Malawi Catch Up

Throughout our time in Malawi, our internet connection has been close to nonexistent. Here’s a summary of our activities for the last 3 days since we’ve entered the country.

Day 58 - We woke up at 4am in our Tanzanian campground to begin our longest driving day yet. We “pitched off” our tents and ate eggs on toast for breakfast. We were on the road long before the first call to prayer. The morning was fairly uneventful until about 11:30am when a window in our truck spontaneously exploded. We pulled over to try to cover the open window with garbage bags and packing tape while local kids took pictures and laughed. However, the repairs didn’t last long once we hit the road due to the wind. We stopped at a gas station for lunch and our driver, Dan, pulled out a spare window to replace the shattered one. As we ate our sandwiches, kids gathered to watch us and wave. A money exchanger guy joined us since we were close to the Malawi border. Then, the local police pulled up in an unmarked car with no uniforms and all of the kids scattered as the money guy dropped a huge stack of cash and ran. We were slightly worried but it turns out the police just wanted to shake down the money guy for a bribe and then let him go. We packed up the truck and drove 10 minutes to the Tanzania-Malawi border where it took 3 hours to get through customs on both sides even though we were the only group there. We don’t think that the Malawi office had a single computer. Once in Malawi, we drove a few more hours until the sun had set and we arrived at our campground. We set up tents in the dark and there were thousands of small bugs swarming the lights in the campground which almost made eating our dinner of fried fish and mashed potatoes impossible.

Day 59 - After such a long drive day yesterday, we were not excited to have another day of driving today, although we got to sleep in. Our chef, Emmanuel, made veggie omelettes for breakfast and we packed sandwiches for lunch on the road. For the first few hours of the drive, my siblings and I played card games with an Australian guy from our group named Rob. We played palace, hearts, and Alastair taught us euchre. At lunchtime, we stopped at a mall so that Emmanuel could restock foods. The 6 of us grabbed some drinks and cookies from the grocery store and then ate lunch together on the truck while we waited. I spent the afternoon drive chatting and laughing with my sisters. In no time, we arrived at the Kande Beach campsite next to Lake Malawi. We were disappointed to find that there was no Wi-Fi AND no service but it led to the chance for more quality time as a family in the end. Mom, Dagny, and I all took showers but both of them got good water pressure and warm water while I got neither. Dagny and I borrowed tubs to hand-wash some laundry and then the 4 of us played foosball with dad. At 7pm, we had dinner which was a traditional East African dish called ugali which was served with mixed veggies, beef on the bone, corn on the cob, and spinach. We ate dinner without utensils since you have to knead the ugali by hand. 

Day 60 - As much as I would have loved to sleep in today, I was up with the chirping birds at 6am. Dad and I spent some time wandering the campground and then mom and I played smashball as we waited for breakfast. We invited Michael, our guide, to play and he got so into it that he dove for the ball, rolling on the ground, accidentally snapping the handle off of the paddle. We had Nutella crepes for breakfast and then most of our group decided to go on a walking tour of the village surrounding our campground. We visited the Tonga tribe of the Mbamba village and it was incredible. We learned about casava cultivation and how it is pounded into casava flour by the older women of the village. We learned about the brick making process which starts with a communal mud pit. We learned about the school system, community values, and lifestyle of the Tonga people. Our favorite part of the tour was the people that we met. As soon as we left the gate of our campground with our local guides, Robert and “Sweet Banana,” we were greeted by a bunch of local artists in an experience which I can describe best as sorority rush adjacent. When Robert wasn’t teaching the whole group about the village, we were  each walking with a different artist and they all had adopted nicknames: Sugar Spice, Baby Giraffe, Mr. Flavor, etc. Lots of little kids joined our group and wanted to hold hands with us as we walked. At the end of our tour, the artists taught us how to play Bao, a local board game, and all 6 of us worked on our negotiation skills to purchase something. Magnolia got a carving of two giraffes, Dagny and I both got Bao boards, Alastair got a carving of an elephant, Dad commissioned a canvas painting of Africa with all of the destinations from our trip and the McLains on the Road logo, and Mom commissioned a new set of personalized smashball paddles. We were all very impressed with the quality of the paddles and had a great time teaching our new friends how to play. We had spaghetti for lunch and then the 4 of us spent some time at the beach with mom while dad smoked a cigar. We played some smashball, foosball, and pool before we had delicious steaks and french fries for dinner. We’re going to bed at 8pm because we have an early start tomorrow morning.

-Adelaide