After Safari, we headed south to Malawi. We enjoyed Tanzania, but the touts were a force to be reckoned with, and I think that we were both ready to move on and check out a new destination. The day after we returned from safari, we packed up, and hoped on a bus for the 18-hour trip to Southern Tanzania. We spent one night in the sketchy little Tanzanian border town of Mbeya before crossing in Malawi.
I crossed countless land borders during my year of travel in Asia and Central America. The experience is usually pretty straightforward, so I was hoping that it would be the same in Africa. Of course (as I’ve now learned on this trip), most things African aren’t that simple or straightforward, and neither was this border crossing.
The minibus from Mbeya was supposed to drop us at the border, but instead, it dropped us at a market about 2 Km from the border, where we were immediately swarmed by touts trying to lead us in different directions or convince us to change money with them. After much confusion, we finally got some information about the location of the border post, so we put on our backpacks, and headed off (in the heat of the day, mind you, and still with a small pack of touts at our heels).
We cleared the exit/entry immigration without any major issues. The Malawian immigration officer told us that after we crossed the border, we could take a shared taxi for MK 500 (about $3.50) to the next major town. As we walked towards the taxis, one of the drivers approached us and told us that we could ride with him for the standard rate of MK 500. It sounded good to us, so Chris loaded the bags into the trunk, and I hopped in the backseat. As I was sitting there, someone else jumped into the passenger seat next to me (not Chris), and a group of 4-5 guys rushed at the back of the car. As this happened, the driver started driving away (Chris still wasn’t in the car) and the group of guys caught up with the taxi and pulled our bags out of the trunk. Chris started yelling at me to get out of the car (which was picking up speed). I saw our bags on the ground behind the car, and Chris waving at me and yelling at me to jump. I didn’t know if I was being kidnapped or if this was some sort of luggage theft scam, but I knew that I wasn’t in a good place, so I jumped out of the car (I hit the ground running, totally unscathed). As I ran back to Chris and the group of men who had chased our car, two of the men picked up my backpack and started fighting over it. Instinctively, I pounced on my bag, tumbled to the ground, wrapped myself around my worldly possessions, and started yelling at the top of my lungs (dammit, if you’re going to take my bag, you are going to have to pry me off of it first!).
I think that the guys were somewhat surprised by the fact that I ran at them and tackled my bag to the ground, so they backed off pretty quickly. While I sat on the ground wrapped around my stuff, Chris won the tug-of-war over his bag, and the group of local guys continued to argue amongst themselves, but moved away from us. After much convincing, Chris got me to disentangle myself from my belongings and stand up so that we could move away from the fray. We eventually walked over to a small roadside shop and pieced together what had actually happened.
As it turns out, the border post taxis queue up and wait in order for passengers to arrive (one of the few things in Africa that actually happens “in order”). The driver who approached us had, unbeknownst to us, jumped the queue and was trying to “poach” us and make a quick departure before any of the other drivers realized what had happened. The angry group of shouting men had been the other taxi drivers who ran after the car and pulled our bags out of the trunk so that we would take the taxi that was actually next in line for passengers. Naturally, all of this was lost in translation in the heat of the moment, and both Chris and I assumed the worst.
Ironically, this was probably t most uncharacteristic introduction to Malawians that we could have had. Since travelling past the border, we have been continually impressed by the warmth and kindness of Malawian people. I guess it goes to show that first impressions aren’t always what they seem.
-Julia
 |
| From 07-22-10 N. Malawi and Nkhata Bay Web |
Northern Malawi countryside
2 comments:
Yikes, that's scary! Glad it was nothing worse though, and that you didn't hurt yourself getting out of the cab. That was some quick thinking on your part!
Heh, for a second there, I thought you were going to find some use of that drunken lecture in combat we had in Tahoe. Ohh well, maybe next time? ;-)
Post a Comment