Ekoa Stoves in Malawi - Bridging The Continents

From Blantyre to Liwonde: A Road Trip Through Malawi

Today I left Blantyre after sorting out my car information and set my sights on Liwonde National Park, hoping to do a game drive the next day. The roads were pretty okay with just an occasional pothole — serious enough to keep you awake and alert at the wheel.

A Surprise Visit to the Ekoa Stove Facility

Along the way, I spotted a recognizable name: Ekoa. These are the stoves that came out of the Burn Design Lab and are being fabricated mostly in Kenya. It turned out they already have a facility going in Malawi, and I was driving right by it. So obviously it was time to stop and do a quick check-in.

Peter Scott is doing his thing in Malawi now too. They’re employing about 80 people to produce the stoves and selling them at only 10% of production cost. The idea is to encourage people to have a stake in the stoves so they value them more than if they were simply given to them, while still making it possible for them to purchase them. By using them, people realize this is how they need to cook from now on because it saves wood, effort, and everything else.

It was a brief but fascinating visit. They have a lot of capacity there with lots of room to expand — a truly surprising and wonderful part of today’s journey.

Arriving in Liwonde Town

Liwonde is a pretty basic town, and the roads didn’t get better. In fact, the roads are very bad in the south part of town, which is exactly where I needed to be. I crossed the Shire River (spelled C-H-I-R-E), which runs into Lake Makombe, which runs into Lake Malawi. That’s how it all gets fed, though it’s not always obvious when you look at a map.

Staying at Villa Leonde on the Shire River

Finding accommodation was a challenge — places were either very expensive or unavailable. When Villa Leonde came up, I drove there on an unimproved but passable road. The lady at the villa promised she’d get the Wi-Fi working even though it was down at the time, and by golly, she did. It was great Wi-Fi.

The location is right on the Shire River, which is home to hippos and crocodiles. Looking across the river, you see Liwonde National Park with mountains in the background — just an amazing, restful spot. I didn’t spot any hippos or crocodiles during my stay, but the atmosphere was incredible.

Dinner at the Water’s Edge Lodge

For dinner, I walked a few hundred meters to the Water’s Edge Lodge. For comparison, I’m paying 70,000 kwacha with breakfast at Villa Leonde, while the Water’s Edge Lodge charges 330,000 kwacha for accommodation. However, their dinner menu was somewhat reasonable, and I enjoyed a nice soup with lovely ambience. The restaurant isn’t directly on the water, but the rooms are.