Malawi

Capital:
Lilongwe

Currency
Kwacha

Best time to visit:
The climate varies according to the region, but the ideal times to leave are the so-called middle seasons (March, April and September to November) when the heat remains within acceptable temperatures.

In a word:
Moni (good morning)

Vaccines
Recommended Antitific, Prophylaxis Antimalarial (chloroquine-resistant)

Warnings:
- In large cities, pay attention to any gatherings of people that can turn into urban turmoil 
- For safety reasons, do not go around at night, neither on foot nor by car 

Essential experiences:
Experience a day on a game drive in Liwonde NP; Admire the dawn life at Lake Malawi; Immerse yourself in the chaos of everyday life in the capital Lilongwe

The dip of the fish eagles

Adventure travel by truck and tent in a very poor country that has so much to offer thanks to its parks, its magnificent lake and its people

In this great adventure we rented a 4 × 4 truck in Johannesburg, South Africa and slowly we began the journey north to the mighty Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe crossing boundless landscapes, savannas, rivers, still virgin islands and some of the most beautiful parks in all of Africa. We will visit some of the most beautiful national parks in Malawi and fall in love with its people.
We will sleep almost every night in tents, we will cook using our camping kitchen.

Our suggested itinerary (8 days)

three days:

Liwonde NP (game drive)

two days:

Monkey Bay (game drive)

two days:

Lilongwe

one day:

transfer towards Zambia or Mozambique

02 october Liwonde NP (Malawi)

We leave Mozambique after having crossed its last villages, its last huts, breathed its red earth, we feel it in our nostrils and it colors our T-shirts ... we listen to the last sentences in Portuguese at customs ... a short stretch of no man's land and the asphalt begins, the signs are all in English ... Big bar: Stop.
A flag waving proudly. We are in Malawi.

It is hard to convince the customs officers that being Italian and not coming from Kenya or Tanzania we don't need the yellow fever vaccine… they insist a lot but we don't give up! Let alone if I get a shot for the vaccine in an African border!

The background changes completely!

We reach Liwonde National Park and its hippos but the most important thing for us is that there is finally a shower!
After a week we really needed it!
We take the opportunity to wash ourselves and to wash all our dirty laundry, practically the whole backpack! At one point I found myself in boxers and flip flops washing everything I had ... even the things I was wearing at that time!

The night is quite busy and agitated due to a couple of hippos who entered our camp chased by two rangers but passed unscathed!

03 october Liwonde NP (Malawi)

Funny awakening with the two warthogs grazing a few meters from us!

 Elephants, crocodiles, hippos, sea eagles and cormorants presented us with their daily life along the Shire River!

 "They have very basic things" - the bitter comment of Silvio and Sabrina who work in the hospital in Italy after the fact-finding tour of the Mua hospital ...
I have only seen many newborn babies, many women / girls / mothers ...
“You are born here and then what do you do?” - I thought sadly to myself ...

04 october Monkey Bay (Malawi)

Lake Malawi is all for them.
They quench their thirst with its water, wash their clothes, pots and their own bodies!

I have followed their actions from afar. I watched them as, immediately after waking up, they went to its shore with a glass to drink, then brush their teeth, face and whole body.
With the sand they degreased the dirty pots, all while hundreds of screaming children ran, splashed in the water or played with the little fish that had fallen from some net.

They are kids my age but they already look old.
A boy asked me about my age, he looked like he was forty; when he asked me to guess what about him I tried to be nice by saying: 30… he was 23!

There is misery, poverty, there is no hope for the future ... At a certain moment the desire to take pictures also passed. I turned off the camera and continued to photograph with my eyes and heart!

05 october Lilongwe (Malawi)

We spend the last evening in Malawi right in its capital. After a full day of travel we really needed a break in a camping ... tonight we will sleep in a tent but at least we will be able to enjoy a cold drink during our dinner prepared with our field kitchen!

So we have time to study tomorrow's stage well, which will lead us to a new nation: Zambia!

06 october South Lwangwa NP (Zambia)

Malawi is just over our shoulders.

His flag waving greeted the disappointment painted on our faces.
Yet it happened!
Bribes that move the world.
The careful customs guards of the Malawi-Zambia border noticed an irregularity on our visa, duly paid: some had a visa for 14 days, others for seven ... yet we had all bought the visa together upon entering Malawi ... How come some had a different validity? The thing smells like cheating! Stupid and naive we who had not checked! 

We discuss, explain, try to make our good faith understood but after an hour of negotiations the policeman shamelessly asks for 50 euros to turn a blind eye ...  

Our tired truck trudges along the dusty dirt roads of the Zambia but this is already another story!

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