Monday, 29 September 2014

Day 66 - Mzuzu en-route to Makuzi, Malawi

The next day was an easy run through Mzuzu to Makuzi where we were going to meet up with Lisa, Warwick and the kids who were joining us for 10 days on our final leg of the trip. We hadn't seen the grandchildren for over two months so I was really eager to get going and settle in before they arrived. 

The day before they arrived, Ken, who had been trying to get out of the way so Ernest could park the car in the right place for the kitchen to be accessible, had backed into a tree and smashed his back window. Oh dear, it hadn't fallen out fortunately but the whole glass was shattered into those tiny little pieces and didn't look like it was going to hold together. So now we had to spend a bit of time covering it with everything from glad wrap to duct tape in an effort to keep it from falling out.  Amazing what glad wrap and duct tape can do when you use enough of it. So after using pretty much the whole roll Ken felt there was enough strength in the window to make a run for Mzuzu which was the next big town on our route to Makuzi.

The first 30 Ks of the journey was up the escarpment away from the lake shore road which was a real test of nerves. There are 40 or so hair pin bends with sheer drops off the side down about 50 or 60 meters. The road has not been very well maintained and is very narrow, full of pot holes and the verges broken away - this was not good for Ken as he was trying to get to Mzuzu to do a better repair on the window. The trucks going the other way have the usual attitude that they own the road and to hell with anyone else which adds to the stress, as you go around each corner expecting to see one of these 12 wheelers hurtling down the hill.

The view over the lake leaves one speechless and even though you hang onto your seat around every corner it is something worth seeing. The lake gets further and further away the higher you climb and you eventually lose sight of it as you reach the plateau and eventually get to Mzuzu. It is one of those bustling little African towns that are just bursting its seams with people and activity. My gosh there are busses, taxis cars and bicycles crammed into the towns so that it is sometimes impossible to move. Ernest has developed the technique of driving on these roads down to a fine art and has taken Kim's definition literally which is that the right of way in any road in Africa is determined by the degree of intimidation one is prepared to enforce. He just drives and everyone gets out of his way.

Low and behold we found a Shoprite and while I was doing the usual top up of milk, eggs and veggies the rest of the gang were ..... You got it, drinking coffee at the local coffee shop. Unfortunately for Steve he put his phone on the table and quick as a flash it was gone. We tried to figure out how it was done just so quickly, two guys walked in, bumped Ernest to divert attention and then moved in and took it right under Steve's nose. You just can't leave anything unattended in Africa. It was his birthday too so we were ready to find these little buggers and beat them up but we knew they were long since gone. It is just such a terrible thing when someone has their communication lines cut so abruptly, funny how we have become so dependent on these dam cell phones.

So we left town without being able to retrieve the phone and stopped again at Nakota bay where you can find all the Malawian carvers who sell some of the very famous Malawi wood carvings. Oh my gosh they are really master craftsman and there is such a variety of bowls, tables, lamp shades spoons animals etc. There are about 15 little stores along the side of the road and it is really like running the gauntlet trying to get from one to the others and make a choice. In the end you almost have to buy something from each one as they are the best salesmen on the planet. I also know that everything is so cheap here and I would get home and regret not having bought some of the bowls and lamp stands. So I kept sending Ernest running back to the truck for more money for "just one more thing" until, he eventually put his foot down and said "enough". The back bed is now knee deep in curios. The one thing we have noticed is that Malawi is one of the poorest of all the countries we have been to. One of the ways you can tell is that here you only see "taxi bicycles"  where as in Tanzania and Kenya it's "motorbike taxis". There seems to be very little industry and the lake is definitely the life blood of the country so nobody is starving because of the abundance of fish but nobody has any money. Probably the best thing about this country is that you never feel threatened here, in fact they are probably the most welcoming and polite of all the places that we have visited but gosh the poverty is heartbreaking. The kids line the road and wave madly as you drive past always with huge smiles on their faces. You pass many many schools but you wonder what the future holds for these guys as there are so few jobs for them to work towards when they are older.

Lisa, Warwick and the kids arrived late in the evening. They had flown into Lilongwe and arrived at about 12 in the afternoon but by the time they got their car and managed to leave the airport it was well after 2. They eventually arrived at Makuzi at about 8 that evening after a rather scary drive on those very narrow roads on a Friday evening. It is definitely the worst time to travel in Africa as we had found out when we were trying to get Ken to the hospital in Nairobi. The world and his mate is on the road going somewhere and as I mentioned before they never put on their lights till it is pitch dark. I think they think they are somehow saving their batteries or saving petrol or something ridiculous and dangerous.

Anyway! They arrived safe and sound and after much excited chatter we were able to feed them and put the kids to bed so they could get up early and enjoy the wonderful Makuzi beach and water.


Signing out!

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