24. May 2026

It's All Fines

Seeing my family walk through the airport towards me was as exciting as I anticipated and, considering how little sleep they'd had during their journey, they were on good form! Their initial introduction to Africa was being surrounded by many locals as we collected the car I'd hired for the duration of their stay, as we played a game of Jenga trying to fit in all the luggage. There was just about enough room left for us all to squeeze into the seats.

Driving down through Lilongwe, on our way to Dedza Pottery Lodge for our first night, I took a brief detour so that we could visit the Bingu National Football Stadium (primarily for my eldest, Harry, who is a big footie fan). It was impressive. That's about as much football input as I can give.

We then continued on the pot-holed road to Dedza, giving everyone a taste of the beautiful scenery en route. A bit of extra local flavour was added when I was flagged down by the police, who explained that their speed camera had caught me doing 63km/hr in a 50 zone (I'm not making excuses, but speed signs are rare and I hadn't realised I was entering a 'residential' zone until it was too late). After a 10,000 kwacha fine (about £4.50) and a telling off (with a smile of course - this is Malawi, after all) from the policeman, we were back on our way. Dedza was beautiful but chilly, and everyone was shattered, so after a quick meal (and me receiving some lovely birthday presents, including a digital camera from them all - watch out for improvements to the photos on here and Instagram), we headed to bed.

There was a power cut all though the night, so charging phones, etc before setting off early for our next stop, Zomba (where we would be off grid for two days), proved nigh on impossible. Luckily, thanks to my trusty solar charger, we managed to get enough juice during the car journey to manage.

The road to Zomba is long, with many, many more potholes and we wanted to be at Zomba Forest Lodge in time for lunch. A short stretch of smooth tarmac led to another opportunity for the police to stop me again. This time with a 20000 kwacha fine but once again it was delivered in a friendly fashion! However, there was little chance of it happening again as I rarely managed to exceed 40km/hr and in fact many of the potholes/craters had to be negotiated at a snail's pace.

Up in the Clouds

We watched the setting sun from high up the mountain, breathing in the clear air between sips of beer, then settled down to a delicious meal (the chef at ZFL is exceptional), played cards, then had another early night (they've all got used to the different rhythm of life here).

The next morning resembled a scene from 'Gorillas in the Mist', as we were shrouded by thick cloud and drizzle. We'd planned to hike, but decided to stay put for a relaxing morning, ever hopeful that it would clear up later. On the drive up the previous day, we'd noticed a clunking sound at the front of the car, so knowing that Tom and Petal, the owners of ZFL, would know of a reliable mechanic I asked whether a quick inspection could be arranged for peace of mind. The rain didn't clear, but we decided we'd do a short hike anyway, so headed off on adventure round the mountain. In spite of the weather, it was fun and we had a brief view when the mist lifted for a few minutes.

Parts of the path were slippy, so the circular route took longer than expected, so by the time we got back to ZFL, we'd been gone for about 3 hours. Both Tom and Petal came out to greet us on the drive - mostly to prepare us for the sight of the car, which was jacked up on bricks. Hmm. It turned out the mechanic had discovered that the wrong sized break pads had been fitted; they'd worked loose and the clunking we'd been hearing had been the sound of them rattling about. Oh, and the jack wasn't functioning. Apart from that, we'd been in no danger on our drives so far - gulp! The mechanic would buy the right sized pads and come back in the morning.

He did indeed show up the next morning, only to find that he'd been given the wrong sized brake pads, so had to arrange for someone to bring the correct ones up the mountain. It wasn't a hardship to wait in beautiful sunshine at ZFL but as our next destination was a safari I was keen for us to get on our way, so it was a relief when we finally got on the road at 11am. Big thanks to Tom and Petal for all their help on our little car drama!

We needed to stop in Zomba town for a cash point and a pharmacy (Lydia had succumbed to a throat lurgy) so the mechanic led us down to the town on his motorbike and indicated where we should park in front of the pharmacy. In the 10 minutes or so we were occupied, two men in high-viz jackets had put bricks in front of our wheels and were waiting for us when we returned to the car. They then informed us that they were from the council, we were parked illegally and needed to pay a 100000 kwacha fine. I explained that a local had told us to park there, but they were having none of it. I argued a bit and they reduced the 'fine' to 50000 kwacha. I decided to argue a bit more and in the end, got the bricks removed by the 'chancers' for 10000 kwacha. A small price to pay in the end for getting on our way to the Shire River for our safari.

Elephant Encounters

Mvuu at Liwonde National Park is one of my happy places and I'm so pleased that the safari experience didn't disappoint Harry, Matthew, William and Lydia. The sound of the hippos laughing through the night (yes, they really do sound like they are laughing), the tree frogs, many elephant encounters, both on land and from a boat trip on the river, seeing the crafty crocodiles, the baboons, the warthogs - even a chameleon, expertly spotted by the guide on our night drive...these were just a few of the highlights.

Mumbo No. 5

After another gruelling, pot-holey drive and a 1 hour boat trip, next stop was Mumbo Island, a peaceful, off-grid sanctuary. Apart from one other person, we were the only guests, so pretty much had the island to ourselves. I visited Mumbo three years ago, with my friend Shelley and again, it didn't disappoint. Watching the fish eagles circling above the trees, and listening to the lapping waves from my little cabin on the rocks was both 'other-worldly' and wonderful. Snorkelling, eating, drinking, playing cards and bao were all highlights of our 24 hours there.

Visiting Friends

For the last two days we've been staying at Norman Carr cottage, with my friends Taffy and Leoni (I stayed there on both my previous visits to Malawi, and it's there that I'll be staying from August). As usual, they were lovely company and the relaxed vibe of their cottage is a complete tonic (food also delicious and plentiful). Saturday morning saw Harry tired and William not terribly well, so just Matthew, Lydia and I drove down to Open Arms in Mangochi (where I will be volunteering in August and September). It was great to see Fred, the manager again and he took us into the community to visit foster homes where two of the children who lived at Open Arms before their community scheme was introduced and whom Phill and I met during our visit last year. This was a humbling experience, particularly as one of the foster mothers is only 18 and already has a 4-year-old son of her own. Grace, her foster daughter, who was clearly well cared for and loved, clung desperately to her to keep her safe from the visiting mzungus.

Fred also introduced me to two families who have children with albinism (more on that later, when I'm living at Norman Carr Cottage from August) and we were able to give them some of the sun cream and hats donated by friends from home (thanks to all). One family, who have four affected children, were thrilled as they had run out of sun protection. Here, this vital resource for them is scarce,and the cost is prohibitive, so they rely on donations.

After driving back to Norman Carr, we had a relaxing afternoon on the beach, followed by a lovely trip outonto the lake on Alfie, Taffy's boat, to swim and watch the sunset. Bliss.

Blogging Off..

I'm a day later with this post than I meant to be, so I'm going to stop at the end of yesterday; the rest of our adventures will be in my post next weekend. In the meantime, I'll be posting more on my Instagram, @Malawi_enjoying_ourselves. This week's Insta posts have been lean , as a result of often being off-grid and without power!

Thanks for reading!

Clare