Bikepacking Africa, Week 4: Malawi to Zambia

Day 21: Ngala > Nkhandwe

• Alarm set for 6 am. We both slept pretty good as the bed was really comfortable and there was a fan.
• Down to the restaurant at 6:30 to have breakfast.
• PL was a bit early so walked down to the beach to take some photos. It’s a beautiful spot here.
• Had veggie omelette with toast and pancake pancakes, and a good coffee. Because it was included, it was well worth it!
• Riding out at 8 am.
• Pulled over to get water as the stuff from the lodge wasn’t very good. It was supposed to be right here, but PL ended up walking back about a block…lol.
• There are people and children everywhere. You don’t see them, but then they yell at you and they pop out of somewhere. It’s crazy.
• There’s also a lot of ricefields here. A lot of production. And virtually no roadblocks or stoppages south of Chitimba.
• Today the road got a little bit more chewed up and wasn’t as nicely paved. More potholes and sandy, gravel sections.
• Saw a sugarcane production plant and a lot of trucks carrying sugar cane.
• Roads were extremely busy today with people on bikes, walking, motorcycles, truck & car traffic. It’s a Friday morning, so not sure why it’s so busy. I know schools may be out for the long holiday.
• Some of these little communities were pretty grim. Especially Liwaladzi with garbage all along the main road. Too bad it’s right along the water.
• Stopped in a small little village just past there for more fluids & a snack.
• Skirted the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve today.
• Hit about 20-30km of road construction which slowed us down a bit. All the equipment and all of the bosses were Chinese. Apparently it’s been going on for three years already. Doesn’t look anywhere close to being done.
• Stopped to put air in PL’s tires. And then stopped for drinks and snacks with about 25km to go.
• Saw our first Muslim primary school. There’s definitely more Muslim dress around here. And there as a massive resort type of temple that reminded you of your duties to Allah.

   

• Rode the 4km to the Pottery Lodge downhill. I’d hate to have to ride back up.
• PL worked his magic and got us a two for one rate so we set up right on the beach to camp.
• Went for a nice quick swim and then showered. Had a snack got changed and then went over to the restaurant to get Wi-Fi and get everything uploaded.
• Had our celebration beer and hung out until supper at 6 pm.
• We both ordered the Chomba fish as it’s the best fish here from Malawi Lake. I got a medium and PL got an extra large lol. He had to finish mine. Hung out for a bit more and then got ready to head to the tent.
• I was reading at 7:15 pm. These early nights have been great as we’re getting up at 6am so we feel quite rested.
• Had to put the flyer tent on because all the lights remain on and there’s a security guard who is hanging around. Not sure I want him watching me sleep…lol. But we feel nice and relaxed as our bikes will be secured!
• This is likely our last time by any water for quite a bit, so we’re gonna enjoy falling asleep to the waves crashing on the beach.

93.83km/610m
Total: 1,485.96km/13,549m

   

Day 22: Nkhandwe > Salima, Malawi

• Alarm set for 6 AM, but I was up before that. Had some decent sleeps. Up here and there but not for too long. Sound of the waves crashing on the beach was pretty spectacular and some great white noise.
• Seemed quite windy this morning, listening to the waves, but it’s not so bad yet. Hopefully today won’t be as windy. LOL: Wind just picked up. They say it’ll be like this for two hours and then it will die🤞🏻
• Sat down for breakfast at 7 AM. Great food, not cheap! Riding out at 8 AM.
• New sayings from the kids are “Azunguu… Goodbye!”
• Climb out was actually really nice. Back on the route. Looks like more road expansion construction today as well. Looks like it could be two lanes going both directions at some point. Crazy.
• Stopped for water, yoghurt drinks and snacks. So much construction!!!
• The first 45 km was so bumpy with headwinds and terrible construction roads or gravel. So disappointing. Then we hit new tarmac which helped but it was still very windy.
• Stopped to get drinks and I dropped my bike again. Can’t find any donuts.
• A number of JW, Seventh-Day Adventist and Catholic churches. Few Anglican ones.
• Thought we were cruising along until we hit gravel with about 15 K to go. Because my shoulder was pretty sore was pretty frustrated.
• Ask God just to give me whatever I needed to get through. Funny enough, right after that, we went down onto the side dusty road where all the other bikes were. Nice and smooth. And then back up onto the gravel for about 100 m and then asphalt. Thank you Jesus.
• The wind was relentless today and were completely covered in African makeup.

   

• Found Lake Breeze Lodge at 2:30 PM. Need a bed tonight so my shoulder feels better. Hopefully PL is working his magic again! No WiFi & only 1 breakfast. Decided to go check out another one. WiFi but no food. Back to the Lake Breeze Lodge.
• Had nice showers and washed our clothes and got them out on the clothesline for the night.
• Hung out until it was time for supper.
• Walked towards the junction where there’s quite a few roadside stands in a restaurant. The restaurant didn’t have any food left so we walked back out and looked for something else.
• Bought some water, bananas and buns for tomorrow to go with our peanut butter and Nutella.
• Found a lady making the fried potatoes so we got some of those and then the fried sweet potatoes with salad. Back to the hotel with a couple of cold beers to eat in our room in the dark because the power is out again!
• Spent some time finalizing tomorrow’s accommodation.
• Power’s back on so that’s good.
• Read and then to bed.

95.80km/428m
Total: 1,581.76km/13,977m

Day 23: Salima > Lilongwe, Malawi

   

• Up at 6 AM again. We both slept average as we were up quite a bit. I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and it’s not flushing. So there’s that…lol!
• Breakfast with a little coleslaw, an over fried egg and fries. But there was more milk for the tea so that was good. And there was salt and ketchup!
• Made up our buns with peanut butter and Nutella and bananas for our food today.
• Had a nice little check-in through WhatsApp with the kids just making sure we’re all alive!
• Shoulder is about an eight to start, so hopefully we have tarmac all day. It’s windy and will be a hilly climbing day🤞🏻
• Packed up and ready to ride out at 7:30 AM
• Sweeping… everybody is always sweeping
• Commenting again on how happy we are that the dogs do not chase us here.
• Came across our first solar panel field, just outside of Salma heading west.
• Mostly charcoal stands out in this area.

 

• Were offered our first sleeve of cooked mice today. Not so sure…lol, as they looked pretty disgusting.
• Scenario with quite a bit of wicker furniture being made, baskets, mats. Pretty cool.
• Stopped for snacks before an 11k climb. 1,000 meters of climbing in 50 K. Finally stopped for more water and cold drink 11:30 AM
• Probably hit my lowest point today with responding to people asking for money. It has been relentless in the last couple of days. Not even hello first. Just ‘give me my money’. I was so ticked off that I made an inappropriate hand gesture! Not proud of it. We tried to wave and say hi if they at least say hello, and if they ask for money I’ve been ignoring it or saying shhh and putting my finger to my mouth. But I was just done today. I guess I just keep my head down and don’t say anything. This last stretch has been the worst. Even adults, which is disappointing.
• Finally hit a nice long descent into Lilongwe today. Rolling in around 1:30 PM. Much quicker day than we thought.
• Stopped at a little mini mall to get some groceries and hopefully a coffee at the coffee shop.
• PL went in to get some groceries and took forever because he sent some money to the wrong code. Had to come out and get some cash. Hopefully we’ll get that back. Stopped for sunscreen and they didn’t have any so he needs to go check again.
• Rolled into Africa House at 2:30pm. Fancy!!
• Got some laundry done and had a spectacular HOT shower with a lot of pressure!!! Oh, the things you miss.
• Finished reading my book, “I see you’ve called in dead”. Funny.
• Got ready and walked to La Cantina, a Mexican restaurant a 15min walk away.
• We were in a very wealthy part of town, with big properties all gated, and lots of German Shepherds. A lot of internationals live in this area apparently.
• Food was delicious…pricey but fresh and tasty.
• Got a taxi back to the hotel as it was recommended not to walk at night. We had a long time for a taxi to come.
• Got back to the hotel talked a little bit about tomorrow and then into bed by 9 PM

   

87.83km/1,404m
Total: 1,669.59km/15,381m

Day 24: Lilongwe > Mchinji

• Up at 6 AM to go to breakfast at 6:30 AM. We both slept really well. Had a really nice big breakfast with some good coffee.
• Met Lynn, from Oslo Norway, and had a great chat about our ride through there and Africa. She is here with her family visiting her daughter who is here for a year on a music exchange. She’s very excited about what we are doing and so we shared contacts. She will hopefully stop at Hope for Korah when she is in Harris before they head back. She works for immigration, and she is also thinking about what she wants to do in this next season of her life. She’s 56 years old. Really hoping that she comes visits us and that we can make it to Oslo.
• Ready to ride our bikes out by 8:00 AM.
• Stopped for donuts right away before we went onto the M1. We find if we don’t get them early enough we miss them later in the day.
• Definitely big city vibes. Traffic lights, but they actually aren’t on so it’s more like a rolling every way type situation.
• Finally found some bananas, but boy these are city prices that’s for sure!
• This is the first time we’ve seen some medicinal marijuana stores, companies, and even a spa with villas and accommodations. Also saw our first fast food, Kentucky Fried Chicken!
• Most of the bikes here have coal or wood. So there must be a large need for fuel towards the Lilongwe…
• Wondering if bike taxis would work in Korah? Could it be something the Hope for Korah Youth Empowerment Center can get going with a bike maintenance build/repair shop?
• Saw an ice cream sign just before Namitete, so we stopped to get some, but then the power went out. So we’ll have our lunch and hope it goes on in the next little bit. Unfortunately, it didn’t come back on. So no ice cream!
• Kept riding and stopped in another small town for Fanta and water. Immediately swarmed by kids so we decided to make the best of it. I fist pumped everybody which got them excited and then we took selfies. It’s funny, when we are not on our bikes nobody asks for money and everybody is really sweet. I also asked God to just change my mindset today. To see them as Jesus would and not be so offended or get upset. It actually worked.

   

• Definitely not as populated and it wasn’t as bad with the kids yelling ‘give me money’. We finally started saying ‘we are fine thank you’ every time they asked us and that got them quiet.
• Rolled into Mchinji at 2:15 PM.
• Tried a few places as we went by. Fatima’s was grim, next one had no water. Kept going. Next up was Rewards Lodge. 3rd time’s a charm! Stopping our garmins…lol.
• PL walked back into town to take all of the Malawi money out of Airtel and to get some fresh fruit. He ran into the French bikepacking couple who messaged on the WhatsApp group. We’ll meet them tomorrow in Zambia for a beer hopefully.
• Made some fruit salads and waited for towels so that we could shower.
• Went to the restaurant here and ordered supper. Had to wait 30 minutes for the rice to be ready.
• Walked to the booze den to grab a couple beers to have with supper. We watched WWE with Brock Lesnar while we’re waiting…lol
• Finally got our food an hour and a half later. The beef in the stew was very average. Lots of rice with greens and beans.
• Back to the room to chill and read just after 8 PM. This is our last night in Malawi as we will cross over into Zambia tomorrow.

115.33km/605m
Total: 1,784.92km/15,986m

Day 25: Mchinji, Malawi > Chipata, Zambia

• Up before the alarm again after an average sleep. Were both up quite a bit, but feel rested. Sometimes it’s just the mattress.
• Breakfast was actually pretty decent with two fried eggs and chips, and then a buffet with bread, butter, and peanut butter. Tea and a coffee-ish powder. All in all, pretty happy with the decision to stay here last night.
• Riding out at 7:20am.

Stay tuned for our ride through Zambia!

In the meantime, learn more about Cycle 5 to Survive and why we’re riding here, and our amazing Cycle 5 charity partners here. Thank you so much for following along.