What a great 2 nights we've had relaxing and catching up ... suprisingly in a parking lot of a backpackers place in Blantyre! I was here at Doogles on my motorbike trip in 1998; Laura & I came here (and lost $1000) in 2000; and its pretty much exactly the same now in 2009! We've climbed out of the 40 degree lowlands (northern Moz & southern Malawi) and into the cooler highlands of Blantyre - it's amazing how refreshingly cool 27 degrees can feel after 40 degrees.We've adjusted our plans for the next few weeks - instead of pushing into Tanzania & Rwanda, we'll spend more relaxed time at the lake, and in Zambia, so our rough plan is now:
- Malawi lake (Senga, Nkhata Bay) & Nyika National Park for the rest of this year
- Zambia (South Zambezi National Park & Vic Falls) till about 6 January
- Namibia (Etosha & home) for the next week
- and that leaves us with a week or two of spare days to fill in our trip as we wish! probably around the lake, but we're not sure.
If you know anyone who wants to rent the truck from us next year on a Cape Town to Nairobi holiday, please let us know - and we'll pick it up in Nairobi and do the Tanzania / Kenya / Rwanda part at that stage ... we're really stoked to be here now and very much enjoying the slower pace and the comfort & self sufficiency of our little family in the middle of where-ever we want to be! Fantastic!
There's always a story or two... we came into Malawi through a tiny border post on the southern most tip from Mozambique - a few delapidated buildings and a few "guards" sitting around waiting for the usual nothing to happen. On the Malawi side they were really friendly, but apparently didn't have the forms for a "Road Toll" and we didn't need 3rd party insurance because our normal policy has it ... we did get a Temp Import Permit (T.I.P) though. We were told we should head to the National Roads Authority in blantrye and pay the road toll - something between $50 and $100. 40km's from Blantyre we were stopped and asked for everything - road toll forms (even though at the border we were told that they can't stop us for that) T.I.P & 3rd party.
So apparently we had made 2 offences and that would cost 10 000 kwacha - and the cop wouldn't take the R500 or the $60 that we had ... so I was told to sit with him at his little booth with about another 5 guys (some military, some hangers on, I don't know!) and he kept asking me how we would sort it out .. I think he tried to see if some of the people coming through his boom would swop Rands to Kwacha, but they wouldn't. .. and in the little market there was no-one doing enough business to have 10 000 kwacha!
one military guy told me I must speak to him, a lady there said I must ask him to forgive me ... all of which I did very politely (i did have a R 50 note floating around in my hand quite a bit of the time (I realised later) so if he wanted a bribe he definately could have asked ... but he didnt. Eventually he said (after I had been sitting with him for about an hour in the 40 degree heat) "So, I think you must go" .. .and then he told me to take two young ladies with us to Blantyre while we went ... so we were paid R 500 to be a taxi I think?
In Blantyre today, looking for the NRA I went into a legal consulting company, and a smart guy said " Road Toll? What's that? we dont have a Road Toll in Malawi." and I went to the insurance company on the ground floor for the 3rd party insurance for a month, and they said: "we dont really do that".
So I don't really know the rules of the game, but we'll play anyhow - worst case it will be a 10 000 kwacha fine (of which we have sufficient) and some wasted time (of which we have a lot) and some patience (I think we've recouped enough of that!).
Lydia and some of the ladies from Sunset Beach (& surrounds) have been knitting teddy bears to give to under privileged kids, and she gave us 15 to give as needed. Today a girl (Helen) came asking for a cork screw, and she stayed for about two hours telling her story - on a mission here (from England) as an Occupational Therapist and with a passion for community based orphan care, she was telling us of the horror story of the mission she was placed with - how the waste and comfort of the leadership couple were seriously affecting the orphans that they've been entrusted with, and how their support have been turning a blind eye to everything, and how she's been trying to shine the light on their bad deeds & poor stewardship & low levels of love and dealing with huge oppression and blockages all the way! She's partnering with a local pastor in Blantyre who is currently looking after 15 orphans and they're building and doing good work ... well we thought that if someone came with the need at the right time, then we couldn't be picky, so the orphans that she's assisting with will be benefitting from cute knitted teddy bears, and they'll love them! (thanks to Lydia & her friends who have put their knuckles into these bears, and we know that God will demonstrate love & hope through them to the right children at the right time - like he supernaturally does all the time - in Malawi.
So, that's pretty much it for our regular blogging this year - it feels a bit like work, so we'll do a big update somewhere near the end of the year. Until then, have a great holiday and don't check your email or internet .... see you then! (Laura's phone is on quite a bit of the time, so you can sms her number if you need to .. we're going disconnected!)
See you in 2010.
Alex (& Laura & Kaylin & Xan)
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