much worse so we set up a table and had lunch on the roadside and waited for the unloading to finish and for the drivers to return.
After 3 hours we decided it would be more beneficial to just head back to camp and start again tomorrow.

The next day the road was passable and we continued our long journey down south. We stopped at another lake side camping ground which we would be staying at for 3 days. It would have been a lovely place to stay at apart from the fact that as soon as we got there it started to rain. And this was tropical, extremely heavy rain that you couldnt shelter from for long. We found it hard to light our fire even in shelter. The wind was strong and the rain was harder as each day passed. It was one of the first times id felt cold in Africa. Nothing got dry, our clothes were wet for 3 days straight, we constantly had raincoats on and there was no point in wearing shoes because they would just get flooded.
The ground was saturated and an inch flooded in water. In really bad places the water was flowing like a mini river. This mini river just happened to pass right through our tents, me and alli had to move our tent or else it would have floated away. It was awful and a wet sleeping bag is one of the worst things when your travelling. All you want is to be able to retreat to a warm comfy bed at night especially when you've been cold all day long and then you find that its damp and cold and theres nothing to dry it with.

The one day the rain let up was in the afternoon of our last day, we all took the opportunity to escape our camp where there had been nothing else but shelter in an ant infested building with a TV to occupy us. So we headed down to the town and i went horseriding with a friend. My horse was called Blackie and although aparently she came across mean and moody, she was a big softie on the inside! Right, and she just happened to be an ex-race horse lol.
It was a fun adventure anyway, we rode through the bush and villages near the lake, then along the sandshores and back into camp. The english run stables who we used would run sessions with the local kids who were allowed to come and work with the horses feeding and cleaning them. I thought this was a rewasally sweet idea, but then as we were riding and passing tiny so called houses in the bush, we'd meet the kids and just from their reactions to hearing they were allowed to visit the next day- it was literally heart warming, I was overwhelmed at how excited they were. They would jump up and down laughing and we so obviously happy to help with the horses. It was such a simple but amazingly humble thing that these english people were doing. They loved having the horses and sharing it with the community, who in return helped them.

In the camp that we finished up at, I needed to use the internet. It had been such a long time since we'd had the luxury of technology and it was the beginning of April and I was waiting to hear back from Cardiff. Yes I really really wanted to go to Cardiff, it was my number one choice but i had already settled in my mind for St. Georges- in fact I would go anywhere so long as I was doing Medicine. I was still in shock I'd it this far, i just needed to hear any reply from Cardiff so i could accept my london offer. I couldnt imagine in my wildest dreams that I'd get a place. But as i logged into UCAS in the smallest internet room in the middle of Malawi and read teh words 'Unconditional' my heart stopped. I mean this cant be possible- i cried after my interview thats how bad it was. I was surely getting a rejection, i was ready for it, i had prepared to go to London and forget all about Cardiff, but my life was very much half full from this point onwards.

So glass half full, maybe even its 3/4's full in my case we carried on through Malawi with any a couple more stops, one of them beging the capital Lilongwe. And it just so happened that Madonna was there the smae time as us. Weird- didnt see her though. We stopped off at the post Office, and a few of us sent large boxes home full of wooden gifts and paintings that we didnt fancy carrying around in our bags for the rest of the time. It again was like any other African experience- MANIC!!
It was half an hour before closing time and we needed a box, bubble wrap, tape and a pen. Groups of men surrounded us promising us the best deals, the best prices, the best bubble wrap around. It was such an effort and with time ticking and money needing to be exchanged to pay for the Airmail, i felt like i was in one of crystal mazes challenges and when time ran out I would get locked in! Luckily we managed it just in time.
Our only other experience in Lilongwe was a Nandos! YES NANDOS! lol apparently its quite popular in Southern Africa, personally i found it very dissorientating, i thought i was back in reading. I enjoyed a great plate of chips with peri hot sauce yummy.

And that was my Malawi experience, the lake, the rain and Nandos o and playing touch rugby for the first time on the beach and scoring a try against aussies and kiwis (which I think is quite impressive lol). It was enjoyable but not my favourite country by far.

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