Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa

I really like Malawi and I think we left too soon after spending only a little over a week there; mostly in the northern part of the country.

We took a horribly long night bus to Lilongwe from Lusaka.  At the Zambia-Malawi border we were made to exit the bus with all our belongings for some kind of check, although as soon as we lugged everything off they just told us to get right back on again, without actually checking anything.  Bizarre.  I was tired and cranky at this point (it was like 2am) and none too pleased to be participating. But at border crossings the best thing to do is keep your mouth shut and cooperate.

Lilongwe was similar to Lusaka in that it was a dusty and unremarkable place.  We did spend sometime at the local market there were I found some colorful African fabrics.  The market also had a section which sold used clothing – presumably donations from North Amercia and Europe.  Picture young African men wearing T-shirts that say: “Bingo-aholic” and “Altoona Girls Softball”.

From Lilongwe we headed north to Mzuzu (Malawi’s 3rd largest city, although you’d never know it) from where it was just a short hop by dladla down to the town of Nkhata Bay.

Nkhata Bay is right on Lake Malawi, one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world.  It’s kind of similar to the North American Great Lakes in that there are a few sandy beaches and sometimes a few waves.  But there the similarities end.

Unlike the Great Lakes, Lake Malawi is ringed by palm trees, boulders and African bush.  Locals’ livelihoods, based on fishing and ferrying, are tied to the Lake as they have been for hundreds of years.  These activities are accomplished using traditional dugout canoes and motorized boats are seldom seen.

Despite rumors of a dastardly Lake bacteria/worm/parasite I decided to try scuba diving there.  I was reassured by the fact that the local dive master, Steve (yep that’s right Scuba Steve), looked healthy enough.

Nkhata Bay is surrounded by steep hills, and the earth just keeps plummeting down after it meets the water.  Scuba diving there is like swimming alongside a cliff, with a few sandy plateaus appearing from time to time.  While it doesn’t have as wide an array of fish as can be found in coral reef dive sites in the ocean, Lake Malawi’s aqualife is still exotic.   I saw an upside-down fish (which swims upside-down, duh) and a Mouth Brooder that sucks its group of tiny babies into its mouth like a vacuum cleaner when danger approaches.

Meghan and Nora spent most of their time in Nkhata Bay at the local shebeen sampling Chikula or “Shake-Shake”, traditional maize been sold in a paper milk-like carton.

Malawians live up to their reputation as Africa’s friendliest people.  We were often greeted in Nkhata Bay by locals, and not just because they wanted something, but because they were actually being genuinely nice.  They all said the same thing, “You are Most Welcome.”  If I ever meet someone from Malawi in my own country I will be sure to tell them that as well.