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I spent the last few months backpacking on my own around East and Southern Africa. While I’ve taken a few other trips this past year, this is a summary of the last two and a half months.
I visited the following countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa.
Top 5 of my backpacking trip:
- Mt. Kilimanjaro and safari, Tanzania (Kili posts)
- Tofo and whalesharks, Mozambique
- Purim with the Abayudaya Jews, Uganda
- Rafting at the source of the nile in Jinja, Uganda
- The Ilala down Lake Malawi, Malawi
Approximate number of hours I spent on buses: 178 hours or 7.4 days or 10680 minutes. I have a feeling this is largely underestimated because I only added up the long bus rides from one destination to the next but not when I just moved around a place.
Favorite countries: Rwanda and Mozambique
Place I stayed the longest: Tofo, Mozambique
Longest bus ride: Nairobi to Kampala (~14 hours)
Most expensive activity: gorilla trekking in Rwanda
Worst hostel I stayed at: Doogles in Blantyre, Malawi
Best hostel I stayed at: Chimp-trekking lodge in Budongo, Uganda
Best beer: Kilimanjaro (500 ml) made in Tanzania
Only country with no international ATMs: Rwanda
Biggest avocados: Malawi
Country with least infrastructure: Mozambique
Best climate: Rwanda
Longest stretch I went without showering: 3 days
Most vicious mosquitos: Mozambique
Most unreliable guidebook: Lonely Planet
Safest capitol: Kigali, Rwanda
Most memorable meal: Macaroni and cheese (that I made)
Mom, if you are reading this just stop now. Marijana, you probably should too. Everyone else, I’m going to have to censor this story so that my parents don’t take my passport away to prevent me from traveling. If you want the whole story, shoot me an email. With that being said, I am a careful traveler but in Africa you don’t always have great options.
After leaving Blantyre early in the morning, I made it across the border to Tete, a town in Northern Mozambique by around 3:30pm. It was hot as hell but at least it wasn’t raining. I walked around for two hours with my bags in search of a hotel. I couldn’t find one; everything was full. Buses in Mozambique leave in the early hours of the morning, and my bus to Chimoio was scheduled to leave at 4am. I quickly learned that many people sleep the whole night on the bus, so it wasn’t a huge problem that I couldn’t find a hotel room.
There was a big bus (departs 4am) and a minibus (departs 4:30am). I wanted to take the minibus because it looked like it was in better condition. But then EVERYONE got on the big bus and I wasn’t about to stay at the bus station on my own. And someone told me the minibus wasn’t going that day, which I think was a lie. I got on the big bus and we made it about an hour out of Tete before it broke down. After 3 hours of sitting there, I think (from my limited Portuguese via Spanish that gets confused with Swahili) that the bus was going to return to Tete and they were going to try to find a new bus. I definitely didn’t want to go back to the place I couldn’t find accommodation!
A truck pulled up en route to Beira, which would pass my destination. While hitchhiking is against one of my “traveling by myself as a single female” rules, I didn’t seem to have too many options. Hitching is very common among locals in Mozambique because there is really only one main road and the buses only service main towns and not the villages along the way. I saw an African woman and her two kids climb into the truck, so I went over and asked them for a ride. They asked for $10 and I didn’t even try to negotiate. I figured I should just cut my losses and get moving. I nervously climbed into the truck and off we went. I was sitting on the mattress (where the driver sleeps) with the other woman and her two kids, envisioning all the worst possible scenarios. Then we picked up a few more hitchhikers and I came to terms with these guys just trying to make an extra buck. I mean, they seemed nice enough, the music was good, and it was way more comfortable than the bus. They knew I spoke no Portuguese so when we stopped, one of them bought me a soda.
The road, or lack thereof, was awful. Most of the road wasn’t even paved, and to think this is the only main road in Mozambique that runs north-south?! After about 10 hours, they dropped me at my destination. I was happy I made it to Chimoio THAT DAY before dark, and I even knew where to stay (per the recommendation of a traveler I met in Malawi)!
I knew this part of Mozambique would be difficult in terms of transport because it is really off the beaten path. Yet I made it to Chimoio safely (no accident this time) and it was all part of the adventure! At the least, it’s situations like these that give me good blog material. So luckily or unluckily, my transportation woes weren’t over just yet. More to come…
A map of Mozambique to show the route I covered
After a few relaxing days in Nkhata Bay, I decided to head to Lilongwe, the capitol of Malawi. I probably could have spent another day in Nkhata Bay (figuring out how to balance on a dugout canoe), but a South African offered me a free ride to Lilongwe. As any broke backpacker knows, this is too good an offer to turn down! The Aussies came along as well. We stayed in Lilongwe for two days at a backpackers called Mufasa. It had awesome HOT showers and a self-catering kitchen, so David, Britt and I got our fill of home-cooked meals.
David, Britt and me eating one of our delicious home-cooked meals
Backpackers in Africa often do more or less the same route in one direction or the other. But there are a few points where the route splits. Lilongwe is one of them; some people go down through Mozambique and others go through Zambia to Vic Falls. After five days with the Aussies, we bid our farewells and got on separate buses. Mine went to Blantyre, a big city in the south of Malawi, while they headed towards Vic Falls.
I arrived in Blantyre in the afternoon and it started to rain. My plan was to go to Mt. Mulanje and spend a day or two hiking the mountain. It was no Kilimanjaro but I was told it was a beautiful hike. The next morning it was still pouring in Blantyre, but I figured I would go to Mt. Mulanje anyway because it was 80km away and it might not be raining there. When I got there 3 hours later, it was pouring and I was told that no one was allowed up the mountain because of the heavy rains. It didn’t seem worth waiting it out a day so I jumped a bus back to Blantyre.
When I got to Blantyre it was still raining. I went to a hotel and dropped my wet bag (really need to buy the rain cover for my backpack), and then went out to find some food for dinner. Despite my umbrella I was soaked within five minutes. I bought some 2-minute noodles (a traveler’s favorite) and headed back to the hotel to stay dry and warm.
The next morning it was still raining. How miserable! I’d had enough of this rainy weather so it seemed like the perfect time to head to the border and cross into Mozambique.
Nkhata Bay
