Home » Malawi Mozambique » Cycle to the Summit Part 18 - Lilongwe to Maputo

Rather than take the popular Tete Corridor the team made their way on worsening roads to the Southern tip of Malawi. Mozambique proved much more undeveloped and remote than expected, often in the early days only passing through one small town a day with very limited supplies. But help and hospitality was at hand, from a much appreciated and unexpected source. The Indian Ocean was reached again after many testing days cycling and with it civilization 'as we know it' was slowly restored.

Cycle to the Summit Part 18 - Lilongwe to Maputo

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 20:20:17

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offer us accommodation in Blantyre but unfortunately when we phoned her to give her a few hours notice of our arrival she said she was about to leave for the weekend. Our timing was bad planning also, as we were intending stock up on foreign currency here, as we were going to be out in the sticks for a couple of weeks. Not only had the bureau de changes closed for the weekend but also it was a bank holiday on the Monday. We decided that we would take our chances with the dollars we had left. Toby seems to have an endless supply down his seat post. Things looked up though when met Dave and his friend Colin in a bar. Dave is out in Malawi teaching on a scheme run by his church back in Northern Ireland. Ruth reviled in some Irish banter and they speculated about where their friends would be on this Saturday evening back in Belfast. We camped at the towns back packers favourite, Doogles where some very drunk and rowdy S. Africans dominated the bar. We witnessed some blue electrical flashes in the distance alternating with the lights of the town and then with a bang we were left in the dark. With no power for the music system in the bar the rowdy bunch decided to sing and were glad when Dave came to whisk us off to his house. Dave and Claire, his wife, treated us to lots of protein in the form a BBQ at their house where Owy confessed to enjoying eating red meat. Ruth is still surviving as semi veggie but South Africa may be a tougher temptation for her, by all accounts.

Sunday 7-Jul-02 Blantyre to Nchalo 78km

After an hour or so in the hills we turned a corner and saw a vast pane disappearing to the horizon a surprising distance below us. We were looking out over the Shire River and Mozambique and the Zambezi beyond. Naturally we savoured the long descent knowing it would be the last we would see until S. Africa in about three weeks time. I only used my front brake as I had just discovered one of my back brakes was now down to the metal. Stopping ...