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18 December 1998

The Kingsmill's Trans-Africa Overland Trip, Part 8: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi

Geoff Kingsmill
2006-04-25 21:06:58

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as we needed to be in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on the 17-December to pick up Dave Young, a friend from Kalgoorlie, and formerly Alice Springs.

The border crossing into Malawi was straight forward as has been the case with all border crossings. We had to purchase Third Party Insurance which cost A$28 (Malawi was not included in the Yellow Card Insurance we purchased in Harare) and a vehicle permit of A$7. We continued onto Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi and stayed at the exclusive Golf Club campground which was the most expensive campground to date (A$21).

The campground was double fenced with two security guards on duty 24 hours. When we went to bed we left our shoes at the foot of our rooftop tent thinking this place to be the most secure of all places. This was the first time we left anything unsecured outside the vehicle. In the middle of the night the guards awoke us as they were shouting and chasing after a thief. We lost our three pairs of shoes and two other campers also lost their shoes. The next morning we had to go the police station to make a statement. The Golf Club said that this was the first theft in 15 years and that a new security firm had started only a week earlier. The Golf Club did refund our camp fees. I'm not convinced that this is their first theft however it taught us a lesson to never let down our guard no matter how secure it might seem. We've tried to buy new sandals but have not been able to find any till now so we are each wearing a pink pair of $1 Bata thongs. In Lilongwe we read our E-mail and did some grocery shopping to feed the eight of us.

After two nights in Lilongwe we continued East to the Livingstonia Steps campsite at Senga Bay on Lake Malawi. What a magnificent place. There were waves on the fresh water lakeshore with a beautiful sandy beach. It felt like being on a deserted pacific island. We stayed a couple of nights and did very little which was needed after the ...