Beards & Mushrooms

Hello all,

There were two guys sitting nearby me but not speaking, both had odd looking beards. In fact, they rather reminded me of gnomes. Then a third came up to tell them dinner was ready (with beard). The combination of beards and accent - I had to ask! "Are you in a competition to grow the longest beard whilst travelling?" Almost but no cigar. The four kiwis have known each other since birth and grew up in a town not far from Tauranga where I lived in NZ. It was like a slice of home (one of my homes!)

I next bumped into them in a beach camp about a days drive up the coast. We walked up the mountain together. Our hosts informed us that guides were neceessary but we set off regardless only to pick up 5 children who were all vaguely related. They set quite a pace which I struggled with. Somewere along the way I changed from sister to mama (because I couldn't keep up?!) and was told to lead the group by the eldest kid who was 13 or so. A cocky but friendly kid. Iwas befriended by a boy of 11 called Smoko (his real name was Weedy - not sure which is better but he didn't appear to like either much!) It was an interesting day if scenically not very rewarding. We bought the kids lunch at a local restaurant and played various games to pass the time as conversation was stilted. Try teaching whizz bang in a foreign language!

The boys went back down the mountain but I stayed a couple of nights at the mushroom farm with the two Israelis from the islands. My campsite was awesome, right on the edge of the cliff face. I wanted to have my tent facing the cliff edge, but they wouldn't let me in case I fell off if I climbed out at night. Instead it faced the sunrise. It was so warm that I left the flaps open and woke up to see a pink sky. All I had to do was raise my head to watch the sun came up over the valley. Beautiful. Here I also met the enigmatic Mick, the Aussie owner of the Mushroom Farm who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet but whose life seems beset by problems - the surveryors aren't happy, the carpenter has quit. I saw Mick a few times as his car broke down and he ended up crashing at Chitimba Beach camp where I chilled for almost a week. Every day he would fix the problem from the day before only to have a new one start! His car's probably still there!

Another bonus of the mushroom farm was the food. All vegetarian and some of the best food I'd had in Malawi. The Israeli's made humous one night. What joy! In Africa, food means alot. People might not be starving everywhere (at least around here), but the variety is often limited. Coming back into mozambique I was given a sharp reminder of the vegetable status when trying to find dinner in a small town - basically, there aren't any....

On the way back down from the mountain I bumped into 3 of the kids who eagerly followed me back to the camp in the hope of more money. In the end I gave them 100 kwatcha (about 40p). They were so thrilled that they jumped and skipped back down the road. As their families knew the kids had taken us up, I guessed that any money the kiwi's had given them was handed over. This money, however, no-one else knew about ; )

Chitimba Beach Camp is legendary on the overland truck trip and there were between 2 and 4 in every night making for some good parties. Now normally, this is not for me (not anymore), but I got on so well with the owner who was selling up and leaving shortly that I found it difficult to go. Needless to say I can't drink any drinks from cane anymore - the local liquor. It makes me feel sick just to sniff it!

The trip to the border was eventful, as ever! The owner, John, convinced me to take a taxi as it would be faster/smoother. Yeah right. The car had problems and I was starting to doubt I'd even make it to the border before it closed, when I was transferred to a mini-bus. Much faster. Then I swopped to a share taxi. There wasn't room for my bag in the boot so they were trying to convince me to take my own car as it wouldn't be fair to have it on my lap (need to squeeze one more person in). I volunteered to pay for 2 fares (much cheaper then taking my own) which seemed obvious to me (common in Asia) but was greeted with much head nodding and amazed agreement. Nothing like thinking outside of the box.

At the border I had a fair bit of Malawian money to change and ended up in a heated debate with an ilegal money changer. He was so trying to rip me off, but I wasn't having any of it. By the end he was worried I'd rip him off and I had to count my notes into his hand individually. As I left he asked if I understood and did I still respect him. I answered truthfully, "yes I do understand, but no I don't respect you".

And that was Malawi. I never expected to stay a month and now that I look back, I'm glad that I did. Malawi is a true gem in Africa. Not only is it cheap (at least financially it reflects what you get unlike most countries which are expensive when you compare standards to Asia), but the people are friendly, the country has some beautiful places and it's very relaxed... fights n'all!

Next stop Dar Es Salam!

Hope you are all well and happy,
Lots of love
kx

P.S. I am currently in Northern Mozambique, in Pemba. I've had a terrible cold/flu and now have an ear infection which was unbelievably painful but now hopefully I'm on the right combination of drugs to put it right... Penicillin and Ibuprofen ... ?! In fact, I'm so unhappy that I'm blowing all the money I've saved on travelling indirectly back to Tofo, on a nice hotel. Next time, I should just fly all the way. To be fair these were places I wanted to dive at, but clearly that's not going to happen : (