Malawi pt. 1
July 20
Where do I begin? Probably by saying that once the three of us crossed over the border from Zambia into Malawi an overwhelming sense of happiness surrounded us, enveloping us during our time there and following us almost all the way back out (a failed bribe attempt by a police officer on our way to Tanzania put a bit of a damper on that… he tried to “fine” us for not having reflective tape on our bumper, but as soon as Robb showed him his five ones the officer gave up and let us go).
We arrived in the country late – later than most of the border crossing offices were open. This was a major problem for us because purchasing Malawian car insurance is pretty much essential, and we were told that cops prey on unsuspecting tourists. We somehow got lucky enough to run into some random guy at the insurance office who who had the number of the woman who worked there, called her, and got her to come all the way back to the office just to get us our insurance for the car. This was especially wonderful as it was already almost 7pm. We were told that Malawians were some of the nicest people in Africa, and our first introduction to the country certainly held true to that statement.
From then on it only got better. We stayed in the capital city (Lilongwe) for one night, Robb met someone named Simba at a bar who compared him to Chuck Norris (really??), and we couldn’t help but stare out of the window in awe at all of the beauty around us as we drove up along Lake Malawi the next day.
Picture from the road on our way to the Lake
