Back in January, at my mid-service conference with the 50-some other PCVS in my training group, my friend Ari and I decided we really wanted to travel to Malawi, and we chose the 2-week break in between the first and second trimester to embark on our journey, and believe me it really was a journey. I left my village of Vanduzi, spent the night in Chimoio at another PCVS house then woke up early the next day to travel out of Manica Province, through all of Sofala, and into Zambezia. I spent the night with some PCVS in Mocuba, then woke up early the next day to continue my trip to Nampula City, where I met Ari and Casey, my travel buddies for the next week. The three of us spent the night in Nampula City, at one of Ari's colleagues houses, and then left the next day at 4am to take a 12 hour train to Cuamba, Niassa. In Cuamba, we met up with our good friend Richard, and spent 3 days exploring his site, before leaving to travel to Malawi. On our third day in Niassa, we woke up really early to meet our friend Victor, the last person to join our travel group, before crossing the border at Mandimba into Malawi. In Malawi, we traveled to Cape Maclear, where we enjoyed the peaceful, beautiful lake enviroment that made all the previous days travel worth it! After 3 days at the lake, we traveled to Blantrye, where we spent a night in the city before I started my journey home (through Tete province in Moz) and my friends continued their adventure to a safari in Malawi.
It was a lot of traveling, and way too much time spent in public transportation but it was also a lot of fun. It was also great to see some of my very good friends, all of whom, live way too far away for me to visit them during the school year! Here are some photos from the trip...
a map showing my journey, the little black star is where Vanduzi is located!
A picture of the train we took from Nampula City to Cuamba..the train took 12 hours and went so incredibly slow! If I hadn't been with good company it would have been torturous, even so we got pretty restless after the 8 hour mark. The train frequently stopped at large and small villages so people could get on and off, this was also an opportunity for people to sell a wide variety of goods to those passengers leaning anxiously out the windows. We bought bread, fruit, and plenty of snacks to last us for breakfast, lunch and just to snack on....
We went hiking in Cuamba (the city of dreams and dust!). Richard has a nice 45 minute hike not too far from his home, ventured off the dirt path and hiked a small mountain/hill, where the Portuguese had built a chapel, which is now abandoned...but it looks cool and the view was awesome!
Casey, Rich, Ari and myself sitting on the edge of the cliff at the top of the hill we climbed...
The chapel at the top of the hill!
After resting and hanging out in Cuamba we were ready to travel to Malawi...we took a chapa to the border town, then took bike taxis to the border post. Once we reached Malawi, we had to take two more chapas to get to Cape Maclear and oh my gosh was it a head ache. In Malawi, there is not national standards/body that regulates the minibuses. This means that drivers can charge you whatever they want (and a group of 5 foreigners is a great target for those who want to make a little extra money!) That being said, there is also no "taxi stand" where the minibuses wait in a line to fill up. Instead drivers drive around the city, looking for travelers, yelling at them and then actually pulling them onto their buses. There are also young children (ages 14-18) who sit on the chapa and pretend to be passengers, this way you think you are entering a minibus that is almost full and will soon leave for your intended city...as more people get on the boys get off, making your wait to leave even longer. Needles to say, traveling in Malawi was a real head ache, and we got ripped off on numerous occasions, but there was really no way to navigate the system. There was a double standard, and as a foreigner, we were never going to be able to argue for the local fare, it totally sucked. But I do get plenty of free rides in Mozambique so I guess it all evens out. Still when you're trying to be thrifty on a trip it is frustrating to get charged twice as much as the locals and then yelled at for being cheap or a liar if you pay less than the fair requested. But we did survive and aside from the minibus drivers, I found the culture in Malawi to be incredibly friendly and welcoming. It was also nice to travel and be able to speak English!
Traveling problems aside it was all worth it to arrive in Cape Maclear in the middle of the afternoon, swim (yes I probably have schisto now) relax and watch the sun set!
Cape Maclear was cool because the tourist areas were set alongside the local community. Here's a view of the area of town where most locals lived.
We got market food in town, delicious beans and fried greens...served with xima (boiled cornmeal) it was good!
The boats used by local fisherman to go out and fish
Even being so close to a fresh water source most of the local community still eats dried fish. It's cheap, it lasts through the dry season, and is easy to prepare with rice or xima. Here local fisherman have laid out their fish to dry in the sun.
These boys played music every afternoon on the beach...their songs included "Who let the dogs out", "waka waka", "waving flag" and a song they wrote about Malawi...
We spent the last night at the lake learning how to drum with some of the locals...it was a lot of fun!
Now I'm back at site, and full-swing back to work at school! Thelma and I are busy trying to organize our JUNTOS group, I've got additional english lessons almost every day, and I'm helping organize Vanduzi's first Science Fair on Saturday, should be fun! Ate ja!
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