Day 9 started early as we had a long way to travel today (all the way to Lilongwe), which included a border and crossing the mighty Zambezi at Tete. It took everyone a bit of time to get going as it was so hot in the night and we wasted time by exchanging stories of how we couldn’t sleep. The most amusing being from Dani who woke up in the middle of the night and thinking we were getting up soon, he decided to open Adam and his tent to let some cool air in. Unfortunately it was no where near morning so Dani and Adam proceeded to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. A morning at our camp site is a unique experience, it mostly involves the men wondering around grunting while the either collapsing a tent or pack the car (shoving bags into any conceivable space), and the girls (mostly Nicky) skipping around happily looking forward to the day. Darryn usually took his customary picture of any Baobab he saw (I think he’s up to 481 cataloged and counting…). After one or two dirty comments and some laughter it was time to leave. Everyone mounted up as the clock struck 6:07am.
The drive to Tete was fairly uneventful. I think most people was dreading what lay before us at Tete. Tete lies on the banks of the Zambezi and there is a single bridge that is under construction that you have to cross. It is rumored that trucks take 3 days to cross this bridge. We were told that on the hour the traffic moves in the opposite direction and on the half hour our side would be allowed to cross. We arrived in Tete just after 8, filled our tanks and checked our tyre pressures and headed down the 4Km line of trucks towards the bridge. We were told to drive round the outside to the trucks and get as close to the bridge as possible. Now Isuzu are renowned for their offroad ability as well as their comfort in the city, but on this occasion we did a bit of suburban 4x4ing. In rounding the trucks we managed to use 4×4 high range, 4×4 low range as well as using the diff lock to join the queue or cars as they started letting our side across the bridge. Our awesome Isuzu’s had managed to expertly got us across the bridge at Tete in less than 20minutes, even though it may have been by unconventional means. But the power of the our bakkies left a smile on our faces.
The trip to the border was pretty easy, but most of our thoughts turned to the daunting task of crossing a border. A border which I think Charlotte was dreading the most. Our favourite Barbie had managed to leave her passport in Casa misika. So clutching her letter from the Mozambique police we headed into immigration. If it was not for Charlotte this border would have been a breeze. Although you have to fill out your details about 50 times, it was a simple process. Charlotte’s border crossing on the other hand involved walking back and forth between Mozambique and Malawi, using Luca as an interpreter to get the right documents to get the necessary stamp to enter Malawi. After much walking, the Malawi border folded and let our infamous Barbie into their country.
Charlotte’s entry into Malawi had one condition though, we had to get a letter from the South African High Commission in Lilongwe by 16:30 and it was now 15:15. So we raced off towards Lilongwe amazed at the landscape of Malawi. The dry flat plains of Mozambique had given way to green mountains in Malawi. Malawi also greeted our arrival with a thunderstorm, which didn’t aid in our progress towards Lilongwe.
Now you might not take much away from this blog but here is some advice, if you are on a deadline of 16:30 do not make it in a capital city of an African city on Friday afternoon. Lilongwe was in near gridlock, with cars pretty much coming from anywhere and pushing their cars into any gap imaginable. So at 16:20 with rain falling and us no where near the South African High Commission, Luca and Charlotte took off running through the streets of Lilongwe. Around this point, the road rage of Adam had reached his peak and he lost it. Not Adam’s finest hour. We managed to calm him down by feeding him Provitas and cheese.
Luca and Charlotte had missed the deadline but manages to use a phone in a random shop to get the contact details of person that could help Charlotte out with the passport dilemma. We found our over night accommodation, a backpackers near the Lilongwe Golf Course, easily and checked in. Nicky and Charlotte in a two bed room, Darryn, Gareth, Adam and Dan in a four bed room and James and Luca rooming with a serial killer look-a-like in another 4 bed room. The backpackers had a great relaxed vibe and we settle into the environment with a few drinks. With the long journey, most of us were longing for a bed. So after dinner, a few rounds of drinks and some conversations with interesting characters, we found ourselves in bed, discussing how long ago the sheets were washed as we fell asleep.
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