20 to 27 September - The Drive North Through Malawi to Dar es Salaam

This is the first time I have been able to post a blog for nearly a week. 

We collected Sue and Emma Gumbleton from Lilongwe Airport at lunchtime on 20 September.  Both were very tired after a long flight lasting some 17 hours from the UK via Nairobi and Lusaka.  It seems there is no direct flight to Lilongwe from the UK anymore.  It was a very hot day and in addition to their luggage we had on board containers of extra diesel to see us through Malawi, making the vehicle very full and cramped.  Poor things – what a way to start a holiday in Africa!  It was a good three hour drive to Bua River Camp near the lakeshore in central Malawi and the road was narrow and winding.  In addition to this there were hundreds of people walking along the tarmac throughout the entire drive – something we had not experienced so far on this expedition. 

Finally we arrived at the Bua campsite, hidden on the edge of the remote Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, and sank a couple of ice cold beers each to wash away the dust of the drive.  The campsite (we were the only occupants) is very basic but has recently been renovated by an Englishman called John who was there to greet us as we erected our tents in the evening sunlight.  The Bua River runs through the camp and is flanked by dense riverine vegetation, although the surrounding hills have more open woodland. 

John told us that, on the afternoon of the day we left Lilongwe, major riots had erupted in the city centre and several million pounds worth of damage was done.  Thank goodness we got out before they started as it seems some of the riots were in the street adjacent to our campsite!  John told us they were caused by dissatisfaction with the government’s record and resentment that the President is building an enormous palace for himself whilst the population starves and there is no fuel and constant electricity cuts – I think I have heard all this before somewhere else in Africa!

But back to the trip…...

The Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve where we camped is Malawi’s oldest Reserve but remains almost totally undeveloped as the rough terrain makes access very difficult.  There are still no roads through it, although we hear two lodges have recently been built on its boundaries and this may lead to more tourism.  The pristine bush inside the Reserve harbours a rich diversity of animals including elephant, buffalo, baboon and various antelope.  It also supports the country’s last viable lion population.

Malawi is a small but fascinating country.  We have been astonished however by the number of people who live here.  At independence in 1964 it had less than 4 million inhabitants but it is now estimated to have nearly 16 million, making it one of the more densely populated countries in Africa.  Until 1907 when it’s present borders were established by Britain it had been the fiefdom of three tribal chiefs and has a long and sad history of violence and poverty.  Slave trading throughout the area was rife and alliances between the Omani Arabs and local chiefs led a one stage to an almost total annihilation of the population.  Livingstone is thought to have had a great influence in bringing the slave trade in this area to an end, although it is sad to read that some of his descendants, who settled and farmed in Malawi, were killed in a series of uprisings in 1915.  Dr Hastings Banda, the first resident and once a doctor in Edinburgh and London, returned to the country in 1953 and later took the title of ‘President for Life’ until he retired aged 95 in 1993.  He left Malawi as a poor and backward country, and little seems to have changed since.

After a two day break at Bua we drove on north, stopping overnight at a small camp by the shores of Lake Malawi, on the way to the Tanzanian border.  At one stage we went over a pass and down into a valley full of the baobab trees – I have never seen so many baobabs growing so closely together before.

The baobab is a fascinating tree so let me tell you a little about it.  It can grow to a height 30 metres and have a diameter of up to 11 metres.  Radio-carbon dating has shown that some baobab trees are over 2,000 years old.  The trunk can hold up to 120,000 litres of water which can be tapped in dry periods.  It is also known as the tree of life as it is capable of providing shelter, food and water for both animal and humans. The cork-like bark is fire resistant and is used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used for condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is rich in vitamin C.  For most of the year, the tree is leafless, and looks as if it has been planted upside down.  Legend has it that the Bushmen believed the baobab so offended God that in his wrath he uprooted it and cast it back into the earth upside-down.

Back to our journey..........eventually we reached the Tanzanian border.  As with all African border posts, the bureaucracy involved in arranging to leave one country and enter another is a ponderous affair.  It took us two hours to reach the Tanzanian side after having all our travel documents photocopied and getting the vehicle carnet signed.  For some unknown reason the border officials would not accept US$1 bills but demanded a vehicle ‘road tax’ of US$25 in minimum denominations of US$5 so we had to search our purses to find sufficient notes before we were allowed to proceed.  The 3^rd party vehicle insurance office then tried to sell me a COMESA insurance document which luckily I knew would not give cover to UK registered vehicles involved in accidents, so I refused it.  Only then did they offer me the right insurance.  The reason for this ploy it transpired was to try to get me to pay a larger premium!

As we entered Tanzania the heavens opened and we experienced our first rainstorm since leaving the UK nearly three months ago.  Since then, we have had one or more showers almost every day but it has been very hot and humid in between with temperatures in the mid thirties centigrade by day and a humid and sweaty 20+ degrees by night.  Shortly after crossing into Tanzania the road began to climb steadily and by the end of the afternoon we had reached over 6000 feet.  Tea and banana plantations grew on each side of the road and the mountain tops were swathed in mist. Everything was green and moist – such a change to the dry arid landscape we had driven through to date. 

The only campsite I could find that evening was a missionary one in the small town of Mbeya.  No beer was for sale (we smuggled a few bottles in later) and we could hear hymns being sung in the distance as we removed our sweaty clothing and showered.  As with many campsites the showers had no hot water and only long drop toilets so we installed the two girls in a small room in the missionary hostel for the night and that had a warm water shower we could all use. That evening as we ate in the mission canteen I met a Frenchman who had lived in this part of Africa for over 30 years. He told us to be careful as the Tanzanian police were some of the most corrupt in Africa. To illustrate the point he told us he had driven down from Iringa that very day and had been stopped and fined for not carrying instructions in his vehicle to cover the use of the mandatory fire extinguisher! When he said this was not compulsory, the traffic police took away his drivers licence and left him stranded on the road until he agreed to pay ‘a fine’.  He also told us the judiciary were corrupt and it was not unusual to pay a bribe to get the right outcome at a trial.  He said when one of his colleagues had a fire in his house recently, the police cordoned off the area and would not allow anyone in (including the privately hired fire engine – there was no local authority one available) until they had plundered the house of its valuables, saying the owner could recover their worth through his insurance premium!

The plan for the next day was to drive for 350 miles (8 hours) from Mbeya to Mikumi National Park, so we set off at dawn.  The traffic was very heavy and we crawled for the first 10 miles, avoiding overtaking vehicles that had no regard for safety or the rules of the road.  I was driving. Within 20 minutes we were pulled over by the traffic police and I was told I had been doing 69kph in a 50kph zone.  I certainly had not as we were very careful about speed limits but I was shown the speed camera reading and told to pay a fine of 60,000 Tanzanian shillings (£30).  We protested and were led off to see the officer in charge who was resting in a Landrover under the shade of a tree by the side of the road.  After much arguing the fine was reduced to 30,000 Tanzanian shillings but I received no receipt – it went straight into his pocket!  We learnt later from two separate white people who had used the same road that they had been stopped also for allegedly doing exactly the same speed on the same road.  We all agreed that the camera appeared to be set permanently at 69kph!

One is bound to compare the merits of each country visited during a trip like this and both Ian and I feel Tanzania sits firmly at the bottom of the pile so far.  Many of the locals we have met appear to be offhand and rude, in some cases just walking off when one stops to ask the way.  Few speak English - or want to – which is unusual as Tanzania was once a British colony.  When we stopped to buy food at Iringa we were charged heavily for parking in the street.  When I asked a passing Indian if this was the norm he said the local council had decreed that all foreigners were to pay a fee to park anywhere in town.  Supermarkets are non existent and food prices in shops are not displayed so you never know if you are paying an inflated price or not at the till. 

We arrived at Mikumi National Park an hour before dusk after some 10 hours of driving.  There were four Rangers sitting at the reception desk on the entrance gate and I was ignored for several minutes whilst they continued to chat to each other.  No one else was there.  Eventually they spoke to me.  I asked if we could camp for the night and was told the entry fees and camping charges would be US$240 for 24 hours – massively higher charges than we had paid anywhere before on this trip.  We had no option so reluctantly agreed and were told to go to Campsite 2.  No map was given to me but I was told to drive eight kilometres into the park and turn left at the sixth junction.  As the light faded we found the campsite under a massive baobab tree – not a fenced one as I had imagined but a wild camp for one party in the middle of the bush.  This was no problem for Ian and me as we were now used to remote camping but I was concerned for the safety of the two girls who had never done anything like this before.  As the light faded we lit a large fire and erected the tents.

I then gave everyone a safety briefing as I was concerned about the possibility of wild animals wandering into the campsite.  I taught the girls how to use a torch to look around before venturing out from their tent at night and said one of us men would accompany them if they needed to do so.  The shower and toilets were 100 metres away in the bush – too far to walk at night - and anyway were in a dreadful condition so I suggested we did not use them.  Instead Ian and I set up a temporary toilet by the Landrover.

Within minutes of settling down to make supper Ian’s wife Sue said she could see eyes reflecting in her torchlight.  I investigated - it was only a mongoose watching us from the grass nearby.  Moments later she saw more eyes – again I looked and this time found a jackal.  This was all a good experience as it taught the girls the importance of using a torch properly at night. The next morning we realised why the jackal was so close.  There was a dump of rotting rubbish and tins in a hole about 30 metres away from us that the Parks staff had never cleared away. 

In the morning as we packed up our camp, two cow herds of elephant with calves walked by close to the camp, flaring their ears in alarm at finding it occupied. Then with some time to spare during the morning we set off for a game drive and saw a good variety of animals including some old buffalo bulls, a large herd of buffalo further on, giraffe, more elephant, warthog, wildebeest for the first time and much birdlife

At lunchtime we left the Park and drove on some 200 miles to Dar es Salaam.  The traffic was very heavy and we ended up in several traffic jams, only reaching the city in the evening.  The campsite I had chosen from the internet had to be reached by taking a ferry across a river and we saw dhows sailing past in the evening light. 

We finally reached the camp in the dark and set up our tents without having any idea of what it was like, but the next day brought a pleasant surprise

The blue swell of the Indian Ocean was only yards from our tents and the next morning the heavy humidity of a hot African beach hit us as we sorted out the camp.  Palm trees were all around, offering shade from the sun, and the sand on the beach was near white in colour.  As the morning progressed, the wind got up and white horses appeared on the waves.  This was tropical bliss!

We will stay here for a week.  Ian has taken his family to the island of Zanzibar for a break and I am looking after the camp in his absence.  In three days time the two Gumbleton girls will leave for the UK and Jo and Jessica will come out to join me for a fortnight.  We too will visit Zanzibar before heading north again for Kenya, but more of that in the next blog!