Day 36: 14hrs Travelling 5am-7pm Mzuzu > Lilongwe > Cape Maclear

11th August:

Up at 4:45am to get to the AXA bus station at 5:30. My taxi driver was yet another person who asked if I could take them back to the UK with me. I think they all think they're the first person I've befriended in Malawi who's asked me that!

The bus actually left on time- shock horror!! And I got a seat this time- wooo! I think it's because this is a fancier bus, I don't remember paying 8000kw on the way up here. I asked if there was a cheaper option and the woman just looked at me blankly and shook her head. 

I sat next to a Canadian girl working for three months at Lilongwe Uni, also called Amelia! 

We all had a long prayer before the coach left, and the guy at the front with the mircophone rambled on for no less than 10 solid minutes about how we have sinned but if we confess we shall be saved. However this time there was no religious gospel music, just normal Malawian pop and a few western songs thrown in there as well. They really love Westlife and Celine Dion!

 I had the window seat :)

On the journey I had a little worry that I wouldn't be able to take any money out, and there are no ATMs in Cape Maclear so I wouldn't be able to go there until I found some cash. My phone also wasn't allowing me to call anyone, and my Malawi local phone was out of credit. Eventually got through to mum who revealed that I could only take out two transactions from my Caxton MasterCard every 24 hours, which would explain why it wasn't working at all yesterday apart from the one transaction I did in the morning! And my visa had run out of money but she had put more money in so I should be ok thank god!

When we reached Lilongwe Amelia walked me to the nearest standard bank ATM (one of the few that actually accepts MasterCard) and it worked!!! Wooo I can go to Cape Maclear! We had lunch together and then went our separate ways. I headed off towards the bus station having asked about 4 different people who all told me different directions. I put my little rucksack on my front and again I felt like a rucksack sandwich! Another similarity to yesterday was my error not to jump in a little tuk tuk as I completely misjudged the distance and was too proud to give in to the weight of my backpack! On the upside- good training for Mt Mulanje if I ever actually climb it!

   Lilongwe  litter...

Eventually found the bus station and was swamped by loads of men shouting destinations at me seeing which one I'd respond to. I got shown to a minibus going to Monkey Bay and although it was full they managed to squeeze me a spot somehow. My big rucksack in the back and my backpack on my lap with me squished up against the door.

This guy wasn't actually sitting on a seat.. he was crouching! aha

We left around 2:15 and I have no idea how long the journey is, but I'm guesstimating around 6 hours...? We'll see!

Two hours into the journey we pulled into the side of the road at a little village just past Dezda and suddenly there were loads of street sellers at the windows.



 Had a weird staring contest with this guy...

10 minutes later nearly everyone has bought a few cabages each and the minibus is towering full of cabbages and carrots!

 

Just saw a little kid sitting with a piece of wood... And a huge machete...!

 The sunset from the minibus

When we pulled up at Monkey Bay around 6pm- (much earlier than I expected) some guy came up to me and when I said Cape Maclear he took my big rucksack and ran off! I had a mini heart attack until the man from my minibus told me he was taking it to another minibus just behind us which was going to cape Maclear and that he'd already payed them for me...?! Not complaining!

So off I was in another minibus to Cape Maclear at a record time of 6pm, having waiting zero minutes at Monkey Bay when I was expecting a few hours! And this minibus wasn't packed like sardines (or should I say usipa) - there was even a spare seat! 10 minutes later a guy tells me to get out? Then I get swarmed by loads of taxi drivers staring at me trying to take me with them.
Turns out that is the correct way to get there apparently, and I ask them who has the best price, and turned down everyone who wanted to take me on their motorbike- uh uh that ain't happening on these roads! Especially not with this backpack! So I jumped into a taxi for 1,500 - less than £2 and the guys asked me where exactly I was going. I told him I was staying at the Funky Cichlid and he turned to his friend and they had a little ping pong game with the name "funky?" Then I show him a picture I'd taken of the flier and he said "ooohhh" and pronounced it funky chichiow when I'd pronounced it funky sick-lid (even though I had the correct pronunciation).

Waited about half an hour for the shared taxi to fill up (8people in a normal 4 person car)... and then we finally headed off. But not before I was questioned by every single person inside and outside the taxi- the usual stuff: name, country, destination, length of stay, etc. And then while I was having a chat with a guy about Man U, another younger guy came over and jokingly bent down and tried to kiss me through the window, but the other guy told him off! Ahaha! 

I was busy writing all of this up on my phone when one of the ladies sitting next to me tapped me and gestured something. I gave her a puzzled look and then another woman shouted "squeeeeeze!" I got the hint after that! Another person was getting in... Although I was luckily the only person in the taxi not to have someone on their lap.

About 2 km from Cape Maclear there was a clicking noise coming from the back wheel on my side so we stopped and he found there was a bolt missing. I couldn't see what he was doing but it looked like he just tightened the other bolts and we carried on with our journey.

Arrived at the Funky Cichlid, a nice beach/party backpackers, around 7:30pm, having travelled nearly non-stop since 5:30am this morning and spent around 12 hours sitting in a vehicle. No partying for me tonight - straight to bed!