Blogs from Southern, Malawi, Africa - page 15

Day 1 - 6th September - The Road to Blantyre Getting me up and out of the house at 6am isn’t usually that easy, but today I was on a mission. . . .Pick up Mr Chiumia, drive 8 or 9 hours to Blantyre, appeal to the Technical Director of the MRA for the customs duty on our shipments to be waived, get a letter from him, drive to Blantyre airport and pick up my DHL parcel, drive on to Lilongwe airport, pick up the rest of the gear, drive back to Nkhata Bay, unload the gear and have a nice cup of tea. . .couldn’t be easier. The drive down the lakeshore was long and tiring with constant worries about running out of fuel (no fuel gauge in the car) but, with two international volunteers ... read more

Leg One: Harare to Blantyre: Bus Jas covered this trip pretty well but I think I would just like to mention that we had no money left and so no water or food. There were no bathrooms so it was probably a good thing...and even fewer stops. The boarder crossings were the most ridiculous things ever. After waiting about 30 minutes for everyone to cram back on the bus (the aisles were packed with goods), we would drive about 1 minute where everyone would take another 30 minutes to get off the bus. It made the journey especially long. At least the windows opened a bit though. Blantyre: Blantyre was our rest stop just to recover after the long bus joruney. Once again we ignored advice about an area being too dangerous and once again we ... read more

After going through immigration and entering Malawi, the girls and I waited at border for a large bus to take us to Blantyre. But after we realized it would take forever for that bus to leave as locals had tons of crap they bought in South Africa and had to claim them at customs, we got into another crowed chapa for the 1.5-hour ride to Blantyre. We arrived at Doogles, a famous backpackers in Blantyre, and we secured some dorm beds. I was tired, sweaty and in need of a shower badly. The girls and I had a few beers at the bar and dinner before calling it a night early. Doogles did not provide mozzy nets and I did not have one. So I spent the night listening to mozzies buzzing by my head. I ... read more

the reason we are still here is that pauls ear is not better yet. We were all packed up ready to go this morning when he informs me that his ear hurts and is leaking. so off to the doctor we go. Doctor prescribs paul some ear drops and penicillin. we get back to the hotel (about 3 blocks) and we read the ingredients in the meds and first and foremost they say don#t mix with penicillin and the other says if your allergic to penicillin don#t take this. So, I sent paul back to the doc for a new script, and i made breakfast. One huge mango with one huge avocado, bread and boiled egg. alas, another day in the life of paul and lucienne. so we decided to stay put at least for one ... read more

Blantyre--Monkey Bay, Thursday 17 November 2005 We caught a minibus from Blantyre to Monkey Bay, from which the 54-year-old famous ferry Ilala will take us all the way to Nkhata Bay up north. From there we plan to make our way to Mzuzu, and then Karonga, which is situated around 120 km from the Tanzanian border. After staying the night, we will cross the border the next day and go to Mbeya, a village through which most freight transport passes on its way from Dar Es Salaam to Zambia (west) or Malawi (south). From Mbeya we will catch the train on the classic railway Tazara (Tanzania Zambia Railway) to Dar. Monkey Bay by night Leaving Blantyre early seemed sensible. We would arrive early in Monkey Bay, thus avoiding the dangers of the night. However, we miscalculated ... read more