20 August - Lilongwe and Blantyre, Malawi

Saturday 16th August, myself, John, Emma and Chris headed to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi on an air conditioned minibus with just the four of us on it.  The border post was simple and before we new it we were driving through the Malawian countryside.  We were staying at Mobayer Camp on the edge of the small city which was by far the busiest backpackers I had come across so far.  Malawi was defiantly a tourist hot spot.  The large Lake Malawi is what entices tourists from all over the world to visit this small sandwiched in country.  Before coming here I had been led to believe that this was the poorest country on the planet but with better roads and infrastructure than Zambia I found this statement hard to swallow.  After dropping our stuff off we headed into town to withdraw some cash and get a bite to eat.  One of the reasons why I wanted to come to Malawi (apart from being told the lake was amazing and a must see and wanting to add another stamp to my passport) was because I desperately needed to purchase a tent so I could start camping which would keep my accommodation costs down.  I was unsuccessful in finding one in Lilongwe but noticed that there was a Game in the next major town of Bantyre where I maybe able to purchase one.   We headed to the main coach station which was just over the main river that parses through the capital.  Huts had been constructed on the riverbank.  Saturday must have been wash day, as many people were cleaning there clothes as well as themselves in the river.  A little further up stream we noticed that people were using the river as the public convenience.  Ever heard the term ' don't shit on your own doorstep'!  The bus station as you would expect was organised chaos but as so many things in Africa just seemed to work and you just wouldn't want it any other way as it wouldn't be Africa then.  I chap informed us that our required buses run every hour so we decided that we would not need to get up so early in the morning as first expected.   That evening we played pool and headed to a local hot spot for some drinks.  Lilongwe turned out to be a pretty dreary place when it came to partying. On Sunday I jumped on the bus to Blantyre and the others headed off to the lake.  I asked the lady sitting next to me whether Doogles backpackers was near the main bus station, as I had begun to loose faith in the Lonely Planet guide.  She said it was not but would direct me once we reached the city.  At the indicated stop she said I just needed to walk straight for about 2km until I reached my destination.  I departed the bus as informed dropping my hoodie in the process which I didn't realise until the bus was driving off.  I left the bus at about 5pm and knew it would be dark within the hour.  I had to get a hurry on as Blantyre was not a particularly safe place at night.  After an hour of walking and no sign of Doogles I began to get concerned about my situation as darkness was approaching quickly.  With my lonely planet open at the Blantyre map page in one hand and my torch in the other I started trying to ask for directions from people walking along the street.  The first person I approached and asked for help just gave me a look of disgust and continued walking away from me, the second person did exactly the same thing.  After the fourth person I was beginning to get pretty peeved off and thoroughly disliking Blantyre.  I decided the only option was to knock on a door and ask for directions.  I had been instructed that I should under no circumstance do this because it was highly dangerous but felt I had no chose.  I selected a smartly presented house, believing that the people who lived here would be less dangerous (it made sense at the time!).  I knocked on the door and a young lady in her 30's answered the door.  "Please can you help me, I'm a little lost"  I said.  "I'm trying to find this place" and held the lonely planet out in front of me so she could see the page.  The lady looked concerned and in a startled voice said "Are you bringing us the word of god?".  I looked confused for a moment then realised she had mistaken the guide as a bible, which the people in the street must have done the same.  I explained that it was a travel guide and showed her the map.  She looked at it which was promising.  Unfortunately the key on the map showed places of interest and the first was for a church.  Again she believed that it was a bible and looked uninterested in helping me.  I finally managed to convince her that I was not religious in the slightest and just needed to find Doogles backpackers.  It turned out I was miles from the place and needed to get a minibus taxi there.  By this point her entire family joined her at the door (mother, grandmother, brother and children).  With the entire family trying to give me directions in sign language because they new very little English, they decided writing down the directions for me would be easier.  I could then hand the piece of paper to the driver.  Her brother walked me to the bus rank and gave the first lot of directions to the ticket conductor.  After 20 minutes in the taxi I was told that I would need to take a second taxi.  The directions were handed to the conductor of the next mini bus and again after about 10 minutes I was informed I would need a third bus.  Finally I made it to the road that led up to the backpackers.  This road was dark but I could make out the shapes of large buses.  As I neared the backpackers I noticed the bus that I had taken from Lilongwe parked up for the evening.  It had turned out the Lonely planet guide was right for once and the backpackers was right next to the main bus station.  The backpackers had a room luckily.   After taking a shower I went to the lounge area and got chatting to some girls that were in Malawi on World Challenge.  World Challenge is a British organisation that sends collage students to different countries around the world for one month were they acclimatise to the new environment and culture of the particular country for one week. Then they carry out the challenge which is normally climbing a mountain or similar.  These girls had climbed the mountain near Blantyre. The the last part of the trip is relaxation, so they were off to the lake the following day.  I asked how much this cost them, as I already knew they were camping and self catering.  One of the girls said they had to raise three thousand pounds each.  Considering my budget per country for staying in dorms or hotel rooms and eating out was not going to exceed one thousand pounds per month, I wondered how rich the World Challenge directors must be.  These girls had come from Lytchet Minster School in Pool so guest they must have rich parents. On Monday 18th I headed to Game on the outskirts of town and purchased a two man tent for twenty six pounds and a top of the range digital camera for one hundred and eighty pounds.  Satisfied with my purchaes, I headed to the market to look for a new hoodie.  On the way a young lad approached me asking where I was going.  I said the market and he asked if he could walk with me which I obliged to.  We got chatting and I found out he was funding himself through collage, learning English, which was already good.  He said that he was looking after his two sisters as his parents had abandoned them as children.  Once at the market we walked around each of the stalls but although there were many clothes I could not find any winter items just T-shirts and shorts.  I decided to head back into town and try the shops along the main road.  The lad followed me and said that he worked at the market.  I said sorry was I holding him up and did he have to get back to work.  With that he said that he was already working.  I said sorry I did not understand. He again said he was already working and gestured for money from me.  Again I said sorry I didn't understand.  He said that he had shown me around the market and wanted paying.  A little startled by this I explained that he walked with me too and around the market so if he thought he was getting any money for that he had another thing coming.  Strangely his understanding of the English language at this point deteriorated dramatically and just said "need money for work, pay me".  Again I told him I would not give him any money as he had not done anything for me, but it made little impression.  For the next hour he followed me around town, where I purposely stayed in shops longer than planned just so he would get board and go, but with no prevail.  In the end I gave him 10 Malawian Kwacha (about 5p) to leave me alone which he did.  I found a hoddie and haggled about 9000 MK off the price as it had been a display one.  Still ended up costing me about fifteen pounds though.   In the evening at the bar of the backpackers I got chatting to some English people and telling them my guide book being mistaken for a bible story and that in the end I hadn't arrived at Doogles until late.  They asked if I got a taxi to to gate.  I explained that I had walked through the bus rank which seemed quite safe.  With a gasp they said "oh my god it's really dangerous at night!".  They went on to explain that one of there friends had had some items stolen from there room two night ago so they had gone to the police station to report it.  While waiting they got chatting to an English lad who had his arm in a sling and broses on his face.  When they enquired what had happened to him he explained that he had hitched a ride on a truck to Doogles.  The driver had called the buzzer and asked if there was any rooms available.  The security guard said there where none (the security guide didn't like the situation of a lorry driver asking for entry into the backpackers so just said there were none to get rid of him).  The lad decided to kip in the bus station as he had seen others doing the same (they turned out to be homeless people).  He was awoken my three men kicking him.  He fort them off and they only managed to get his Walkman.  A man walking past saw he was in trouble and took him to hospital.  It turned out they had broken his arm and wrist so he was given tablets to ease the pain.  The man that had brought him to the hospital sat with him at his bed and explained that he should not trust anyone so he will stay with him to make sure he's OK.  The pain killers made him very sleepy and when he awoke the man was gone with all of his stuff.  He had been robed twice in one night.  With thinking myself lucky I headed off to bed. On Tuesday I headed back to Lilongwe. The bus was late leaving so I didn't arrive till after dark.  On the journey I had been chatting to the man seated next to me who was dressed in a smart suite.  He explained that he had his own company in Lilongwe and had been visiting his family in Blantyre.  He asked where I was headed and I explained I was going to Mobayer Camp.  He asked how I was getting there and I explained that I would probably have to get a taxi as the minibuses would have stopped running by the time I reach Lilongwe.  He told me that I should be vary careful of the taxi drivers as they have been known to rob people, but he would find me a safe one.  The fact he was in a suit and had his own business I had no reason not to believe him.  At the bus station he found his friend that was a taxi driver.  He said he could take me.  The price he offered me was much greater than what I had paid previously (almost double the amount) so I said thank you but I would find a cheaper one.  With that he asked what price I was whiling to pay and I said the price I had paid previously.  Without a second thought he agreed to the new price so we headed for his taxi.  I climbed in along with the man in the suit.  He said that he would make sure I got to my destination safely.  I know the route the taxi should take so if it went any other route I would know something was up and would ask them to pull over.  The taxi followed the same route and I got to Mobayer Camp without any hassle.  I paid the agreed fair and myself and the man from the bus stepped out of the vehicle.  I shock his hand and said thank you for aiding me to get here safely.  He said it was his pleasure but could he have 1000 MK for his trouble (the taxi had already cost me 600 MK). After the money grabbers in Blantyre I was not in the mood for this so told him bluntly that he would not be getting any money from me and that I could quite of easily made my own way here.  He said that I had to pay him because it would look bad in front of the driver and that he needed money to get home.  With a firm voice I told him that if he had his own company he would be able to pay for his own taxi home and walked inside the backpackers with my bags.  He stood outside for sometime before one of the bar staff asked if he was with me.  I explained what had happened and they called security to have him removed from the premises.  His taxi had already left by this point so I can only presume that he walked home.