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The very first diary entry...

So far, so good

Robinbye
2006-01-05 21:04:28

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of hassling salesmen (they usually take a no for a no), but because everybody drives like maniacs. In fact, motor accidents are one of the most common reasons for death in not only Malawi, but the continent of Africa! Luckily our driver didn't run anybody over, because that could have meant the death of us. As morally responsible, we would probably have demanded our driver to stop the car so that we could help the victim. However, as we discovered later, this would have proved fatal. If you stop after killing someone with your car, you are very likely to be killed yourself by the angry mob! The best thing to do is get the hell out of the crash scene and contact emergency, which will probably arrive two hours later after the ambulance driver has dropped of all his pirate taxi passengers. Anyway, the driver took us safely out of Blantyre and onto the "highway." On the highway, the car horn is of great importance. You see, the road is shared by cars, people balancing entire cupboards on their bikes, and the common walkers. Driving in 120 km/h, people literally jump out of the road when you are driving up from behind and honking the horn.

At the countryside, beautiful hills are covered with fields where the people grow the usual vegetables, but also tobacco, coffee and tea. As is usual in development countries, the farms are run by white people (South Africans, Greek (!), and others) selling the produce with profit while keeping their staff on low pay. It it hard for the workers to demand higher wages because of the incredible need they have for the money. The boss can simply fire them if they object, as there will always be someone else to take over.

After about 1.5 hour drive we reached the city of Zomba, which is one of the biggest cities in Malawi. Unfortunately, time and money didn't allow us to see the Zomba Plateau, however, from a distance it looked spectatular. Rising high up from the plains and hills ...