Smiles and celebrations: Mark found a lot of positivity and happiness in MalawiLife on the open road has a meaning all of its own in Malawi. Not so much a path of carefree discovery as a gruelling means to an end, borne with a disarming smile and remarkable lightness of spirit.
The procession goes on all day and much of the night: men cycling for miles carrying wood, maize, vegetables, live chickens, rush matting. Women balancing pots on their heads and cradling babies in slings, their deportment better than anything you'll see on a ritzy catwalk. Boys and girls racing between termite mounds or holding up sugar cane in the hope of making a sale.
Malawi, formerly Nyasaland, which gained independence from Britain in 1964, is known as the 'warm heart of Africa'. It's an extraordinarily friendly, land-locked country, with Tanzania sitting to the north, Zambia to the north-west and Mozambique wrapping itself round to the east, south and south-west.
Completely unspoilt by mass tourism (or even small-scale tourism, for that matter), the landscape is dominated by Africa's Great Rift Valley, which has at its heart the humungous lake that so enthralled Dr David Livingstone in the 1850s. With palm-fringed beaches, vodka-clear waters and a rich, undisturbed wildlife, Lake Malawi is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide.
Our ten-day adventure was more than a holiday. My wife was born in Malawi and, at times, it felt as if we were participating in the TV programme Who Do You Think You Are?, especially when we found the house in Blantyre where she spent the first six years of her life.
There are no direct flights to Malawi from the UK. We went overnight on Kenya Airlines via Nairobi (where, on the way back, we had enough time to dash to Norfolk Hotel for a slap-up dinner), landing at the capital, Lillongwe, where we met our driver and guide, Mike, from Wilderness Travel. He took us straight to the Lake Malawi National Park, where we spent 48 glorious hours at Pumulani Lodge, arriving just as the tangerine sun was plunging into the water.
There are ten large cottages hidden from each other among the trees, all with fabulous views of the lake. We were woken at dawn by baboons scampering across our balcony; drank gin around the bonfire; ate simple, beautifully produced food; joined honeymooners for a sunset sail on a rickety dhow; admired the darting kingfishers and generally got in touch with our inner Robinson Crusoe.
One morning, we walked to the nearest village and met a small army of spirited children and their hard-working mothers. They had no electricity, no furniture, no proper cooking equipment, but they had oodles of dignity and enough warmth to thaw the coolest of hearts.
Outside a tiny hut with a roof made of straw, we came across a small boy who proudly showed us his one plastic flipflop. He was so frightened of losing it that he had attached it to a piece of string.
Malawi doesn't bother to compete with other African countries when it comes to safaris, but if you go down to Mvuu Wilderness Lodge deep in Liwonde National Park, you'll be in for a big surprise.
On foot, in a boat down the Shire River and aboard an open-top Land Rover, we came face to face with elephants, hippos, crocodiles, impalas and waterbuck. The bird life was sensational (we spotted a rare ground hornbill) and we learnt more about the trees and natural vegetation than you ever could from an entire David Attenborough series.
The beauty of Mvuu is that it can accommodate only 16 people. You're housed in secluded tented chalets and you should close your door at night because there is nothing to stop an inquisitive jumbo from popping in during his nocturnal travels.
Malawians are renowned for their loyalty. I like the story of the Westerner who visited a prison near Lilongwe and saw that it was enclosed by a feeble knee-high barbed wire fence. On asking how often the inmates broke out, he was told: 'Oh, no, the prisoners here are very loyal.'
The prison story may be apocryphal, but Malawian loyalty isn't. You only have to see how Livingstone is still so revered. Blantyre, about five hours to the south of Lake Malawi, retains its Scottish name in honour of the town where Livingstone was born, and wherever you go there is genuine affection for the British.
Frankly, we would have skipped Blantyre had we not had an appointment with history. A bustling city, it's not the prettiest of places. Our first stop was The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which was opened by the Queen Mother in 1957. Passers-by seemed bemused as my wife posed in front of the maternity wing, where she was born.
We stayed at Protea Hotel Ryalls, where Harold Macmillan reportedly worked on his 1960 Wind of Change speech before delivering it in Cape Town. It was mission accomplished in Blantyre and so we made our way to Zomba via a crucial detour to Mulanje Mountain, the highest peak in south-central Africa.
Zomba, the former capital, used to be known as the prettiest capital in the British Empire. There are still some wonderfully evocative houses, but almost all of them are well past their best.
We drove up from Zomba and kept going up - and up. The road ran out but a track continued until that, too, came to an end - and we had arrived at Zomba Forest Lodge, where an eccentric South African lives with a Great Dane and no electricity.
Serene: Kaya Mawa resort, on the shore of Lake Malawi, is a true slice of African luxuryIn a charming ramshackle building lit only by candles, he has four rooms for guests and he does the best food in the country. Actually, he doesn't do the food. He leaves that to 75-year-old Solomon, who apparently used to be former president Dr Hastings Banda's private chef.
Our final destination was Kaya Mawa on the tiny Likoma Island, half way up Lake Malawi near the Mozambique border. It's a devastatingly beautiful lodge set on a beach where ancient baobab and mango trees occasionally ripple in the wind.
Rooms and cottages are dotted about, all private; all utterly charming. Ours was the most luxurious tree house in the world. It had an outside bathroom, wraparound deck and dreamy four-poster bed. Kaya Mawa is run by an Englishman, James, and his wife Suzie, who's started a textile business on the island, employing local women.
James took us to see the huge, tin-roofed St Peter's Cathedral, built at the turn of the 20th century and modelled on Winchester Cathedral, and we watched the little town of Chipyela go about its gentle business.
The evening before our departure, we walked along the beach and turned inland. Boys were playing football, with at least 15 on each side. But what I really loved was the way every time a goal was scored, both teams thought it an excuse for raucous celebration.
Earlier, I had asked our driver Mike why Malawians were so positive, why every person we met was open and generous. He thought about it for some time before replying. 'I don't know. Maybe there isn't a reason.' And maybe that's the best reason of all.
Travel Facts
The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646, www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) offers an 11-day journey across Malawi from £4,827pp, including three nights at Pumulani (www.pumulani.com); two at Mvuu Lodge (www.mvuulodge.com); one at Zomba Forest Lodge and four at Kaya Mawa (www.kayamawa.com) on Likoma Island. Includes flights from Heathrow, transfers, all activities and most meals.
The Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi is part of the Fairmont Group (0845 071 0153, www.fairmont.com). Wilderness Travel (www.wildernesstravel.com).
Charities operating in Malawi include Nyika-Vwaza Trust (www.nyika-vwaza-trust.org) and the Tiyeni Fund (www.tiyeni.org).
source :dailymail
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