Retracing the Route to Lilongwe
Today on April 23rd, I had to drive the same road I had already traveled before, just in the opposite direction. It’s about 350 kilometers to get to Lilongwe, and that’s about as far as I wanted to go because it was going to take most of the day.
A lot of the road was still being worked on, so there were slow-motion sections where I needed to take it easy and go over bypass routes around bridges being built. All the same, the hillsides and mountains along the way remained fascinating, and the route stayed interesting even on a second viewing.
Staying at the Waka Waka Hotel
I tried to find a place to stay in Lilongwe, this time a little closer to the direction I want to go the next day, which is to Nakoma. I ended up at the Waka Waka Hotel — a very interesting name. I think in its heyday this was a fantastic place. In the front there’s a club with its clubhouse on the second floor, and the hotel occupies the bottom section. It has a fabulous swimming pool which I didn’t use, though I should have. There are also life-size sculptures of certain animals, including a gorilla and various birds.
Malawi’s Electricity Challenges
What plagues the hotel is the intermittent electricity. Malawi is basically short on power. I was told there are five sources for electricity, but only two are really working. They do rolling blackouts and nobody knows exactly when those blackouts will happen. Dinner was pretty much in the dark. Mostly Malawians stay at the hotel with not many foreigners, but it was a good place that served its purpose.
Preparing for Tomorrow
I needed to prepare for the next day, which is going to be another type of end to my journey. Stay tuned!
