Trip to Malawi. Summer 1991.

Trip to Malawi. Summer 1991.

(I started writing this from memory teusday 31 Oct 2023.)

My best friend from college Paul Slack and myself were having a two month trip to Southern Africa. We had just been in Zimbabwe staying at his uncles in Harare. We now booked a coach to Lilongwe Malawi. Mozambique was going through a civil war so we had to take a different route through Zambia. 

It was going to take over 24 hours to get to Lilongwe in Malawi. The bus travelled mainly through miles of African "bush" mainly comprised of dry grassy woodland-  acacia trees of a small to medium height with open grassy areas between. 

The occasional African village with many simple squarish concrete buildings. If they were shops they mainly had hand painted signs. The shops also often had round, red, factory-made Coca-Cola  logos ... Coke had gotten all over the world even in the 90s.

Amongst the bush were wooded rocky hills called coppies.

In the remoter areas we saw some wildlife ... Baboons at watering holes, a large Eagle perched on a dead tree , then my first ever wild elephant standing near the side of the road. 

Soon after getting the glimpse of the elephant ( the bus must have been going quite fast as I only remember getting a brief glimpse) we came to a vast escarpment below us . I realised we must have been travelling on a high plateau from Harare , or gradually going up one . Now before us and below us  was a huge vast plain of dry African woodland as far as the eye could see. This was the flat flood plain of the Zambezi which formed the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. 

I've just studied Google maps and have decided the area with the vast view must have been on the A1 road  between Makuti and the Marangora Parks office in Northern Zimbabwe. 

I don't remember much about crossing the Otto Beit bridge over the Zambezi River into Zambia. I do remember when we got to Lusaka the capital of Zambia we stopped at an African style service station. And the toilets were the worst I've ever seen in my life - the long line of toilets were each full almost to the brim with excrement . The stench  Overpowering and flies everywhere. Sorry to Zambia for such a bad advert for your country but it's true. Hopefully this have changed in the last thirty years. 

The countryside in Zambia was similar to Zimbabwe... miles of bush. It got dark outside as we continued on in the bus.. then I remember seeing long lines of what looked like fire high up in the air. I couldn't work out what it was at first but then realised we were driving below high hills and these were grass fires high up on the hills ... Perhaps farmers burning the fields to clear for the next crop or perhaps just bush fires caused by lightening who knows? 

From Lusaka we continued on through Zambia close to the Mozambique border till we got to the border of Malawi. In Malawi I seem to remember the villages along the roads became much more traditional looking ... Many round mud huts with thatch roofs. Tropical fruit trees grew in the villages, I remember seeing a fine specimen of Papaya with lots of fruit growing high up below its palmate leaves. 

Above: Traditional mud huts in Malawi.

The bus stopped at one village and we got off the bus to look at a long line of wooden carved animals, human heads and other things. I swapped a couple of carved things for a pair of socks as clothes were not as available in Malawi he was happy to swap. I also purchased for a good price a lovely ebony walking stick with carved figures going up it including a fish eagle with a fish. The walking stick is still at my parents house to this day. 

We continued on through bush and past villages until we got to Lilongwe. Lilongwe bus station was a very bustling and vibrant place, full of Malawians , the lady's dressed colourfully. 

We weren't sure whether to get accomodation for the night but the lodging near the bus station didn't look very appealing so we decided whilst it was still light to get a taxi to Paul's cousin Ros' best friend Pamelas' house. It was a tobacco farm on the edge of Lilongwe. 

It was probably only a half hour taxi driver to the farm . We turned off the road and onto the farm track which took us through trees and areas of tobacco plantation , the tobacco plants recognisable with their large elliptical leaves. I seem to remember one ot two farm workers mulling around. I also remember there seemed to be a strange oppressive spiritual atmosphere at the farm. I've often wondered if there are such things as nicotine spirits associated with the plants. I actually have a video of me breathing out tobacco smoke in a Spanish bar and when I watch it frame by frame there appears to be an ugly ghost apparition amongst the smoke with it's mouth wide open and arms outstretched! 

We arrived at the residence a large colonial  bungalow painted white with If I remember correctly porches around it. 

Mr Wallace , the owner of the farm, opened the door and we had to explain who we were ... The cousin of Ros Slack and his friend, and could we stay a night or two. Mr .... Looked slightly bemused but welcomed us in. He had a home help or butler who ushered us into the back veranda and bought us a tray of tea in a China tea pot with the best China cups! 

This afternoon tea was a welcome relief after being so long on a hot sweaty bus . I went for a walk in  the enormous back garden, it was very open with lots of large trees spaced around, some probably Eucalyptus and Acacia . A type of hawk flew past up into a tree . I couldn't say what species but it reminded me of a Goshawk in appearance with similar barring . Later note - I've just done a bit of research, it might have been an African Cuckoo-Hawk, though can't say for sure, they do however frequent gardens in East Africa. (Latin name - Aviceda cuculoides.)

I've just also discovered to my amazement that there are sixty species of bird of prey in Malawi, including several owls and the secretary bird with it's very long legs.  This is a huge number compared to the much fewer number of species in UK which is possibly larger in area . 

The next day Mr Wallace happened to be traveling to Blantyre (the capital) in the south of Malawi and offered to drop us off at the turning for monkey bay on lake Malawi.

As we travelled South-east along the M1 road I noticed a long chain of quite high, sparsely wooded, light brown mountains to the east. Looking at Google maps the average height of these peaks is 1400 to 1600 m. 

They were in fact higher than Ben Nevis but they didn't look as high.  I think the reason for that is that even the lowlands of Malawi are quite high above sea level, being so far inland from the sea. Therefore because Ben Nevis rises up from next to the sea it looks a lot larger. 

It would be fitting to describe Mr Wallace at this point in appreciation for his hospitality to us two strangers. He was an elderly, slim man with a colonial look about him , in my memory his grey-brown hair was bryll-creamed back , he was not tall and was quite kindly in manner. 

Mr. .. dropped us off at the junction for Monkey bay where we could catch a bus. The bus turned up after a while and we eventually arrived at monkey bay . We got off at some kind of cafe or bar and got a drink. We asked a local how could we get to Cape Maclear . He pointed us to a couple of African chaps they looked business like and professional, smartly dressed in white trousers and polo shirts with baseball caps. They were holding hands. I thought they might be gay , 

but then Paul explained that in many parts of Africa men hold hands in a brotherly affectionate way. 

We approached the two men , it turned out they were workers for the fisheries department. They had a smart 4 x4 car, maybe a Suzuki or Toyota . We asked if they could give us a lift to Cape Maclear and they said with a smile, of course no problem.

We sat a bit precariously in the back , (it was an open backed vehicle) and set off along the very bumpy dirt track which gently winded between high rocky brown hills , the warm tropical breeze blew in our faces.

We rounded a bend and Lake Malawi came into view ... a vast, bright blue, shimmering expanse of water reflecting the blue sky  ...  it looked like the ocean, you couldn't see the opposite side of the lake just a blue horizon. The distance from Domwe Island near Cape Maclear across to the east shore at Kadanzhe is 19.59 Miles. Standing 5ft 6 (my height) above the level of the lake the horizon is about 8 miles away due to the earth's curvature , which is why we couldn't see the opposite shore. 

 

Other statistics about the size of Lake Malawi is that its total length going in a straight line from Matema in the north to Mangochi in the south is 348.25 miles. 

The width from Khazi on the West shore to Aldeia Chiuindi on the East shore is 43.65 miles ( one of the widest points on the lake) . I took these measurements myself just now on Google earth. Google earth is an incredibly useful web tool and also quite exciting as you can explore earth from your armchair. 

We arrived at Cape Maclear on the shores of the lake and looked for accommodation. We saw a sign saying guest houses and went in the reception. The receptionist took us to some incredibly basic square concrete huts built further up the beach that were a very low price . Inside each one was just a bed and a candle !  We payed the receptionist and dumped off our rucksacks inside. 

I went for a quite walk along the Lakeshore until I came to a place on the local map called Otter point. 

Otter point was a promontory of rocks jutting out from the sandy beach North of Cape Maclear. I was amazed when I stood and looked out at the lake to see two otters swimming ten or twenty yards out. I had no idea that otters existed in Africa I thought the name otter point was named by European colonialists in memory of the otters  back in Europe. 

Above: Spotted-neck Otter.

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I found this info online ... 

Otters and Gillnet Fishing in Lake Malawi National Park

By Lance Smith

Lake Malawi National Park, P.O. Box 48, Monkey Bay, Malawi

Abstract: At the south end of Lake Malawi, the small national park is home to Spotted-necked and Cape clawless otters. The park contains five enclaved villages that depend on gillnet and longline fishing for their livelihood. The author surveyed the fishermen of Chembe village for fishing methods, gear and problems with animals. Theft of fish from nets by otters was complained of, but there were no reports of otters drowning in gillnets. The author intends to extend his survey to the other four villages in Lake Malawi National Park.

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Above: Cape Clawless Otter.

I headed back to join Paul at the huts . Two young African boys about 10 or 12 years old approached us and asked if we would like them to cook dinner for us for a very good price. They made a small fire on the sandy beach and cooked a couple of Chambo a Malawi fish ( a type of cichlid, Latin name Oreochromis lidole ) , boiled some rice and a couple of tomatoes also boiled. The al fresco meal on the beach was delicious, especially eaten in the open air and with the  freshest of ingredients. 

We slept well that night in the concrete huts. The next morning the same lads ( I think it was the same lads though it's hard to remember)  asked if we would like a boat trip to Thumbi island . I was impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit of the boys. Thumbi island was probably half a mile from the shore, it was a densely wooded hill emerging from the lake. Around it was an underwater nature reserve for the many species of Cichlid fish found in lake Malawi. I discovered that different parts of the vast lake had different species of Cichlid and that apparently some of these from other parts of the lake had been imported all the way south to Thumbi.

I was very keen to see these cichlids as I worked in an aquarium shop in Woking where we sold some of these Malawi cichlids. 

The boys lead us to a rather precarious looking dug out log boat on the beach and the four of us got in. Me and Paul looked at each other apprehensively the island looked quite far out , the water was a little choppy and the log boat seemed quite small and easy to overturn ! 

We set out across the lake, the two boys paddling, one on the front and one at the back if I remember rightly. The warm tropical water from the moving oars splashed us and the sun beat down.

After maybe 15 minutes we arrived at the island with no misshaps . I don't remember whether the boys dropped us off and headed back or whether they stayed in the island. The first thing we did was don our snorkel and masks along with a disposable waterproof camera. Then me and Paul jumped in the warm water and started exploring around the many submerged boulders. 

It was stunning … a myriad of small brightly colored Malawi cichlids swam around us , many different species. The commonest colour was bright blue, many species of Malawi cichlids are blue,  but there was a lot of  the striped gold and brown cichlids called .. and also a lot of duller cichlids in various shades of brown. 

Deeper out I spotted a number of conical nests in the sand, like little mini volcanoes made of sand, each one guarded by a larger, deeper bodied species of Cichlid which I might find the name of if I research - - - - -

We got out the lake and dried ourself off on the island.

I had also brought my little telescopic fishing rod. I'm not sure whether I used a lure or some kind of small bait , maybe bread, but I caught one or two little cichlids , studied them in my hand and quickly released them. 

Next we trekked up through the small trees to the summit of Thumbi island . It was very hot, I was just in shorts , no shirt. At the summit I saw a hollow tree I looked inside and found the shed skin of a large tarantula! 

Paul took a photo of me standing at the summit and behind me in good focus is an African fish eagle soaring in the sky. It's one of my favourite photos ever . 

The boys rowed us back to the mainland and cooked us Chambo fish , rice and tomatoes again. Then one of the boys pinched some wooden fish pendants I had bought out of my hands.. It was a bit of fun  he wanted me to chase him around the beach to get them back but even though I was still young myself, 21, he was too nimble for me and it gave up, out of breath. He gave them back in the end.It  was maybe that evening that I took some beautiful photos of the beach one of which is at the beginning of the article. Below are two more... 

Next morning some men approached us asking if we wanted to go and feed the Fish eagles. We set off in a fishing boat (rather than a dugout canoe!) to the other island , Limbi island I think. There was only a narrow gap between the mainland and the island . We went through the gap and the men made a load noise to alert the eagles. One was waiting on top of a tree on the mainland. The mainland was forested and hilly here .

The men threw a fish out onto the water and the eagle swooped down majestically and grabbed the fish with it's talons. I got three photos of it grabbing the fish with my SLR camera.

Below is the three weird video clips I took of a nicotine spirit when I was at a bar in Spain , mentioned earlier in the text.