Lilongwe, Malawi

Last night at 1:30 a.m., I finished a grueling 33-hour overland journey from Beira, Mozambique to Lilongwe, Malawi. (The boat fell through.) The highlight of the trip, by far, was when my truck driver was arrested and removed from his vehicle for trying to cut in a gigantic queue while waiting to cross a bridge over the Zambezi near Tete, Mozambique. I saw the writing on the wall and left, marching triumphantly across the bridge on foot and finding another ride thereafter. A close second was sleeping under a semi with the 3 guys who helped with the truck. We were squeezed together like a package of Oscar Meyer hotdogs. It was freezing. A lowlight was when I was told I could walk to the Malawi border from where I was dropped off. 9 kilometers' walk later, I luckily found another ride.

A word of advice. If you are thinking about going overland from Chimoio, Mozambique to Tete, consider other options. The road was brutal. Just before Changara, even the potholes had potholes. Every time we hit one (which was about every five seconds in spots) it sounded like a canon discharging. For long stretches, we drove only 10-20 km per hour. Agonizing. The only other similarly painful main road I've heard about is a stretch from Maun to Kasane in Botswana. The potholes there are supposedly legendary. And a guy I met said his entire truck went under water at one point along the way.

That reminds me of a joke I heard in Zimbabwe. How do you know when someone's driving drunk? He drives in a straight line. (The "proper" way to drive on most roads is to weave crazily, sometimes leaving the road altogether, to avoid the most cavernous potholes.)

Things are heating up. I am pressing to get to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania by Friday or Saturday. Then I'm on a plane to Istanbul (after a stop in Qatar) to see a friend and travel overland to Italy. More adventures to follow after that, including Spain and Malta - then back to Africa. Stay tuned.