Tanzania to Malawi. The circus keeps rolling along. The 6th country.

28^th March 2011. Mbeya Tanzania to Rice Field Camp Malawi. 128kms

Today is the day we leave Tanzania and head towards our 6^th Country, Malawi.  A great decision was made by the Director to have breakfast at 6.30am.  Now how good is that?  I won’t have to get out of bed until 6am for a long time.

The Rift Valley Hotel where Luke and I were staying was pretty good and I did get to watch some TV and catch up on the madness which is occurring around the world.  Not that I give a hoot about it.  I have enough to worry about each day with riding the bike and making sure I keep healthy.

So it was breakfast at 6.30am, and around 7.15am we were on our bikes heading along the mad highway to the turn off which read Malawi 103kms.  It was this particular road that Josh and I took some 7 years ago as we made our way from Mbeya to Lilongwe in southern Malawi.  I remembered the crazy road and the turn off because as it wasn’t long before the 10km climb commenced and last time Josh took off up the hill leaving me behind.  

This time the mountain was taken much differently, as Rodney Hilton Sanders says, ‘gentle pressure relentlessly applied’.  I’m sure he’s talking about cycling. So off Peter and I went up the mountain at a nice pace, checking out the stunning valley floor and the township of Mbeya disappearing in the distance.  The mountains that surround Mbeya are breathtaking and today they were more spectacular with pockets of mist covering the valley.  It did bring back some good memories.

We rode up and down the hills all morning till we reached the lunch stop at 68km.  I was surprised we have covered the distance in such a short time.  The mountains still had a million banana trees covering them , together with corn and the occasional pineapple tree.  We were riding along a ridge all morning and we could see the stunning mountains on either side with the ladies sprinkled over the fields looking after the tea plantations that were now part of the landscape.

After lunch it was a short ride to the town of Tukuyu.  We went up one of the side streets to check out some of the shops and in particular the Landmark Hotel where we stayed last time.  It still looks the same although it’s now complete.  The streets haven’t changed at all but there appears to be another million kids calling out for money every step of the way.  We’ll have to get use the kids again because they will be out in force when they find out the circus is coming their way.

So after Tukuyu it was time to roar down the mountain ridge and head towards the Malawi border at the 110km mark for the day.  As soon as we turned up we were harassed by about 20 money exchanges wanting your Tanzanian shillings or offering to exchange US for the Malawi Kwacha.   The police turn a blind eye to this matter and I don’t care either as long as I get a good rate.

Once through the border it was onto the camp which was situated on an old rice field.  The countryside was still amazing and it’s so nice to be back to the place I love so much last time. 

With the children on both sides of the roads calling out to us for the 15km journey to camp it quickly hit home what we are going to cop over the next 10 days of riding through Malawi.

When we rode into camp it was just like Ethiopia with a hundred kids surrounding the campsite. Tonight we have 3 guards surrounding the camp making sure the kids don’t enter and knock off any gear.  Rodney and I went for an hour walk up the road and met a couple of locals and even got to nurse another baby.

So it’s my first day back in Malawi since 2004 and now I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep as I’m pretty tired from all the riding since leaving Arusha.  Tomorrow breakfast is at 5.30am because of the change of hours from Tanzania.  Shit that’s going to kill me.

29^th March 2011.  Rice Field BushCamp to Chitimbu Camp. 125kms.

Today the day we get to travel through the area we travelled some 7 years ago.  Firstly the storm that hit the camp last night was up there with the best.  The heavens opened up and belted the camp all night.  Because we had a change in time zones, our breakfast was set for 5.30am.  This means we have idiots who get out of bed at 4am and make so much noise it wakes everyone else up in the camp.  It’s actually a total lack of respect for others.  It should never take 1 & ½ hours to get ready for breakfast.

So I decided to get out of bed around 5am and was packed up and ready to eat at 5.30am.  The rain had stopped at 5am so that was a real bonus not pack up my drenched tent in pouring down rain.  We hit the road at 6.20am and immediately set upon by about 2 million litres of rain drops.  It was bucketing down on the group and making cycling a pain in the ass.  When you sit so close to the guy and front they shoot heaps of water directly into your face.  

The first stop of the day was the 30km mark at the town of Karonga.  We stopped at the People’s choice supermarket to stock up on food for our rest day and then took a journey back in time past the Malawi Prison and down to the lake to check out the Club Marina Guesthouse where I last stayed.  The only thing that has changed is that they’ve added a water treatment plant directly in front of the lodge destroying their view of the lake.

I went to the bank to get some cash and also the phone company to try and get a Malawi sim card.  I think it’s the best way to go when travelling in Africa by buying the local sim card. 

The next section was 40kms to lunch.  We first stopped at Ngara Resort and took a trip down the dirt path to see if this place had changed. A couple of the straw huts had been replaced by cement buildings but the restaurant and bar was exactly the same as how Josh and I left it in 2004.  I did find out that Richard the owner was no longer a member of the Malawian Government and was doing some work in Botswana.

After a nice cold coke at Ngara Resort it was another 5kms to lunch.  I was pretty tired today and although the pace was crazy for the first 70kms I was really looking forward to making it to the chitimbu campsite and enjoy the rest day tomorrow.

On our ride after lunch we stopped at a local house to see how the Kasavo plant was made into a food product.  Like usual there was the drunk in the village and some really nice ladies giving us a demonstration from pulling the plant out of the ground to soaking the Kasavo, grinding the plant and drying it out.  They use the Kasavo as a filler with their food.  We had a small piece and was absolutely tasteless.

The final 30kms to the finish was pretty hard into the headwind and over a couple of rolling hills, surrounded by villages and their rice fields.  We arrived at camp at 2pm and was so glad to finish the 2 days of cycling. 

The rest of the day and tomorrow will be sitting down at the beach doing nothing other than reading and recharging my batteries.  At least we have a spectacular view to relax with. I was told the internet access at the campsite is as useless as men’s tits again. We hit the road to Mzuzu after the rest day.  The first part of the day will be a 10km climb up into the highlands of northern Malawi.  Bring on the hills.