Nyika & Congolese Crocodile soup..?

Our New Years was quiet – we spent it in Mzuzu, at Maconda camp, where we were in bed by 10:00PM.  The next morning, we had heard we had narrowly missed a disaster, minutes after midnight, when one of the ‘firework rockets’ had some malfunction, and launched itself into the small crowd of 15 + people, who stayed up to welcome 2024.  Thankfully, no one got hurt – it just left ears ringing, and kids crying.  Happy New Year!!!

 

From Mzuzu we headed north to Nyika Plateau.  We had given up on the idea of spending time here, as reviews and people alike, kept mentioning that the road was notoriously bad, and with all the rain on top of that, it sounded like a nightmare to get to.  Luca – (the owner of Maconda camp) who has driven from Italy to Cape Town 5 times (!) in his Land Rover, convinced us it was totally fine, and that Nyika was really worth the visit.  Say no more – we are off.  He wasn’t wrong – the road was fine, Nyika was stunning, and we were glad we made the effort to come and see it.  They say Nyika has a similar feel to Scotland – its so true!  We could have been in the highlands but with Zebras and Roan – it was fabulous.  We also had Scottish weather whilst here, and on day two, it rained and drizzled for about 16 hours!  Not to worry – the campsite had a little bothy –which included a cast iron stove.  This was on whilst we were there, keeping our kettle of milky sweet tea going.  It was very ‘gezellig’ – the Dutch word that describes a happy place filled with good people.

 

We did hear about an angry elephant who had taken someone off his motorcycle two days prior.  I would be lying if I said that the thought of bad roads with all the extra rain, and angry elephants didn’t keep me up for a couple of hours in the night.  I couldn’t help but hope that if we were to encounter any of it – could it please be one at a time.  Last thing we needed was to be charged by an Ele whilst stuck – that would suck.  As has been the case through the trip when I have been anxious about something – it turns out there was absolutely nothing to worry about! Between Col and Andromeda there was nothing that couldn’t be handled!

 

From the highlands we visited ‘Mushroom Farm’ in Livingstonia, that we kept hearing all sorts of good things about from fellow travellers.  Mushroom farm is built on top of cliff and the views are amazing – allegedly.  When we arrived, we were in the mist, no views, had to wait 3 hours for our lunch – which was burnt offerings, and had to listen to some Dutch fellow test his kid about the bible, over a sketchy internet connection.  Not so gezellig! It didn’t have the ‘awesome vibes’ that we had in our heads.  The only mushrooms here was in the moldy tent we ended up sleeping in, as our roof tent needed a day to dry out from Nyika.  The next morning the views were clear and it did look pretty cool.  We decided that maybe it was just a combination of the odd characters, and bad weather, that took away from the charm on that particular day. It happens.

 

From mushroom farm we took the ‘dangerous, adventurous, scary, near-death experience, switch back road’ back down to the lake.  Once again, I was a wee bit nervous, and once again the Col & Andromeda combo made it look easy peasy, and I am left thinking ‘I can’t believe I spent valuable time worrying about nothing’.

 

We spent two nights at a little campsite on the northern shores of Lake Malawi.  The lake was crystal clear here, and as we have bought the Bilharzia meds, we couldn’t resist a swim.  It was fabulous!  The campsite was run by a Belgian couple who packed up everything to come to Malawi.  His dream was to live in Africa again after spending years in the Congo.  He had never been to Malawi before but he had cool cichlids in an Aquarium – and that was enough to convince himself that Malawi was where he would be happy to call home.  She had always wanted to run a small lodge, and so together, they upped sticks and went for it.   The lodge is also a training ground for young people from the village to learn about hospitality.  Their hearts are in the right place, but anyone who has spent any time out here will know, it’s not easy.  Some of their staff were excellent, and then we came across one chap who we suspect wont make the grade.  When we asked him what the soup of the day was – he hesitated… and then told us Congolese crocodile soup…. Huh? Really? We were not sure if it was his accent and we hadn’t understood correctly – he tried to give us a little more info which went completely over our heads.  I asked if it had meat in it? He said yes…. We asked – could you please check with the chef and let us know? Turns out it was white rocket soup…. Which then turned into wild rocket soup – a green soup – vegetables.  AH yum – why didn’t you say so –  Ill have one of those please 😊. 

 

The same waiter later gave us a talk about casava farming – I can confidently say, we are none the wiser!

 

From the lake shore, we made the drive back towards the Tanzanian border, a sign that this amazing trip was now slowly coming to an end.  It was a drive where you feel all the feels.  Sad its almost finished, grateful that everything went well and that we had the opportunity to be on this trip, happy with all the memories we have made.  My emotions were all over the place, and I asked Col if he had that too – I was glad to hear it wasn’t just me.

 

Up Next: The drive back through Tanzania, trip statistics, more colorful characters.