I've recently returned from a trip to Malawi...my first time there...the usual 4am pick up in the morning as the flight to Lilongwe leaves Jo'burg at 10h00 so I have to catch the 'red eye' flight from Cape Town to connect. Lilongwe is an easy 2 hour flight from Johannesburg & for some bizarre reason it seems that all the international flights - SAA, Ethiopian Airlines & Kenya Airways - arrive within 5 mins of each other which causes considerable delays at immigration & baggage collection. A quick change from my Cape winter woolies into something a little more suited to subtropical central Africa and we're off..
In case you're wondering, muli bwanji is Chichewa (which is the main language in Malawi & also spoken in Zambia) for 'hello, how are you' and ndili bwino is Chichewa for 'I am fine' & zikomo is 'thank you' - these are phrases I'll be using an awful lot in the coming days. I'm told that Chichewa is similar to Swahili in that it is easily learnt and with Andrew Kayuni's (our local Malawian guide) help find this to be true.
The Malawians are a very friendly nation and my first hint of this came during my flight to Lilongwe - I sat next to Frank who is in tabacco in Malawi & by the end of the flight I knew a lot more about tobacco than when I started. The other Malawian passengers were equally friendly & all wished me a pleasant stay in their country when we got to Lilongwe. The second hint was when a pit stop was requested and we stopped in a village en route to Salima - before Andrew had killed the engine children of every size & description were hurtling towards the vehicle...obviously a slow day in town...
As is so often the case when travelling, language barriers cease to be important when you have a camera. This provides endless entertainment for the children who jostle each other to pose and then shriek with laughter as they look at the pictures we have taken...
Yours truly didn't even had time to jump down from the vehicle before the eager models mob me for pictures.... I usually don't like taking pictures of people unless they are unaware of it so this is a real baptism of fire...these children are desperate for the pictures & are such natural subjects that you can't help relaxing into it & enjoying yourself...
Two seconds later & they've multiplied...
These young ladies have obviously had some exposure to television or the movies judging by the sultry looks the camera is being subjected to....
But my absolute favourite is this young boy who ran to fetch his baby brother from their home (and his lunch by the looks of it) so he could join in the fun too....what a sweetheart! I just love this photo - for some reason it strikes a real chord...
The guys are immediately drawn into an impromptu football (soccer) game with some of the local lads...
Looks like a good start to the trip. You're right, there's something special about the photo of the boy and his little brother.
Posted by: Danya | 04/07/2011 at 08:02