The trip to Malawi

I was up at 3am to get the rickety old train from Nampula to Cuamba over by the border with Malawi. The train was due to leave at 4am but didn’t get going till 7. Africa time! I’d heard some gruesome things about 3rd class so decided to pay the extra 8 dollars and travel 2nd class which meant I had a whole bench to myself to lie down on during the 12 hr trip.

The train passes through some stunning scenery and stops at most of the villages so that people on the train can buy the fresh produce from the locals. It was an amazing day and I’m so glad I went that way as it’s definitely one of the great trips in Mozambique.

I arrived in Cuamba around 8pm and checked into the best hotel in town which was a D.U.M.P. but at least it had a lock on the door and something that just about passed as a bathroom. I was up again at 3am and in a minibus which drove around and around and around the small village for 4hrs waiting for anyone else who wanted to come to the border. No-one did. We arrived at the border around 9am where I  had my passport stamped, changed some money and walked the 5k or so across no-mans land to the Malawian checkpoint.

My first impressions of Malawi are good. Although obviously much poorer, the people seem to be happier and more friendly than in Mozambique and the altitude means the daytime temperature is not too hot. It’s also obvious that Malawi was once occupied by the Brits because there seems to be an obsession with tea, bacon, fish and chips and building things with bricks.

After getting through customs I made my way to Monkey Bay where I stayed in a rustic beachside camp called Mufasa which had no electricity. After a couple of nights there I woke up with about five thousand ants crawling all over my head so packed up and moved to Cape Maclear for some amazing snorkeling. The nearest ATM and internet cafe is 60ks away and it took me 5hrs to get here this morning. I’ve also lost my mobile so I am feeling about as cut of as can be at the moment.

The next update will be who knows when….