ITINERARY
Friday 20th September
- Tackers and A.B. arrive in Lilongwe in the morning. I’ll pick you up from the airport and we can stop in town for some brunch. I’m thinking Tranquility Tea Garden. Lovely place to chill, the full English is excellent and the juice is freshly squeezed.
- 4 hour drive to Blantyre, good chance to catch up. Drop your stuff off at my place, freshen up, and we can head into town for dinner. Was thinking 21 Grill. Steaks and sea food are excellent and I hear (for A.B.’s sake) they have crocodile on the menu.
- Usually some of my friends will be in town after work. If you’re not too tired, we can stop for one or two. Mibawa Café has an excellent band performing most Friday nights. If you’re still awake, Blue Elephant is a club that’s usually busy, hires good DJs and serves my favourite cheeseburger.
Saturday 21st September
- Bar hopping – authentic Malawian male experience on a Saturday (if you aren’t broke) is mostly beers and bbq and football on TV. Hence I feel it’s worth starting with a day dedicated to immersing you in the African equivalent of a pub crawl, though there’s no need to get mashed if you don’t want to. I’ll be designated:
- Mkango Lodge (near my house, cheap drinks, good bbq, swimming pool)
- The Bistro (lovely decor, great selection of Mediterranean food, owners are happy drunks)
- Chez Maky (good steak, excellent choons, best view in the city)
- TJs (great drinks selection, really good fish and chips)
- Doogle’s (cool choons, pretty girls)
- Stereo (bit of a dive, but the bbq’s good)
- Blue Elephant (most nights out end here)
Sunday 22nd September
- Day trip to Game Haven Lodge in Bvumbwe, about an hour from town. Game drives, fishing, sailing, bird watching, etc.
- I suggest dinner at Bombay Palace (curry house).
Monday 23rd September
- Day trip to Chikwawa
- Majete Wildlife Reserve
- Fisherman’s Rest nature reserve on the way back into town. I hear the cafe’s nice and the views are beautiful.
- Dinner at the Hong Kong Restaurant. short of Phu Roy cooking up marvelous home made prawn toast, my fave Chinese restaurant. the sweet n sour pork is special.
Tuesday 24th September
- Day trip to Zomba
- Lunch at Ku Chawe Inn, hotel on top of Zomba Mountain. they have a really cool outdoor chess set if anybody wants a game. there’s a (supposedly) bottomless pit somewhere on the plateau and I hear there are waterfalls worth checking out. Views from the top are amazing, you can see for miles and miles. Hiking is an option, though it’s pretty steep, so better to get a cab up and walk down.
Wednesday 25th September
- Day trip to Mulanje
- Stop at Bvumbwe market on the way. AB says he likes markets and I’ve heard good things about the produce on offer here.
- Mount Mulanje’s the 3rd highest in Africa. It’s really beautiful from a distance, but I’ve never climbed it. thinking we could take a morning hike some of the way up then visit local bars in the afternoon. There’s a couple of nice ones.
- Mulanje Pepper for lunch. Oven roasted pizzas and a bunch of other Italian food. comes highly recommended.
- If there’s time, stop at Satemwa Tea Plantation on the way back. The views are excellent, as is their tea.
Thursday 26th – Saturday 28th September
- Trip to Lilongwe
- On the way, stop at Liwonde by the Shire river (huge) to check out crocs and hippos and elephants and whatnot. They have game drives and boat trips. We’ll see if AB’s allowed to eat some of the animals.
- In Lilongwe, Zanzi and Chez Ntemba are massive clubs with really good DJs. Definitely worth a visit.
- Friday/Saturday there’ll be a music and arts festival happening; hopefully some good acts and some pretty girls around.
- Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
- Kumbali Cultural Centre has traditional music, dancing and food. We should defo eat there, as my culinary skills don’t do the local food justice.
- Also, somewhere in here we’re picking up a Mr Shaun Elsbury from the airport.
Sunday 29th September
- Day trip from Lilongwe to Senga Bay Salima, a lakeside town an hour from Lilongwe.
- Visit Livingstonia Beach hotel, which is very chill, and also my mate’s family’s fishing company, Red Zebra Tours. Maybe do some fishing and eating and stuff.
- When we get back, live music at Chameleon, which is a really chill shisha bar.
Monday 30th September
Back to Blantyre.
- Stop at Dedza pottery. They sell beautiful ceramics if you want to pick up souvenirs and the café’s really nice.
- Also stop at Mua Mission, where they have an awesome collection of old masks and costumes and artwork from traditional dances and stuff that date back hundreds of years.
- Maybe stop to buy mouse kebabs from the roadside sellers so AB can get involved. If we have time, maybe hike up Dedza Mountain.
- Also, these guys do really good traditional dances.
Tuesday 1st – Friday 4th October
Lake Malawi.
- 3 or 4 hours to Mangochi from Blantyre.
- Cape Maclear’s probably the most beautiful part of the Lake. I’m thinking we could stay there at Gecko Lounge. The bar is good and it draws a pretty good crowd. they have plenty of boat trips and Nkopola, Club Mak and Sun n Sand are nearby resorts with plenty of water sports.
- need to find Cape Mac Lodge. They have a restaurant called Froggie’s that’s supposed to be good.
- Monkey Bay is a port town down the road that I’ve never been to. It should be worth a visit.
Saturday 5th October
Afternoon coach to Lilongwe. Can maybe do souvenir shopping before we head off. They sell art (and really good coffee) at Mandala House and there’s an arts and crafts market in town.
Sunday 6th October
Back to the ‘Ford.
We Will Drink Our Coffee And Complete Our Novels And Lay In Sunlight And Sit In Darkness
Isolato 