Malawi
Door: Jeroen
17 Februari 2007 | Malawi, Lilongwe
Seven weeks to catch up on. I'll just write some of the highlights plus some impressions I've written before. It probably will be a little bit chaotic like this, but hey that it is for me too! And if there is too much of Janeth I apologize for that.
Leaving Dar on the 27th of december started with problems. I had bought the tickets a few days before. Waiting for our bus, due to leave at 05.00 in the morning, we didn't seen anything happening. I found the guy I bought the tickets from, "Big problem with the bus" he said when he saw me. But no problems for me, he assures me. There is no direct bus to Lilongwe that morning. We have to take another one at the border. He takes us to a bus where someone else starts writing new tickets. Janeth doesn't like it. She worked two years at Ubungo terminal and knows this second guy. He is not to be trusted. Of course we will get to the border, but have no garantee that the next bus will be arranged. But I have paid the full fare allready. It feels not right. Janeth says 'stay here' and is gone. She blamed me a couple of times for starting a row or taking action without consulting her first. According her this is different: she herself didn't have any idea of what she was going to do! After 15 minutes she comes back with a policeman. The end of it is that I get my money back and we buy new tickets to the border.
We arrive late. We check out of Tanzania, a nice stamp in our passport. We walk across the Songwe river to Malawi. Only to find the Malawian immigration office already closed. I think I dreamed about this! Getting stuck between borders in Africa. But no problem: a soldier lets us into Malawi and takes us to a guesthouse. The next day we come back at the office. An official helps us. Or better he doesn't. He can't stamp our passports because the Tanzanian stamp is from yesterday, and "there is no way you could have spent the night between Tanzania and Malawi". That is the purest form of burocracy to me. Someone denying reality in front of his nose because of a regulation or a missing stamp. He sends us back to Tanzania. Of course they are still closed. We have to wait half an hour. I want to go back to Malawi to complain. Janeth wants to wait. I'm getting agitated, she really doesn't like me like this. We walk back, it's a 10 minutes walk to the Malawi office. I consider my options, how to be heard without shouting. Then, at the office, we get another officer. He stamps our passports without any problem! And of course some others who have waited for the Tanzanian office to open, did not get a new stamp. After all you can't leave a country twice without going anywhere.
In Malawi we had a few very ugly scenes, but at the end we became very close. At least that is what I thought...
Saying goodbye was emotional and we missed each other a lot being apart. At least that is what she said...
Leaving Dar on the 27th of december started with problems. I had bought the tickets a few days before. Waiting for our bus, due to leave at 05.00 in the morning, we didn't seen anything happening. I found the guy I bought the tickets from, "Big problem with the bus" he said when he saw me. But no problems for me, he assures me. There is no direct bus to Lilongwe that morning. We have to take another one at the border. He takes us to a bus where someone else starts writing new tickets. Janeth doesn't like it. She worked two years at Ubungo terminal and knows this second guy. He is not to be trusted. Of course we will get to the border, but have no garantee that the next bus will be arranged. But I have paid the full fare allready. It feels not right. Janeth says 'stay here' and is gone. She blamed me a couple of times for starting a row or taking action without consulting her first. According her this is different: she herself didn't have any idea of what she was going to do! After 15 minutes she comes back with a policeman. The end of it is that I get my money back and we buy new tickets to the border.
We arrive late. We check out of Tanzania, a nice stamp in our passport. We walk across the Songwe river to Malawi. Only to find the Malawian immigration office already closed. I think I dreamed about this! Getting stuck between borders in Africa. But no problem: a soldier lets us into Malawi and takes us to a guesthouse. The next day we come back at the office. An official helps us. Or better he doesn't. He can't stamp our passports because the Tanzanian stamp is from yesterday, and "there is no way you could have spent the night between Tanzania and Malawi". That is the purest form of burocracy to me. Someone denying reality in front of his nose because of a regulation or a missing stamp. He sends us back to Tanzania. Of course they are still closed. We have to wait half an hour. I want to go back to Malawi to complain. Janeth wants to wait. I'm getting agitated, she really doesn't like me like this. We walk back, it's a 10 minutes walk to the Malawi office. I consider my options, how to be heard without shouting. Then, at the office, we get another officer. He stamps our passports without any problem! And of course some others who have waited for the Tanzanian office to open, did not get a new stamp. After all you can't leave a country twice without going anywhere.
In Malawi we had a few very ugly scenes, but at the end we became very close. At least that is what I thought...
Saying goodbye was emotional and we missed each other a lot being apart. At least that is what she said...
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