Lilongwe, Malawi

Hello readers! I'm well and truly in the heart of Malawi right now. This morning we left Kande Beach at 7am after a great pig-on-the-spit bbq and gorgeous sunset, and hit the road for Lilongwe, the capital. Being Malawi, we found out that a very important bridge on our route had been washed out so we had to drive all the way back to Mzuzu and take an alternative route to Lilongwe. 3 police checks and a roadside toilet stop later, we arrive in the vicinity of the capital, and it's still daylight! We have been covering some serious distances the last few days and it's nice not to be in the bus all day long. First port of call was the Shoprite in central Lilongwe for grocery shopping (read: water, chips, candy) followed by the local craft market. Malawi is well-known for it's master woodcarvers, and we took this chance to stock up on authentic hand-carved tables, bowls, chairs, salad servers and bracelets. The wood they use is teak and ebony, beautiful dark wood that's really strong and carves beautifully. The motifs feature the Big 5 (Lion, Buffalo, Rhino, Leopard, and em..... one more). I bought a pair of wooden bangles, one featuring beautiful cut-out animals and another with a rose motif. Love! Only problem is the vendors are more persistent than the Vietnamese, and that's saying something! You have to be a good bargainer to not get ripped off; my guy started at 5000 Kwachas for the 2 bangles but I got them for 1500 in the end. Helps that I simply didn't have any more kwachas to spend! Hendrik got a hideously ugly giant mask for the front of the bus called Freddie - he's going to be our mascot for the last leg of the trip. Rock on!
This afternoon we just chilled by the pool and discussed our imminent arrival into Zambia... Zambia is being difficult with visas at the moment and can't decide how much they want to charge. It could be anywhere from USD$50 to US$100, depending on where you're from. I'm planning to get a multiple entry visa so I can cross over to the Zimbabwe side of the Victoria Falls, and maybe do a day safari to the Chobe National Park in Botswana. We're expecting a looooooong processing time at the border so expect a fairly frazzled post next
time!
x ML