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Published: September 20th 2009
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The bus ride to Mzuzu is a scenic one, in particular the part where we chug up some hills near the lake and see a magnificent panorama spread below us. I feel like I'm back in Ethiopia again when, 1.5 hours into the journey and hence with the entire bus on the verge of starvation, we stop for a meal break.
I arrive in Mzuzu with no map and just two guesthouse names, one of which no-one has heard of. Fortunately this isn't Tanzania, though, and a random guy offers to take me to my second choice, which he duly does without a fuss. I'm already noticing that Mzuzu is pretty damned cold and have to don two fleeces in the evening.
Further guests arrive, a young couple who've just come from Mbeya, where they were shafted on their hotel price and also fell for the Malawi bus scam until their intuition told them something was wrong and they were able to salvage a portion of their cash. On a happier note, they'd recently seen the wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara - the short video they show, taken from their vehicle in the middle of the herd, shows
me what I missed.
And, just to remind me what a small world this is, this international couple (he from Zimbabwe, she from Farnham) met for the first time in good old Saltburn.
I buy a Malawian newspaper and am astounded by the number of articles - including one on the front page - relating to witchcraft. The headliner concerns a girl thrown out of a witchcraft "plane" (aka a wicker basket) for refusing to kill her aunt. I'm no less shocked to read that a giraffe can clean its ears with its own tongue.
I also buy an exercise book as I need a new journal but can't find anything better. The back of the exercise book depicts a table of measures, showing equivalences for mass, length, etc. It contains at least 20 mistakes, many of which could leave schoolkids with some fundamental misunderstandings. Coincidentally, it's manufactured by Andrex Industries. A further shopping-related quirk is that it seems impossible to buy drinks except in glass bottles.
For the first time since Uganda, I see overland trucks, and again they're in droves. I'm fairly certain that they'll be heading to what is my own next destination
- Nkhata Bay. But I won't let that deter me.
After returning from Nkhata Bay (blogged separately), it's on to Lilongwe.
Dull but possibly useful info i. I took an AXA bus from Karonga to Mzuzu, leaving at 12:30PM, costing MK750, and taking 4.25 hours. Though in a 2-aisle-3 configuration, it was comfy enough.
ii. I stayed at the Flame Tree Guesthouse, paying MK3000 including breakfast. This is a clean, quiet place where you can get food both local (e.g. chambo, nsima, etc) and not (e.g. egg and chips). To find it, ask at the AXA booth in Mzuzu bus station, as I think the guys there rent rooms in a neighbouring building. Failing that, walk out the bus station entrance (not the exit!), turn left and walk to the end of the road. If you came from Karonga, you should recognise this as the road you came in on a few minutes previously. Turn right and, about 100m down, you'll see a sign on the left pointing down the road to the guesthouse. It's maybe 400m down there, just before you reach a scruffier part of town.
iii. It's cold in Mzuzu!
iv. The Standard Bank ATM
FYI
Clock Tower works with Mastercard.
v. Internet seems to be MK5 per minute everywhere.
vi. There are many minibuses from Nkhata Bay to Mzuzu each day, costing MK350 and taking about an hour. There is also apparently an AXA bus at 1PM costing only MK250.
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