24-26/11/2018. At 6 a.m., the bus departed for the border town of Mbeya. It would take an epic 15 hours to reach today’s destination. It was late in the evening when I arrived at the bus station. I quickly picked a good restaurant nearby for dinner and ordered “stew fish”—though it came looking like it was stuck in the mud. Back In my cheap hotel after dinner, two big, black, round African cockroaches did the tango in my room. I invited them to take a cold bath in the toilet.
The next morning, a taxi took me across the border into Malawi and to Livingstonia. The ride should have taken four or five hours, but in fact it took eight. My tummy didn’t feel that good the whole day. I think the mud fish was trying to swim back to sea.
I booked a campsite up on the hill overlooking the Great Rift Valley with magnificent views of Lake Malawi. But for two nights without internet, sitting on a compost toilet, eating vegetarian, I felt like a monk. I actually did not know where I was going and ended up in the middle of nowhere, kind of deep in the jungle and high on the mountains. It could not have been more African than this. Of Africa, I can now say, been there, done that, no regret.
24-26/11/2018 凌晨六点我乘大巴往边境城市姆巴耶 (Mbaye)去。没想到一坐就是十五小时, 座位旁只有狭小窗口,面前又给块大屏挡住视线,啥风景都没看到,趁机面壁思过。全程停车三次, 前两次就只停十分钟让乘客买吃的和方便,第三次大巴就停靠路边,在大路傍草地,女生的往左边草丛去, 男的往右边站, 三几分钟草率了事,真是速战速决,一个不漏回到车上, 女生真是太委屈了。
当晚将就车站对面住进一小酒店, 两只又肥又黑非洲蟑螂在跳探戈, 我赶紧请他们到马桶洗个冷澡清醒。
第二天一早到马拉维的利文斯敦尼亚(Livingstonia)去。本来就是四五小时路程又是给小巴折腾大整天。到后在一小时外山上营地住两晚,没网上, 全吃素,老祖宗式马桶,做和尚真的不容易。在利文斯敦尼亚见识了马拉维人在山中生活。体验原汁原味非洲。
At the bus station before day break to head to Malawi 日出前在车站出发到马拉维 Pit stop for the bus 大巴休息站 Children selling their stuff to the buses at the pit stop 小孩绕着停靠大巴兜售 Campsite high up among the mountains 高在群山的营地 View of the Lake of Malawi from the mountains on the way to Livingstonia 往利文斯敦尼亚高山上马拉维湖景 Kindergarten children near Livingstonia came out to greet me but called back by the teachers 近利文斯敦尼亚高山上欢迎我的儿童被老师喊回 People living high up in the mountains 住在高山的人家 Rode on back of a pick up in the mountain near Livingstonia 在利文斯敦尼亚山上搭上皮卡车 Livingstonia 利文斯敦尼亚 Livingstonia market 利文斯敦尼亚菜场