Blogs from Mzuzu, Northern, Malawi, Africa - page 2

Today was our time to depart from Lilongwe for a long drive up to Mzuzu. We first stopped to the airport to pick up the last two interns to arrive, Don and Mirrell. From the airport we headed out on the “highway”, basically a two lane road sometimes too narrow to fit cars going in both directions. I was amazed by all the rural villages settled along the road and the many cyclists and pedestrians roaming the roadside. on our way there, We decided to go through one of the national parks to get a better scenic drive. As the sun was setting the scenery became breath taking. As it turned pitch black, we got stopped at a highway checkpoint before entering a constructions zone. A man in a military uniform told us the road was ... read more

This morning I woke up early to walk up to Kauma village, a poor rural village on the outskirts of Lilongwe. Making our way up the hills and passing the many small brick houses, the local kids would run up to us and yell in excitement “Azungu! Azungu!” ( Meaning white people). A few moments later we were accompanied by a couple of young boys, one holding a small soccer ball made out of plastic bags. We started passing the ball with our feet while making our way up the road until we hit the school. Once we arrived we met with teachers of the school, James and Charles who showed us around the village. Within a 300m distance there was 6 churches, one beside the other, each belonging to a different Christian division. The rest ... read more

After two straight days of flying and travelling, I finally arrived at my destination In Lilongwe, Malawi. To get here, I flew to Toronto-London, London-Nairobi , Nairobi -Harare, and then Lilongwe. In Nairobi we were accompanied by the Zimbabwe national soccer team for our flight to Harare. While disembarking our Kenya Airways plane in Malawi, which offered a surprisingly quality and comfortable flight I was glad to finally have the African sun to shine on my face. In line at the airport customs we waited beside the Malawian national soccer team players. At the luggage pick-up, I was not impressed that some Asian food had leaked on my Arc’ Teryx backpack during the flight. We made our way out of the airport with a four vehicle caravan and headed to our accommodations at the Garden court ... read more

By the strange whims of Malawian transport, the 12:30 Axa bus to Mzuzu - the poshest of the country’s bus lines - pulls into the Lilongwe depot at half-past eleven, its seats already full, its aisles crowded with buckets and bags of produce leaking onto the floor. After a placid morning at Mabuya Camp, a cup of coffee and a lazy hour spent sending emails, the day’s taken a turn for the oh-shit. Undeterred by the crush of bodies inside, the conductor is happy to take my fistful of kwacha, unswayed by my insistence that maybe anyone forced to stand for the five-hour haul to Mzuzu should be entitled to some sort of charity rate. He laughs and shoves me not ungently inside, as if to say, “White people! You say the funniest things!” On a ... read more

We have been enjoying two days of rest. Yesterday (Friday) we went to the beach, it was truly the most beautiful beach we have ever seen, we wanted to stay there but the people we are staying with prefer it if we return back to base but that's fine by us. On the journey there we stopped off at a place where there were lots of wood carvings for us to buy as well as pictures and other gifts to take home. We did lots of bartering with the people selling the goods and, on one occasion, managed to buy a picture by handing over a small sum of money and a pair of shorts! Our meal last night was in a hotel. We have to be in by 10 pm, it is not allowed to ... read more