BootsnAll Travel Blogs

An early start had me out on the street being escortd to the bus stop by the ‘security guard from the hostel – a security guard who was about 20yrs older than me, a few inches shorter and hobbled as he walked whilst looking around with his one eye……I kid you not!….at least he had a uniform on. anyhoo we got there and I jumped on the bus to be told that I would have to pay extra because my bag was too big – my bag was actually dwarfed by  most of the gear the locals were carrying but apparently that didnt matter. I got him to drop the price to 50mtn from 100mtn, then told him I would pay when I got off. We then waited for about an hour before the driver tried to start the engine…and failed due to the battery being flat – we had to get out and push except I refused cos I was paying extra for my bag, this appeared to be acceptable :^$. Once started we head off north to the border. fairly uneventful trip apart from the fact that it must have been the bumpiest drive EVER by a bus that remained in one piece – the road existed in places and didnt in others. Arriving at Tete, the ‘conductor’ reminded me that I was gonna have to pay the 50 Mtn…however there was a Mozzy guy sat next to me on the bus who offered me a lift from the bus station to where I would get the Chapas to the border -so, as he drove up in the Land Cruiser that was waiting for him, I jumped in and off we went – HA! I win (for a change) further up the road I jumped out and was escorted across the road to a pile of blue and white metal trash with a few pieces of rubber and glass partly attached: this was the Chapas to the border apparently. Hey ho, I thught and jumped on. As it happens they were nice guys and once they had filled the oil and wrapped some wire around the exhaust we were off: I got prize place with a front seat again and for less than I had been told in Chamoio than it would be…which was nice. We arrived at the border some 3 hours later. After routine stamping of passport, I started to walk through the gate into no-mans land…you know: its usually around 200m wide between countries?…..well not this one: No-mans land is actually 6km wide! with a town inbetween!!! not really sure how that works, but it meant I had to get a taxi through it…which I had to bump start cos the battery was flat

And so I queued for abut an hur to get into Malawi: INSTANTLY things changed – there was a nice tourist officer who told me where to stay in Blantyre (Doogies Lodge) and showed me where to get the minibus (not called Chapas over here) it dukly arrived and I spent the next 2 hours in the front seat again chatting to Peter (a local) and the driver (Richard) the weather turned pretty nasty with a mahoosive thunderstorm for about an hour, but the roads werent bad and we made it OK….just as I was about to get out, I was told to hang on (here we go again I thought: I’m gonna get ripped off for summat) Peter then explained that the driver was gonna drop everyone else off and then take me to the hostel – just to make sure I was OK and didnt get too wet!!!! 5 minutes later and there I was at Doogies! so I paid the driver a nice tip and then kicked over his bag of mangoes (whoopsie)

Doogies is quite a happening place with a VERY busy bar (mainly due to the happy hour promotion ongoing) but quiet dorms – just me and a belgian guy who arrived just after me, in ours. We showered (separately) and then headed to the bar for a quick beer and food. One Carlsberg and a chicken pitta later, and I was in bed for some desperately needed sleep……which I didnt get due to a bad case of the runs! not sure if it was the pitta or the 2 VERY unripe peaches that Peter had given me in the minibus. Anyhoo, it was clear by the morning.

Blantyre

named after Dr. Livingstone’s home town in Scotland (Livingstone ‘found’ Malawi in the 1850’s) its a big place with a small central area. Very african with tailors mending or manufacturing clothes on the streets with Pfaff sewing machines, but a VERY different feel to Mozambique: everyone seems very relaxed and friendly. I bought my first umbrella today too: cos it was stottin down for most of the morning

not much else to report at the mo, except I’m listening to Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs as I write this…and it STILL doesnt feel like Chrimbo to me

Tomorrow, I head for Cape Maclear and Gecko Lounge hostel on the shores of Lake Malawi – I’m staying there till after Christmas then maybe heading on to Likoma island…thoguh I’m told that Gecko Lounge is THE place to be for New Year’s eve…so we’ll see

Tags: Malawi, Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 8:19 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.