Malawi and Busted !!!!
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Like i said 5 days turned into 6 and the time had come to go.it was sad cause i had made some awesome people and had visited an awesome place. fat monkeys in cape maclear has a really cool laidback vibe and is great for a holiday within a holiday.but alas time was ticking and the road lay ahead.
down south homeward bound was the mission but the journey was still far. this time when i left the fear was not my companion. hoorah. so for the first leg of the day i wanted to see the end of the great lake malawi or lago niassa (moz side).so again with no end in sight i went looking and along the way drove into some coves to look and some hills to see and finally reached the end of the lake. from there it turned into a river and followed that for a while. through some spectacular terrain with still lots of people everywhere. one or 2 towns later some police check points, a little fishmarket and chat with the locals and so the day went.
now i was really enjoying malawi. stopping when the time was right and riding when needed.the day passed nice and slowly as the terrain changed and the miles crawled by. only did 80 km/h general speed so you see everything. as sunset time was nearing i calculated that i will be able to reach Zomba. a pretty little town full of old colonial buildings and the remnants of an era gone by. a friend told me to pass here and check out the plato. so checked into an overpriced lodge putting up a tent. was the cheapest i could find @ $7 us. malawi is not cheap anymore. so cruised around and went to a bar and had my first walky talky (chicken heads and feet) experience. only had the walky though. was rather nice and off to bed rather early.
down south homeward bound was the mission but the journey was still far. this time when i left the fear was not my companion. hoorah. so for the first leg of the day i wanted to see the end of the great lake malawi or lago niassa (moz side).so again with no end in sight i went looking and along the way drove into some coves to look and some hills to see and finally reached the end of the lake. from there it turned into a river and followed that for a while. through some spectacular terrain with still lots of people everywhere. one or 2 towns later some police check points, a little fishmarket and chat with the locals and so the day went.
now i was really enjoying malawi. stopping when the time was right and riding when needed.the day passed nice and slowly as the terrain changed and the miles crawled by. only did 80 km/h general speed so you see everything. as sunset time was nearing i calculated that i will be able to reach Zomba. a pretty little town full of old colonial buildings and the remnants of an era gone by. a friend told me to pass here and check out the plato. so checked into an overpriced lodge putting up a tent. was the cheapest i could find @ $7 us. malawi is not cheap anymore. so cruised around and went to a bar and had my first walky talky (chicken heads and feet) experience. only had the walky though. was rather nice and off to bed rather early.
next morning i was on my way to mount mulanje but it was only less than 200km away so i thought lets go and have a look at this plato but wasn t too excited but something did pull me in that direction so i followed the road up.i thought that zomba was nice and pretty but not much more...
boy was i wrong :bueller: so early morning i go up this pretty road and into the most amazing forest almost semi tropical. big trees and green all over. up the plato and come ocross a little lake.the guards come running over and i gotta pay like R1 to park there. no worries as it is amazing. but i want some privacy in this eden so we chat i go of to see what else ie around...
boy was i wrong :bueller: so early morning i go up this pretty road and into the most amazing forest almost semi tropical. big trees and green all over. up the plato and come ocross a little lake.the guards come running over and i gotta pay like R1 to park there. no worries as it is amazing. but i want some privacy in this eden so we chat i go of to see what else ie around...
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not too much further i turn off into this little dirt track for like 150m and get to the little stream in the last pic.so i stop and just zen out in this little eden in paradice. hey so after a few tokes i cruise further to see where the roads lead.this plato is lush and green with lots of little jeep tracks and forestry roads. i pass a few hikers with their guides and am stoked that i am on the bony and just cruisen through.
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so after this i turn into a smaller path and see a silhouette of a gun and i just think ****!!! hope those dudes are cool or i am walking out. so i stop we chat and these guys are rangers patrolling the area for poachers. so the ranger with the old 3 0 3 tells me to follow his directions and i will get to the top and will be able to see down the plato.now at this stage i am freaking out at this totally cool place and cant believe my luck. this is soo much different to the dry malawi that i have passed till now, like i am in a fairytale world.feels like i had come across a gem of a place. little dirt roads and jeep track. was a little nervous cruisin with the big girl fully loaded and slightly stoned.. O0
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so now in total extacy i couldn t turn around and head off on the road again as this place was just too cool.so up i went. the road was tricky at times but i thought i would not be back soon so i went up. the fear of putting the bike on her side was there but i had to see. so at the top i was sweating a lot. got there and then turned around to see what else was there. spoke to some guys selling pretty stones near the cliff face. but stones isnt my thing and i headed down again
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but going down was a bit harder than going up. i was nervous so i stopped and took a few pics along the way and another puff. maybe that was what made me nervous :laughing4:.
nevertheless this zomba plato was another high lite for me. and to think i almost missed out on it.from town it looks like a huge hill /mountain but up there it was a little place where i had no idea what to expect and was amazed by the beauty of the forest and the feeling of adventure trying to get to the next places. next time around i think a few days bushcamping would be in order :mwink:
nevertheless this zomba plato was another high lite for me. and to think i almost missed out on it.from town it looks like a huge hill /mountain but up there it was a little place where i had no idea what to expect and was amazed by the beauty of the forest and the feeling of adventure trying to get to the next places. next time around i think a few days bushcamping would be in order :mwink:
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Pistol
Race Dog
what was supposed to be a day or 2 turned into 5 or 6 days of loving it. changed my whole outlook on malawi
Can relate to this - did the same earlier this year, and stayed there for 10 days!! Jeff and his wife really good people :thumleft:
Can relate to this - did the same earlier this year, and stayed there for 10 days!! Jeff and his wife really good people :thumleft:
hey pistol you know that fat monkeys has a cool vibe thanx to jeff and his missus. they give it that robenson crusso feel :3some:
so got into mount mulanje before dark by accident as of where to stay wasn t all to clear. stayed the nite met some cool people and chilled by the fire. next morning i decided to not go for a hike as the next destination was unclear to me and i felt that the zomba mountain experience couldn t be beat.
now as i said way before when harold was in the hospital. he did all the research and i just followed suite. so all i new was to follow the map. so every day i would try and get some info on the next day or two. but my next leg was a blank in every way possible. no one knows this area as it is not really touristy. i new that i should be out of malawi by the end of the day cause it was only 240 kms. well well only 240...
so thanx to that feeling in tune with mother africa i set off fairly early and went throught some stunning scenery. lots of tea fields and farming and the mountain on the left. next stop tyolo. then go directly south to bangalo and into mozambique. easy...
so got into mount mulanje before dark by accident as of where to stay wasn t all to clear. stayed the nite met some cool people and chilled by the fire. next morning i decided to not go for a hike as the next destination was unclear to me and i felt that the zomba mountain experience couldn t be beat.
now as i said way before when harold was in the hospital. he did all the research and i just followed suite. so all i new was to follow the map. so every day i would try and get some info on the next day or two. but my next leg was a blank in every way possible. no one knows this area as it is not really touristy. i new that i should be out of malawi by the end of the day cause it was only 240 kms. well well only 240...
so thanx to that feeling in tune with mother africa i set off fairly early and went throught some stunning scenery. lots of tea fields and farming and the mountain on the left. next stop tyolo. then go directly south to bangalo and into mozambique. easy...
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well all the way to tyolo was done really slowly as there was loads of people all over. cool scenery of peanuts and tea farming. i was in heaven and nothing could stop this cool vibe. so at tyolo i put in my last bit of fuel and got some directions to bangula. i try to leave every country with none of that currency left over so i bought some supplies from roadside stalls and had lots of chats with the local dudes. all think that i am crazy for being on my own and/or do i work for the government.and after seeing that i am a friendly ****** the next one obviously is do i have work for them in south africa or my brother/sister lives in joburg. :laughing4:
so on this road south i find the real malawi without the tourists and real friendly people that just want to see their photo on the camera. people wave and some of those chicks are pretty too. :mwink: it was really hot so halfway through i stop at a pump and suddenly i am surrounded by kids and a few adults. i spend some time there chilling out talking and taking photos. they show me how they make bricks with mud and it was a really cool time not being pestered like at the tourist holes. so i wet my gear with the pump and this sets them into stitches. i am offered a young wife but decline the nice offer due to the fact that i have no helmet for her...we say goodbye and for half a km the kids are still running after me.
now this was the malawi that i wanted to see and i was blessed to have luckily found it. thanx harold for pointing it out. so further on while cruisin on in bliss i meet a biker named richard and i ask how far. he says maybe an hour to the river. river? now i have heard something like this and he says not to worry cause there is boats and tells me the price. now i have heard about it but the SAVE river is the one that exits lake malawi if i am not mistaken...so i forget about It and cruise on. so every now and then i would stop and meet some people and enjoy the area. now i know this southern africa has been well travelled for many decades but there i felt like one of only a few to have witnessed this place. so after a while i start to drop down a slight plato to a flat expanse of land and see the water miles ahead. the kilometers travelled and the paper map and gps are not working in unison. at some stage i am in mozambique but no borders yet. so i get a slight feeling of being lost. but not to worry cause i am in africa so i know where i am. :laughing4:
the area had become more and more rural and i can feel it. i am down south in the bottom of malawi or is it mozambique. the people are not speaking portugeuse just yet so maybe it still is malawi. it is maybe 3 in the afternoon and the paths have no directional markers and i do feel rather small and lost. but i go south.
so on this road south i find the real malawi without the tourists and real friendly people that just want to see their photo on the camera. people wave and some of those chicks are pretty too. :mwink: it was really hot so halfway through i stop at a pump and suddenly i am surrounded by kids and a few adults. i spend some time there chilling out talking and taking photos. they show me how they make bricks with mud and it was a really cool time not being pestered like at the tourist holes. so i wet my gear with the pump and this sets them into stitches. i am offered a young wife but decline the nice offer due to the fact that i have no helmet for her...we say goodbye and for half a km the kids are still running after me.
now this was the malawi that i wanted to see and i was blessed to have luckily found it. thanx harold for pointing it out. so further on while cruisin on in bliss i meet a biker named richard and i ask how far. he says maybe an hour to the river. river? now i have heard something like this and he says not to worry cause there is boats and tells me the price. now i have heard about it but the SAVE river is the one that exits lake malawi if i am not mistaken...so i forget about It and cruise on. so every now and then i would stop and meet some people and enjoy the area. now i know this southern africa has been well travelled for many decades but there i felt like one of only a few to have witnessed this place. so after a while i start to drop down a slight plato to a flat expanse of land and see the water miles ahead. the kilometers travelled and the paper map and gps are not working in unison. at some stage i am in mozambique but no borders yet. so i get a slight feeling of being lost. but not to worry cause i am in africa so i know where i am. :laughing4:
the area had become more and more rural and i can feel it. i am down south in the bottom of malawi or is it mozambique. the people are not speaking portugeuse just yet so maybe it still is malawi. it is maybe 3 in the afternoon and the paths have no directional markers and i do feel rather small and lost. but i go south.
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nerves a bit high but still calm enough i get to a bridge. yeah i am there. talk to one of the okes and he tunes me moz on the right and malawi on the left. border 10kms more. cool i am on the right road and all is well. so i cross it and check some hippos and a foot path. clearly there haddent been any cars here for a while.
so a think why all this fuss about boats and **** as this bridge is still strong. must be the road that thins out or something. so i set off some more....
so a think why all this fuss about boats and **** as this bridge is still strong. must be the road that thins out or something. so i set off some more....
