Where The Malawi Are We?

Kudos for the title of this post goes to Janus, apparently, said with a soft R I think you will agree it’s most amusing. Zimbabwe all said and done is a nice country, the people are super friendly and helpful, the roads aren’t bad and there is a good amount to see, I wouldn’t write it off just yet.

Getting from Vic Falls to Bulawayo was simple and we awoke at about 5:30 to find ourselves already there. The reason we were here was to try and go see the Motobo National Park which houses the balancing rocks and has another worldly feel. We were heading for “Worlds View” in the park which has a spectacular view over the park.

Getting to the crossroad for the park was simple but when we started to walk to the park we realised we might be in trouble. But luck was with us and I flagged down the first car I saw coming, it was a man driving into the park to pick up the pastor from the Salvation Army Kids camp that was going on in the park. He agreed to drive us to the gate, which we were grateful of, but this proved to be just the start.

We got to the gate and were greeted with the bad news that you pretty much needed your own transport as the park was very large and there were no tours. But our friend stepped up and suggested that he drop us where we wanted to go and pick us up in an hour or so and take us back to town. Again, we very gratefully accepted his generous offer.

With our luck holding we got to the path for Worlds View and climbed to the top, it was a beautiful view as the granite surroundings stretched out away from us in every direction. The rock formations were unique and made you think as to why these round rocks ended up and stayed where they did. The tombs of some early white settlers, such as Cecile Rhodes are found here, his tomb is surprising simple, apparently his own design.

Just as we were beginning to get worried our friend arrived and drove us back to town and dropped us at a place we could eat, then he said good bye and that he hoped our trip went well as was off, refusing any offer of repayment. So, we grabbed a bite to eat and then jumped on the next bus heading to Masvingo. We arrived after dark and couldn’t find our first choice of lodging. I will say that when you are looking for a place to stay and you are an unfamiliar territory after dark with not that much information, and you find a place that is not only available but less than you expected to pay, and comfortable it is one of the great feelings of traveling, such relief to flop down on the bed.

We were in Masvingo because it is the town closest to Great Zimbabwe, and that is where we headed in the morning. We hired a taxi to take us out wait and come back. Great Zimbabwe is the ruined Capital City of the kingdom of Zimbabwe which existed around 800 years ago. Said to be the largest pre-medieval structure in Sub-Sahara Africa it was something I didn’t want to miss.

It didn’t disappoint either, we decided to go with a guide and it was worth it over the two and a half hours walk we learned a great deal about the palace. It was home to the Zimbabwean monarchy and their hundreds of wives, with up to 18,000 people calling it home. It has multiple sites with large stone walls protecting the buildings and the remnants of house and forges. The hill complex is build around the boulders of the hill and would have been a very good vantage point. Passageways narrow to prevent large groups entering in anything other than single file, a large tower over 15meters and walls 5m thick are all impressive when you realise the whole thing is built without mortar.

Great Zimbabwe is where Zimbabwe gets its name from and its national emblem the Zimbabwe bird. This comes from one of eight carved soapstone birds, the one that was chosen has apparently never left Zimbabwe unlike its siblings who were found during Rhodes time, in fact one remains at his own house in Cape Town.

The Danes were only now missing the Rhino from their big five, so we tried to see some by going to the national park near Great Zimbabwe but were disappointed and didn’t see much before heading back to Masvingo to get a bus to Harare.

This proved to be one of the most interesting journeys of the trip, the Danes had mostly been on the tourist transport and this was going to be much more “African”. The bust left empty which is unusual, but we soon found out why, after driving out of our way we found ourselves in a field where a religious festival had just ended, and the bus filled up. We were treated for the next four hours to signing, chanting, clapping and yelling, and just as things died down and you thought maybe you could sleep someone else would start up. I never thought you could sing the same two sentences repeatedly for over 20 mins but hay they proved me wrong, and we were even able to pick it up and join in, you must laugh at times like that.

Harare came into view late at night, around 21:00 and we weren’t off the bus and at our hostel till after 23:00. We decided to spend the next day in Harare and plan from there, and we grateful laid down for a sleep, without our choir.

The next day was one of planning, the Danes wanted to meet the truck in two days on the shore of lake Malawi, and it seemed that there was no direct bus going tomorrow, flights were looked at, routes through Zambia and even hiring a car, but there was no option and the reality sunk in we were going to have to try and do it with lots of mini-buses.

But spending the day in Harare did allow me to catch up with Z, the Bulgaria-American guy who had lived in Maputo with me. He was done his placement and was leaving the next day to head home. He is a genuine guy who I always like hanging out with and it was very good to see him and catch up with how life was going, was a disappointment to only get to see him for such a short time.

The next day we set of for Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, I will simplify this because it was a long trip. It took 18 hours, 4 mini-buses, 2 taxis, 1 bus and a pickup truck. The trip took us through the north of Mozambique into the city of Tete and then back to the border of Malawi. The pickup truck was obtained by talked to a guy crossing the border, I knew the no man’s land was larger here, but it was around 2km, so he agreed to give us a ride in the back to the other side, then with a bit of chatting and a bit of cash he agreed to drive us 50km to a crossroad where buses to Lilongwe pass by. This was after dark already, so I found myself lying down in the bed of a pickup truck looking up at the starry sky as we flew down the road closer to our goal. We made it.

The next morning the Danes had to head out early and I wasn’t going with them, I had said I would get them there, but my time and money was running out and that was as far as I could go. They were awesome people and I would have love to join their trip and travel all the way with them, they were my type of travelers, always ready for an adventure, challenge or whatever the road threw at us, very solid. So, saying goodbye to them was a down moment and we did it quickly like removing a band aid, and then they were gone.

I hung around in Lilongwe for a bit before heading to Blantyre where I spent two nights resting up for my trip to the south of Mozambique. I met a Dutch guy and we spent the day sightseeing, not a hell of a lot to see but a nice city none the less, and I got to remember the Danes in style by visiting the Carlsberg Malawi Brewery. I had a couple good nights listening to music and dancing, good vibe there.

Then I headed off to try and get home, this again took me to Tete which has beautiful surroundings with hundreds of Baobab trees and then the large bridge over the Zambezi river, was nice to look down on to the river and think I rafted on that water. Tete it an interesting city, a lot of mining happens in the area and the money is infusing the city with cafes, fancy hotels and establishments that I was not expecting to find in this northern regional capital. But I only spent the night there before heading off at 4:00 on a bus heading all the way to Maputo.

This was another massive journey but I’m getting pretty good at that, I have started getting audio books to combat the fact I can’t read on the road and this helps the trip go a lot quicker, in fact the 21 hours that it took breezed by, well not really.

So, I am home now and back at work, already missing the road, but there are lots more of that out there. So, to all the people still on it, happy traveling and I hope the horizon keeps brining new wonders.