Mzungu Says Hello

TDA Days 76 to 84
Malawi

"White man wandering aimlessly while nursing a hangover" - that's what the guidebook explains the word "mzungu" means. In short: foreigner.

Yes, we were the mzungus rolling in on wheels. Dozens of children, sometimes reminding of Ethiopia, would scream "Mzunguuuuuuu" and "Hello". "Hello to you all!"

We entered Malawi on a beautiful hot afternoon rolling down from the Tanzanian hills onto flat rice farmland. Little mud huts were dotting the rice fields. A sudden change in colour intensity: the deep dark green of the trees and tea plantations got replaced by the light delicate green of the young rice plants. And, as soon as we crossed the border, we were overwhelmed by children. Beautiful, cheerful children often demanding money. Extreme humidity and heat made the first night almost unbearable, but fortunately we rolled back into hills soon.

Only for a day did we witness the hardships of the field work: peasants ploughing their land knee deep in mud. Heading to Lake Malawi we entered more hilly terrain before reaching Chitimba Beach, a beautiful spot on the shore of Lake Malawi where we enjoyed a rest day.

On the way we rode through a small fishing town with beautifully carved boats lining up the beach. The huts were small and crammed into each other. Sardines were drying out in the sun on large flat beds. The place was buzzing with people.

At Chitimba Beach the carved out boats lay on the beach like worn shoes dropped off randomly, others floated like nutshells on the water. Every evening the fishermen paddle onto the deep waters and return the next morning with their catch. A small crowd on the beach in the morning constitutes the fresh fish market.
We did not escape the rain this time, but the storm clouds only made sunrise more spectacular. A photoshooting session at sunrise. I had been missing that for quite a while. And the huge dark clouds pierced by solitary rays of sunshine were offering dramatic images only amplified by the reflections on the water. The place was extremely picturesque.
Later, when the rain was just pouring down mercilessly I decided that a walk on the beach in the rain was just something very special. And so I went and ended up swimming in the dark waters of the lake next to the local women who each had piles of cycling clothes to take care of: our laundry service :-) Luckily the afternoon was hot and beautiful and things dried out in time.

The next morning we left Chitimba Beach in pouring rain. It was warm rain at least and I certainly enjoyed it very much. What initially started as a statement - when within the first few minutes my shoes, socks and clothes got soaked and I stopped feeling the pain in my hurt and infected big toe - ended up as a song. And I made sure I performed it for every passing TDA rider to their entertainment or dislike but, fortunately (or hopefully), not grief. Stupid little song, yet brought up smiles in the rain.

My socks are wet,
My shoes are wet
And so are all my clothes.

It's fun to ride the bike in rain
And not feel any pain.

The rain is warm,
The road is worn
The scenery is grey.

It's hard to ride and hard to smile
For yet another mile.

The rain will stop,
The sun will shine
The views will soon unveil.

We'll get to camp and party light
For getting there alive.

My bike is clean
My mood is mean
And yet I feel so light,

'Cause I like to ride my bike in rain
And not feel any pain.

:-) ;-) :-) ;-) :-) ;-) :-) ;-) :-) ;-)

We climbed up the hills we had looked up to from the beach and then continued further over ever more hills. This day with the views it had to offer would have probably been the highlight of the week through Malawi had the rain and mist not taken care of any visibility. We could only guess and imagine how beautiful these green steep hills were like.
Over the next few days we rode over more and bigger green hills than any of us had expected. We had more rain and miserable weather. But we were also rewarded with beautiful rainbows and little ponds covered by light purple waterlilies along the road: beauty accents brightening up the long exhausting days. The coke stops became more frequent and longer. Furthermore they were sometimes complemented by ice-cream. Pure luxury!

The capital city of Lilongwe impressed us with its modern infrastructure. But it didn't really invite me to exploration. I rather focused on laundry, bike maintenance and resting. The campground had a lovely swimming pool and I made sure I made extensive use of it under the starlit sky at night. Yet another luxury!

We left Lilongwe on a sunny morning heading to Zambia. The air was filled with the scent of fresh cut grass. And so my memories of Malawi are more olfactory than others: the scent of fresh cut grass, the scent of fresh timber, the scent of the rained upon dust.