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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
Updated with pictures!!!!!
I’ve been holding off on posting this blog post because I was waiting for David and Britt to send some pictures. But who knows when that will happen (they’re still traveling) so I’ll just have to add them later. Unfortunately, this was going to be much clearer with pictures, but just use your imagination!
The Mayoka Challenge: Mayoka Village, a hotel in Nkhata Bay, challenges its guests to try a dugout canoe. There must be two people, they must have their legs in the boat, and they need to make it around the buoy and back without falling, on their first try. If they make it, they get a free nights stay. They aren’t allowed to practice beforehand.
It seemed easy enough. Especially when David (the Aussie) and I both gave it a go on the beach around the corner. We saw two men pulling their canoe out of the water and we asked if we could try it. They told us we could have a lesson for $20. We told them we just wanted to jump in for a minute. David went first, and was fine. I tried it next and thought, “this is way too easy.” Our mistake: trying it one at a time.
We got in the dugout canoe at Mayoka Village. It is basically a hollowed out tree trunk. We were both barely even in the boat when we tipped. We clearly weren’t going to win the challenge, but we were determined to figure out how the locals make it look so easy. We proceeded to try for the next two hours, while Britt (David’s fiance) took pictures.
We tried it with me in the front. We tried it with David in the front. We tried it with us both near the center. But no such luck. We could still each balance the canoe on our own, the problem was when there were two of us.
Keeping our legs in the boat seemed impossible. In fact, putting our legs outside the boat didn’t make it much better – we would last about 8 seconds longer before tipping. But just imagine the two of use with our arms and legs wrapped around the canoe. Clearly we wouldn’t survive living in a village along the lake with no road access.
We thought maybe we needed a bit more strategy. Instinct makes you lean the opposite way than the direction the canoe is tipping in, but maybe with us both we were overcompensating. So we decided he would lean opposite of the canoe to balance us and I would just stay upright. This strategy didn’t work either. It just meant that only one of us fell out instead of both.
After two hours, some bruises, and amusing the entire Mayoka Village staff and all the guests, we called it a day. We’ll just have to pay for accommodation and stick to boats that are more than a foot wide and not round. Perhaps one with a motor.
Updated with pictures!!!!!
David and I trying hard to balance
Balancing, but obviously can't paddle like this
David manages to hold on as I go plunging into the water
