We are warned by the hotel manager this morning that this border is slow. But is it me? We are through in an hour and a quarter .. that is after a 15 minute walk to find an agent where we pay the road tax..about $20. No cash as before.
I use the money changers at the border to get rid of my Malawian Kwacha lose about 10%.
Better than the, robbers, official money changers at Sydney airport.
Malawi.. you have got to cry.. few natural resources.. 4th poorest country in the world.
18 million people in a land one tenth the size of New South Wales.
I noticed that most Malawian men were short..and commented accordingly.. One guy said quite unemotionally "the slave trade took our biggest men!"
David Livingstone remembered in these parts with the Livingstone mission he established at
Livingstonia still operating. His work to end the slave trade in east Africa still not fully recognised.
I remember my Dad employed a few from Nyasaland ( the colonial name) one was Miidzi..
He had given Dad service over a number of years.. he and his wife should have gone back to their village to retire.. but maybe didn't have the money or wanted to stay.. He was almost blind.. and did retirement work repairing the road with a rake.. When we drove by he would stand upright as if letting "royalty go by". Dad fed he and his wife till they died.
Brings tears to my eyes.
How lucky I was to be born so privileged and white.
Tanzania.. The buzz here is how the new President is fantastic..cutting down on corruption.. getting civil servants to work.. everyone has their favourite story. It is so nice to hear. Corrupt companies being expelled, corrupt politicians in jail or being charged. Public servants not at their desks on time or when they should be,dismissed immediately. Corrupt businessmen being charged.The past is catching up on the baddies. His open concern for the poor, especially villagers has enthralled a nation.. but not everyone likes the changes.
We are heading for Mbeya through the Southern highlands. Really beautiful and lush. Banana plantations, Tea plantations, Mango trees everywhere village after village a buzz.
Mbeya a big town on the truck route from Dar es Salaam to Zambia.
On the way I stop in a village to get a sim card.. the security is amazing - passport number recorded on line, pictures of me and the passport sent to the phone company.. The woman I'm dealing with has a hungry baby, so that takes priority, boob out, keeps the child quiet.
We're all set after an hour.
We find a nice new hotel in Mbeya the Hill View, our room backs on to the bar and there is a football match on TV then loud music.. I have a chat to the manager asked if at about 9.00 it could be a little quieter.. at 9pm no noise.. A good nights sleep.
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