Blogs from Lilongwe, Central, Malawi, Africa - page 10

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Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe November 16th 2010

Hi to everyone, well we arrived yesterday after a very tiring flight to nairobi and then to Lilongwe. Getting used to the heat and just chilling out for a few day's before heading to the lake. Jim met us at the airport and got us through customs with a few handshakes, he knows them well!! Be in touch soon Love from Derek and Gill... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 19th 2010

Die Woche im Ded Haus Den nächsten Morgen wachte ich gegen sieben auf und fühlte mich total zerknittert und wenig erholt. - wir hatten uns nicht getraut im Dunkeln die Betten zu besteigen und die Moskitonetze unter die Matratze zu stopfen und daher das Licht angelassen. Um nicht mit Armen oder Beinen an das Netz zu stoßen und damit einen Mückenstich zu riskieren, musste ich im Schlaf wohl eine äußerst unnatürliche Position eingenommen haben, die bei mir morgendliche Rückenschmerzen und Unwohlsein zur Folge hatte. Als ich aufwachte, bemerkte ich einige Unruhe auf dem Gang. Offenbar hatte es um halb sieben an der Tür geklopft, so lange bis einige aufwachten. Es stellte sich heraus, dass wir, -gewissenhaft wie wir waren sowohl im Wohnzimmer, als auch in der Küche für die Nacht die Metallgitter von innen vor die ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 7th 2010

Ankunft in Malawi Um nicht gleich zu Anfang alle abgedroschenen Klischees über Afrika zu bedienen, werde ich nicht sofort die rot-braune Farbe des Sandes erwähnen, und auch nicht die unendliche, von Staubstraßen und Flussbetten durchzogene Weite, die mir bereits vom Flugzeug aufgefallen ist. Auch nicht die sonderbare Atmosphäre verursacht vom afrikanischen Licht, und nicht die unerträgliche Hitze, die einem ins Gesicht schlagen soll, sobald man das Flugzeug verlässt. - denn die gehörte durchaus nicht zu meinen ersten Eindrücken. Als ich zum ersten Mal Fuß auf malawischen Boden setzte, war ich überrascht, über die milden Temperaturen. - am Flughafen von Lilongwe empfand ich die Temperaturen durchaus als angenehm, um ohne Jacke zu laufen, aber heiß geht anders… Auch die aus der Luft vermutete Leere der Landschaft, nur unterrochen von vereinzelten Bäumen, stellte sich genau ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 5th 2010

The trek from Cape Maclear to Mpulungu is a tough one. First destination Lilongwe. I am told there is a minibus to Monkey Bay at 5:30am which meets the 7:30am bus to Lilongwe which takes 3.5hrs, once again it was pointless asking as it's nonsense! At 6:15 the minibus still hasn't arrived but luckily some of the day staff have so one of the men signals to a pickup truck and that takes me instead. Slightly worrying that it only has 4 people on it and is larger than normal so could take forever to fill up, luckily they only drive round the town once and then leave. So we have tons of room but also means we go very fast so a greater chance of falling out. Even the locals sit inside the back this ... read more
Pickup truck ride
Good road comparitively
Bus chaos

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe July 14th 2010

Well, we eventually made it here, mid afternoon on Tuesday after a flight delay and an indirect flight from Nairobi which added a touch-down in Lusaka (Zambia) before Lilongwe. Somewhat exhausted, the two groups have gone their separate ways - Group A to their first project and Group B spending today finding our way around Lilongwe. Tomorrow we (Group B) are heading north to Mzuzu area to start our project too. Highlights of the day from Group B's point of view was meeting the locals as we made our way around town - so incredibly friendly. We have an early start tomorrow - getting up at 4:30 to take tents down in the dark before leaving at 6 to catch the early bus! Miss Bennett... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe June 20th 2010

On Thursday after noon we hopped on a coach line bus to get to Lilongwe. The seat rows on the bus were not separated enough to fit my knees completely in while sitting, which made for an extremely uncomfortable 7hour bus ride. The buses here do not leave on a particular time, they only leave when they are packed, and therefore we waited 2 hours on the bus just before actually departing. Our bus made a stop in nearly every village along the way to Lilongwe, picking up and dropping passengers. Half way through our trip the bus was pulled over by police high way patrol. A policeman walked in the bus with a grin on his face and started mumbling words in Chichewa that I couldn’t understand. He stared at a young man, exchanged a ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe June 2nd 2010

We arrived in Lilongwe after a very long flight on May 24. We took the first week just venturing around the city and attending meetings. During the time we have been looking to rent a house instead of staying in the lodge we are currently at. To this point we have been unsuccessful but hopefully soon we will find a suitable house. We ventured to the old city centre several times, to get there we needed to take a mini bus, Lilongwe's transportation system. I will try to post some pictures of it soon, after seeing this no one will complain about the TTC again. In the Old City Centre there is a market, it was a very overwhelming experience, so many people trying to convince you to buy products. We learned quick that you must ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe May 25th 2010

I will be living in Lilongwe for almost 3 months working for a research organization, Innovations for Poverty Action, on a project in partnership with the World Bank, University of Michigan and Opportunity International on micro-credit and savings. Housing in Lilongwe Arriving to the Lilongwe airport after 2 days of travel was a relief as everyone greeted you with a smile and welcomed you to Malawi. My first cab drive revealed that Lilongwe is not much of a city, but instead more like a sprawling suburb; trying to find housing for the summer confirmed this revelation. The lodges that exist are expensive (I calculated that renting a gross room at an Asian hotel would be more expensive in terms of square feet than NYC), and local transport is limited as all buses lead to Old Town ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe May 22nd 2010

May 22nd Another great morning in the Malawian paradise, I passed up the chance to go scuba diving with Justin but still woke up early. The six of us got our things together and staked out our places in the truck. Farron then drove the truck over to the other camp and loaded up their belongings before they walked over to our site to get on the truck. Everyone was cheery and ready to experience the African Trails truck, we were proud to show it to them. We headed down the road and gawked at the scenery that Malawi offers, I played DJ and was complimented later on the songs I chose, ☺! About an hour into the drive, Louise, a passenger with the Dragoman tour realized that she had left her passport at Kande Beach. ... read more
1-The truck with the Dragoman group
2-Leaving Kande Beach
3-Loads of cassava plants

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe May 14th 2010

Lots has happened since my last blog. I have owned three different bikes, had a total of six punctures, cycled 760km through East Africa, been conned out of 35 squid and held a snake (this is a BIG deal for me). So after returning to Arusha I had time to kill waiting for the rest of the cycling party to meet me there. I decided the time would be best used cycling to Meserani Snake Park, a 50km round trip, to try out the bike (the second of the three). Less than 1km into the journey my chain my rear-gear shifter cord (I don't think that's the correct technical term) snapped. I stopped at a nearby bicycle repair store and the guy did a decent job of fixing it. The remaining 24km to the snake park ... read more
My bike's better
Golf in Morogoro
Five of the Team Trevor




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