Malawi and Tanzania: Cape Maclear, Livingstonia, and Dar es Salaam

After an arduous bordering crossing which involved some cutthroat negotiations with the local money changers, we entered Malawi. As this was my second time in the country and we would have to follow the same lakeside route up into Tanzania as we had coming down, we decided to spend more time at Cape Maclear where I had not yet been. Cape Mac - as it’s sometimes called – is a small resort town that’s grown out of a quiet village beside a large bay at the southern tip of Lake Malawi. The beautiful lake views are enhanced in the evening by amazing sunsets overhead, a rare treat in Malawi where most of the lakeside faces east instead of west.

We spent three nights at Cape Maclear, going on a boat tour and hanging out at the local bars and hostels, some with comical names like “The Funky Cichlid,” a type of fish found in the lake. The boat tour, led by “Captain Flamingo,” was a particular highlight, involving cliff jumping, competing in a swim race with local schoolchildren, and having a great fish curry for lunch. In contrast to the trips we took in Mozambique, this one was much more professional, likely because the guides have organized into a local association that regulates guiding quality and prices. That said we were a little less impressed with the town itself, our experience dampened by the rubbish lining the lake bottom and the army of very loud British backpackers who had overrun the place. It reminded us of how little-travelled Mozambique was in comparison and convinced us to move on towards more secluded parts of the lake.

We spent the next two days driving up the entire length of the lake to Livingstonia, the small town perched high up on a hill, which I had been so struck by on the drive down. I didn’t want my friends to miss it so we set up camp at Lukwe Permaculture Farm this time, another camp with a stunning view down into the valley below. Denis, Rose and Yann went to check out the waterfall and then we met up in Livingstonia itself, a few kilometres up the road. The town is very quiet and unassuming – not much to write home about – but the peaceful countryside surroundings make for a great hike.

From Livingstonia we crossed into Tanzania and then drove straight to Dar es Salaam, where Yann and Rose caught a flight to Arusha where they started a safari in the major parks in northern Tanzania. The two-day drive was long and mostly uneventful, with the exception of the section of road that crosses straight through Mikumi National Park. Within a few kilometres we spotted elephants, giraffes, and wildebeest from the car and even had to stop for an elephant with her baby to cross the road. It was a far cry from Gorongosa Park in Mozambique, where even after driving around remote corners of the park for hours we didn’t see any big animals! Tanzania is truly blessed in this regard.

I had never been to Dar before and found it really fun. I always saw it as Nairobi’s twin, seeing as Kenya and Tanzania often come “as a package” but in reality it has a very distinctive feel to it. Even though the beaches in the area don’t compare to those in nearby Zanzibar, the ocean breeze refreshes the city air and seems to add to its very relaxed atmosphere. It’s certainly a lot more low-key than Nairobi despite being of similar size, and the density of con-men also felt much lower :)

We spent a couple of days in Dar and it surrounds. Denis spent the first on Zanzibar, which is two hours away by high-speed ferry, while I caught up on some admin and reading. The next day we did a cycle trip of the city, which we initially thought would take us through the center but ended up focusing mainly on the slums and middle-class suburbs. Despite all the pitfalls of  “poverty tourism,” the tour gave us a fascinating glimpse into a large part of the city we would not have been able to easily access, let alone understand without Filo, our local guide. For example, we went to a local “cinema,” i.e., a small room packed with wooden benches facing a screen showing a pirated film dubbed in Swahili. But this was no ordinary dubbing – the voice-over was enthusiastically narrated by a “video jockey” (VJ) who would add his own commentary while fading the movie sound in and out. We learned that Swahili VJs from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have become famous in their own right and their narrations are sought after in local cinemas!

From Dar we headed straight for Nairobi so Denis could catch his flight home. This was another long, two-day drive, punctuated only by beautiful views of the snowy peak of Mt Kilimanjaro and the ever-present Tanzanian police zealously enforcing the speed limit. Fortunately, the officers were as forgiving as they were frequent so I emerged with an unblemished record: 0 fines paid despite being stopped 9 times for minor traffic offences (usually speeding). The only casualty was a 20 South African rand note at the last checkpoint, where the officer found Madiba’s portrait too tempting to resist.

As we crossed the border back into Kenya and sped towards Nairobi on the 100^th day of the trip, the magnitude of the undertaking began to sink in. 22,800 kilometers, 8 countries, with 16 companions joining or leaving at 13 different locations along the way. What seemed unimaginable at the start was now coming to a successful end, with so many open questions answered along the way – what would Mozambique be like? would we get car-jacked in South Africa? would anyone get malaria? But our musings were abruptly cut short by heavy rush-hour traffic coming into Nairobi, reminding us that we were re-entering “the real world.”

Time to sell the Green Matatu and reflect on all I’ve seen and done these past three months!