Tanzania to Malawi

Saturday 27th June: Tanzania into Malawi.

 

We didn’t leave Mbeya until midday as we had to shop for provisions as well as trying to find an internet café that worked. When we did, it was in a hotel on the outskirts of town and the owner was really helpful. It was too slow to connect the laptop so I just did a quick manual update. It was a leisurely 2 hour drive to the border and the roads were quiet, although potholed in places. It was amazing to be driving on tarmac again. It was so quiet, we felt like we were riding in a Rolls Royce.

The exit from Tanzania was very smooth. This was the border post where John & I entered Tanzania on the 7th March. Back then, I bought the Comesa Insurance cover at a little hut just after we exited from customs, which would cover us for the rest of the trip. You may remember that I had my doubts about the authenticity of it at the time. I just felt a niggling doubt about the shady characters selling it to me.

Well, today that little hut is selling wooden carvings and when we crossed into Malawi I was approached by another person selling insurance. I told him I already had one & showed him my Comesa. He said they sell fake ones on the other side so I still don’t know whether it’s real or not. However, it’s good enough to show to a policeman and I’ve backed it up with extra paperwork I made them give me at the time.

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We exchanged out Tanzanian shillings for Malawian Kwachas with one of the numerous money changers at the border. What is important is to know the exchange rate in advance, so I would always check online before entering a country. They just walk up to you with wads of cash and you do the deal sitting in your car seat. There is of course a bit of negotiation involved. We then headed for the lake, with the intention of staying the night at the northern town of Karonga.
 

The hotels were unpleasant as well as being grossly over priced. The town was quite dirty with litter all around and it was not a welcome start to our first night in Malawi. We decided to push on because we knew this was not indicative of the country we'd passed through a few months ago.
 

We made it to the Sangilo Sanctuary, a small lakeside establishment, at 5.45. It was starting to get dark so it was hopefully going to meet our needs or we’d be back on the road, in the dark. Thankfully, it was. Mark from the UK was the owner and he had  rooms for us.

 

John & I took rooms either side of the communal facilities which were only a few steps away. We quickly ordered cold beers followed by dinner, which was very tasty. We were off to bed by 10pm & agreed to meet at 9 in the morning for breakfast.