Unveiling the Charms of Malawi
Amazing views, unspoiled beaches, and real life Mario Cart
Malawi is a country that sort of flies under the radar. It's like the shy, unassuming cousin at the family reunion of the big African countries - the one who surprises you with how cool they actually are. It's small compared to its flashy neighbours, but good things come in small packages, right? Malawi was previously known as Nyasaland and is another former British colony that gained independence in 1964.
While being on the road we heard of Malawi as the "warm heart of Africa," with people being particularly friendly compared to other African countries. How is this even possible, we wondered. And then there's Lake Malawi, the boss of all lakes - and trust us, it’s breathtaking at times.
We entered Malawi through the northern border. Having been in Tanzania for around two months, we were getting used to relatively smooth road conditions (at least on the main roads). The moment we crossed into Malawi, we realised this would change, as potholes became quite more frequent and it was like our car turned into a Mario cart, with the exception that instead of the banana peels we were dodging the potholes.
Changing money, on the other hand, was more straightforward. As it was a public holiday and banks were closed, we tried our luck in a shady "all-kind-of-business" shop. Getting ready to run away in case things started to go shady, we entered it, and to our surprise, the money exchange process went smoother than expected. We were offered an exchange rate 15% above the market rate, even without really negotiating. Trying to find the snag, we checked the banknotes meticulously. "They have to be fake," we thought, but couldn't find any flaws no matter how thoroughly we checked, so we decided to trust him.
Only later did we learn that Malawi had recently experienced a drastic devaluation of the Malawian Kwacha due to a lack of foreign currency reserves in the country. This makes it even more difficult for locals to obtain US$ via official banks, so small businesses step in to simplify access to US$ at a premium (which is why they offer better buying rates than the official market rate). Once again, we became aware of what a privilege it is to operate in strong currencies like the Swiss Franc. People in many countries have to deal with a lot of uncertainty when it comes to currency fluctuations. Just imagine that you are saving money to pay a deposit for a new car and from one day to the other it will cost you 30% more because of a devaluation of your home currency.
Our first stop was at the famous Mushroom Eco Lodge. We had heard that the road to get there is "one-of-a-kind", so we decided against using our car. A good decision, as it turned out. The three motorbikes we chartered fought their way up the bumpy road for 30 minutes, and our bums were definitely happy when we could get off the bikes.
The Mushroom Eco-Lodge is definitely also “one-of-a-kind”. High up on the cliff, it offers an amazing view of Lake Malawi and a wonderful experience.
And that’s not only the views from the restaurant and rooms, but also from the shower and the toilets. There is not much to do there except enjoying the view, spending your time reading, and enjoying the delicious food that is mostly grown on-site in their own permaculture garden. It was a nice few days of unwinding in a very natural and eco-friendly environment. You probably couldn’t find a better example of eco/responsible-tourism if you tried.
We continued heading south and stayed in beautiful places along the shores of Lake Malawi. One of our favourite places in Malawi was Cape MacClear, a small fishing village where the pace of life is slow and time has stood still. The beaches are pristine and can easily compete with those in Dubai or other world-famous places.
Many people swim in Lake Malawi, despite the bilharzia parasite (also known as Schistosomiasis). It is a nasty little parasite present along the shore in the shallow water, which is entering its victims through the skin (just walking in the water can be enough). The treatment for an infection is apparently straightforward; however, we were still a bit skeptical and refrained from swimming along the shore.
After dropping our friend Christoph at Lilongwe airport (he probably was happy to exchange our car back seat with an airplane seat) we headed south to the Zomba region, which presented a variety of cool nature activities. Over-motivated to stretch our legs and indulge in some hiking, we significantly underestimated the duration of a circular trek on the Zomba plateau. Eight hours of continuous walking left us completely drained of our water supplies, making the sight of those cascading waterfalls an immensely relieving and welcome sight. We’re still trying to figure out whether or not people from Zomba are called “Zombies”…
Malawi has it all! It offers a warm and safe environment, affordability, impressive mountain ranges, opportunities for golfing, picturesque tea plantations, wildlife-rich national parks showcasing the big five, and pristine beaches perfect for beach enthusiasts. Our three-week experience there was truly delightful, and we definitely recommend it as a destination worth exploring.
A special mention to our newfound friends, Geoffrey and Simeon. We had the opportunity to connect with them in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, where we got to discuss about Malawi and their aspirations. Geoffrey, a young entrepreneur, recently launched his own venture and I am happy to mentor him going forward. Simeon, on the other hand, is a dedicated climate justice activist, raising awareness about Malawi's vulnerability to climate change. Currently, he is participating in an exchange program in Norway and has his own newly-launched Substack - more to come on that later…
The Mulanje Massif is famous for amazing hiking and tea plantations.
We left beautiful Malawi on a very positive note, via the majestic Mulanje mountains in the south east of the country. We will miss its welcoming people, the complete lack of commerciality, and it’s level of safety. In Malawi you can have a very genuine experience, without feeling like the western capitalist values have dug their claws in.
Thank you for reading our postcard from Malawi!
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