The Ilala

---

I arrived at the Malawian border post in Nayuchi at around 12 o'clock. It seemed to be deserted when I got there, so I wandered off to try and find someone. When I did I was told that all the officials had gone for lunch and that they'd be back in an hour or two. There was nothing for it but to sit and wait. It had been a nightmare of a morning, so I didn't mind relaxing for a bit. I had left the guesthouse in Cuamba at 3am and had gone to the railway station where I had seen plenty of pick up trucks the day before. Nobody seemed to know when there would be a pick up to the border, so I sat around for about an hour before someone told me that pick ups to Entre-Lagos (the Mozambican border post) left from another place about 15 minutes walk away. So I picked up my belongings and lugged them to the other place, where I was assured that the pick up to the border would be leaving at 4.30. I wasn't convinced as there was only one guy on it, but I loaded omy bags and got in all the same. The pick up ending up leaving Cuamba at 7.30 after a lot of false starts designed to get more passengers. It was a very dusty ride. When I got to Entre Lagos the driver of the pick up told me to go and get my passports stamped and that he'd wait for me. As soon as I got off the vehicle I was surrounded by money changers and as I had lots of meticals left I decided to change some money. I didn't really know the rate so I only changed about half of the money I had in the hope that I would be able to change the rest at a bureau de change. When I had had my passport stamped I went outside, only to find that the pick up containing my bag was no longer there. I asked a few people and eventually someone pointed in the direction of the Malawian border post. After a short walk I was relieved to find the pick up next to a small shop. I unloaded my bag and started walking towards the Malawian border post. It was extremely hot and my backpack was heavy so was feeling quite irritable. Unfortunately matters were made much worse by an extremely annoying child who kept demanding things from me. He was speaking portugese so was unable to understand everything he said, but his demands for money were clear enough. Nothing I did could deter him and he nagged me the entire way to Nayuchi, a journey of several kilometres. Getting rid of him was such a relief that I didn't mind the fact that I had to hang around at the border post for a while. When the officials did return one of them came over to chat with me. He asked me whether I am a Somalian. 'We get lots of Somalis like you coming to Malawi'. I couldn't contain myself, my response was ' Do I look like a Somali to you, I am from Sri Lanka' and I proceeded to draw a map of India and Sri Lanka in the sand. The border official decided to change the subject and asked more unirrelevant questions. It was pretty unbelievable. I pointed out the obvious differences between Somalian and Sri Lankan and informed him that I was from the United Kingdom. The official commented on how very strange that was and wandered off. Having had my passport stamped the next problem was transport. There simply didn't seem to be any. I discussed this problem with the security guard who informed me that there would be a freight train at some stage that afternoon and that for a small charge they would take passengers in the containers. When the train arrived I spoke to the man who seemed to be in charge and he agreed to take me as passengers. He suggested I wait on the platform until they had finished loading. From my vantage point on the platform I was able to see how people loaded their stuff on the train having paid the official and were then told that they would have to unload everything unless they gave him some more money. Those who refused had their stuff chucked back onto the platform. Interestingly this all took place next to a huge anti-corruption poster. When the time came for the train to depart, I was told to go and sit in the locomotive as there wasn't any space in the containers. There wasn't actually any space for me in the locomotive either, so I ended up huddled up in a small corner, hoping that the journey would come to an end as soon as possible. My destination was Liwonde and I had been told that I would be there in two hours. I eventually got there 4 hours later. Along the way one of the containers had become detached from the rest of the train and I had had to go back and get it. When I got to Liwonde I literally fell off the train, there was no platform and no light so I had to climb down the ladder with my backpack and judge where the ground might be. I misjudged and landed on my back, which was thankfully protected by my backpack. It turned out that the security guard had also been on the train and he kindly offered to take me to the place where I would be staying that night. I stumbled through the dark for about 20 minutes before arriving at Warthogs Wallow. I really couldn't be bothered to put my tent up in the dark so I decided to go for a room instead. I was delighted to find that they had hot water and that I was finally able to have a proper shower. The dinner they served was delicious so I asked them how they prepared it. The cook asked me to wait for a minute and then pulled a packet out of the bin - so much for home cooked food. The next day I decided to go on a boat trip into the Liwonde National Park. I couldn't afford to stay in the park so this was the next best option. I only really saw hippos and elephants, which was still interesting enough for me but the guide felt that he had to make up for it by telling me all the ways in which hippos and crocodiles can kill a human being. After my boat safari I decided to go to the bakery for a snack. I have to say that from the culinary point of view a Portugese influence is much more desirable than a British one. Delicious custard pastries were no more and I had to make do with sticky buns instead. After Liwonde I decided to head for Zomba and go hiking on the plateau there. The best thing about the place was the abundance of strawberries and raspberries. They were incredibly cheap and soooo delicious. When I got to the top of the plateau, I found that it was full of Indians playing cricket. Moses, my guide informed me that this was due to the fact that they owned the entire high street in Zomba. I was later to find out that this was the case in towns all over Malawi. Having exhausted myself hiking I decided to have rice and curry at the local Pakistani restaurant. There was a group of young Asian guys at the next table, who I had assumed to be local. I was soon to be proved wrong. As my food arrived I overheard one of them say 'this place is sick man, innit'. Aaargh - for a minute there I was back in London! From Zomba I headed for Cape Maclear where I was planning on spending a few days relaxing on the lake shore. The lake was stunning and I was able to camp on the beach just a couple of metres from the water's edge. The place was full of touts though, and they started nagging me from the minute I got there. I had planned on taking a boat trip on the lake, but I wasn't ready to make any concrete decisions so I just told people that I would decide what I would be doing the next day on the next day. This turned out to be a big mistake. Everyone who had approached me turned up first thing the next morning, all claiming that I had agreed to go with them. They ended up spending the next two hours squabbling while I just looked on. In the end I told them that I wasn't going anywhere as a result of their behaviour. At that stage they all suddenly became best friends and all took me on the trip together. It turned out to be a great day, but the touts were really annoying. They all had very interesting names like Peter Pan, BMX and Dude (the most dodgy of them all). I was keen to get away from the place as the constant hassle was really annoying so I went to Monkey Bay and chilled out there for a day instead. I then commenced my journey up the lake on the Ilala ferry. I had been really excited about this until an Israeli girl I met totally put me off. It turned out that none of what she had said was true and I had a great time. I had tickets for the first class deck as second class probably would have been unbearbable for 3 days. On the first night I hired mattress which I kept for the rest of the trip. Therefore my days were spent lounging on my mattress, sunbathing, reading a book or enjoying some delicious stew from the galley. On the first day I had decided that the first class restaurant was a rip off, so at meal times I would go down to the galley and get beef stew for a quarter of the price of a meal in first class. This became increasingly difficult as more passengers boarded the ferry and I had to climb over people to get my food. There were all sorts of interesting people on the ferry including a dutchman who was taking his family of 8 from South Africa to the Serengeti to celebrate his 60th birthday. He joined with me in getting food from the galley on several occasions. The views from the ferry were amazing and although I was on board the ferry for 3 days I didn't get bored. In fact I could have stayed on board for a few more days, it certainly beat travelling by bus.

---

Comments

[cari]

What cool pictures!
Can't wait to visit again -- I was there a few years ago.