MALAWI

In ze sva v peti drzavi vzhodne Afrike, v eni izmed najbolj revnih drzav sveta, dezeli toplih in najbolj prijaznih ljudi, uradni jezik je Chichewa in Anglescina, tako da s sporazumevanjem zopet nisva imeli problema. 12 milijonov ljudi naseljuje to drzavo in vec kot pol je starih pod 15 let. V drzavi je veliko plemen kot npr. Chewa, Tumbuka, Nguni, Chipoka, Tonga, Phoka, Jao, Zulu, in vsak zase govori svoj jezik. Skozi vso drzavo se razprostira jezero Malawi, prej znano kot  Nyasa in drzava Malawi kot Nyasaland. Najbolj znan raziskovalec, ki je prisel v to drzavo je bil David Livingstone, leta 1859. Leta 1889 se zacnejo prve naselitve belcev, Britancev. Kolonializem je privedel do suzenjstva in veliko zemlje je bilo vzete lokalnim ljudem. 1950 leta Banda zacne z mocnim pritiskom za osamosvojitev te dezele, ki se z vso borbo zgodi leta 1964. Dve leti kasneje Malawi postane republika in Banda predsednik, ki sam sebe poimenuje za dozivljenjskega predsednika, ki je nato vladal 30 let.

In ze je naju pot vodila skozi Tanzanijo, nacionalne parke, cudovito pokrajino…Celodnevna voznja v velikem avtobusu, tokrat na sprednjih sedezih, nama je bila zelo udobna. Ko smo se peljali skozi nacionalni park smo imeli moznost opazovati divje zivali, med drugim tudi levinjo, ki je preckala naso pot. Toda mi smo bili na avtobusu, kaj pa tri pogumne punce, ki so pogumno vrtele pedale na svojih kolesih, katere smo pred minutko prehiteli? Upamo, da so srecno prekolesarile Mikumi nacionalni park Med potjo sva seveda tudi fotkali in Eva je kljub temu, da se ne sme slikat policajev, slikala tudi njih ha ha in kaj se zgodi…ustavijo nas policaji in zahtevajo, da Eva izstopi iz avtobusa in jim da fotoaparat! Pa ne spet!!! Joj joj! Komaj si ga je kupila, zdaj ga bo pa ze izgubila!! Toda po krajsem barantanju, Eva zbrise vse fotke na katerih so bili policaji in jo nato le pustijo, da se zopet vsede na svoj sedez, ter lahko nadaljujemo zanimivo voznjo ha ha…

Malawi naju je prevzel cim sva prestopili mejo. Sicer na mejnem prehodu med Tanzanijo in Malawijem sva imeli kar nekaj sitnosti. V drzavo naju niso pustili, saj bi morali imeti vizo, za katero bi morali zaprostiti ze v Evropi!! Aha! Toda midve se ne dava, zopet uporabiva najine care in se hecava z uradniki ter se koncno po dve urnem cakanju in ugotavljanju kje je Slovenija, odlocijo, da morava v petih dneh za vizo zaprositi v drzavi. Za vsako drzavo sva posebaj preverili in za Malawi sploh ne bi potrebovali vize, zato nama ni cisto nic jasno! Ok, ni panike gremo dalje s taksijem in nato na busek do Chitimbe. Zopet se je bilo potrebno kar znajti kako dobiti prevoz in preckanje meje zna biti vcasih pravi napor. Po parih urah koncno prispeva v Chitimbo, vasico, ki lezi ob jezeru Malawi. Namestiva se v hostel, katerega lastnica je Karlijn, Nizozemkinja, prijazna gospa, ki je iz bogatega okolja, polnega dobrin, odsla v skromno in svobodno okolje. Zraven njenega hostla, nekaj metrov stran je drzavna sola, katero sva z Evo tudi obiskali. Nisva mogli da ne bi, saj sva vsakodnevno preckali pot, na kateri sva srecali gruce otrok. Solski prostori so zelo prazni, otroci sedijo na mrzlih tleh, ucilnice nimajo oken itd. Primanjkuje jim uciteljev in osnovnih pripomockov za ucenje. Sokirani sva bili, ko sva videli, da otroci s seboj prinesejo stole, da lahko na njih sedijo! V prihodnosti si z Evo zeliva, da bi tej soli, lahko prispevali vsaj nekaj nujnih stvari za delovanje.

Zraven hostla so tudi mladi umetniki, ki so zelo nadarjeni v izrezovanju iz lesa. Kaj takega in tako lepega nisem videla se nikjer. Cudoviti stoli, kipci, vaze, posode itd. Ti tu so res pravi umetniki, pa ceprav pravijo, da za to ni potrebnega talenta. Recejo, da se vsega lahko naucis ce si to zelis. Pa se kako imajo prav

V vasici Chitimba sva spoznali zopet zanimive ljudi. V manjsi lokalni restavraciji, kjer sva jedli najino kosilo, sva se zaklepetali z lastnikom, ki je po srcu in dusi Rasta. Razlozil nama je nacin zivljenja in kaj pomeni biti rasta. Pravi, da je bil Jezus crn in ne bel, kot ga prikazujemo belci. Njihov kralj je Hajle Selasie, nekdanji etiopski kraj, ki je zacel siriti vero. Rasta ljudje so zelo zanimivi, ze njihov izgled, spletene lase v drede in okrog vratu verizica ali zapestnica v barvah raste (zelena, rumena in rdeca). Oni ne jedo mesa, jedo le ribe, ter ne kadijo in ne pijejo alkohola. Toda obcasno naj bi pravi rasta skadil kaksno travo, ganjo ha ha da se mu bolje odpre in pribliza duhovni svet. Ceprav vsi, ki nosijo rasta izgled in pravijo, da so rasta po srcu, ne sledijo vsem pavilom. Vecina jih pije, kadi in seveda pretirano uporablja sveto substanco ganjo!!! Ob pogovoru sva pridno prebirali riz in fizol od smeti in cas je kaj hitro minil in ze je bilo treba naprej…

Po kosilu se odpraviva na krizisce in cakava, da nama ustavi kaksen avto do Livingstonie, mesteca s kolonialnim pridihom in zanimivo britansko arhitekturo. In ker ni nobenega avta, ki bi sel v to smer, se kar odpraviva pes. In da ne bi hodili po cesti, se odlociva da skreneva na bliznjice, cisto tako po obcutku ha ha in ze srecava na prvi bliznjici lokalno zensko, z otrokom na hrbtu. Stopimo skupaj do njenega doma ter nama nato prijazno pokaze bliznjico do Livingstonie. Se kake pol ure hoje do vrha in nama ustavi Will iz Juzne Afrike, ki dela v bliznjem rudniku premoga. Odlocil se je, da bo potoval vse do Japonske in vmes delal, ter ni vazno kaksno delo mu pride pod roke. Res zanimiv fant!

Blizala se je noc, zato sva stopili nazaj, nekaj kilometrov do Mashroom farm, kjer je baje videti najlepsi soncni vzhod in seveda tega noceva zamuditi. Na najini poti nama zacne delati druzbo lokalni bend, punca in dva fanta s kitaro. Vsak korak postaja vse bolj vesel in poskocen. Zato ni cudno, da se bend ustavi ter zacne igrati ter peti in plesati. Z Evo sva zelo preseneceni, kar ne dojameva kaj se dogaja, tale Malawi bo zelo zanimiv ha ha Toda, ze po prvih kiticah petja, nas ustavi gospod, ter prosi, ce se odstranimo iz nogometnega igrisca ha ha tako smo bili veseli in cisto zaslepljeni, da nismo opazili da stojimo ravo na sredini nogometnega igrisca. Odstranimo se na rob igrisca, toda otroci so zelo firbcni, ter se nam raje pridruzijo pri petju in plesanju, ki je odmevalo po bliznjih hribckih in dolincah…cisto noro!

Koncno prispeva v Mashroom farm, kjer spoznava Paul-a, Avstralca, ki vodi ta hostl in dobro vzdusje se nadaljuje. Pomaga nama postaviti sotor na cistem robu skal, odkjer bova lahko zjutraj opazovali soncni vzhod. In res zgodaj zjutraj naju prebudi prvi zarek in tam dalec za jezerom je zacelo vzhajati veliko rdece sonce, katerega zarki so segali vse povsod. Bilo je cudovito z besedo neopisno, zato sva le sedeli in opazovali kako se pokrajina in nebo spreminjata. Po zajtrku se odpraviva se na krajsi sprehod do mogocnega slapu ter nato nazaj v dolino… Ko stopiva na cesto mimo pridrvi stirikolesnik, na njemu oci in dva otroka! Jao jao, hrup in prah, ki ga je puscal za nama, nama ni bil prav nic vsec. Otroci in starejsi so opazovali kot, da je cudo iz drugega planeta. Toda v Chitimbi v hostlu nato spoznava tole prijazno druzinico iz Nizozemske, ki je naju ravno prejle zasula s prahom ha ha Starsa, ki potujeta s petimi otroci, na velikem kamionu, ki  je bil narejen samo za njih, od Belgije do Juzne Afrike. Ko bod koncali zastavljeno pot, se bodo odpravili v Avstralijo in nato se po Aziji. Trije otroci bodo odleteli domov v solo, dva mlajsa pa bosta uzivala na potovanju okrog sveta. Prej sva jih na nek nacin obsojali, zdaj pa sva spoznali, da so druzina, ki se zaveda, da potuje po Afriki in tudi ob priliki radi pomagajo ali pa na stirikolesnik posedejo afriske otroke in jih vozijo okrog… Bili so tako srcni, da so naju povabili, da se jim lahko pridruziva na poti do najinega naslednjega postanka Nkhata Bay-a.

V Nkhata Bay sva se spomnili, da bo tistih pet dni za pridobitev vize konec, zato sva poiskali urad za priseljence in prosili, ce sva lahko v Malawiju brez vize, saj je zelo draga, 70USD! Hecali sva jih, da sva v drzavi ilegalno in da bo tako tudi ostalo ha ha Najin hec in odkritost sta zopet ocarali uradnika, ki je bil tako zelo prijazen, da se je odpravil v Muzuzu in uredil najine vize. Ceprav mu je vse skupaj vzelo pet ur, mu ni bilo problema to storiti in se presenetljivo ni zahteval dodatnega placila, katerega sva bili vajeni v drugih drzavah…zelo lepo od njega!

Zvecer sva se odpravii na tri dnevno voznjo z ladjo ILALA. Ob 11 uri zvecer sva stali v gneci, da se tudi midve poled drugih lokalnih ljudi vkrcava. Na trenutke je bilo grozovito! Stati tam, stisnjen v mnozici ljudi, ki na glavah nosijo velike vrece koruze, se prerivajo, vpijejo in nimajo nikakrsne olike, ni bilo prijetno. Ko se koncno prerineva na ladjo je najin drugi razdred ze zelo zaseden, v njem ni zraka in prostor. Zacelo me je stiskati, zato se z Evo prerineva v prvi razred, na krov, kjer je bilo le nekaj ljudi, vecinoma belci, ki so seveda placali za prvi razred. Pogrneva si po tleh, ter zlezeva v spalke in z nama se najina mala ruzaka z dragocenimi stvarmi, saj je znano da zelo rado kradejo na ladji. Sredi noci naju zbudi gospod, ki preverja karte, receva mu, da sva zelo zaspani, ce mu jo lahko pokazeva jutri, da sva karto dali nekam na dno ruzaka. Tako naju je na sreco pustil spati na krovu luksuza ha ha Zjutraj se zbudiva v cudovito jutro, prvi soncni zarki so vedno nekaj posebnega, barve so zelo tople. Uzivava v lepem razgledu, na svezem zraku, medtem ko je drugi razred se vedno nabit in ljudje en na drugem skupaj s tovorom. Ker sva z Evo vedno zelo odprti in nama ni problem navezati stikov z lokalnimi ljudmi, se tudi tokrat izkaze, da je to zelo dobro pocetje haha Andrew dela na ladnji ze dve leti in je z nama prezivel cel cas potovanja. Skupaj smo se zabavali, smejali in obnasali kot petletni otroci. Vedno nama je bil pripravljen pomagat, karkoli sva potrebovali. Potem je tu Danijel, 26 letni kapetan ladje, ki nama je razkazal ladjo ter sva lahko bile tudi v kabini, kjer ukazuje svojim podrejenim kako usmerjati ladjo. Tu je bila tudi zenska, ki je strojnica, ki nadzoruje motorje ladje. Peljala naju je v spodnje prostore, kjer je zelo glasno, ter sva lahko od blizu videli velike masine, ki poganjajo motorje. Zelo pogumna in odlocna zenska, ki se ne da moski druzbi, ki jo radi hecajo, da ta poklic ni za zenske. Ladja cel cas poti ni zapeljala v pristanisce. Ko se je ustavila na dolocenem mestu, so ljudje, ki so izstopali, morali na manjse ladjice, ki so jih nato peljale do kopnega in obratno. S prva je bilo zelo zanimivo, saj tega nisva pricakovali, zgledalo je kot v kaksnem Piratskem filmu, kako manjse ladnjice napadajo vecjo ha ha iz vsepovsod so veslali in  prihajali do ladje. Ter nato raztovarjali in natovarjali…

Bil je drugi dan, ko zopet zagledam gospoda, ki preverja karte. Hitro stecem v spodnje prostore in Eva mu prijazno razlozi, da imam karto jaz in da neve kje sem. Zopet sreca, toda tretji dan, pa ni slo vec. Tokrat so naju dobili. In sva morali pokazati  karto in seveda punci, bi morali biti v drugem razredu in ne v prvem!!! Jej jej..po krajsem prepricevanju in pregovarjanju, hecanju, je gospod odlocen, da morava dol!!! Oh, ja..in ze pristopi kapetan, ki rece, da je ze vredu, da naju lahko pusti tu gori ha ha ha… veze veze nimas kej Toda vseeno se odlociva, da probava ne drugi razred, ampak ekonomski in se opraviva kar tja dol, kjer tudi pojeva najino kosilo Nsimo, Ugali s fizolom, ter se vrzeva na kup vrec in prijetno zadremava ha ha Naj povem, da ima prvi razred tudi posebno kuhinjo in restavracijo, kjer so cene visje kot pa v drugem razredu. In ker sva narocili kosilo v prvem, naju je prisla iskat natakarica, da je najino kosilo ze pripravljeno ha ha toda midve razloziva, da sva ze jedli v ekonomskem, da ni panike… Vsi so naju zaceli gledati, kaj dogaja tem dvema belkama… midve pa v smeh, sploh nisva uzaljeni, celo uzivava in se imava prav fajn. Ni bilo urco dve, ko naju gospod, ki gleda karte prosi, ce greva v prvi razred ha ha Zakaj ze? Vztrajava, da je ok, da nama nic ne manjka, da je tu prav fajn. Toda vztraja, da bodo cistili ekonomski razred in da morava zato gor ha ha… ja prav, ce tko hoces pa greva…in sva sle…uzivat na krov ladje. Bila je se zadnja noc, ko se z Evo ze tlaciva v spalke in jaz vrzem vrecko na luc, da naju ne bo motila, pristopi gospod, ki pravi, da lahko greva spat v sobo!? Pa to ni res, na tej ladji sva sprobali prav vse od prvega razreda, drugega in ekonomskega, obletali ladjo od kabine, do motorjev, spali na krovu in nazadnje se na udobni postelji itd… mislim, da res nimava vec kaj poceti tu, cas je za izkrcanje hahaha

Namesto, da se izkrcava v Chipoki, se odpraviva kar v Monkey Bay, skupaj s posadko. V vasi naju Andrew pelje do svojega doma, ter predstavi sestre, brata in mamo. Zivijo v skromni hiski grajeni iz blata in gline. Nimajo ne vode in ne elektrike. Jezero, ki lezi le nekaj metrov stran je vir za umivanje in pranje perila. Cez dva dni je Ilala obrnila nazaj proti severu in tako sva z Evo odsle v pristanisce, ter pomahali posadki v slovo.

En dan sva se odpavili v manjse mestece Mongochi, 40 km stran iz Monkey Bay-a. Skocili sva na lokalni prevoz, avto, ki ima zadaj kiblo. Stlaceni drug ob drugem smo sibali po ravni cesti, ki je bila na sreco asfaltna. Ljudje so bili zelo prijazni, med postanki so kupili sadje ali pijaco, katero so z veseljem delili z nama. Cutiti je bilo cudovito energiijo, ki je nama prodirala v srcka. Bila sem jo tako polna, da si nisem mogla vec pomagat, da ne bi zavpila: I love you all! Rada vas imam!…in vsi so se zaceli smejati in vzdusje je bilo fenomenalno. Presenecena sem bila tudi sama nad sabo, da sem razumela njihov jezil…od kje zdaj to? V vecini primerov sem tocno vedela kaj me je kdo vprasal oz. je rekel drugemu, dogajati so se zacele res cudne stvari jao jao…toda, ni me bilo strah, v sebi sem cutila mir in obcutek, da sem doma ha ha in res, obcutek je bil, da sem tu ze bila, vse mi je bilo tako prijetno, prijazno in blizu…biti doma po dolgem casu je zelo lepo J zdaj vem, zakaj me je Afrika tako vabila in klicala, tu sem nekoc zivela zivljenje, ki je pustilo mocan pecat na moji dusi…tako zelo lepo, da bom zopet rekla z besedo, se ne da opisati

Zdaj pa k drugi temi, v Malawiju je zelo znano carovnistvo in je postalo ze nacionalni problem drzave, saj so tega zaceli uciti tudi tri leta stare otroke! Carovnistva se zelo bojijo in ljudje ga uporabljajo, ce zelijo skodovati drugi osebi, ce so na nekoga ljubosumni, da ima vec denarja, se ga bodo s carovnistvom znebili. Uporabljajo ga tudi ce je nekdo bolan, ter nato bolnega odpeljejo carovniku, ki ga nato pozdravi, ter seveda racuna velike denarje.

Skrivnost zbuja tudi gora Mulanje, ki lezi na jugu Malawija. Tja gor se radi odpravijo turisti in velikokrat se zgodi, da tudi izginejo. Pravijo ko hodis po gori, lahko slisis otroke kako se hihitajo in ko se jim priblizas se glas umika stran. Slisis lahko kako gre avtobus in ko se obrnes ga seveda ni. Na poti lahko naletis na hrano, kot npr. Banane, ugali, katere moras pojesti, sicer ti preti nevarnost, da bos izginil. Ravno pred dnevi nama je pravil kapetan ladje Ilala, da je izginil Brazilec, katerega je spoznal pred dnevi na ladji. Zdaj ga iscejo toda brez uspeha. Pred leti so izginili ljudje, nekateri so se po parih mesecih zopet pojavili, toda kje so bili, kaj se je zgodilo, niso vedeli. Zanimivo!

Na severu Malawija zivi pleme Yao, kjer se vedno opravljajo obrezovanje moskih in zensk starih 15 let. Po obrezovanju morajo nato za 3-4 mesece v osamo, ter nato jih caka prva spolna izkusnja s starejsim clanom plemena. Verjamejo, da jim tako pocetje da moc. Za obrezovanje sva slisali v vsaki drzavi. Drzave so tako pocetje prepovedale, toda to je tezko nadzorovati, saj kdo pa bo sledil vsem tem ljudem, ki so skriti tam dalec v gozdovih.

In se ena zanimivost, zastrasujoce pleme Gule Wankulu, ki zivi na jugo zahodu drzave, v okolici glavnega mesta Lilongwe. Pleme, katerega se bojijo vse prebivalci, saj se imajo za Predatorje. Z Evo sva jih zeleli srecati z njimi, toda ocitno nama ni bilo namenjeno. Sva pa zato spoznali avstrijskega popotnika, ki je postal clan Gule-ja! Obvezan je k molcecnosti, zato nama ni dosti razkril, kaksen je obred oz. postopek, da postanes del tega plemena. Rekel je le, ce bo povedal, ga bodo zaklali kot piscanca in ga pojedli. Njihovi obredi so po pripovedovanju kruti, oni se mucijo med seboj, probajo koliko lahko zdrzijo…nadenejo si maske, da so njihovi obrazi zakriti, ter v vasi hodijo krast hrano ali pa celo ljudi, katerim se sigurno dobro ne pise. Ko sva takole koga vprasali kje bi bilo mozno videti Gule, je nama s strahom rekel, ne sprasujta to na glas, ker nikoli ne ves kdo je clan Gule-ja, zato moras biti tudi previden kaj govoris o njih. Oh, joj! Tole bi bilo zanimivo posnet ha ha in raziskat tale skrivnostni Malawi…mogoce ob drugi priloznosti, ce nama bo z Evo dana oz. ce me bo moj dom zopet zacel klicati, ga bo potrebo zopet obiskati ha ha

Malawi nama je prinesel zanimivo zgodbo, v kateri sva zelo uzivali in res je toplo srce Afrike, katerega vam posiljam tudi v Slovenijo

Soncek za vse od Simone

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We entered the 5^th country of Africa, MALAWI, which is known as ‘A warm heart of Africa’. The people make it that way, which you can feel already when you cross the border. They are one of the friendliness people in Africa, being kind without expecting something back. We all know it as one of the poorest countries in the world. My expectations were changed very quickly. This country is maybe not rich regarding money statistics, but otherwise is a real pearl in this part of Africa.

Official languages are English and Chichewa. Population cca. 12 million, almost half of it of age below 15. Most of the people live in rural areas where they survive with farming and fishing. Religion: mostly christianity besides muslim and African practices. 500 km along Malawi eastern border is a huge Lake Malawi, which was in a time of British colonialists (1859; David Livingstone) known as Lake Nyasa and the country was named Nyasaland. In Malawi we find plenty different tribes (Chewa, Tumbuka, Nguni, Chipoka, Tonga, Phoka, Yao, Zulu…), many of them invaded Malawi from different neighbouring parts of Africa. Colonialists brought an end to slave-trading and intertribal conflicts, but at the same time occurred other problems - africans started to pay taxes. Malawi became independent in 1964 with colonial opposition ruled by Kamuzu Banda. He became the first president of Malawi and he called himself ‘President for life’ in 1971. He ruled for long 30 years. The next president, Bakili Muluzi, inspite of being corrupted, succeeded in freedom of speech and print. In 2004 they got a new president Bingu wa Mutharika who started to fight against HIV/AIDS and attracted a lot of foreigner investment.

Our long way from Dar Es Saalam to Mbeya was quite interesting. We crossed Mikumi National Park, where we first saw three white girls riding a bicycle through this National Park, and after 5 minutes we saw a lion crossing that same road. Hope those girls didn’t have any problems on their way! Later on I had a little problem with police because I took few pictures of them through an opened window. This is forbidden, but I thought there is no way that they would see me. Of course they did, hahahaa..and two of them came on the bus asking who was taking photos. I had to go off the bus and they were threatening me they will take my camera and I thought: ‘ooh, noo..not again…I finally bought myself a new camera after it was stolen in Arusha some time ago’. I had to delete all the pictures, they gave me a hard time, and I promised to myself I am finished with taking pictures of police. So we went on…towards Malawian border. We spent there approx. 2 hours as they didn’t know where Slovenia is. We started to make fun and told them that it is not on the map, that we live in a country of love (sLOVEnia) and so on….As far as we knew we didn’t need a visa for this country. But obviously we needed it, so after consulting with a chief officer there, they gave us a paper which allowed us to enter the country, but we needed to get visa in 5 days in a town Mzuzu. We were finally in Malawi, going first to a little town Chitimba, a place beside Lake Malawi. We were sleeping in a place run by Karlijn  from Netherland and we got a hut almost beside a lake. We usually woke up early in the morning to see the Sun rise and we met there many interesting people. There is many things I could write about this place, lets say, people there make beautiful carvings as chairs and tables, we had a whole market in front of our gate. One afternoon we went to the near primary school, we were shocked when pupils brought their chairs from home to write final exams at school. And another thing about that school is that there is one teacher on 60-100 pupils…there are many things that could be done for a better education of those kids. We will try to send skilled people on this place, but more about that when we organize everything and put all the info on our website. In Chitimba we met interesting Rasta guy who runs a small restaurant, he explained to us the philosophy of Rasta religion. And apart from many so called Rastas, he is a true one, he doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat meat and every day smokes a holy plant, ahaha…as he said is also written in the bible, hahaha. He cooked for us a great lunch, later we helped with rice and beans, to remove all the bad seeds, and after a great conversation we had to leave. We wanted to go to the mountains, a place called Livingstonia where you can experience Malawi’s colonial past. As we were standing by the road quite some time to get any random transport to that hill, we decided to go by foot. We didn’t know exactly where to go, ahhaa…but we just started to walk. Soon a woman with a little child on her back joined us and she showed us all the shortcuts to the top of the mountain. We asked her what can we do for her and she said she needs a soap to wash clothes, so we agreed that we buy her few things and we leave them in Chitimba. So whenever she will go back to town, she can pick those things in the place where we were staying. She was really happy and us even more, but we needed to part ways. We had to walk a little bit more to come on top, it took us all together about 3 hours. Fortunatelly by the end came a car and as we thought it will just pass us by, it stopped, juhuuuu!!!. A guy from South Africa, named Will, stopped us, he was all black saying that he is working in a coal mine up there in Livingstonia. He is quite an interesting person, he decided to travel from South Africa to Japan for 5 years and work in between, wherever possible. That’s an experience J We soon came to Livingstonia and by its architecture it really seemed very British. Will told us that we need to go on a Mushroom farm below Livingstonia and rather sleep there, because from there is a fantastic view on Lake Malawi. That’s why we went a little bit back down to find that place. When we came there we already knew that this was a good decision. You can sleep in a tent on a cliff and from there enjoy a magnificent view on that part of Malawi and its lake. I must mention that we met Paul, a guy from Australia, who is running the place. We were laughing from the second we met till the second we left. Quite a crazy guy, with such we get along very well, hahaha…He sent us to see Manchewe falls where we met women with big piles of laundry to wash. They do it without a problem, with carrying a baby on the back. No problem J After we spent just one night on a mushroom farm, we needed to go back down…but its never boring when we travel..soon joined us a band from Malawi, they had a concert in Livingstonia. They were first waiting on a transport to Chitimba, but as it didn’t come, they also went by foot back down. They really wanted to play something for us and they stopped exactly in the middle of a football field where people were in the middle of the match, ahhahaa….They sat down and started to play when a guy came and said that we must remove our asses some place else..thats when we saw where exactly did we sit in the first place, ahhaha….we removed ourselves for few meters and then they had a concert…kids started to come together and started to dance and sing…in the middle of nowhere, such a great atmosphere in the air!..aaiiiiii!!!….On our way back down, we saw a 4-wheel opened car (or rather bike) with fat tires crossing our way with three tourists on it. Me and Simona just stood beside the road, what the hell is going on here, what are these crazy tourists doingh here in such a peaceful environment. Local people there I’m sure never saw that kind of a vehicle. But what a coincidence, ahhaa…when we came back to Chitimba, that family was accommodated in our place. We were amazed by that family actually..why?..There are mother and father and 5 kids, three of them go to school, they are from Belgium and they are traveling through Africa in a huge truck which was made just for them, They have everything inside, beds, kitchen, dining table, toilets, everything really neat and that 4-wheel vehicle they can put at the back. They don’t complicate about anything. Kids that go to school joined them through summer vacations, two little ones travel with parents all the way. After they will finish Africa continent, they will send the vehicle to Australia and travel some more. I had never seen anything like that, and honestly, I would love to have a husband who would think the same way as me, where the whole family can travel without a problem, because I believe everything is possible. Many people at home think that once you have kids you cannot travel anymore…I’m sure it can be done with no complications. And this family was so nice to us that they invited us to travel with them on that huge truck all the way to Nkhata Bay. Here we realized that 5 days are over and that we need to get visa someplace, hahaa…so we went to immigration office where we again made fun..we told those people there that we are illegally in the country and they should do something about it…of course they didn’t believe us and were just laughing to us…and it was the truth…come on, do you work properly and do something..people cannot travel through your country without papers, is it?..obviously they liked us a lot, that’s why one of the officers even went to get visa for us to Mzuzu, which took him almost 5 hours, after his working hours. In the midtime we did a laundry in Lake Malawi like all the locals do. It was quite fun to run after the clothes which the water kept washing them back to the lake, hahahaa… Here we finally realized that Malawi is quite an expensive country, if you go to market to buy food, it costs a lot, because most of things are imported from other countries. Also accommodation can be quite expensive and all the lodges, hostels, backpackers, restaurants are owned by white people.

After getting a visa which costed us 70 usd! we were happy to board on Ilala ferry which took us through half of the country. Well, not that happy at the beginning because we were boarding at 11 p.m., in the dark, and there were hundreds and hundreds of people to get on board with all the cargo. It looked quite dangerous when we were standing in ‘line’ to get on a ferry, because people carrying heavy bags of maize, sugar and many other things on top of their heads were being very pushy and didn’t mind if any of us would be stepped over. We were squeezed in front of the gate for a long time before we came in. We bought tickets for a second class, but when we got on a ferry, second class was already packed with people and cargo. We could hardly get through with our heavy backpacks and the air inside was hot and heavy, no fresh air. We succeeded somehow to pass all these people and went upstairs directly to 1^st class, which we didn’t even know. All whites were sleeping in the upper floor below the stars, some of them payed for a cozy sleep in a cabin. Three days of running around ferry, up and down, from economy class to first class, hahaa…we met Andrew who is working on a ferry, he helped us with everything we needed and soon we became good friends …and all we did when we were together was laughing like crazy monkeys, hahaa… Most of the time we spent on an opened deck where we also slept. They told us that people steal a lot on that ship, so we packed our things on a pile and slept beside it. And it happened that we were sleeping almost below tha bar where people were drinking all night long and were getting wasted. All the best places were already taken. So it happened that in the early morning there were faces of drunk men above us trying to ask us stupid questions, hahaha…we were just laughing again and making pictures of them, the next day they didn’t even know with who were they talking to. It was amazing to wake up in the sleeping bag in the middle of the lake when the Sun was going up..and all the people were still sleeping. Also in the evening, you could easily see the stars…beautiful environment to fall asleep. We also met a captain of a ferry, Daniel, he allowed us to go to his cabin where we also met a girl who is in charge of all the engines of the ferry. She is a real master, she took us down to see the engines and whenever anything goes wrong she knows how to fix the problem. We were amazed, she really knows what she is doing. She is in charge of an engine crew, they all work in a very noisy place where the engines are, without any ear protection. Huuh, quite a hardwork! On our three day journey we stopped twice also on a mozambiquean side. On each stop we waited for an hour or even more, for all the people and cargo to go off. Usually we didn’t stop in the port, but there were boats who came to the ferry to unload cargo and pick up all the people. Every day inspectors came to check if all the people on board had tickets. Of course they were checking also for which class, hahaha. Soo, the first night we were already sleeping when they wanted to see our tickets. We were half asleep saying that we have them somewhere deep in our backpacks, and they were gentle with us and let us sleep. Huuh, we were relieved, we can sleep in the 1^st class, hahaha..ooh, I must mention that 1^st class had separate restaurant with much better food and of course higher prices than lower classes..the next day when they were checking the tickets, Simona run down one floor below and waited there and when inspectors approached me I said, that my friend has tickets and that she just went somewhere,,,we were saved for another night, hahaa…the third day and the last one (as we wanted to go off in the afternoon) they finally caught us, hahahaa…we HAD to show our tickets, hahaha…and they wanted for us to go to 2^nd class. We were trying to explain how in the 2^nd class was no space and no air, that Simone felt claustrophobic in there, that’s why we went to an open deck….. but they had no mercy…we were starting to make fun, telling them we had already ordered a lunch in a 1^st class and that its our last day, that they can leave us for another few hours…then also the captain came and as we became good friends, he said that we can stay up there…..but after an hour of loud discussion in front of all other white people who payed to stay in the 1^st class, we packed our things and wanted to go not to 2^nd class, but economy class, hahaha…inspector was surprised..we can stay up there and we said we will go anyway, we actually don’t belong to high class, hahaha…we went 2 floors down which was almost empty, coz most of the people already went down and we ordered a meal there…instead od rice with vegetables eaten with forks we ate ugali/nsima (something that cements your stomach, made of maize flour, which we ate all the way from Kenya) with beans with our own hands, haaha…together with our friend Andrew…later when inspector came to check on us, we were already lying on bags of different cargo, ahhahaa..and when a waitress from 1^st class came to call us for lunch, we said we already ate down here…they were all staring at us thinking, whats wrong with these whites…after few hours came inspector once again and he said we can go back up and we didn’t want…but then he said that they will be cleaning the ferry, that we really need to go back to the 1^st floor…so we went back up..and during the night when we slept outside in our sleeping bags, another man came who said that we can actually sleep in the cabin in a bed!…hahahahaa….this was too nice from them, hahaha…that’s how we experienced everything possible on that ferry..economy, 2^nd and 1^st class together with a cabin, food from both restaurants, we saw engines of the ferry, a cabin for the crew…we had the best time up there and met many great people. Becouse of Andrew (we wanted to see his family and place where he lives) we didn’t go off in Chipoka, but in Monkey Bay, which is the last stop of this ferry. From there it goes only back to north. We landed in Monkey Bay and together with Andrew we went to his village. We had accommodation very close to his house. He invited us to see his family, they live in a small hut, next to it is a smaller hut which serves as a kitchen and another small hut above the floor, where chicken live…People in this village live in huts, without electricity or water, they wash their clothes in the lake. They cant have gardens although the land is fertile because there is no water system to water the plants. To fetch water every day from the lake is just too far. The next day we went with Andrew back to port to say goodbye to the crew which was so nice to us, we said goodbye to the captain, engine girl, few others and of course Andrew..it was time for them to go back to north. We went back to village and every time we passed it kids from the village started to run towards us and were hanging on our arms..on each arm from two to four kids, hahaha..they were like monkeys hanging off the trees, which would be me and Simona, hahaha…coz we saw a lot of garbage in that village, of course they don’t collect them in containers as we do, we started to collect bags and papers that were lying on the floor when many kids came and started to pick up the garbage and collect them in a huge bag that we brought…first it was fun for them…but in half an hour they kinda stopped doing it..they didn’t know why are they doing this, what is the purpose..when Simona explained them how they are ruining their environment, water and after she showed them candies, the motivation was there again, hahaha…they were running around and picking up the garbage madly…as a reward Simona gave them sweets…huuh, that was good, but we cleaned just a little part of the village…two guys approached us, they were amazed by what we are doing and they also helped us..afterwards they invited us to their home where we shared a nice meal and we gave them such power through our conversation that they decided to clean the village from now on and even more, they put a sign in English and Chichewa language to keep this land clean..we were really positively surprised by their determination to do something good for the community inspite of probable laughter of adults from the village…some of them said:’ This is how madness begins’, hahaaha….aiaiaiaaai, who would understand them. When I was picking the garbage close to one hut, a guy came to me to ask me what am I doing and why…as I explained him and invited him to help me, he started to laugh and told me that he has a better thing to do…and he was doing nothing…that’s how Africans think..or better don’t think.

One day we went to town Mongochi which is 40 km away from Monkey bay on a pick up truck, packed together with cca. 20 people standing or sitting at the back together with cargo We felt so warmly accepted, we (me&Simona) were the only whites on the truck. Without talking to them we felt loved, can you imagine, I didn’t experience that before, not in such extent. We started to talk and they shared fruits with us and juice which you can buy in little plastic bags. They were talking in Chichewa language and Simona somehow understood what they were talking about, I was shocked. She just knew what they were saying…she started to laugh and said that in her former life she was a Malawian, hahahhaa…also people on the truck looked at her as she was a witch or something..how come she understands us?..ahhahaa…and finally came a lovely birthday of Simona, we were suppose to be at that time in Namibia and celebrate her birthday together with our Irish friend Peter whom we met in Uganda, but we travelled just too slowly, hahaha…together with locals I organized to bake an African cake for her, which was made not in the oven, but on a charcoal…in the evening we burned a fire just for her and prepared few sweet potatoes which she really likes, a guy was playing drums and afterwards she could have a massage, hahaha..but she kindly refused, who knows what do these Africans think or even try to do with her, hahahaa…That’s how we celebrated her birthday in her own home of Malawi :)…Once again Happy Birthday Cinnemon! Tataaaaaa!!! hahahaha

Maybe I can tell you few mysterious and interesting things that happen in this country. Tribe Yao which lives in the southern part of Malawi, still does circumcision of men and women at the age of 15. After that they stay away from the tribe for 3-4 months and afterwards they have their 1^st experience of sex. But not with just anyone, but with older members of the tribe, young women with older men and young men with older women…they believe it brings them strength. Government is discouraging that kind of behaviour, but tribes have higher beliefs, they don’t mind authority that much.

National problem of Malawi is witchcraft, they teach 3 year olds about withcraft. Many people make a business out of it and they are full of tricks. If you are ill or want to get rid of demons that bring you bad luck, you go to see a witch doctor. Of course you must pay for the service. You can also use his powers in a bad way, if you want to harm people. Lets say, like in my country, also in Malawi is a lot of jealousy. If someone in the village has a lot of money, you can find many people who want for him to happen something bad, They believe they can bring him bad luck with witchcraft. We heard many stories about witchcraft, let me mention just few …really strange things happen around here…especially on the Mount Mulanje, where also people disappear…many people believe that on this mountain live old spirits and because of that you can hear when walking on a small path a bus coming, but never really coming…or in the middle of the night you can hear little children talking and laughing and when you try to approach them, they are still far..you just never can reach them…people-tourists who go on a trekking to Mt. Mulanje are often told that they need to respect the spirits..that they will find food like bananas and nsima on the floor in the middle of the forest and that they need to take a piece of food, eat it and proceed walking..if not, sth bad can happen…so you should be careful up there….but it is a true story which was told by captain of Ilala ferry, that a brazilian guy was missing…captain got to know him on a ferry..and after he went on Mt. Mulanje he was gone, missing….local people were again talking about old spirits, but it is true that people may disappear there because of a bad conditions on the mountain…like anyplace else in the mountains, you can get lost because of the cloudy weather and the mist or even fall down…iihhh..hope they already found that guy….

Our final stop in Malawi was Blantyre where we met a german guy who is a member of Gule Wamkulu. As he didn’t have a place to sleep, we invited him to sleep in our room and we talked about many interesting things. We heard so much about that ‘traditional dance’ for the tourists, but underneath is a sect. Noone in the society knows who is a part of Gule, because their first rule is not to talk about Gule outside the Gule. You can get killed because of that. You can become a part of Gule only through someone who is already a member and you are suppose to come on initiation. They hurt themselves to become stronger, fearless, they are hurting themselves physically and psychically. This happens also to new-members. They torture them in every possible way and by the end they show on a chicken how you can die if you talk about Gule. The things I am writing now I got from many different sources. But when me and Simona wanted to see Gule, a local guy said to us if we are completely crazy, that they can also kill us there…if not that, at least rape us!..huuh, this is not that innocent as it looked from the beginning…first they take off all your clothes, then  they torture you..all the group of cca. 50 people..the wear masks and the believe they are spirits, not human beings…and when they wear masks they are like a Predator, fearless and can do whatever they want, they are above the law…so if it happens that during their ceremony or initiation they kill someone, police can’t do anything, as they all believe they are spirits!..this is how they also steal food, noone should be on the way of a Predator…what we know is that they have a softer iniciation for whites, so that they don’t suffer that much, hahaha….maybe me and Simona can go back and make a documentary about that..if there would be a way for them to let us…hmm, maybe, you never know…

Let it be enough, I am greeting all of you, I hope you enjoyed in the stories of Malawi as much as we did.

With love,

Eva