Day 110 (10/09/08) Iringa (Tanzania) to Livingstonia
The Mushroom Farm, Livingstonia S10 35 11.8 E34 08 04.0
www.themushroomfarmmalawi.com
Travelled: 523km
Debbie: We left the Old Farm House (finally!) this morning and headed to the border. Took us 30 min to cross – fastest border crossing ever - and as we crossed into Malawi we began to smell a pungent smell of fish ... all day. We decided to camp up at Livingstonia for our first night and overlook the lake rather than camp on the lake. To get to the campsite (The Mushroom Farm – weird name and not a mushroom of any sorts in sight) we had to go up quite a challenging road which was dirt and had 15 hairpin turns! Sadly the sights from up top were not that amazing as there was a lot of smoke about which caused a haze over the view. But the campsite was clean, had hot showers and the most amazing long drop loo. You had to climb onto a box to sit on it and you then looked out over the valley while you went about your business. Bwana is not sounding happy either – sounds like a tractor .... oh no don’t feel like a breakdown. So far the roads in Malawi have all been tar – bar the one up to the Mushroom Farm.
Day 111 (11/09/08) Livingstonia – Mzuzu - Chintheche
Carvalo Motors, Mzuzu S11 27 58.9 E34 01 14.7
Chintheche Inn & Campsite S11 52 55.4 E34 10 06.8
Travelled: 235km
Debbie: We were up early so we could have a relaxed breakfast and enjoy the views which were still a bit hazy. We then hit the road back down to the tar and since we had our breaks fail when we crossed the Nile Valley in Ethiopia Andrew decided that this time we would take it nice and slow in low range so we didn’t have to touch the breaks. Bwana didn’t sound at all better so we decided to stop in Mzuzu and find a mechanic as Andrew couldn’t work out what was wrong. Mzuzu was a cool little town with a nice supermarket (but expensive as anything imported i.e. mzungu food is a premium price) with fresh bread – something we couldn’t find in Tanzania. We also found a great mechanic who quickly established the problem – our tappets needed to be re-set, which is apparently a comment thing that goes after 20000km of driving. While the mechanic and Andrew slaved away I finally got hold of some reflector tape (I’ve been looking for some since Ethiopia) and stuck it all over Bwana so now we look like a bit of an xmas tree! The Land Rover lights and reflectors are quite dull and after our few breakdowns on the main road and a bit of driving in dust and fog I wanted to make us very visible to all. We now have red on the back and red down the doors as well as the Malawi/Zambia regulatory white on the front. By 15.00 we were back on the road and headed out to Chintheche Inn where we arrived to see the sun setting on the Lake. As we sat watching the sun set over the lake while sipping an ice cold green (Bavaria beer) we heard the loud drones of an overland truck arrive. So far we have managed to avoid them and they have a reputation for being big party animals etc. Lucky we had set up camp away from the beach as the overlanders all flocked to the beach with their tents so we were not surrounded by them.
TOP TIP – Bring a Land Rover magazine with you that contains adverts for spares and their prices. We have used our magazine countless times to see just how much things out in Africa should cost as often spare parts shops try to rip you off as they can see you are not a local.
Day 112 and Day 113 (12/09/08 – 13/09/08) Chintheche Inn
Debbie: The overlanders turned out to be a decent bunch and it was nice to chat to them. The lake is so loud from the wave action that we don’t even hear them at the bar at night which is great. The weather has not been so great (heavy winds) but the campsite was nice so we decided to hang around for 2 days. Plus ... they have DSTV and a certain someone wanted to watch rugby and drink green’s (beer) all day with a bunch of overlanders.... It was such a weird sensation to swim in the lake as it looks like the sea, has big waves, the beach is proper beach sand yet when you swim there is no salt. I managed to get some nice art work from a local at a very good price and even got one of them to paint on Bwana – not sure how long the paint will stay on but for now at least it looks good. They do beautiful carved chairs here which I’m dying to get but I’m really not sure exactly where it will go as we don’t really have space for a chair... Malawi certainly had lovely carvings – best I’ve seen in Africa so far.
Day 114 (14/09/08) Chintheche Inn to Cool Runnings (Senga Bay)
Travelled: 283km
Debbie: Back on the road today but only for 200 odd km’s. We stopped at a cool bakery on the way and got some delicious fresh bread – something we last tasted in Europe. All other bread we have had has not been great and goes stale after 1 day. We stopped at some carving shops en route to try and find some carvings but we ended up walking away with nothing – all the shops had the same stuff and we were not in the mood to bargin. The last straw for Andrew was when he was peering into a shop to have a look from the outside and he was told “looking is for free, now get in my shop”. Cool Running’s is a small campsite and overland truck free!! They have an awesome green green lawn to camp on and they have beach frontage but you tend to get hassled a bit by the locals if you sit at the front of the camp. A Belgium couple (Peter and Katrien) we had met at the Old Farm House (Tanzania) happened to be in the camp so it was nice to catch up with them. The heavy winds have continued and we are not loving being blown to bits.
Day 115 and Day 116 (15/09/08 – 16/09/08) Senga Bay to Cape McClear
Eagles Nest Campsite S14 00 46.1 E34 56 02.8
Travelled: 167km
Debbie: We decided to escape the winds and see if Cape McClear was more sheltered – it was!! It’s a lovely spot and we set up camp at Chembe Eagles Nest which is on its own and not next to all the other campsites and resorts. We got to camp right at the lake edge. The water is very clear and cool – now we can’t feel the wind we can feel just how hot it is. We spent 2 days here with Peter and Katrien basically sitting on our ass’s and talking a load of humorous nonsense over cold green beers. We laughed so much as Peter has not shaved in a few weeks nor had a haircut in months and the locals are 100% convinced that he is Chuck Norris. What Chuck Norris would be doing in the middle of Africa on a Belgium passport is a mystery and we were so surprised that even the locals know all about Chuck. We all decided that we have become very lazy! We found a great carving shop called Toys R Us which did wooden Land Rovers – equipped with rooftop tents, jerry cans and all – S14 09 20.6 E34 56 02.8. Malawi is a very easy country to travel in because there are good roads, campsites all the way down the lake and decent supply shops in every town. Its almost too easy after you have traveled in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia so you almost are disappointed in a way when you get to Malawi as there are no challenges. But it’s nice to have a break and just chill by the lake for a few days before heading on.
www.themushroomfarmmalawi.com
Travelled: 523km
Debbie: We left the Old Farm House (finally!) this morning and headed to the border. Took us 30 min to cross – fastest border crossing ever - and as we crossed into Malawi we began to smell a pungent smell of fish ... all day. We decided to camp up at Livingstonia for our first night and overlook the lake rather than camp on the lake. To get to the campsite (The Mushroom Farm – weird name and not a mushroom of any sorts in sight) we had to go up quite a challenging road which was dirt and had 15 hairpin turns! Sadly the sights from up top were not that amazing as there was a lot of smoke about which caused a haze over the view. But the campsite was clean, had hot showers and the most amazing long drop loo. You had to climb onto a box to sit on it and you then looked out over the valley while you went about your business. Bwana is not sounding happy either – sounds like a tractor .... oh no don’t feel like a breakdown. So far the roads in Malawi have all been tar – bar the one up to the Mushroom Farm.
Day 111 (11/09/08) Livingstonia – Mzuzu - Chintheche
Carvalo Motors, Mzuzu S11 27 58.9 E34 01 14.7
Chintheche Inn & Campsite S11 52 55.4 E34 10 06.8
Travelled: 235km
Debbie: We were up early so we could have a relaxed breakfast and enjoy the views which were still a bit hazy. We then hit the road back down to the tar and since we had our breaks fail when we crossed the Nile Valley in Ethiopia Andrew decided that this time we would take it nice and slow in low range so we didn’t have to touch the breaks. Bwana didn’t sound at all better so we decided to stop in Mzuzu and find a mechanic as Andrew couldn’t work out what was wrong. Mzuzu was a cool little town with a nice supermarket (but expensive as anything imported i.e. mzungu food is a premium price) with fresh bread – something we couldn’t find in Tanzania. We also found a great mechanic who quickly established the problem – our tappets needed to be re-set, which is apparently a comment thing that goes after 20000km of driving. While the mechanic and Andrew slaved away I finally got hold of some reflector tape (I’ve been looking for some since Ethiopia) and stuck it all over Bwana so now we look like a bit of an xmas tree! The Land Rover lights and reflectors are quite dull and after our few breakdowns on the main road and a bit of driving in dust and fog I wanted to make us very visible to all. We now have red on the back and red down the doors as well as the Malawi/Zambia regulatory white on the front. By 15.00 we were back on the road and headed out to Chintheche Inn where we arrived to see the sun setting on the Lake. As we sat watching the sun set over the lake while sipping an ice cold green (Bavaria beer) we heard the loud drones of an overland truck arrive. So far we have managed to avoid them and they have a reputation for being big party animals etc. Lucky we had set up camp away from the beach as the overlanders all flocked to the beach with their tents so we were not surrounded by them.
TOP TIP – Bring a Land Rover magazine with you that contains adverts for spares and their prices. We have used our magazine countless times to see just how much things out in Africa should cost as often spare parts shops try to rip you off as they can see you are not a local.
Day 112 and Day 113 (12/09/08 – 13/09/08) Chintheche Inn
Debbie: The overlanders turned out to be a decent bunch and it was nice to chat to them. The lake is so loud from the wave action that we don’t even hear them at the bar at night which is great. The weather has not been so great (heavy winds) but the campsite was nice so we decided to hang around for 2 days. Plus ... they have DSTV and a certain someone wanted to watch rugby and drink green’s (beer) all day with a bunch of overlanders.... It was such a weird sensation to swim in the lake as it looks like the sea, has big waves, the beach is proper beach sand yet when you swim there is no salt. I managed to get some nice art work from a local at a very good price and even got one of them to paint on Bwana – not sure how long the paint will stay on but for now at least it looks good. They do beautiful carved chairs here which I’m dying to get but I’m really not sure exactly where it will go as we don’t really have space for a chair... Malawi certainly had lovely carvings – best I’ve seen in Africa so far.
Day 114 (14/09/08) Chintheche Inn to Cool Runnings (Senga Bay)
Travelled: 283km
Debbie: Back on the road today but only for 200 odd km’s. We stopped at a cool bakery on the way and got some delicious fresh bread – something we last tasted in Europe. All other bread we have had has not been great and goes stale after 1 day. We stopped at some carving shops en route to try and find some carvings but we ended up walking away with nothing – all the shops had the same stuff and we were not in the mood to bargin. The last straw for Andrew was when he was peering into a shop to have a look from the outside and he was told “looking is for free, now get in my shop”. Cool Running’s is a small campsite and overland truck free!! They have an awesome green green lawn to camp on and they have beach frontage but you tend to get hassled a bit by the locals if you sit at the front of the camp. A Belgium couple (Peter and Katrien) we had met at the Old Farm House (Tanzania) happened to be in the camp so it was nice to catch up with them. The heavy winds have continued and we are not loving being blown to bits.
Day 115 and Day 116 (15/09/08 – 16/09/08) Senga Bay to Cape McClear
Eagles Nest Campsite S14 00 46.1 E34 56 02.8
Travelled: 167km
Debbie: We decided to escape the winds and see if Cape McClear was more sheltered – it was!! It’s a lovely spot and we set up camp at Chembe Eagles Nest which is on its own and not next to all the other campsites and resorts. We got to camp right at the lake edge. The water is very clear and cool – now we can’t feel the wind we can feel just how hot it is. We spent 2 days here with Peter and Katrien basically sitting on our ass’s and talking a load of humorous nonsense over cold green beers. We laughed so much as Peter has not shaved in a few weeks nor had a haircut in months and the locals are 100% convinced that he is Chuck Norris. What Chuck Norris would be doing in the middle of Africa on a Belgium passport is a mystery and we were so surprised that even the locals know all about Chuck. We all decided that we have become very lazy! We found a great carving shop called Toys R Us which did wooden Land Rovers – equipped with rooftop tents, jerry cans and all – S14 09 20.6 E34 56 02.8. Malawi is a very easy country to travel in because there are good roads, campsites all the way down the lake and decent supply shops in every town. Its almost too easy after you have traveled in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia so you almost are disappointed in a way when you get to Malawi as there are no challenges. But it’s nice to have a break and just chill by the lake for a few days before heading on.
