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We caught a minibus from Blantyre to Monkey Bay, from which the 54-year-old famous ferry Ilala will take us all the way to Nkhata Bay up north. From there we plan to make our way to Mzuzu, and then Karonga, which is situated around 120 km from the Tanzanian border. After staying the night, we will cross the border the next day and go to Mbeya, a village through which most freight transport passes on its way from Dar Es Salaam to Zambia (west) or Malawi (south). From Mbeya we will catch the train on the classic railway Tazara (Tanzania Zambia Railway) to Dar.
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Monkey Bay by night<br/><br/>

A nightly encounter in Monkey Bay

Robinbye
2006-01-05 21:00:02

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We caught a minibus from Blantyre to Monkey Bay, from which the 54-year-old famous ferry Ilala will take us all the way to Nkhata Bay up north. From there we plan to make our way to Mzuzu, and then Karonga, which is situated around 120 km from the Tanzanian border. After staying the night, we will cross the border the next day and go to Mbeya, a village through which most freight transport passes on its way from Dar Es Salaam to Zambia (west) or Malawi (south). From Mbeya we will catch the train on the classic railway Tazara (Tanzania Zambia Railway) to Dar.

Monkey Bay by night

Leaving Blantyre early seemed sensible. We would arrive early in Monkey Bay, thus avoiding the dangers of the night. However, we miscalculated the inevitable delay of our bus. Buses never leave until they are over-overfull. Choosing a slightly bigger bus for comfort thus ended up being a big mistake. When we finally left hours late, the bus was just as full as the common minibuses, with five people sitting on each row. My 185 cm body was not happy. Our overfull bus then proceeded being unable to climb a steep road and eventually turned around and drove downhill instead. After filling petrol, the car actually managed to scale the little hill and we were underway. We had started realising that we would never arrive at Monkey Bay before sunset. When we finally did arrive, it was around 9pm after changing to another minibus. The first bus suddenly refused to drive us all the way because it wasn't economical with only three passengers left at that stage. They did pay the next bus for us though. Arriving in Monkey Bay it was nearly pitch dark. A few lightbulbs lit up some houses in addition to the occasional fire here and there. We were met by the usual aggressive touts trying to "help" us and also a local drunk. This was the exact situation we wanted to avoid by arriving in daylight. Luckily we had Lonely Planet and looked up a phone number for the only hostel ...