Chizumulu Island and Likoma Island, Lake Malawi

I realize that I have fallen quite far behind on my blog postings! We did not have internet access while on the islands and since then we have been on the move. My apologies.
We spent a glorious week and a half on two islands in Lake Malawi. They are both part of Malawi; however they are much closer to Mozambique. They are both rather remote, and very beautiful.

We took the Ilala Ferry out to Chizumulu Island from Nkhata Bay on the mainland. The ferry left port around 8pm. We rode on the top deck, which was 'first class' seating. Seating is the wrong word for it, however, as there were only about 5 plastic chairs spotted around the deck. So, like most people, we rented a couple mattresses and laid them out on the deck and attempted to sleep. There were a lot of other backpackers on the ferry, as well as the owner of the place we were heading to on Chizumulu Island. So, it made for a fun experience, and it was nice to have someone to tell us exactly where to go when the ferry pulled in to the island at around 1am. The ferry is not able to pull in to the port, so they lower a lifeboat down to take people in to shore. It was pretty chaotic. You have to go through second class, where people are crammed in with cargo, chickens, etc. It’s very crowded below deck. So after wading through all the mess downstairs, we made our way to a boat. Luckily, Nick (the owner), was able to have his little motor boat come meet us, and we all piled in.

We ended up staying on Chizumulu for about 4 days at a great place called Wakwenda Retreat. It was dirt cheap- about $12 a night for a hut right on the beach. It was also beautifully landscaped with a lot of natural stonework. We spent our days exploring the island and just relaxing. We swam, snorkeled, hiked, read books, and met some of the local people. It became an adventure, trying to find the one lady on the island who we heard sold bread. Or looking for a shop that sold snacks or candles. We also ate at a local restaurant a couple times run by a nice old lady named Agnes, where we had nsima and veggies. The island’s 2 generators were broken, so we were without electricity the whole time we were there. But, that meant we had dinner by candlelight every night, which was neat! One of my favorite parts about Wakwenda was the dinners- they were served communal style, so it gave you a chance to meet other guests and chat. We met a lot of interesting people and had a really nice time there.

Wakwenda Retreat on Chizumulu.

After our 4 days there, we decided to take a dhow (a traditional sail boat) over to Likoma Island. Likoma Island was a bit bigger, and we thought it would be fun to explore. The dhow ride was about an hour and a half and was an experience in itself. They let us off at a beach in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. We asked around and got pointed in the right direction to our hotel- Mango Drift. It turns out that Mango Drift was about 3 km away over hilly foot paths in the hot sun with heavy backpacks. I was VERY relieved when we finally made it. As it turns out, Mango Drift was another awesome, inexpensive place. Again, we were right on the beach. The managers and workers there were all helpful and friendly. We knew right away we would like it a lot.

The beach in front of Mango Drift around sunset.
Our hut on the beach at Mango Drift.

That first afternoon, we decided to try to walk into the main town on the island and check out the market. It turns out that it was another long walk, but we had a fun encounter which shortened it a little. After we got to a main road, we were walking along and heard a car (rare for either of the islands). The local ambulance pulled up next to us and told us to get in! The driver, Edward, was very nice and told us where things were in town. I peeked in the back, and luckily there were no ill passengers back there wondering why the driver had stopped to pick up hitchers. In fact, there was NOTHING back there- the ambulance didn't have any medical supplies in it, which is curious. But that’s the way things are around here.

The next day, we made the hike back into town to attend the Easter service at the famous cathedral on the island. It was an old Anglican church, and very beautiful. It was an amazing feat to build such a magnificent building on a remote island in the early 20th century. A Bishop (presumably English) presided over the service. The church was packed to overflowing. Curiously, men and women were segregated to different sides of the church, so Andrej and I were unable to sit together. The women's side also had most of the children, so it was really full and many women were sitting on the floor. They had made an attempt at decorating the church for Easter. The decorations included blue, white, and pink toilet paper strewn about from the ceiling, as well as red balloons that I can only assume were from Valentine's Day which said 'I Love You.' It seemed almost a bit disjointed when compared the grandness of the church. Anyways, the service itself was another long one- about 3.5 hours. There was no organ or any other musical instrument, but they had a nice choir. This service was also quite formal. After the service, we went out for a spaghetti lunch at a little place on the water called 'The Hunger Clinic.'

We spent the whole next week enjoying island life. I read a few books, we went for a few hikes, walked into town to stock up on food, enjoyed more great communal dinners, and swam in the lake. All in all, it was a very relaxing week. We had heard that the people living on Likoma Island are some of the friendliest people in Malawi. Unlike other places in Africa, they have also not taken to hassling tourists. This all makes for a very safe and pleasant environment. When we would walk around the island, many people would stop and chat with you, the most popular question being ‘Where are you going?’ I had some women tell me about the food they were cooking, and had some young girls show me how to get where I was going.

The view of Likoma Island while on a hike around the island.

The characteristic baobab trees that are all over the islands.

We had decided that we would rather fly than take the ferry off the island, and we heard you could get cheap stand-by flights back to Lilongwe. So we ended up playing the waiting game and staying a bit longer on Likoma than we intended (I’m not complaining!). Because we had a full week there, with not much to do but relax and enjoy the weather, Andrej decided to occupy himself by getting SCUBA certified. The cool, young managers at our hotel were both SCUBA instructors, and he got a one-on-one private SCUBA instruction over the course of 3 days. He seemed to really enjoy it.

Andrej on the boat ready to go on a dive.

Andrej and his instructor, Josh, about to dive in.

On Saturday, we heard that the president of Malawi was flying in for a campaign stop. This was our second encounter with him. What this meant was a lot of confusion over the ferry, and there was speculation that it wouldn’t run for the public because they would only allow government people on- essentially they were going to charter the ferry. So, Andrej and I decided to really make an effort to get on a flight, because we thought we might get stuck there for quite a while. As it turned out, due to the rally, there were many flights that day. Later that morning, our hotel manager got us confirmed on an afternoon flight. We were taking by a small boat over to the airport, found our plane, and waited under the wing until our pilot showed up. We had a nice little 8 seater plane, and enjoyed the flight over Lake Malawi back into Lilongwe.

Likoma Island from the sky. Andrej SCUBA dove out to that little island.

Andrej in front of our plane we took off the island.

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in Malawi. The people were friendly, and it had a very relaxing atmosphere. However, we decided that it would be time to move on the next morning to head towards Victoria Falls. You can read all about that in my next post!