Kate's Travel Tip #36

To really experience a country you MUST take public transportation.
Most of us in the US drive around in our own cars with our music on the radio at our own speed but many without cars take public transportation. Some put their nose up to public ways of getting around but I say it really gives one a true experience of a country. Jarrod and I had the joy of taking a bus from here (Senga Bay) to Lilongwe to spend a couple of days with Suzi and Mama K. The trip started off with us hopping the bus on the tarmack by Cool Runnings at 6:20am. There are not any bus stops here so you just flag the bus down as it is coming by. This means the bus stops about every 20 meters to pick people up. The bus holds about 60 people but at this time we were only carrying about 30 and it was still very early and cold so it was not so bad. Once we hit Salima at about 7:30am (about a 15min drive, normally) we sat in the bus rank for almost an hour and filed in as many people as we could. In the states that 60 people bus would only hold 60 people, but here in Malawi it hold close to 100 plus their bags and their chickens and anything else they need to take to Lilongwe with them. I fortunately got a window sit but Jarrod was not as lucky. He sat next to me and the aisle which was crammed full of people. Now just a little bit of information, Malawi people have no consideration of space and have no problems being packed into bus. Jarrod on the other hand does not enjoy people touching him and being in his bubble or tight spaces full of people so you can understand his problem.
So that is how it feels to be on a bus…now the smells…although people do bath in Malawi it is not ritualistic to bath every day like most Americans. Also when we smell, it is a sweet dairy smell because of our diets but Malawians eat mostly carbs so they smell…well…wow. There is really no way to describe it you will all just have to come here and experience it yourself.
Touch…Smell…Sound…well the sounds were of normal talking and babies crying but it was all being over powered by the same song playing over and over again on the tape. It was in Chichewa but it sounded like an old cheesy Christian ballad praise song. Oh…and just a little side note for you…those chickens on the bus didn’t make a sound because when you hang a chicken upside down from a pole it hangs still and looks dead.
To Jarrod’s relief we arrived in Lilongwe 4 ½ hours after we started (in a car it would be a 2 hour drive). Unlike a car though, we really got a chance to embrace Malawian people and their culture in one cramped, smelly, interestingly unique, slow bus ride.