Malawi and Mozambique

Wake up at 05:30 to the sound of the locals jogging and singing (to work?). Wonderfully tuneful and close harmony. Prolonged stop at the turnoff to get a series of punctures on the other vehicles repaired then on towards the border. Another road that is being worked on but very short section only that is finished. Impressive when crested out at the top of the pass , the drop on the other side was massive. Got to the border early afternoon and got through Tanzanian quite easily. Malawi customs was 25km down the road and it was quite easy as well, though it was past 16:00 before we got through. Clocks went back an hour on the border but I don’t know why.

Motored down to the Motel where they had cold Carlsberg. Well only the special brew was really cold so we got started on that. Reckoning the next day said that I had 10, Rob and the rest of the lads 17. I got pissed off at dinner when Rob and Kev did a baboon raid on my plate. The rest of the evening is hazy but ML got very supportive for the IRA cause, a food fight took place with the fish, an attempt was made at a drinking game, ML fell over and later dropped her beer and Caroline lost K50.

Roused by a kid on the beach using a boat as a drum - not appreciated. Slowly got our act together and went into Karonga to change money. K5.5/$ on the black market. Drove on down the lake until the turn off for Livingstonia where we had lunch. Then 20 hairpin bends up the escarpment. Very exposed in places but beautiful views. Had a look round Livingstonia and examined the Series II that the technical college was rebuilding. Rob beat Brains at the local version of the stone game. Retired to the local school and set up camp on grass in front of it. Looked like rain for a while so set up the tent but cleared to be a beautiful starlit night and very cold. Played 5 handed 500 for the first time.

Got up and go down to the guest house to have a view of the lake. Impressive but very hazy. Then on to the waterfall, a very long fall. Swim in the local pool then on to Rumphi following the high road. Very scenic. At Rumphi Simon and Kev decide to head for Nkhata Bay for their sharking rendezvous with the Aussie girls. The rest head for Nyika National Park, arriving at the gate about 16:00 where camp is established. Entrance is K3/person/day and K7.50/vehicle. Surprisingly cheap and there is talk of a guided night trip to see leopards.

All along the road the locals are giving the two party wave.

Pay and make our way into the park. Very wooded to begin with but by the time we get to Chalindi it is open rolling grassland over undulating hills. Check in with the park authorities and book a night game drive, then check out the shop and campsite. Have 11s, then head off for a drive originally intending to have a walk and picnic, but find an idyllic spot at Dembo bridge, so lunch there and spend a couple of lazy hours. Then take a round trip back. Not a lot of game to see but some antelope and zebra and a hyena (spotted). Got back to camp to find a fire has been lit for us, so cook and organise for the night drive. Use my spot + flood light. Meet the guide at 19:30 and set off. Hardly into our stride when there is a leopard in front of us. Wonderful sighting. Crossing the road in my headlights and pausing to look at us a couple of times as it headed off back into the forest. Magnificent beast. Carried on for two hours and saw a variety of game but nothing else exceptional. Grass is really too long for good viewing.

Woken by some animal lowing close by but generally a peaceful night. Recommended that we should go to the Kasaramba viewpoint, so we head off with Rob driving. Mist closes in and the scenery becomes very Scottish, but fortunately clears before we get to the viewpoint where you can see right down to the Lake and Livingstonia. Stay there for an hour or so, warm out of the wind, cold in it. Then decide to continue on the loop road past the Juniper forest. Road on is a bit indistinct but put that down to the other road being favoured. Wait for ML to catch up, find she has pranged the front wing hitting the bank. Carry on the road with it getting fainter and fainter , but can see the grader marks most of the time till it disappears into lush brush. Force our way through to find the track totally disappears about 100 m further on. After checking for routes decide to return. At the Juniper forest are met by the local guide who informs us the map is wrong, there is no loop road, so back to Chalinda by the route we came, as time goes in. Get back to the gate by 18:30. Wonderful scenery in this park and a vast variety of flora.

A lazy day on the beach. Have a snorkel but not a great deal to see, sand bottom with no veg and fish round the rocks quite small. Day wanders on with a game of volleyball until the ball bursts and then softball against some South Africans. Are fed by the local school kids on banana cake and Edwin cooking up some butter fish.

Mum’s birthday so after lunch , as Caroline, Guy and Celia head for Mzuzu we drift into town to make phone calls. Have a couple of beers then lunch of tomato and cheese pizza. Try a couple of times to phone home but no reply (are they on holiday?).

Return to the beach at sunset and settle down to a few drinks, smokes and games of 500. Simon complains of cold, which is the first sign, refuses food and goes downhill quickly. Take him to hospital about 22:00 with suspected malaria. This after plans had been laid to move on on the morrow.

Easy living. Have pancakes for breakfast from Celia’s recipe then ‘help’ Kev as he re-tackles the wheel bearing. He had put the old bearing back in but replacing it with a new bearing did not help. Hypothesis is that running in 4WD for 1000 miles may be the cause of the problem. Visited Simon early afternoon and managed to get him discharged. No fee! Eat in town on rather greasy chips and good fresh bread. Very difficult to negotiate in the market; the price is set. Return to the campsite for evening meal of fish cooked again by Edwin. Jerome and Ilande turned up during the day , so there are now five overland LRs at the site.

Simon is still recuperating so settle in for another day. Guy and Celia decide to leave and pack up. The red runs for about 5 secs then dies. Cracked sedimenter bowl. 2 hours later it runs again after cutting down and rethreading the shaft, removing the bowl. Don’t think all the helpful advice was appreciated , as it had Guy worried, though we knew it could be bodged. Visit town for a pizza and a few cold beers, then back to the beach.

Rough check on money remaining. $1600 TCs + £30 TCs + £500 + $56. Approx $444 spent since April 14th. $60/week. Excellent; but probably owe the kitty a fair bit.

Leave by about 08:45. Road South reasonable dirt for the first 60km, then some massive road building by a Portuguese company, with diversions round the area they’re working on. Progressively improved until we were on new tarmac but still with occasional diversions for bridge building . Countryside scenic but not excessively so. Feeling very tired today but everybody seems to be the same. Get to Senga Bay, mid-afternoon and follow the tarmac straight into a hotel complex. K10/night for camping and K3.80 for a beer so we have one and move on to the wheelhouse. More acceptable although quite a lot of mossies. Bar is a round structure set on to stilts. Food supplies getting low so end up on soup and bread for dinner. Crash at about 21:00.

A consensus decision is made to move on to Cape Maclear. Change £20 with the Kamuka driver at K9.50/£. Move down to the curio market and a number of negotiations are entered in to. I buy two heads for K20, the carving is reasonable but the wood is varied. They looked good in the shade. Started barter on a table, good work and he was asking K150, but he walked away when I only offered K30 plus the gumboots. Bit pissed off but wasn’t going back. Caroline spent a long time over a chair and eventually agreed a deal only to decide she didn’t like it when she saw it in sunshine. Frustration of the day continued when we turned onto the road to find brand new tarmac but weren’t allowed on it for 60km. Took longer than I expected to get to Cape Maclear and the last hour was spent in worry as there was a high pitched whine from the gearbox. It was only after an hour at the beach, watching the sun set and drinking beer, that the noise was traced to the radio - the radio was on and as the engine was revved, the interference caused the whine. Immense relief for me and disappointment for the ghouls. In celebration end up digging Guy’s Landie up to its axles in the sand. Guy took a lot of flak from both us and the Kiwis and nearly suffered sense of humour failure but I was too far gone to worry by that stage.

Rise to be entertained by Guy’s attempt to extricate his vehicle. Jacks it up, digs it out and uses sand planks. A bit over the top. He’s a little frosty today. Then have to get Kiwi I bump started which takes a bit of effort on sand. As the morning drifts away the chap from the dive shop comes round touting for business, so arrange to go on a dive tomorrow. Day goes slowly. The Scots come back with the truck - they have a water leak from one of their core plugs so provide what advice we can.

The Kiwis leave with the morning and we move into their spot. Start a letter to the parents then go for my dive at 12:00 but is rearranged to 15:00. Turn up then and being BSAC trained gets me the OK. The school is NAUI. Go out to the gap and the DM is a local which surprises me. Dive brief adequate. Drop in to 10m or so then down to 20. Vis about 10m. Lots of small fish and good variety but mainly free swimming so you are surrounded, rather than looking at a coral reef. Bottom formed of huge boulders. The other chap Ernie has a problem when his bottle becomes loose from the backpack but get it sorted. He uses his air quickly and is sent up after about 25 mins. We swim on for a bit longer through some gaps in the boulders then surface after 32 mins. Spotted a couple of crabs and one large catfish. Better than a lot of UK dives but no vegetation at all. Retire to the bar and end up getting drunk with the owner of the school. Quite impressed by the organisation particularly the awareness of recompression options. Provide the cabaret when I get back to the camp, including giving some unfortunate grief for asking for some sugar.

Get up at 06:00 to go to Otter Point with Rob. Nice place but a bit windy at that time of day. Should have spent more time in the park. Had a swim then a hunt for carvings. ML headed into the village to get her chair. We stopped at the market at the road end and a number of things were bought, including a mother and child by me (K15 + old tee shirt.) Have a problem with blowing fuses on one main circuit, which takes out the gauges and indicators. Stop at Mangochi for lunch at the local burger bar and have a chat with the local bishop, then on to Liwonde. Pass through to the curio shops but am not too impressed. Roll on to Zomba with my passengers getting drunk from the fridge. Get to Zomba and am impressed. A very nice town. Stay with the cars as others go off to check out the town. Then climb up to the campsite on the plateau. Into the mist and gets quite cold. Will the car start tomorrow? Girls refuse cooking duty so Rob and Mark make a main course soup.

Having spotted the golf course yesterday the trip to Blantyre is delayed a day and after a hot, hot shower, we descend for 9 holes. I don’t play but follow round and have a couple of holes when Mark looses his sunnies. Lots of trees are hit on the round and I get a good rebound from a block of concrete, but some good shots are also seen. Meet The Girls at the clubhouse for lunch then go and get some money changed £ 100 at K10.30/£. Fill up and return up the hill. Both Caroline and Mark crash so only have a simple dinner.

Sort out my fusing problem. Reverse light lead burnt out on the exhaust, but also find a crack in the bulkhead on the passenger side. Will get it welded in Harare.

Are unable to get any response from Mark apart from the occasional grunt. So decide we will have to stay for another day. Simon Kev and myself do the run into Blantyre to submit the visa applications for Mozambique. Change money on the way getting K10.5/£. Arrive in Blantyre and park up at the Landrover agent. No V8 air filters in stock. Go to the Amex office to report some TCs lost - get a police report first and the embassy is in Limbe. Cruise to Limbe, forge a few signatures and submit the applications. Have lunch at the local cafe and get bored by some prosperous looking but deranged local. Then find the whole place closes down for lunch. Back to Blantyre - no success with the police. Post a letter home, no post for anyone. Have a beer in the Mt Soche hotel, cruise through the curio market and end up at Amex again. Takes an age to make the report. Get out about 14:45, back to Limbe - still no air filters, check out a scrappie K650 for a wing but they don’t have any. Make our way back to Zomba and get back just after the others. Get accused by ML of spending the day in the pub. Unjust! Then she tells us she’s found the TCs... Mark has surfaced but still not very communicative. But it’s his birthday so we prepare the food anyway. Pork chops, new pots, green beans and chocolate cake. Excellent

What a miserable morning. It starts raining at about 04:30. Don’t bother getting up till gone 07:00 and it’s still pissing it down. Kev and Simon had suffered from sleeping out but "It was OK until....".

Set off about 08:30 in thick mist and make our way down the mountain. Stop in Zomba for provisions and a bit of carving shopping. Then on to Limbe to the same cafe for coffee and egg rolls. Set of from there along basically a single track (tarmac) road to Mulanje. As the verges were muddy and slippy there were a few close encounters. Get a bit confused at Mulanje as the Michelin map shows the turn off before the town and it is actually in it. Head on to the campsite at the base of the massif and arrive mid-afternoon to find Kiwi I there, having just come down. Weather is still bad and there are some impressive waterfalls pouring off the mountain.

The day breaks clear. I got up at 07:00 to be hassled by the locals but the rest don’t appear until 08:00. Then takes some time to get everybody organised. Come 11:00 we are basically there but need provisions from town. I have supplied myself with snacks but the others need some. It’s Sunday but are remarkably successful getting bread, peanuts and eggs. I drive the V8 back with Rob and Kevin as assessors. Can actually drive, there’s power there again.

Pack up and leave by 12:22. Party is ML, Rob, Kev and Simon. Make our way up the trail followed by some kids who try to get a job as guide. No luck, we miss some of the short cuts but so what? It’s a pleasant walk and the undergrowth has the smell of mild curry. Work our way up to the plateau and have a look at the flying fox and down the skyline path. Then follow round through the forest to the Chambe Hut. Find two Australians, Matt and Rebecca there and spend the evening playing 500 - I watch. Stock up the fire and sleep next to it.

Another clear morning. Get the caretaker to point out the route to us which is just as well because it is not clear. Set off and have a couple of confusing junctions. End up following a fire break up to the top which good views of the peaks but takes time and is tiring. Drop down steeply to meet Matt and Rebecca who have gone round on the correct path. Got to the junction of paths and head off to where the track up Sapitiva should have been but the mist is down and we are all tired and decide to have lunch then head for the hut (Lichonya). Trek round in overcast conditions but it stays dry. Start to learn to distinguish fire breaks from the actual path. We are all fairly tired by the time we get to the hut at 14:30 to meet a solitary Frenchman. He reckoned would take 2.5 hours to get to the top so we would have been very late. Manage to get the caretaker to supply us with wood and promise to bring more in the morning.

Up at 06:00 and the watchman hasn’t arrived with the wood. Soon appears and we have a rather frugal breakfast. No sugar and dry toast. Mat and Rebecca leave at about 06:20 we get away an hour later. Another lovely morning with some stunning views and not too much difficulty finding the path, but the way down is very steep. Glad didn’t climb that way. Steep but scenic with views of Chambe and over the plains and the steep cliffs of Mulanje. Get down to the river and have a cold wash but at least feel fresher for it. Back at the camp by about 11:00, pack up and leave by about 13:00.

Go up to the border town looking for artefacts. ML got a cedar box that C had ordered for her. Kev got a nice simple table and Rachel spent some time before deciding not to buy a 35kg, 1.5m*0.5m*0.5m box. Don’t know how we would have carried it. Cruise out to Thyolo where we impose on some friends of friends of Lou’s. Arrive there about 17:30 and have a very enjoyable evening. John is an excellent host though I’m sure he was a little bemused by 8 overlanders descending on his fridge. Was this really the first roast dinner since Scotland? The pork was perfect and the coffee and chocolate mousse.... Found that Monica was responsible for the Images of Malawi book.

Up at 06:00 but just miss the sun rising over Mulanje. John takes us for a tour of the estate and shows us the coffee processing plant. Learn quite a lot about the simple side of coffee and tea - answered some of our questions. Back for breakfast of bacon sarnies then said our goodbyes and headed for Blantyre.

Rather a frustrating day thereafter. Nothing decent at the curio market. Get messed around trying to change money. Mark didn’t know whether he was going to come through the Tete corridor with us, or not. Eventually got more money changed £100 at K10/£. Buy a book on the Lake Malawi fish. Fill up for Harare and leave town with Matt as an extra passenger for The Girls.

Views of Mulanje in the morning from the estate were beautiful. We missed a lot driving in the rain.

Running the Tete corridor. Up at first light and manage to leave shortly after 06:00. Cruise to the border and use the last of the money to trim the spare tank. Up to the border and check out of Malawi just before a bus load arrives. Sorry to leave, it’s a wonderful country. Up to the Mozambique post and start the hassle, $5/person, $10/vehicle plus $25/vehicle insurance. We had been told but could get no reasonable explanation of why our PTA insurance, which included MOZ, was not valid. Pay and leave and are chased down the road by a fleet of trucks jostling for position. Leave them when we get to the cut up section 20 km long. Stop at Moatize for a coke from the fridge and to let The Girls catch up. Have hardly started when we are stopped for speeding. Up a hill in a Series III. Yeah. But our passports have been taken so we argue for a while, but one side is in Portuguese, the other English. When they make to drive off we hop on board thinking we’re going to see the boss. Turn up at the local goal and are ordered to the cells. Rob and I decide against that and manage to stay in the compound despite cocked rifles and raised truncheons. But we cannot leave even though we are now prepared to pay. We have the local currency and £1.40 is a lot better than $20. Kev and Mark find us and soon return with the UN. Disappear again and eventually turn up with a translator and the local colonel. Have to pay but get away at 15:15 across the bridge over the Zambeze and on into the gloom to the border. Arrive at 17:15 and manage to force through Mozambique and onto Zimbabwe before 18:00. Get clear by 18:30 and find a rough spot to camp.