Blantyre - Nsanje - Vila Nova da Fronteira - Mutarara - Pinda - Caia - On the road again!

We'll be travelling again, and Cash is king!Large denominations are non-existent in Malawi. So you go to the bank, take out the maximum of 40.000 Kwacha and stick in your card again to get the next 40.000. To give you an idea: 40.000 is about a tank full of petrol. We have many tanks to go.... Standard Bank is the only one that takes Maestro cards, so Istood in line, again.

Still in Zomba, driving to Blantyre. This is the monument for those fallen in the great wars. Malawi soldiers fought in Asia and Europe, in both the first and the second world war. I did not know, and I doubt many Malawians do.





Very artistic, these hand-painted road signs!  Just take a piece of plywood, a wooden stake you found somewhere, and paint and you can do this too!
Since no one adhers to the rules anyway, and speed is not an issue due to road conditions, it seems utterly useless anyway...

 The kids loved our stay in Blantyre, in Villa33. Nice place, nice oxtail I had, and we slept really well only to leave at 6.30 the next morning. We will be driving over the Marka-Vila Nova da Fronteira border today!

 On the way to the border I needed all my driving skills, since the road to Nsanje is still under construction for a big part. Detours are always gravel roads in bad condition.. Other parts are great though. It took us 3 hours to get to Nsanje though. After that I had expected at least some sort of tarmac toward the border, but I was mistaken, only gravel roads here. Thank you GPS, for showing us the right turns

 Between Marka, leaving Malawi, and Vila Nova, where you enter Mozambique, are three kilometres of no-mans-land. We gave the Malawian customs officer a lift upon his request. At the Mozambican side it looked a bit war-ridden still, although building activity was going on! We spent some time -always longer than expected- with border officials who had to write all our details down by hand and I was allowed to take this picture of a once grand customs building.

Two hours of dirt road in reasonable condition brought us to Mutarara, the town where trains from Tete cross the Zambezi toward Beira. This is the longest railroad bridge of Africa, 7 kms in total. The guys standing there offer to take you to the other side on the back of their bike. Entrepreneurs because there is nothing else to do...

 The dirt road from Mutarara toward the Tembe-Tembe ferry. Really hoorible to drive, must be almost impossible in the rainy season. Now the mud has dried out enough to be able to hump and bump along. The kids in the back started complaining, and believe you me that's not something achieved easily with our kids.

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 We made it to the ferry though, and the ferry made it across too. It won't be long before it will need it's next repair though, as can be seen on this picture. An African-style repair had been made by just knotting the steel cable, which will eventually destroy the guidance system, I believe. But then, that's tomorrow. Today, we were across.

 Magnificent crossing of the Shire river, the same one that floated under us as we were on the boat safari in Liwonde! Not very wide here, but apparently very deep. The gus at the side are hand-winching the whole pontoon to the other side. Talk about muscle build-up!
Getting off was as difficult as getting on: I could not manage without hitting the ground with the back fender, saloon cars will not make this one I guess.

Some sandy driving then, where I tried to keep the speed up as we are driving a 2-wheel drive. We did not get stuck, so we had a relatively smooth drive toward Caia, with this beautiful sunset view.

And this one, too

Finally: Caia Bridge. The Zambezi is magnificent. Wide, and running wildly. We slept at the Rocha Motel there, with a pool party going on next door... Not very recommendable, but probably better on a weekday.