Malawi to Mbeya, Tanzania.

Saturday 7^th March

Livingstonia to Mbeya; 

When we got up at about 7.30, Genesis was still there. He was so grateful for the medicine and was feeling completely cured. Never mind Dr Livingstone, what about Dr's Purnell & Muldoon! 

We prepared our own breakfast, Weetabix & Tea. We departed Stone House at 9.45 am. Before we left, we visited the museum which is also part of Stone House, where we stayed last night. 

Livingstonia Museum

In the exhibitions, the museum has depicted the life of the great missionary explorer, Dr David Livingstone, from Scotland. The museum and mission were established as a result of the successful work by another Scot, Dr Robert Laws and other missionaries of the Livingstonia Synod. It also houses a wonderful collection of Malawian butterflies.

Dr &  Mrs Laws lived in Stone House and today, many personal items that were used by them are on display. Other items, such as beds, dining room table and chairs, wardrobes, cupboards, mirrors etc. are still in use now, so one really feels part of the history, staying in the house.

As we left the mission, we drove through Livingstonia village, with Victorian houses over 100 years old. It is quite a spectacle in the African bush.

Livingstonia

It took over 2 hours to descend from there, due to the bad road. 

Keep right!

View from Livingstonia down to Lake Malawi

We did stop for a coffee at The Mushroom Farm, a small backpackers & chalet area, about half way down. It is run by Mick, from Melbourne Australia. We also met lots of the local kids on the way down the mountain.

Livingstonia school kids we met on the road down.

The narrow twisty road from Livingstonia

Rejoining the main road towards Kaporo at the top of the lake, we were grateful to get back on tar. We stopped at Ngara Beach Resort for a light lunch of Tilapia fish, from the lake.

Ngara Beach Resort

We turned inland at Kaporo and bade farewell to the lake, on schedule as we’d predicted, on Saturday. Next stop was the Tanzanian border post. 



Border formalities were very straightforward, exiting Malawi & entering Tanzania. I was a bit horrified to get hit with a $100 visa fee for my Irish citizenship, it used to be free until recently. John only paid $50. Tit for Tat comes to mind because Ireland now charges Tanzanians $100 for a visa application. Never mind, I got into Zambia free! Once we’d cleared all formalities, all we had to do now was obtain insurance. If ever I was in the presence of someone dodgy, I was now. He wanted US$125 for Tanzanian 30 day cover. There was no scale of charges to be seen anywhere and he was the only kiosk selling insurance. 

To buy the Comesa card, valid for most African countries was $200 and this would mean we didn’t have to buy any more road insurance for the rest of our trip. I got him down to $150 for the Comesa, but wasn’t sure whether it’s truly legal. He wasn’t recording my information anywhere although he was giving me the official Comesa card and I also got to give me a proper stamped receipt from the named Insurance company. Although that form was in triplicate, he only wrote out the top copy. Dodgy for sure, but when we’re asked for our insurance, we have all the documentation to show. I’ll probably go to head office in Dar Es Salaam to verify it’s all ok.

Mbeya

Tanzania: Having taken quite some time to sort out the insurance, we’re now on our way to Mbeya. It’s 180 kms distant and here we go again, we’re not likely to make it before dark. These are long days for us and I’m back in the driving seat for the whole day today. It’s very mountainous terrain and really quite beautiful. Initially, after the huge numbers of people walking and cycling on the roads in Malawi, we thought Tanzania seemed free of that. 

Wrong!! An hour later the whole country is out walking, others are pushing or pulling carts, the sort donkeys normally pull. Although it’s dusk now, nobody will turn their lights on in their vehicles. We’ve only 60 kms to go though. We’ve got 40 litres of diesel in two jerry cans on the roof rack, the fuel reserve light is about to come on and we’re still 60 kms from Mbeya. 

No worries, I reckon Dusty is good for it. It’s now completely dark & people are still out walking, in huge numbers. Cars & trucks are reluctantly turning on their lights as it gets dark. We keep ours on all day. This is when it gets really scary, because the country folk seem to have no idea just how vulnerable they are walking in the dark, dressed in the dark, and in a completely dark countryside, often walking in the middle of the road. It's why the golden rule in Africa is 'Don't drive at night'. Well here we are, yet another night drive. We've been getting caught out too much like this. Not far to go though.

Fuel reserve light has been on for ages now and gauge is at the bottom of the red with 40 kms to go. We’re on the downhill stretch from the mountain now, very twisty. Then, suddenly, around a bend, there is a traffic accident. It was carnage and probably happened within the previous 15-20 minutes. There was no sign of any emergency vehicle. Sadly, there were bodies lying on the road that had obviously been thrown out of an open back vehicle which had hit a lorry and careered off the road. It was not a nice scene and a quiet prayer was said. As we waited to negotiate a way through, a Land Rover appeared with the name 'Operations Control' on the front. We let him cross in front of us to access the site where the vehicle had gone down a slope. Never saw any sign of any ambulance/medical help coming in the opposite direction as we continued to town.

Mbeya Peak.

We carried on to Mbeya and the town was really busy. Trucks, buses, taxis, people, were on the road. We found a bank with an ATM and a short distance further, a filling station. Newly flush with da shillings, we filled Dusty to the brim. It took 83 litres so that meant we had about 5 or 6 litres left when we hit town (89 litre tank). Now we needed to concentrate on finding a place to stay. It would appear in Mbeya that hotels turn off all their outside lights at night, just in case they might attract some custom. Whenever we stopped outside someplace that looked like a hotel, we couldn’t see a sign. Eventually, thanks to our GPS system, Tracks4Africa, we arrived at the Mbeya Peak hotel. Yes it was at least 50 feet higher than anything else in town. It had secure parking and when we enquired at reception, we were given the price. 

Mbeya Peak Hotel

Having inspected the rooms, we knew we didn’t have much choice but to take one although I did ask if I could have one with a toilet seat, as the first one just had the toilet, & no seat!

I just hate the touch of cold ceramic. I got my wish but I also got a wet room, African style. That meant that the bathroom floor was tiled with the shiniest slippery tiles they could find and the shower spilled over it all. But, I have a toilet seat. The floor turned into a skating rink when I had a shower so a lot of caution was called for. No more sprains or strains for me. I also used my own sheet & pillow, plus of course my own towel. John did exactly the same.

Having struck a deal with the night manager for about $20 each, including breakfast, we headed out for dinner. The town was starting to shut down but we found the New Apricot Restaurant, a rather old place in the centre of town. It was Muslim owned so no alcohol. Fried chicken & rice plus a couple of beers saw us heading back to our pad for a good sleep. So, where did the beers come from? Well, the owner offered to go out & buy them for us. Very decent of him. He obviously saw that we were in need of them.