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Published: November 14th 2007
Ilala kids
Three cheeky siblings pose for a shot on the Ilala ferry, Lake Malawi It was on the shores of Lake Malawi, the very lake "discovered" by Livingstone 150 years ago, that I found him. Feared lost in the heart of Africa, here he was, immersed in conversation in the Butterfly Lodge. As I walked in, he stopped talking, and met my gaze. He was shorter than I had imagined, and his hair was longer, blonder - but it was definitely the man I was looking for. 'Bobbie Nystrom, I presume?', said I. Well, no, I didn't really, but I did say 'Bobbie?' After months of searching, I had found Nystrom, a man I had never met, but nonetheless, felt I knew like a brother.
Years ago - in the mid-80s, in fact - my folks befriended a Swedish family living in Darwin, and we have stayed in contact ever since. The daughter, Aili, whom I first met as a blonde-haired 4-year old, is now a blonde-haired 26-year old, who has been travelling around Africa for nearly two years now. I got in touch with her before my trip, with a few questions about West Africa, where she had spent eight months. To answer
Chizi
The view down onto Chizimulu from the highest point on the island my silly questions (along the lines of, can you change money? and, is it safe?), she put me onto her boyfriend's in-depth, highly readable, and passionately realised, blog. this is where I first met Bobbie Nystrom - through his tales of corruption, awful bus trips, poverty - and exciting adventure - as the blogger,
le_flow .
Since then, I have read every entry, and followed Aili and Bobbie's exciting trip as they ventured from Morocco to South Africa overland, pausing fro some time to gather their breath, before purchasing bicycles and equipment for the great trek north, from Cape Town to Addis Ababa. When it seemed our paths would cross somewhere in southern Africa, it was an opportunity not to be missed. Kev and I pushed on from Dar to Malawi, hoping to spend a day or two catching up with the Swedish explorers.
We managed a week together in the end, partly due to the fact that Malawi is an incredibly easy country to get stuck in for longer than you planned. A sliver of terriroty jammed between Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique, the country formerly known as Nyasaland is dominated by one geographic feature - the vast Lake
One for Bobbie
The sunset from Mango Drift backpackers, on Likoma Island Malawi, which, at around 500km in length, covers about one-fifth of the nation's area. Though quite narrow in parts, the lake is large enough that you can be in the middle, with no land visible to either side. This, coupled with the lake's azure colour, and the multitude of sandy beaches, gives it the feel of a great inland sea. Sitting under the palsm at a beachside bar, or snorkelling in the clear blue waters, it is easy to forget that you are actually in the middle of a landlocked African country.
Malawi has a reputation as an exceedingly friendly and welcoming place. Indeed, you can feel the vibe change immediately after crossing the border from Tanzania. The pace of life drops back about eight notches, and the smiles become wider, the greetings more heartfelt. Malawi has never had a war, and i am sure this is in part due to the laid-back and hospitable nature of the Malawians, a truly gentle folk.
Never as economically important as the Cape Colonies or British EastA frica, Nyasaland was allowed to stagnate by the Brits, who seemed more obsessed with converting everyone here to obscure Scottish Christian sects, than improving
Nkhata kids
A pair of local kids in Nkhata Bay, Malawi their situation. In the 1960s, the winds of change swept the tiny colony, and it became independent under the new name of Malawi. In 1966, Malawi had the severe misfortune of acquiring as its president, Dr Hastings Banda, a truly mad bastard. He did all the usual African dictator stuff - made himself President for Life, exiled his opponents, locked up dissidents - as well as some eccentric acts of his won, including carrying around a flywhip, skapping a ban on blokes growing long hair, and forbidding women to wear trousers. As a further sign of how bizarre this guy was, he also formed friendly relations with the apartheid regime in South Africa, while the rest of sub-Saharan Africa wouldn't touch the Afrikaners with a barge pole.
In the 1990s, Banda left the scene in disgrace, and democracy has sort of arrived in Malawi. However, the country is now most famous for being desperately poor, and for providing a pool of cute little African kids for Madonna to adopt. Malawians live on less than a buck a day, one in ten kids dies in infancy, and life expectancy isn't much above 40. The average age at marriage is among
Drying fishies
A bunch of freshly-caught fish drying in the sun, Chizimulu, Malawi the lowest worldwide. The infrastructure is crumbling, with an intermittent electricity supply, and anything other than basic meals are rarely available in restaurants. Compared to Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya seem like developed nations. This makes the openness and friendliness of the people even more amazing.
We spent a couple of days in Nkhata Bay, swimming in the bilharzia-infested, but oh-so refreshing, waters of the lake, and exploring the town. At our lodge, we met a group of brilliant people, who we ended up adopting, Madonna-style, and spending the next week with. The main member sof our multinational family were:
Antti - a Finn with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock music
Laura and Antonin - a super-sweet Dutch-French couple
Regan and Alison - a South African-British couple on a big tour of Africa
Kibben and Danielle - a lawyer-teacher combo from Canada
and, of course
Aili and Bobbie - the cycling Swedes
We all enjoyed hanging out so much, we moved en masse to the island of Chizimulu, across the lake, near to the Mozambican coast. There's only one way in and out of Chizi - the famous Ilala ferry, which has been chugging up
Skinny
Two cow skins dry in the sun, near the Nkhata Bay tannery. Not evident in the pic is the rancid smell of rotting cow flesh... and down the lake for over 50 years, doing the round trip from north to south and back again, in six days. The ferry is an African experience in itself - a 55-metre long, 3-storey, travelling village. At every stop, the lifeboats are lowered, and people, boxes, bananas, timber, animals, sacks and vehicles are piled on board, so they can be ferried to the mainland. They return, with more of the same cargo, which is piled on board the ferry alongside the crying, shitting babies, the drunken African guys, the sunburnt backpackers, the sleeping families, and the shoulder-high stacks of luggae. Two hours of hubbub ends when the captain lets out three blasts of the horn, and the journey continues.
We went 2nd Class to Chizi, a decision we instantly regretted, but the ride thankfully only lasted four hours. We fought our way off the ferry to grab the shuttle boat to Wakwenda Retreat, the only hostel on the island. This place was a bloody paradise. Perched right on the lakeside, with a bar built against a gigantic, hollow baobab tree, hammocks slung around the joint, and even a lookout from which to enjoy the sunset. Free snorkelling, a
Le flow
Bobbie and Aili, working hard on their cycling plans for Tanzania friendly staff, and plenty of time to laze around playing bao, and drinking Kuche Kuche beer, topped off the mix. We spent four glorious days on Chizi, soaking up the sun, exploring the clear lake waters teeming with cichlid fish, and drinking too much Powers' spirit. We made the occasional trip around the island, home to zero cars, one motorbike, and hordes of barefoot, snotty-nosed kids, who screamed, 'You!' or 'Mzungu!', before grabbing your hand and asking for a pen. One day I counted how many grinning youngsters dad had managed to attract- he had 38 trailing him.
We drank the bar nearly dry at Wakwenda, so come Friday, we moved on. This meant taking a dhow for the 12 kilometres to neighbouring Likoma Island, slightly larger than Chizi, but no less idyllic. The dhow ride was an adventure in itself - when it seemed it was never going to actually leave, Bobbie found the captain getting drunk in Chizi's only bar. Then, we spent two hours discussing our backpacker brand of atheism with two committed Malawian Christians, who eventually were forced to say that they pitied the lot of us.
At Likoma, we stayed at yet another
Butterfly Lounge
The communal area at Butterfly Lodge, Nkhata Bay. As you can see, everyone is REALLY busy. cruisy backpacker's lodge. Malawi has a very well-beaten traveller's trail, and expat-run, tourist-friendly hostels seem to have sprung up everywhere. The general formula is pretty much the same - grass huts, communal dinners, a relaxed bar, a selection of books and boardgames, a bunch of crazy pets, and a bar tab that always comes as a nasty shock at the end. Mango Drift, the place we stayed at Likoma, was one of the first places to open in Malawi, and it does its thing very well. The resident Muscovy ducks, and 'jelp yourself, because the bar tender has gone to bed' policy, lent the place a real charm. Less attractive was the four-foot croc spotted swimming in the lake by a Kiwi guy when he went snorkelling. We all ventured into the waters a little less after that.
After four days at Likoma, Kev and I had lost our crew of friendly travellers, and were also itching to get moving again. Sitting around on a beach all day doing sod-all does seem a little decadent after a while. So, it was back on the Ilala, which, a week after dropping us at Chizi, was headed back south. We clambered
Bao!
The national game of Malawi, Bao...and what a fun way to sit around and pass the time it is aboard a second time, but shelled out the extra for 1st Class this time, as we were doing the long, hot, daytime stretch to Nkhotakota, via three stops on the Mozambique side of the lake. The trip passed quickly, and the sunset from the top deck was sublime. From Nkhotakota, we dashed to Lilongwe, where I sit now, catching up with all my internet time. From here, we head back to the seaside, this time in Mozambique, for some diving and seafood. Better brush up on my Portuguese...
Tom's Top Six of Tanzania
1. The stunning landscapes. Zanzibar's white sandy beaches, the towering, snow-capped Mt Kilimanjaro, the vast Serengeti plain, and the Lost World of Ngorongoro crater - all make for an absolutely beautiful country.
2. The Tanzanian people. Yet again, a bunch of warm, friendly African folk, who go out of their way to help you, or have a chat.
3. The Serengeti lions. Whether they were massive, muscular, fully-grown males, or (relatively) tiny spotted cubs, these big cats were a highlight of the safari.
4. The elephants at Lake Manyara. Big buggers who almost charged the vehicle, but only because we were close enough
Loading the Ilala
The stevedores load the Ilala ferry at dusk, Nkhata Bay, Lake Malawi to touch them.
5. Ngorongoro crater. 20,000 animals, stuffed into a gigantic volcanic caldera. Where else can you see hippos, hyenas, lions and elephants just going about their business, in the base of a volcanic crater?
6. Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar. The perfect place to kick back and do absolutely sod-all for a week.
Tom's Bottom Two of Tanzania
1. Restaurant service. If you want those cold chips, milky tea, and warm beer, next Tuesday, you'd better order them now. Quick!
2. Tourist prices. Having to pay double the normal fare for the ferry to Zanzibar, and then artificially high rates for the hotels there - not happy, Tan.
*****
Africa Country Count: 14
Tanzania Overland Kilometre Count: 3000km
Africa Overland Kilometre Count: 27,375km
Next Country: Malawi
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travellingmum
Bobbie
Loved this story!
Oh I love it! I think many people follow Bobbie's blog...( I love his too and I also share the same name... so even better!) what an awesome experience for two very good bloggers blogging on Africa to meet. The world is a small place, so often you do meet people you know on the road.