MMMMMM…. Mozambique en Malawi

December: The snow and cold (and as we hear the largest traffic jam ever) have conquered Holland – Sinterklaas and Christmas are being celebrated and we are sitting in the sun beneath the palms enjoying the coconuts, mango’s and pineapples. Feels very strange… Holland feels very far away…

Mozambique was wonderful, apart from the rain on the first two days we only had sun. The beaches are like paradise and we spent most of our days relaxing on the beach and driving (the distances in Mozambique are very vast). The food in Mozambique is delicious (fresh fish, crabs, prawns, crayfish, curries, rice) and everything was very cheap after Zimbabwe.

Apart from seeming like a paradise when you’re on the beach Mozambique has been in a civil war for a very long time and is just recently recovering. Almost all people live in little huts scattered across the country without running water or electricity, the country seems to be even poorer than the others we visited. You see people (women and children) carrying jerry cans of 20 litres on their head everywhere. A lot of pieces of land are burned – probably with the intention to start agriculture, but there is nothing there yet, just burned trees or sometimes still the smoke from burning. It looks sad. But slowly the economy is growing and people are hopeful and friendly. Communication is difficult (only the basics – we get by on that fine) as people speak Portuguese. Many buildings and bridges are not being used because they got severely damaged during the civil war. Over the past years fortunately most of the left over landmines have been removed or, more sadly, detonated killing mostly cattle, though sometimes also seriously injuring or killing people.

Pic: Obama fan (?) or Americans donating their least favourite clothing to Africa?

For those knowing the topography of Mozambique; exploring the country we drove from Vilanculos in the south to Nampula, Isla de Mozambique, Nacala in the North, and back through Nampula to Gurúè and from there over muddy and bumpy roads to the Malawi border.

A former British colony, in Malawi many people speak English (next to the local language Chichewa), cars drive on the left (as in every country up to now) and people love to drink tea. The country’s landscape is dominated by its numerous hills and mountains and by the 600km long lake (Lake Malawi).

We entered Malawi from the south-east at Mulanje, where we spent three days walking in the mountains and climbing Malawi’s highest peak, Mt Sapitwa, 3001 meters. Due to Malawi’s rainy season the days are characterised by a game of the sun and dark clouds fighting each other for air time. This means climbing a rocky and muddy mountain is sometimes a bit dangerous, but we survived.

In Blantyre we visited Peter, a Dutch guy who set up his own business (Sakaramenta) two years ago building bicycle carts for the local market. The simple but solid carts are sold as ambulance or transport type and are being bought by both NGO’s (like Unicef, US Aid) and local entrepreneurs. The factory looked structured and the people showed a very positive working atmosphere. Every day all workers have lunch together; nsima (hot dry porridge) with some vegetable and small tasty fish. We joined them.

Furthermore in Blantyre (commercial centre of Malawi) we tried to repair the aircon of the car. The Malawi mechanics helping us had a very typical way of solving problems; they started repairing the very first thing they saw without examining the whole situation and planning what had to be done. Result was that after a full day at the garage and a half day of finding the right spare part (which in the end was not even the one which had to be replaced), the aircon is still not working… Welcome to Africa!

Clearly we know that the journey we are making through Africa is unique, adventurous and dangerous, something only few people manage to do… until you are actually driving the African roads and come across fellow travellers conquering the same lands. Up north from Blantyre, in Zomba, we meet two Dutchies; Olivier and Flore, travelling from Amsterdam to Cape Town planning to stay there for a few years. They are driving in more or less the same car as we do, also a Toyota Hilux running on petrol. Funny, as most people swear by driving diesel cars, but Dutch seem to be wiser, probably a heritage of our world-exploring ancestors… We spend an evening with them drinking beers and exchanging travel stories.

In the past days we have been going north along the coast of Lake Malawi, dotted with fisherman villages and nice beaches. It’s mango season, so everywhere you go you see mangos in the trees, on the ground, or being eaten by people. Therefore our diet also mainly consists of mangos now. Every day we park the car under another mango tree waiting for them to drop out (only the ripe ones fall down) – and this is not as a matter of speaking! A few nights ago a storm changed this occasional mango drop into a serious air strike on our car and the surroundings (imagine a 0,5 kg mango dropping from 7 meter height on the roof of the car while you are sleeping in it). In the morning the ground was scattered with sweet and tasty fallen mangos, so it stays on the menu for the coming days.

Furthermore, rainy season has started in Malawi, so we are heading up north for less clouds and raindrops around Christmas time.

Merry Christmas and a happy 2011!