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From the Warm Heart of Africa, with Love

Time in Malawi went by so fast, I was surprised when my 8-month stay came to an end, abruptly, as if by surprise. While there, I completely fell in love with the country, its people really.

I found Malawians to be very hospitable, open and unassuming. The people I interacted with were genuine about their lives, their country and what they held dear. Though Blantyre, the commercial hub of the country is a small city, it is a melting point of many tribes; the Ngonis, Chewas, Tumbuka, Yao and so on.



Some "quick facts" about Malawi:

The majority of the people speak Chichewa, a bantu language akin to Swahili. In fact Chichewa shares a lot of words with Swahili such as mbuzi, (n)sima, madzi (water) etc. It was very easy for me to pick up what the people were saying, I could easily relate some words and phrases. Some people bear some interesting names like Mbuzi (goat) among others.

The country has a beautiful landscape; hilly, mountainous, waterfalls and great sweeps of natural growth, as beautiful as any I had ever seen. The friends I made confirmed that Malawi has many high mountains, including Mount Mulanje, a mountain they said was the third highest in Africa. My attempts to dissuade them led to some of them calling their primary school geography teachers to inquire on the veracity of my statements. This led nowhere, and I left with a resigned look at my Google search results page.
At the foot of Mount Mulanje, I forget the name of the town; spot one "Swahili" word


The people on the roads were mostly polite and patient; Blantyre has minimal honking on the roads. People wait their turn and give way as appropriate. I found this quite a blissful experience, in contrast to the rowdy nature of Nairobi roads.

Even though the people are quiet and peaceful on the roads, they love to drink their Carlsberg, party, do a braai and generally have a good time. In fact, one of my friends who happens to be a Ngoni swore by beer, chasing women, dancing to Afro music(Nigerian, Zambian and South African) and eating meat. Apparently these represent the 4 pillars of the Ngoni community.
The aptly named Zitherepano, which means "It ends here" in Mangochi


Malawians swear by a fish called Malawian Chambo. Apparently, it is not considered a complete trip to Malawi if you have not visited the lakeside town of Mangochi and eaten chambo. While on tour, we discovered a new specialty of chambo with chambo i.e. 2 split fish crisp-fried to perfection. Again, there was chambo with 2 legs, a story for another day. 

Beautiful smile on the shores of Lake Malawi in Mangochi, where the famous chambo comes from


Malawi is a beautiful country I intend to visit again, with enough time to explore the many hidden gems of the country.
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Location: Malawi

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