Malawi: Chiweta’s Experience

Chiweta is situated in the northern region of Malawi approximately 120Km from Karonga Township. It is among the most scenic places in Malawi where one enjoys and marvels at the wonders of nature. The road form Karonga to Mzuzu weaves spectacularly in the mountains which make descending and ascending an experience worth to remember. I cannot rule out those who have described Chiweta as too dangerous to go as they cannot afford to look out of their vehicle and admire God’s creation. Such is an experience in Chiweta and it passes on from one generation to the other.

We set out at 8:00am from Karonga on Wednesday, 27th August, 2010 on our way to Mzuzu. We had enjoyed ourselves in Karonga for three days. As we normally do, we bought a bunch of bananas just in case we met our friends (Monkeys) who also add value to the beauty of Chiweta. I am glad we found some just 4Km before we had finished climbing the mountains. There were several of them in the range of 25 to 30 in total. Some had carried their young ones while some were just free. As our vehicle stopped close by, they all gathered around us as if we had sent a message to meet them earlier on. We started giving them the bananas one by one.

It was a nice experience as the monkeys kept following us and grabbing the bananas from our hands. What surprises me is that always young monkeys are the ones which come close to the vehicles while the older ones keep a distance away as if in anticipation of the unknown. We fed them until we ran out of bananas then it was time to go! Well, we set off for Mzuzu feeling happy that we had fed some of God’s entertaining creatures.

We had made our way up the mountains until a kilometer away from the Mchenga Coal Mines when our journey came to a stop because a Truck with Tanzanian registration had broken down right in the middle of the road. Some trucks had tried to pass through the narrow space on the sides of the truck but got stuck as well which meant that there was no space for both vehicles going or coming from Karonga. Minibuses and Buses alike had to drop passengers on either side of the traffic jam as they could not proceed with their journeys.

We stayed there for four hours until when one of the Kenyan truck drivers offered to tow the broken down truck out of the road for others to pass through. It was to everyone’s relief when the vehicle was finally pulled out to a safer place. The smiles, whistling and excitement that followed were enough to conclude how each of us had anticipated for this moment to come and proceed on with our trips. How I wish I could go back soon and enjoy Chiweta and the beauty of Lake Malawi.