WALKABOUT

THE HAYTON'S "WALKABOUT" IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

MALAWI

Dubbed “The warm heart of Africa” – Malawi earns its affectionate nickname from friendly locals who value a personal ‘muli bwanji’ (how are you?) greeting and a sincere “Ndili Bwino” (I am well) reply.

Malawi boasts a fresh water lake bursting with colorful chichlids and dug out canoes, game parks with ‘Big Five’ bragging rights, mountains that appear like ‘islands in the sky’, carpets of ‘green gold’ and pockets of red coffee beans ripe for the harvest. A short drive anywhere in Malawi will confirm the population explosion is reaching ‘unsustainable’ levels. If you need to go ‘visit Africa’ in Malawi, chances are there are eyes somewhere watching as you hastily drop your drawers and take care of business.  Deforestation means that women will walk up to 18km per day in search of Kuni (firewood) and that on your ‘visit to Africa’ your chances of being ‘exposed’ are greatly increased.

And if you get sick and need a doctor, well – ‘good luck’ –  Malawi has the lowest Doctor to Patient ratio in the world. There’s just one doctor for every 88,300 people. Wait, that sounds like a good industry to be involved in ;-) (sigh) We are part of the equation 1:88,300 - we have been providing healthcare in rural Malawi, for 6 years. Eeesh! 6 years!? It’s time for a break. It’s time to go ‘walkabout’…

Malawi Doctors in need of a break...Graybill and Hayton families

ZAMBIA

I’m feeling lucky as we motor off the mission. Not only are the ‘MotoEngl’ bulldozers out on the Makwasa road starting the re-do, but I’ve got lists checked off… Something borrowed: (Priester’s roofrack and cooler) check. Something blue: pretty much the 4 boys entire wardrobe, so check. Something old (does our 1995 Prado qualify?) And something new (um, er – I’ll get back to you…)

The days spent in RTA lines, grocery stores, insurance offices, and tire repair shops seems oddly worth it as we drive north towards Lilongwe. Tracks 4 Africa is talking to us from our GPS, and we enjoy the last few hours of ‘connectivity’ before crossing the border into Zambia.

Zambia’s best accommodations were the ones with friends. The warmth of the Ang family in Chipata and the friendliness of the Busl’s in Riverside made our Zambia days and nights simply fabulous! The road improvements between Chipata and Lusaka were being done by ‘MotoEngl’ which boosted my confidence in our Makwasa road finally getting fixed.

Malamulo (As in Graybill and Gobbles) represented proudly in the Victoria Falls marathon, and the falls itself proved a ‘charm’ on our third visit to its billowing mist and drenching spray. After soaking ourselves from the viewing nooks on the Zambia side, we donned swimsuits and raincoats to show the Zimbabwe side that ‘we’re in the know’.

Of much regret but worth a mention was the fierce ‘swindle’ in Livingstone, where a crew of money changers snagged a hundred bucks off us. “At least it was an ‘old’ note” I said, trying to soften the loss. 

Judy Ang, hostess extraordinaire and very dear friend

Busl and Hayton kiddos - they all look related!

Sadly the only Cheetah we saw on our safari was at Makuni Big 5 in Zambia

The Zim side of Victoria Falls

Out at 'Danger Point' with the grand folk

And here he is...A swindler of note. 

ZIMBABWE

The land of ‘dollarization’. The only country I have visited outside the United States of America where Greenbacks are the dominant currency. And not just your run-of-the mill Abraham Lincolns. We are talking paper-thin Washingtons that are so frail, and so dirty that you start thinking a pair of tongs might be useful for ‘money handling’ purposes. Hand sanitizer is now needed at every exchange, and when you ask the toll booth attendant for his ‘very worst’ $1 note, he laughs and says “oh you want to show this to your friends huh?”

Driving south towards Hwange, we took a left turn towards ‘Sundowners’ to visit friends living ‘off the grid’ at the bend in the Zambezi river. No physical address, no postal code, ‘ just keep going until you see the huge baobab, followed by a herd of goats, and listen for the trumpeter hornbill and then you’ll find us.’ “ah, ok”. And we did.

After several police barriers we started to realize that towing a ‘Venter Trailer’ in Zimbabwe was the equivalent to holding a sign up that says, “EASY MONEY”. Instead of asking ‘what’s the fine for now?’ we began to greet the police and say, “here’s $15 USD, what do you want to fine us for today?” “Well, you know, in Zimbabwe when you’re towing a trailer, you need FOUR break down triangles…?” ‘er no, sorry Sir, here’s your $15.’ “Ok, so your little light that shines onto the right side of your number plate on the trailer isn’t bright enough.” ‘Yes, you’re quite right, here’s your $15.’ “Your trailer is much too dirty, it needs a wash” ‘Oh yes, I told my wife to do that this morning, clearly she didn’t - here’s your $15 Sir.’

The President for life, AKA Dictator Robert Mugabe faces picketing, and discontent as his country plummets into economic demise. His land grabs and murderous acts make him ‘someone to be feared.’ But his country is slowly finding a voice, (while his police are finding your $15) and (fingers crossed) he might just be in for a fight.

While Hudson will remember Hwange National Park as the place where he lost his Cammo Flip Flop, I’ll remember it as the place of my first sighting of a Secretary Bird. I’ll remember it for the lazy lions who gathered by the waterhole, and the gentle giraffe who ate thorns right off the branch, and for the sauntering elephants who sprayed each other at their morning bath. I’ll remember the ‘elephant graveyard’ and our elephant bone heist, ‘just because we have to show the orthopedist in the family.’ And I will enjoy watching the video of the boys giving the ‘morning report’ with the voice of Zazu (from the LionKing) and declaring ‘we need to watch over the pride lands!’

The Taylors' view at the bend in the Zambezi

Rest in Peace, Cammo Flip Flop. I'm sure you're hiding here somewhere...

Hwange NP

Hwange NP, Zimbabwe

So many wild Ostrich across Southern Africa. This one was at Hwange

"Zazu" - Hwange NP

BOTSWANA

I’ve often thought you could tell what kind of experience you would have in a country based on your interactions at their ‘border post’. Botswana’s border crossing was fast, friendly and basically said, “WELCOME, SPEND YOUR DOLLARS HERE!” oh and then there were the ‘free condom’ dispensers that actually had condoms in them, and the bathroom that actually supplied toilet paper and then the whole border process was done in 20 minutes flat. This African country welcomed tourists. Imagine!!

Diamonds are Botswana’s best friend and Botswana diamonds provide around ¼ of the worlds diamond demands.  The mean GDP in the country is $16,250, the highest of any African country! The government is not seen as outrageously corrupt and they put money into the people and infrastructure of Botswana (now there’s a novel idea!) Zimbabwe’s GDP is just $500 (maybe they should up their fines to $20!) while Malawi’s GDP is only $226.

The welcoming from the people of Botswana was such a desirable change from the police of Zimbabwe that the ‘Aussie’ just came out in me and I had to greet a few locals with a cheerful “G’day”. Bill was busy learning how to say ‘thank you’ in the native tongue, which provided great amusement for his educators and those of us watching on.         

                               

In the ‘Gateway to Chobe NP’ town of Kasane, we stumbled across a lodging group called ‘Water Lily’. We ended up spending 3 nights with them, and enjoyed their boat and land safaris of Chobe NP. When our 1995 Prado got stuck in the Kalahari sand, we were grateful for a cruiser full of tourists who helped push us out. Feeling disappointed that our automotive shop in Malawi had actually NOT fixed the 4WD, I asserted to the on-lookers “I can not recommend the mechanics in Malawi…”

A local mechanic in Kasane took on our broken 4WD project and announced after 48 hrs “you can now drive in the sand!” With great confidence we left Kasane – (ok, maybe we had ‘hopeful’ confidence as Bill walked into town to purchase a shovel and a hand winch)…and so we drove towards Savuti – the legend of elephant-eating lion on our ‘wish list’. But just 100m into the Kalahari sand on the way to Savuti, we got stuck. Again. And a cruiser full of tourists – who had stayed in Savuti – stopped to drag our trailer around, and push us out of the sand. Again. There were a few tourists who remained in the safari vehicle and documented our ‘woeful 4WD’ with their ultra zoom cameras. I hope we make their ‘highlight’ reel…

Licking our 4WD wounds, we abandoned the Savuti dream and sketched the quickest way to Maun, and the Okavango Delta. This led to a border crossing, a Caprivi Strip tour and a night time ‘tent pitch’ by the side of the road in Namibia.

Elephant River Crossing, Chobe NP - Botswana

Chobe NP - Botswana

The luxury bush camp - Water Lily - Botswana

Chobe NP - Botswana

Chobe NP - Botswana

Chobe NP - Botswana

The Tarmac road to Savuti - Botswana

The end of our Savuti Dream - Botswana

NAMIBIA

If you look at a map of the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, you might wonder how Namibia ended up ‘owning’ it? Afterall, it seems likely that it should belong to either Angola in the north, or Botswana in the south. But there it is, proudly Namibian, the result of an 1890 treaty/negotiation between German South West Africa (Namibia) and the UK. Chancellor Von Caprivi traded German interests in Zanzibar for the Caprivi Strip and the hope of using the Zambezi river to connect a trade route with German run Tanganyika (Tanzania) on the East coast of the continent.

Apparently, it’s also a ‘hot spot’ destination for South Africans on school holiday, as every possible ‘payable’ accommodation before the Mahango Game Reserve gate was already booked.  Since it was dark and the game park gate was closed, we decided to erect our tents by the road side and cross the reserve and borders in the morning. Of course the rangers found us and tried to talk us into ‘moving’ to their enclosed office area just down the road, but we assured them we were ok and not to feel bad for us if we were taken by lion in the middle of the night.

At first light, we were packed and driving across the border back into Botswana.

Caprivi Strip - Namibia

 BOTSWANA

The friendly country of “SPEND YOUR DOLLARS HERE” welcomed us back with smiles, free condoms, and high quality loo paper. We were already starting to like Botswana and it felt good to ‘be back’. 

Most of the people in our car made use of the well-kept ablution block at the border crossing, but there was one of our travelers who needed a ‘visit to Africa’ when we were driving south to Maun. Bill trudged over to a clump of bushes about 10 meters off the road, and got comfy in the squat. Being a sparsely populated country with just 2.3 million people (compared to Malawi’s 17 million) Bill did not have to worry about eyes watching his private visit to the bush. However, we soon heard a trumpeting sound and glanced over to see Bill – pants around his ankles – shuffling at a rapid pace out of the bushes. A frightfully upset elephant who apparently didn’t like a foreign male ‘marking up his territory’ had suddenly emerged near Bill and I imagine if he wasn’t already in the act, he might have S*#T his pants!

The Botswana road side is dotted with cattle and donkeys, which makes nighttime driving dangerous. Be warned – only drive in Botswana when the sun is shining!

As we drove south towards Maun (pronounced ‘Mau-UUnn’) the Gateway to the Okavango, we kept thinking of scenes from “The God’s Must be Crazy” and hypothesizing where they might have taken place.

Tsodilo Hills – Mountain of the gods – home to ancient rock drawings – was also home to the lead actor in “The God’s Must be Crazy”. Over 4,500 images are painted on over 400 sites. The artist in me encouraged my fellow adventurers to take the 35km detour to go see one of Africa’s premier rock art collections.

However, this addition put us in the ‘danger’ zone as we spent the last hour of driving before Maun in the dark night. Our headlights on full beam, trying to detect any cows or donkeys on the road. We had a few narrow escapes and several heartbeat accelerations!

“The Okavango Delta” – one of Africa’s natural 7 wonders. The inland delta has less than 2m variation in height across it’s entire expanse. Water flowing from the Kavango river eventually either evaporates or transpires in the tectonic trough of the Kalahari basin. Essentially the Okavango river stops here. There are several ways to ‘view the delta’.

Being accustomed to small aircraft I snuffed at the comment pilot Charlotte made about the ‘air sick’ bags thinking – ‘don’t you know – this family are world travelers! We didn’t come to Botswana with woozy tummies!’ The first 15 minutes of our Air Shakawe flight were spent taking numerous photos and soaking in the expanse that is the Okavango Delta. We reveled at spotting buffalos, lions, and rhinoceros from the air! Then the last 15 minutes of our flight were spent reaching for the ‘air sick’ bag for the just in the case moment (which thankfully never occurred) and trying to move as little as possible while still ‘enjoying’ the delta and hoping for a speedy return to base!

The all-day boat trip on a metal skiff designed for the shallow waters of the delta was a total winner. Our three little boys marveled at the speed in which we were careering through the channels, tall rushes enveloping us on either side. While the rest of us relished a wildlife sighting, the boys could not wait for Espe (our driver) to crank up the motor and splash around the bending inlets. Red Lechwe, grazing zebras, territorial hippos, and loafing elephants were in close range to the boat.  An elephant receives 6 sets of teeth during his life, and when his last set wear out, he is likely to die of starvation.  This is why you will see some of the world’s largest elephants on the swampy edging of the delta. They feed on the soft plants, which are easier to chew (thus extending their life) compared with the tough acacia bark found inland. A lunchstop on Chief’s island, a pristine refuge for wildlife, quickly became a pause for gratitude when our 8 year old Benson fell 12 ft out of a Marula tree when the branch he was leaning on snapped, and upon landing on the ground he completed a perfect tuck and roll and walked away injury free!  As we were returning to camp that night, we pondered about how we were just a tiny speck on one of the myriad of waterways that weave and wend within the basin.   

Family friends in Maun pointed us in the right direction for a problem resolution for our 4WD and after seeing the first proper workshop since leaving the USA, Bill said, “we can believe this dutch guy – Pete – will fix our 4WD!” And he did.

Later that day, having driven past the donkeys and cattle in daylight hours, we paid a ‘legitimate speeding fine’, and crossed the border again into Namibia.

Ancient Rock Art - Botswana

Elephant depiction - Tsodilo Botswana

The Okavango Delta from the air - Botswana

The first 15 minutes of the flight...

The Okavango - Botswana

Charlotte and her woozy crew... Botswana

built for speed - the River boat tour - Okavango - Botswana

Loving life on the delta - Botswana

Lunch stop on Chief's island - Botswana

A 'Mokoro' the local transport on the delta - Botswana

 NAMIBIA

Our first (and last) ‘Ebola’ scan of the trip was rather uneventful. Apparently, the news of Ebola elimination had not yet reached Namibia.

Carrying over from his ‘local’ thank you experience in Botswana, Bill was now eager to learn the word for ‘thank you’ in the local language of Namibia. As we were driving out of the border post, the immigration officer inquired ‘where are your car papers?’ As she was near to our car Bill asked (from the back seat) “How do we say ‘thank you’ properly in Namibia?’ Having not heard Bill’s question the customs officer proceeded with her routine checks and asked for our (with an African accent of course) “Car Papers” which sounded a lot like “KAPAPPERS”. Bill, having thought this was a response to his question started calling back “KAPAPPERS”. She didn’t respond. Now, not sure she could hear him from the back seat – but certain that “Kapappers” was ‘thank you’ in Namibia, Bill asserted at least five more times “KAPAPPERS” as a gesture of his thanks for her help in crossing the border. When the rest of us realized his ‘mistake’ the car erupted in belly laughter that brought the officer back for a ‘double look’.

Since that border crossing, we cannot say a mere ‘thank you’ when Bill helps with the dishes, or takes out the trash. Rather emphatically we look at him and with all the ‘German’ regiment we can muster we salute and exclaim “KAPAPPERS!!”

Rundu, Namibia was home for one night and we spent the better half of a morning trying to get a hot shower, acquire Namibian Rand, purchase blankets to suppress the expected cold of tent camping, and to load up on supplies for the next few days ‘away from civilization’ in Etosha NP.

Etosha (meaning Great White Place). Aptly named as fine white sand floated into every crack and crevasse of the car, coated my hair completely, and left me wondering if we would ever live another day without a daily reminder of the Etosha. The Park and the pan are worth a visit. Afterall, the world’s best waterhole – Okaukuejo – resides here.  It’s really all I can say about it… It’s a must-see.  Memories of a lifetime – check.

“KAPAPPERS” Etosha! We had an amazing time.

Namibia’s number 1 tourist attraction sounds like a tasty European cake, but it’s really the driest, reddest earth I’ve ever seen. (And that’s something coming from a girl who’s country owns a spot called ‘The Red Centre’). Sossusvlei and Sesriem encompass attractions such as Hidden Vlei, Dead Vlei, Elim Dune and Dune 45. It wasn’t long before the boys fell in love with Namibia’s number 1, as the lure of the ‘Big Daddy’  325m dune sounded way too cool to pass up. We thought of Pete from Maun as our 4WD kicked in and we glided across the Namib desert sand.  Sorry tourists, no more ‘Stuck Haytons’ for your top 50 photos. Fortunately, we were visiting in July so we had the luxury of climbing the dune barefoot. A roll or two from the top to the bottom solidified this day as a ‘win’ for the blonde tornadoes.

Sunset pictures at Dead Vlei and the day in the Namib Desert was complete.

We held onto the saying on our month-long safari – “you win some you lose some” specifically referring to our choice for accommodations.

We ‘won’ on our last night in Namibia, staying at a beautiful guest house just 5 km from the Namibia/South Africa border. 

Etosha NP - Namibia

Black-faced Impala - Etosha - Namibia

Etosha

Out on the pan - Etosha - Namibia

Mr 'I like to eat thorns' Giraffe - Etosha

Side-striped jackal - Etosha - Namibia

Black Rhinoceros - Etosha - Namibia

Burchell's Zebra - Etosha

Etosha

Spotted Hyena - Etosha

Oryx - Etosha

Etosha - Namibia

Checking out 'Okaukuejo' the worlds best waterhole - Etosha

Okaukuejo - Etosha

nightime at Okaukuejo - Etosha

The jackal liked our accommodations. He slept in between our tents! Etosha

Sossusvlei - Namibia

Sossusvlei - Namibia

Dead Vlei - Namibia

Dead Vlei - Namibia

Dead Vlei - Namibia

SOUTH AFRICA

I have three words for this border crossing. “UNABRIDGED BIRTH CERTIFICATES”. Go on, you local southern Africans, have a good ole laugh. You know what these three words mean. Anywhere else in the world, including corrupt Zimbabwe, you can enter into a country with your passport and cash. Afterall, the birth certificate is required to obtain a passport. Why then would a country mandate that you travel with the unabridged birth certificates of each child even in the presence of both parents? Anybody?

Dodgy but true, we were allowed to print copies of their birth certificates that we had on our USB stick, and we found an Officer in the SA police department just nice enough to notarize our copies…

By this point Bill had stopped sourcing the native word for ‘thank you’, and besides we didn’t really feel like saying ‘thank you’.

Cape Town - Arriving in Constantia on Belair drive, we realized we had just ‘won’ one. A Dutch banker with too much money and not enough time, was leasing out his home, which came equipped with an infinity pool, a choice of 5 eating areas, state of the art appliances and staff to help. And heat – oh glorious heat! Cape Town was beginning a ‘cold freeze’ and while we were moving in – the rain and wind was moving in with us. But emerging from the Namib desert into civilization we didn’t seem to care about the drizzle. This house had a washing machine. And a drier. And after weeks on the road, that is the very definition of luxurious. Clean clothes. Imagine!

Over the next few days we saw the Cape. Sightseeing tours, buses, cable cars, museums, walks, drives. We saw Cape Town. We saw it intermittently admittedly, but we saw it. And did I mention we had heat at home and clean clothes!?

The Garden route took us for a stopover in George and the best B&B we could have stumbled upon. Another ‘win’. The next day - Jeffrey’s Baai. Upon arrival at Cape St Francis it was clear, “You should have been here yesterday mate”… blown out surf could not dampen the excitement of the Hayton surf crowd as they posed on the wooden surfboard shaped bench in the salty breeze. A crowd from the bluff watched ‘super Tubes’ but the surfboards stayed on their roof racks and a surfer glance communicated, “we should have been here yesterday…”

The best we could do was hunker down in our ‘lose’ one beach house and watch ‘The Endless Summer’ knowing that we missed the waves by a week. Or more.

This marked the start of our journey home to Malawi.

However, with a car full of Haytons, AKA “FOMO”s (fear of missing out) we still packed things in on our way home.

Addo Elephant NP was one, and we were delighted to see the flightless dung beetle, complete with his dung, rolling about on the dusty road. The Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg was another, and we remarked how peaceful the country is despite such a recent history of oppression.

There was still time for “win some, lose some” and  our Gariep Dam housing was so bitterly cold, we awoke to ice layered on the windows. The newspaper headings read “A Cold Freeze grips South Africa” and we agreed.

A 'winner' our Cape Town House - South Africa

I could get used to this...complete with 'Skullery!' - Cape Town

Too cold for a dip, but nice to look at... Cape Town

Cape Town surrounds - South Africa

Visiting penguins at Boulders - South Africa

The Cape of Good Hope - South Africa

The Cape of Good Hope - South Africa

On top of Table Mountain - Cape Town

The boys thought 'Abseiling' down was a good idea...

About to board the ferris wheel at the V&A Waterfront - Cape Town

View from the ferris wheel - V&A Cape Town

Beautiful playground - Cape Town -SA

False Bay - Cape Town - SA

The Garden Route - SA

A claw-foot tub - that's a 'WIN' - George - SA

Cape St Francis - blown out - SA

Jeffrey's Baai - 'Kitchen Windows' - SA

SA industry

Addo - Elephant NP - SA

The Flightless Dung Beetle - SA

Respect the Dung beetle! - SA

Gariep Dam - somewhere in the SA interior - and COLD!!

Johannesburg skyline - SA

One of the best 'friendships' of all time. Perhaps also the least noted...

Back to ZIMBABWE

We arrived at the border to a swarm of cars, buses and foot traffic. Piles of goods purchased in South Africa were sprawled over the ground awaiting customs inspections.

 “Yikes” we thought as we parked our car in the lower car park behind hundreds of others trying to cross the border too.

Someone in line said, “I try to never use this border. I prefer to drive through Botswana and add 400km to my journey.” Well said, Mr Stranger. The Beit Bridge border is nothing short of painful.  Another person also waiting in line with us stated, “if you’re not clever, you’ll be here for days.”

And people had been there for days. Waiting. Trying to line up a series of 12 stamps and payments in order to drive into the land of Zimbabwe. The land of dysfunction. A land marred by ill-advised politicians and dictators who rule with a misty fist.

Priding ourselves on being ‘clever’ people, we worked together and jostled, hustled, and propelled our way through the border checks. Bill stepped out into the throng of people and began to clear a way for our vehicle to pass. He made sure to thank everyone who moved for us, and when they didn’t seem to understand ‘thank you’ he said, ‘KAPAPPERS’….

The check-out officer looked at our paper work and sent us back into the fray for one last stamp that we had inadvertently missed.  Swinging the trailer around we reluctantly drove back into the mad house to hunt for the customs officer and his ‘stamp of approval’.

We found him, but meeting his approval was difficult. He insisted on billowing through our belongings, and upon inspection of our food box stated, ”You have too much cereal”. Thinking he had finally decided to lighten up, I joked with him about feeding 3 boys. Surprised that I didn’t know the ‘cereal’ rules, he said with a perplexed look on his face, “I guess I’ll let it slide this time…” his ‘golden’ stamp was smacked onto our paper.

Wow! We had finally made it. Us, and our cereal…

Harare by 2am now, and a‘win’ for our B&B and hosts who happily welcomed us at 2am, embarrassed for their country and the horrific border experience at Beit Bridge.

Almost home…

The Beit Bridge Border crossing... Zimbabwe

Another 'win' in Harare - Zimbabwe

MOZAMBIQUE

Then came Mozambique. The country plagued by civil war, which recently flared up again. Renamo and Frelimo are back at it, and convoys poise for safe passage through the country. It is no wonder that the ‘visitor visa’ machine is broken and nobody seems to care about it. They probably haven’t had a visitor seeking passage for months!

But there we were. Passport and cash. And no ‘passé’. ‘Madam, the machine – it is broken. You will have to turn around a go back to Harare, and go up to Zambia perhaps.’ Like it was no big deal. Like adding 3 days and hundreds of kilometers to our trip was nothing at all.

“Please Mr Mozambique Immigration officer, can we speak with your manager? There must be a way we can pass, and pay on the other side where their machine should be working?” 

“No. Sorry the machine is broken.”

“Yes, I know the machine is broken, but what can we do to pass today?”

“Nothing. You must turn around. The machine is broken.”

He didn’t know, but we had passed the South Africa border with ‘dodgy Birth documents’ and we had passed the Zimbabwe border with ‘too much cereal’, so there was just no way we were going to accept ‘machine broken’ and turn around.

“Mommy, I need to go potty.” Jett smiled.

Good, I need a break from this “machine broken” recorder in front of me. I took Jett down to the toilet facilities. A muddy floor and lack of toilet paper confirmed we were not in Botswana and a bambo leaning against a pole outside demanded we pay him for the privilege of using his dirty dunny. “No thank you.” I said, and ushered Jett to a bush. “You’ll get arrested!” the man shouted. Spurred on by the ‘machine broken’ officer inside I said, “arrest me!” but they didn’t.

Jett proudly announced to Nai Nai – “I went potty and I’m going to be arrested”.

3 hours later, the manager was called and he said, “let them pass and they can pay on the other side.”

Now, there’s a good idea.  ‘Au Revoir’ Mr ‘broken machine’. We are on our way home to Malawi.

These faces say it all Mozambique! 

MALAWI

Although the facilities don’t compare with other countries it was nice to be home. Home to police officers who are more interested in who you are and where you are going than in shaking you out for $15. Home to a land where you can drive your dirty trailer around town with pride. Home where your passport is accepted without birth documents.  Home where you can cart around as much cereal as you please. Home where people are plentiful. Home where wild elephants let you squat in peace.

Back to the ‘warm heart’ where Bill can feel free to say “ZIKOMO” (thank you) or “KAPAPPERS” because the people are so friendly, they would just smile and say, "Azungu, Sindidziwa" (white person, I don't know what you're talking about!) 

Even in the dark, we could see the 'MotoEngl' road progress and felt delighted that Makwasa will soon be 'reachable' by Mazerati and Landcruiser alike. Malamulo will soon have one less obstacle for providing quality health care. And our 1995 Prado can catch a much needed break from the 'bumpy road'.

For now: "Bumpy Roads - take us home, to the place we call home. Malamulo - Mission Campus - Take us home, bumpy roads..." 

We made it home, but the next day - our tires gave out! Thyolo Market - Malawi

Better get a new set! Stansfield - Blantyre - Malawi

Home sweet home - Malawi

The 'Walkabout' Map detailing where we drove...

UNTIL THE NEXT WALKABOUT

Give me a sunset to build a dream on...

Chobe NP - Botswana