The same day my family were on their way back to Norway Me, Lucas, Miriam and Tobias sat on a bus headed to Malawi.
Well, actuallly Chimoio. But our final destination and main goal was the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe. We said goodbye to our Malawian friends. Left Maputo at five o´clock in the morning and a 17 hour long bus drive awaited us. Nothing special happened in the bus except always being a little uncomfortable and never finding that sweet spot for sleeping. We spent the night in Chimoio and headed to the chapas (minibuses) early in the morning. We were going to the borders of Zimbabwe and Adventure Time (!) was coming. Going to the borders, no problem. Getting through the borders, no problem. Finding a driver to Mutare, also no problem! What met us in Zimbabwe was spectacular!
Large hills covered in green trees as far as the eyes could see. A long curvy road slowly ascending. And a smiling sun looking down upon us. When you live in a city like Maputo which is covered by tall colorless buildings. This was a sight to behold.
The driver dropped us off at Ann Bruce Backpackers after changing most of our dollars to Bonds (yes, just like our beloved secret agent James Bond) where we met with Ann (the owner) and Takunda (our guide).
The next four days Takunda took us to a party on New Years Eve, hiking mountains and waterfalls the next day. We hiked one of the most famous mountains, Mount Nyangani. It is famous because its nickname is The Mountains who swallows people. It is known that people have mysteriously disappeared in the mountains because of spirits. Except hearing some screams and seeing some monkeys, we were lucky to not meet any. After descending the mountain we spent the rest of our last day in Zimbabwe swimming in a lake, watching baboons and relaxing before heading on with our journey.
Our days in Zimbabwe were amazing and our guide was even more amazing! If you ever go to Mutare stay at Ann Bruce and ask for Takunda. You will have a blast!
After four wonderful days in Zimbabwe we went back to Chimoio and took the bus to Tete. I can mention that on this 6 hour long bustrip the temperature was 14 degrees and we were all shivering like jelly. Not fun.
Fortunately no one got sick and we arrived in Tete safely. From Tete we had to go to the border of Malawi in a chapa. Unlucky for us the chapa broke down halfway through. And we had to find another way to travel. Luckily for us that was the back of a pickup-truck. Instead of being trapped in a hot sweaty chapa, we now had the wind blowing in our hair and a beautiful view of the landscape. After that we took a sketchy taxi to the Lilongwe border at night. We passed the border and was ready to drive to Lilongwe. But a problem came up. We did not have enough dollars for the visa. With no one there to change our money we had to sleep and eat at a rat-infested motel with no water.
After a sleepless night we packed our bags, said goodbye to the rats and headed for Lilongwe.
After two hours we finally arrived. We met our Move-friends at the move-house while they were in the middle of preparing the birthday party for Henriette. Together we went to Music Crossroads and started the party. While the rain poured down upon us and cracks of thunder surrounded us, we danced and laughed and ate ´til late after midnight. The day after we visited their brazilian friends Paula and Pedro who had prepared an amazing brazilian barbeque for us. We spent the whole day there swimming, playing football and eating.
The next few days we were chilling, making dinners together and experiencing Lilongwe with our friends. We visited the refugee camp Dzaleka with 40,000 refugees and tasted the best chapati (Kenyan “pancakes”) in the world. We danced and sang with toddlers at a kindergarten and handed out candy to wide-eyed children. It was a wonderful trip and thank to you Malawi-movers who welcomed us and took care of us in Lilongwe.
The road back was hard. Not only leaving our friends but also the endless traveling with chapas. The smell of strange fish. The rooms riddled with spiders. The neverending quest to find the sweet spot for sleep. The 35 degrees in the bus. The 20 hour long bustrip directly from Tete to Maputo with Marrabenta music blasting our ears from 6 to 12 and then again from 17 to 22. Yes it was hard. But we made it. And we embraced our two Malawian friends when we came back home and made a big dinner.
This trip was an awesome trip. It was difficult at times but I would not have traveled any other way because we saw three different countries in a unique way and we learned to face challenges together. It was inspiring. It was extraordinary. Or as me and Lucas would shout everytime we went to a new place. It was ADVENTURE TIME!!!!!
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