Likoma: Getting There

After a six hour car journey we arrived in Nkhata bay where we would get the ferry the following morning to Likoma island. Because space in our bags was limited (largely due to the amount of booze and Christmas nibbles we had packed) we decided to give each other our presents before we set off and then leave them in the car while we were away. We’d set a fairly harsh limit of 2500 MKW for the gifts (about £3.50) but that goes a fair way in Malawi and although not quite the same as Christmas back home I was chuffed to bits with my Nkhotakota pottery stew pot that Nat and Judy got me!

I should mention at this point that Judy has been pretty unwell for a few weeks now, like me she has been in and out of the clinic and was very nearly not able to come along at all. Fortunately though because Nat is a nurse the doctor allowed us to take some drugs and drip lines away with us so Judy could continue her antibiotics. NMH (Nat’s mobile hospital) was erected in the car, at the lodge in Nakarta bay and later in a beach hut on Likoma island – pretty surreal!

We got up the following morning at around 4am, Judy had another bottle of metronidazole and Nat and I had a coffee. We then set off with all our gear for the beach where we had been told the ferry left at 6am.

When we arrived there was a hoard of people jostling to get on small fishing boats that were taking  them out to what appeared to be a half sunken ferry in the bay. Taking a deep breath we threw ourselves into the chaos and clambered aboard a boat with five others, several sacks of maize, two chickens, three huge bunches of bananas and a dining room chair! Naturally the small fishing boat was grounded at this point and took four very strong Malawians to pull us the fifty yards or so out to the ferry.

As soon as we got close to the ferry things started being thrown aboard with no concern for who owned what or where their belongings were going. At some point our bags disappeared into the boat, not to be seen again until Likoma. We were last off and scrambled aboard to find there were no seats left which gave us two choices; either sit on the bow of the ferry or find a spot on the lower deck amongst the livestock and grain. We opted for the bow and after several more impossible boat loads of stuff and people were brought aboard we set sail.

After a couple of minutes we’d all re-grouped from the boarding ordeal and started to enjoy the ride; the wind was cool, the lake was flat and someone below us was playing Malawian pop on a stereo that set a fitting soundtrack. The landscape was beautiful too and for a few short moments I felt very lucky to be part of the experience… Then it started to rain.

The weather in Malawi is often very localised and you could see the storm coming from a mile away, we knew we were heading straight for it and being completely exposed on the bow of the boat knew we were in for a soaking. Suddenly the waves picked up, the wind went from cool to cold and the rain was torrential.

After about ten minutes Nat was fed up and started praying for the storm to end and the sun to come out. He must have listened because as quickly as it had started we were suddenly though the storm and the sky was clear again. For about thirty seconds we celebrated, then we started to realise just how strong the sun was. Within another ten minutes we were getting very badly burned and begging for the rain to return. Eventually we reached the ferry’s first stop, Chizumulu island and managed to negotiated some space inside the boat where we spent the remainder of our ten hour voyage nursing our sunburn with liberal quantities of after sun.

No journey in Malawi would be complete without a breakdown, so when the ferry came to set off from  Chizumulu we did just that. For an hour and a half it looked like we weren’t going any further. Likoma was only an hour away at this point and we could have maybe phoned the lodge for help but naturally none of us had reception so we just had to wait it out. Eventually the Capitan managed to restart the engine and we made it into Likoma at around 5pm.

Getting off the ferry was much the same as boarding only now the entire boat wanted to unload at the same time and get ashore as quickly as possible. For a couple of minutes we just stood watching the madness not quite knowing what the best tactic might be, then a young lad appeared from nowhere and asked if we needed help. He managed to find us our bags and carried them all to the back of the ferry where we could board another little fishing boat. Bearing in mind that Nat and I could barely lift our own bags the strength of this guy was truly amazing.

Finally ashore one of the staff from Mango drift was waiting for us and drove us the twenty or so minutes across the island to our lodge

The gin I had on arrival was one of the hardest earned I’ve ever had!