Travel in Malawi is especially safe compared with many other destinations, and most crime is confined to petty theft. Although there are few paved roads, the system of tarmac roads is strategically placed to make travel easy from city to city, traversing beautiful countryside and moving easily through trading centers and past mud-hut African villages that remain captured in time just as they 100 years ago. International flight connections are easily available for flights into Blantyre and Lilongwe daily, and smaller regional and local flights arranged for a number of smaller airports. Read more about travel in Malawi
Travel Stories
THE FEVER TREE
Its bark has a distinctive, greenish-yellow, smooth appearance. It produces a powdery substance that coats its bark and rubs off at the touch. Dangerous thorns grow to approximately 2 ½ to 3 inches and can easily puncture a shoe and reach the foot.This unique tree, known as xanthophloea, grows in low, marsh areas, along flood…
ODE TO THE ROLL
ODE TO THE ROLL Lilongwe, Malawi … In 1970 Joni Mitchell released the song, Big Yellow Taxi. In it was this refrain, “You don’t what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” I know she was not talking about what I recently experienced, but every time I think about my encounters in Malawi, I recall that song. My…
THEY SURVIVED THE STORM, BUT NOW …
Southern Malawi … It has been six months since Cyclone Freddie washed away his entire village. Their home had been their security, and their good memories. Now it was gone, and six months later most of the aid groups who came immediately after the storm, were also gone. John Chikwanthu, 62, and his family of…
PAIN OF THE PAST
Mozambique wraps around Malawi on three sides, and unlike the borders of most nations, this fact explains a nearly total encasement of the Southern portion of Malawi. Because of this fact, Mozambique has a powerful influence on the economic and political situation of its neighbor. A major example of this took place between 1977 to…
THE NIGHT BROUGHT TERROR (Part 2)
Southern Malawi, … In our previous story the cyclonic winds and high water from Cyclone Freddy had just swept Justin Yasini, his wife, and their two sons down steam in the high waters. Justin was scared and feared his wife and sons were gone forever. It was at this point that Justin believes he was…
THE NIGHT BROUGHT TERROR (Part 1)
Southern Malawi, … The rain had been coming down in torrential waves for the past two days, and rivers and streams could not handle the load. They were beginning to overflow their banks, and unknown to thousands of village people the water was about to become their enemy. For many villagers, proximity to rivers means…
DRIVING IN THE FRENZY OF MARKET DAY
Lilongwe, Malawi … Market Day in Malawi’s trading centers is a day of fuss, fury, and frenzy. Malawians seem to know where they are going, but for an American it is an impossible maize to navigate. For those walking beside, on, or across the highway, and for the drivers who must dodge the foot traffic,…
SOUTH OF THE CITY IN EARLY MORNING
It is hard to imagine anything more beautiful than the distant mountains floating in the morning mist south of Lilongwe along M-1. This scene is common at this time of year and there is something that touches the visitor with the feeling they are wild, beautiful, and untamed. In a way that is the feeling…
“WITHOUT THE WOMEN WE HAVE NO CHIEF”
Dedza District … Chief Francis Makalani Banda, a Chewa Chief, from the Mphezi area of central Malawi was showing visitors the site of a major battle between the Chewa and Ngoni in the days after the assassination of the famous Zulu chief Shaka on September 22, 1828. He noted he would be taking the visitors…
BICYCLES ARE LIKE CARS
Lilongwe, Malawi … In first-world nations purchasing some sort of car, SUV, or other motorized vehicle is within the reach of most families. However, in emerging world nations like Malawi, cars are something the vast majority will never own, or even drive. Even for public officials, doctors, lawyers, tribal leaders, and prosperous businesspeople the cost…
