Smelly express bus to Zomba

Trip Start Nov 07, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Malawi  ,
Saturday, December 15, 2007

We left Blantyre to head North for the next major town Zomba about 70km north of Blantyre.We were told by the bus station that there was an express bus to Zomba, and the guidebook said it would take only an hour, so dutifully we arrived at the bus station at 7am and boarded the bus. After sitting there an hour while other passengers boarded we finally left the station, the bus however was at least 30 years old and seemed to have a max speed of 10km even downhill, uphill it would have been quicker to walk. To our dismay the bus then stopped another hour in the next town Limbe and the already crowded bus was packed with as many passengers as they could squeeze in, at this point the smell of body odour (our's included) was very bad, so we renamed the bus the Smelly Express. When we finally left Limbe the bus crawled its way to Zomba, stopping at every village on route, the heat and smell made it the worse bus ride ever, I also had a live chicken shoved in my face as a passenger disembarked. To top it all it took 5.5 hours to travel that 70km. T.I.A.

Zomba's main attraction is the surrounding mountains called the Zomba plateau it has the 3rd highest mountain peak in Africa, where you can go for some very scenic hikes, however due to the rainy season in practice its not good hiking weather and it costs $20 for a guide, so instead we arranged a taxi to take us from Zomba town centre to the scenic Mandala waterfall, and the Ku Chawe Inn at the top of the plateau, nice views slightly obscured by the mist and rain clouds. Tomorrow we leave Zomba and head to Liwonde the next place North as we head up towards Lilongwe.

Dom

The bus journey from Blantyre to Zomba was quite traumatising, yes. If we're taking more buses in Malawi I will definitely need to pack something to cover my nose with! The other problem was no access to the toilet for five and half hours on a bumpy ride... outch. There is also a minibus strike in Malawi at the moment as the goverment wants to restrict the number of people allowed in one minibus and the drivers don't like the idea as they want to have their vehicles as packed as possible. So tomorrow we will travel further north to Liwonde by taxi.

I have been observing people here and have noticed a few interesting things. First of all, only men / boys ride bikes. I have seen a couple of women with a bycycle, but they're walking with it, not riding it. I have been told that women shouldn't be wearing trousers (it's considered offensive, but it is no longer a crime) so it's probably because it's difficult to ride a bicycle with a long skirt. Other thing I've noticed is that you see groups of men or groups of women but you rarely see a women and a man or a mixed group together. You never see a man with a small child, women carry the children. In fact, women seem to carry most of the things - you see them walking around and carrying all sorts of stuff on their head (water, fruit, wood - you name it). Men carry very little. Instead, they seem to be riding in pick-up trucks whereas women walk.

Jonna
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