Getting to Lilongwe took a little longer than we had anticipated. First, once the minibus was full, it headed down to Salima where it dropped off all but three passengers. Those three (ourselves included) were then herded onto another minibus which waited by the side of the road and drove around filling up for what seemed like hours. Eventually it was full to the point of suffocation with baskets hanging off the back and fish tied to the windscreen wipers at the front. Well, at least they were not inside. A painful journey of incredibly fast driving, brake being slammed on, and passengers both getting off and getting on then ensued. It was raining as we reached the edge of the capital and that was when we were made to change bus again. So much for ... read more

Nkhata Bay wasn’t quite the backpacker haven we had expected to find. Maybe once upon a time it was, but nowadays everyone heads to one of two waterfront places a few kilometres across the bay. A shared taxi from Mzuzu was an easy 45 minute ride on good roads and we were deposited in the heart of the bustling town centre alongside the cheerful fishmongers who seemed surprised that we didn’t want to buy their catch and drag it along with our luggage. We opted to stay in the town to see what it still had to offer, and the Ilala Bay hotelwas cheap and cheerful so we stayed there. Life in Malawi usually stops a couple of hours after the sun sets at 6pm. Sadly for us, that wasn’t the case at Nkhata Bay as ... read more

The majority of travellers head to Chitimba when visiting this part of Lake Malawi. We opted for a couple of nights at Maji Zuwainstead. We were attracted by the contribution they make to the local economy and the possibility of seeing some development work in progress. It didn’t quite work out that way. Our minibus dropped us off by the main road and we dragged our luggage along a rough track for about a mile to the entrance. Having booked on Booking.com we were disappointed to find that they were not expecting us but pleased because the walk-in rate is substantially lower than on the website. The downside of not being expected was that the rooms were not exactly in a welcoming condition, or at least we hope that was the situation. Although our “gold” room ... read more

The bus ride to Mbeya was uneventful once we got going. Having eventually been put on the correct bus, our seats were occupied and the man sat there refused to move. The conductor remonstrated with him but to no avail. Instead we were put in the row in front of our stubborn friend, hoping than nobody wanted to oust us from our new-found seats. We nearly got off the bus on the outskirts of Mbeya because a fellow passenger told Trish we had arrived. The journey from there to the central bus station took another 25 minutes through heavy traffic. Getting off the bus we were charged to get our luggage back. Then we managed to negotiate a reasonable taxi fare to get to our hotel. We opted to stay in the Desderia Hotel because it ... read more

The coach journey to Morogoro was uneventful and fairly comfortable. We were dropped of at the bus station a few kilometres out of town and soon found a taxi to take us to url=https://www.booking.com/hotel/tz/mama-pierina-restaurant-and-annex.en-gb.html?aid=311984&label=mama-pierina-restaurant-and-annex-EHc6xU543Vm%2AodaAYd%2AKvAS267243797164%3Apl%3Ata%3Ap1%3Ap2%3Aac%3Aap1t1%3Aneg%3Afi%3Atikwd-340642062868%3Alp1010225%3Ali%3Adec%3Adm&sid=3e56f1da2f1e9deaf95aad2a6d91d074&ucfs=1&srpvid=c5ea827d3fd50072&srepoch=1548441210&hpos=1&hapos=1&dest_id=-2569841&dest_type=city&sr_order=popularity&from=searchresults;highlight_room=#hotelTmplMama Pierina’swhere we had arranged to stay for a couple of nights. The accommodation is very basic but then the price reflects that, and the climate is so humid that only having cold water in the shower was more of a blessing than a curse. There isn’t ... read more