Return to Malawi: 31 October-5 November

So  another Saturday afternoon and yet again I was on my way to Vienna airport and preparing for what should be the last mission of this year - but not the last journey!  The taxi came at 4 pm as I was keen to see the outcome of the qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before I departed.  It was indeed a very exciting contest  and I already knew that I would not be able to folow the race as I would still be travelling the next day. Given the time of the flight and the schedule of the airport train  a taxi was the safest solution. Anyway the Vienna weather had turned cold at 3 degrees or less and I was happy to be off to a spot of sunshine.

I was last in Malawi in 2007 when I was part of a mission to visit the site of a proposed new mine and discuss regulatory issues with the Government. This mission in Malawi was to look at the new mine, which opened in April of this year,  and hold more discussions with the Government about staff training and technical issues.  To think that I would see a mine where two years before there had only been bushland was exciting.


My journey was in three stages. The first an Austrian Airlines flight to Frankfurt and then  two flights with South African Airways, first  to Johannesburg and thence to Lilongwe. The flights went pretty well with no turbulence  and certainly the seats were more comfortable than the ones on the Austrian flight  recently.

Coming in to Johannesburg we flew in over fantastic tailings dams  from the gold miines which I really must get a picture of one day! The funny thing was that just as we were landing I realised that a fellow passenger was a chap I know from a German company  and so we commented how it was we missed each other at Frankfurt airport and then on the flight when we were in the same cabin.  He was off to work in Namibia  so we had a quick chat before we headed off to our respective flights. The 2.5 flight hours to Lilongwe was fine and Malalwi was hot and a bit humid with the countryside looking parched as it is almost the end of the dry season - a bit like the "build up" back home in Darwin, although that is usually more oppressive  as we live at sea level and Lilongwe is at 4035 feet so  bit cooler. Anyway with only carry on luggage and  a visa free entry I was soon outside and meeting my host from the Government .

We promptly went off to a local resort to wait for another government truck and another Government representative from  a different department  to join us before we all set off to drive in convoy up to Karonga in the north of the country, the closest town to the mine. No beers for any of us with 6-7 hours driving  ahead! 

The drive goes across what I guess is high veldt with  some very interesting rock outcrops sticking up all over the place.

Much of the country is cultivated and there are a lot of people arround which can make the driving a little hazardous as the ox-carts, bicycles, pedestrians and any number of buses and trucks all crowd onto the roads.

 Still the road is generally in good condition and we made fair time to a re-fuelling halt at Mzuzu.

Before Mzuzu we drove through extensive pine plantations with plenty of small saw mills and timber yards visible from the road.

Sadly there was also evidence of some large forest fires that had gone through some of the areas; these fires were still burning in places, so the smoke was an additional  factor for our driver to contend with but he took it all in his stride and did well.

The light was fading as we left Mzuzu so when the road desecended to run alongside the shores of Lake Malawi at around 1700 feet it was too dark to see much.  The road after the descent was especially good and we finally reached our destination at 8 pm  and the new hotel that was to be the base for our operations over the next 2 nights.