Backpacking in Malawi – Blantyre

So we crossed the border from Mozambique to Malawi and it didn’t quite go according to plan. By that I mean, I got bloody ROBBED!! Arrrrrrrgh! I thought with my crazy travel experiences I was now immune to scams, conmen and hustlers…. Apparently not.

malawi people

Getting Robbed in Malawi

I got stamped out of Mozambique and swaggered through no-mans land before the  Malawian border and got approached by a few money changers, standard practice.

I played them off one another until I got the fairest rate between the 2 currencies but through my promotion of capitalism I had gathered a rather large crowd of money changers and the tables turned. One of them wedged the agreed amount into my hand, took my money and when I looked at the money he had given me it was only half the agreed amount!

Queue their well rehearsed routine.

They started switching positions faster than a Karma Sutra flip book so I couldn’t keep track of my guy and when I grabbed one and demanded my money back, it wasn’t him. They dispersed immediately and I was left with the worst exchange rate transaction imaginable so

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU CROSS THE BORDER GUYS!!

Malawi flag

Off to Blantyre

Ok rant over and frustration purged! We jumped in a van and headed to the industrial town of Blantyre which is the largest city in Malawi (that’s not saying much though).

Blantyre is a pretty cool I guess but not a lot to do.

Naturally, it’s likely to be your first stop in Malawi so seeing Malawi in full flow can take an afternoon itself. I wandered around here for the afternoon and aside getting accosted by a lunatic middle-aged Malawian who publicly accused me of being a member of the CIA, then the KGB then confessed herself to being a member of both, then asking me for money so she could escape all the, and I quote, “bloody Africans” – naturally with her being an African herself I found this quite odd, Blantyre was indeed interesting.

NOTE: For any UK backpackers reading, there is a place in Blantyre that you absolutely must visit. It stockes everything from our childhoods! Doubledeckers (personal fav), wham bars, millions, coco pops, kinder eggs, wispas, double-dips etc it is an oasis of sugar in a continent void of delicious sweets! It is however pretty pricey, but what price pure, unadulterated pleasure?!

food in Malawi
Malawi food
food malawi
Succumbing to temptation 😛

Carlsberg brewery Blantyre

I would recommend getting yourself over to the Carlsberg brewery for a couple of hours  which offers free tours once a week, I missed the tour unfortunately but after a taking the MD on a guilt trip about me being a beer connoisseur coming all the way to Malawi to see the brewery and a cheeky 50 cent bribe to the store man, I found myself with 2 friends in the store room with effectively free reign to ‘sample’ their beers. I don’t remember much more of the afternoon.

Malawi alcohol

With a groggy head and a doubledecker in tow, I set off for Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear the following morning….

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