One If By Land, Two If By Sea

We chose two...and we chose wrong.

The Ilala Ferry is a beast of a boat, some 170 ft of fun and enjoyment spread over 3 passenger levels . She was built by the colonial English in 1950 (although her wear and tear indicate an older age) and has been ferrying passengers north and south on Lake Malawi for the past half century. The guidebook indicated that this was an 'experience that was not to be missed' and was the 'highlight of many travelers visit to Malawi'.

Upon arriving at the dock a day early to buy our tickets, we were told to be to the boat an hour early of the 10AM departure and that we would be arriving at our final destination of Nhkata Bay at 1AM some 39 hours later. We took caution and booked 1st class tickets for the next day.

The next morning we arrived at the ferry just prior to 9AM and boarded soon after. We found the first class section (the top deck of the boat) to be entirely open air with the only coverage being a small canopy and some safety rails. The section was surprisingly empty except for a couple of locals plus the other 4 persons that would make up our small group on the journey. There was Dave and Hadi from Brooklyn as well as CJ and Sasha from England. Glad to be in good company with these four we anxiously awaited our departure and the adventure ahead. After and hour or so, more people started appearing up the stairwell heading directly to the small bar area at the front of the deck. Interestingly enough this bar was attached directly to the ferry wheelhouse. Soon thereafter we learned these additional persons were the boat crew and the ringleader with the bottle of gin was actually the boat captain! Six hours later (the crew needed 3 hours to drink and 3 hours to recover/nap) we left port. The first day went by quite smoothly. The customs agent on the boat had given me a couple of warm local beers as a gift (he was drinking too and not sure why he gave me his beer as I was reading my book) as he checked our passports for valid visas. We slept nicely the first night out under the stars right on the deck floor as the boat chugged from port to port.

Awaking on Day 2 we found ourselves some 12 hours behind schedule and getting a little restless. We had brought food and water from shore but were beginning to run a little short. We had ventured down to the lower portions of the boat only to find the kitchen inadequate and overpriced and the 2nd class deck to be overflowing with locals. You name it, they brought it aboard as cargo...couches, tires, scrap metal, tomatoes, chickens, cardboard, spare car engines, jerrycans (of course), peanuts and bicycles. Most of the ports we arrived at were too shallow to enter so the people and cargo were ferried out to the ferry (sometimes in row boats). We hit a new port every handful of hours and spent the subsequent handful of hours there...the crew continuing to drink throughout the trip. Early in the morning of our second night on the boat we awoke to the jeers and drunken yelling of some new passengers in 1st class. The night had already been a rough one as rats had decided to have their way running across our sleep sacks and chewing a hole in one of our bags. Turns out these locals who apparently come on board to drink and party and then just before the ferry leaves, they head back in to shore. A fun night out on the town for them, unfortunately that wasn't the case for us.

Now some 15 hours behind schedule, we trudged through the 3rd day, hungry, dirty (no showers) and tired, only to be told be would be arriving later and later. Don't worry though, the crew kept up the partying for the whole trip. Glad to see someone was having a good time. The one saving grace were the great people we had with us to weather the storm. It was nice to catch up with fellow travelers and I doubt any of us would have made it through the trip as easily with out the others. After 60 hours, we finally arrived at our destination to find mass chaos awaiting at the poorly lit port. Luckily we had pre-booked a place a few days before on advice from another traveler, and after 20 minutes of pushing and shoving, we exited the boat to find a man from our backpackers waiting for us. After a 10 minute boat ride(yep, we got back on a boat), we arrived at Mayoka Village, an oasis on the shores of Nhkata Bay. We unpacked in our beautiful chalet on a small cliff directly on the lake, grabbed dinner and had a few celebratory drinks with our fellow ferry friends. Our next 4 days went bay quickly as we snorkeled, ate local food, hiked and hung out in the small village. We had warm showers lit by fire each night and some enjoyable compost toilets as well.

Upon checkout from the village we were told that there was a mixup and our taxi to the bus stand had somehow left without us. As we discussed our next move we were approached by a middle aged man who asked about our final destination. His name was Rod and he was heading to Karonga (our final destination) and he offered to give us a lift the full way there. A break from crowded minivans and buses to ride in an aircon pickup truck was almost too good to be true. The day long drive was pleasant as we exchanged stories and spoke about the little news of the world that each of us knew. Turns out Rod was quite the character, a uranium miner from Australia working on a 2 year stint in Malawi. We took a quick detour to visit a mountaintop 19th century mission setup by the original European missionaries to the region and made it to Karonga by nightfall where we bid a much appreciated farewell to Rod. The stories of travelers helping travelers seem to be a constant on our journey.

The next morning we headed the remaining 40 km to the Malawi/Tanzania border. We found the Tanzanian immigration counter to be staffed by women and Colleen took the lead to get our visas issued. Standard issue for Americans at the border is a 90 day single entry visa but somehow Colleen ended up with 6 month multiple entry visas. Women in this part of the world definitely take to speaking with her and it has been an unexpected highlight of my trip to see her interact with them.

We spent one night in the boarder town of Mbeya before heading north on a 17 hour bus ride to the town of Moshi in the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro and have been here now for a few days. Thus far the buses and food in Tanzania have been a relief as we are eating better and traveling more comfortably. No sight of the nearby mountain yet as the clouds have not parted but hopefully we will be rewarded soon. From here we head to the 'pearl of Africa'.