Most Welcome and Mice Sandwiches in Malawi - Update from Lorelle

We had only two short, but wonderful, days in Malawi. The thing that struck me most about Malawi is how welcoming the people are. We crossed the border from Zambia into Malawi just as it was closing at 6 pm and asked about a place to camp. In Malawi, it seems that there aren't really camp grounds – just places to camp where an Inn or lodge or whatever has some open space and one is welcome to set up a tent. We found the Inn to which we were directed and “you are most welcome” was the greeting from everyone there. We were shown the grounds next to the inn filled with trees and a few flat places between them and we were “most welcome” to set up our tent there. We had some hippo meet (that's a story from Zambia) that we needed to cook so we were looking for a fire or firewood. I went to the porch at the back of the grounds to ask about a fire and again, I was “most welcome” by a woman who had nothing to do with the inn or anything – she was making chapati and described their gathering as “we are just women having a good time” but I was welcome to ask at the inn about firewood and we were “most welcome.” Everywhere we went, we were “most welcome.”

I had read in the tourguide books that Malawi is described as the “warm heart of Africa” and that was certainly true. The owner of the inn came over after a bit because he heard that we were looking for a fire (we were just hoping to use someone elses fire to cook our meat), but he arranged to have a brai pit brought to us at the vehicle. What a blessings == we had a feast of hippo, maize and vegies (carrots, cabbage and onions). We had purchased the maize that afternoon from a man on a bicycle – it looks a lot like the sweetcorn we know in the states. But if you are expecting sweetcorn, you will be dissappointed. Instead, if you expect something starchy and Extremely filling – more like field corn, then the maize is quite good in it's own starchy way.

The next morning we were on our way to Lilongwe – Malawi's capital and then headed to the Lake. Lake Malawi is known for the many brilliantly colored fish that swim in Monkey Bay. But Monkey Bay was over a hundered kilometers out of our way so we decided to snorkel at Senga Bay instead. The wonderful part was that Senga Bay was much less touristed than Monkey Bay and the Lake was gorgeous. We stopped at a hotel to see if we could rent snorkel equipment and they loaned it to us for free – we were “most welcome” :-). The less wonderful part is that the famed fish of Monkey Bay have apparently not heard of Senga Bay and there were very few fish to view. We swam over to some reeds and finally found a few fingerling fish – with white stripes down their side – not quite the sights we had anticipated, but we did find some clams and had a great time swimming in a magnicent lake.

Back on the road – we were rather hungry after our swim and found the perfect opportunity to try one of the delicacies Malawi is know for – boiled mice. Little boys sell them on the side of the road – stacks of mice between two sticks – 20 or more in a stack. They apparently sell them by the stack, but we convinced them to sell us just two and there we had them – the 3 inch long little dead mice in our laps – their jaws open with their tiny teach sticking out, their front paws curled, their tiny eyes squeezed shut. Val was the first to taste one – our fearless leader setting the example – the tail and paws are crispy – not bad. The rest of the mouse was harder to approach so we created a bit of a mice sandwich – lettuce a bit of croisant (left over from a bakery stop that morning – a chocolate croissant – what a treat!!!) – and Val bit it's little head off – we all had a go at the mouse sandwich – Val's bite got the brains, Lori the lungs and I went for the liver. The middle parts were soft, squishy and, well, really “mousy” (none of us could quite describe the taste). The bones though (and the tiny little mouse incisors for Val) get stuck in your teeth, the hair is a bit slick and the whole thing is a bit wet and not quite as delicately delicious as had been described -- nonetheless – a memorable experience.

Then we headed north -- I was dissappointed that we didn't make it to Mzuzu to stay at the YWAM there, but we found a magnificent place to camp right on the beach of Lake Malawi – it was a nearly full moon, the beach was covered with white sand stretching out for miles. I took a short walk down the beach to see several dugout canoes – the handywork of the Malawians is rough, but servicable and beautiful in its own way.

That night we had our leftover hippo meat (fixed nicely by Val with Taco seasoning, tomatoes and onions) and we had Hippo taco salad. Another treat! Lori made fried bread, I made lemonade – another feast.

The next day we drove North again, and decided we didn't really have time to stop by Niyika National Park (long time on dirt roads just to reach the park) so we stopped by a local market instead. Fun to try the local foods -- like little bananas cooked in a tomato and onion sauce, curdled milk that makes a sort of soft cheese, and little cornbread-like squares. We each noticed little colored flecks in the cornbread – I had red and green flecks, Val had black ones, Lori had multiple colors – they were really crunchy – not that nice really – kind of gritty. We looked closer and discovered that we were eating beads! The cornbread maker's necklace apparently broke while she was baking and What to do? We also had our first taste of lake flies – the insects hatch out the by billions at the season we were there. They shake the trees they're in, make them fall on a piece of cloth or plastic on the ground. Then they scoop them up by the handful, squish them into four inch squares and smoke them. The squares look like charcoal, but the consistency is a bit softer – they are rather salty – another indescribable flavor.

We found other wonderful treasures at the market as well. We needed a funnel for pouring the kerosene and we got some rope for strapping things in the vehicle. I found some beautiful lesos (the cloth that women wrap around their waste as a skirt) and some prettily painted tin bowls. There's much more to say, but that's all for now – I thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Malawi.