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Cities, Towns and Economics
September 16th, 2008
When we weren’t working hard with the girls, we had the opportunity to visit other towns and cities in Malawi.
This gave us the chance to experience their culture in a different way .
The places we visited were :
Lilongwe Nhkata Bay Mzuzu
Lilongwe
On arriving in Malawi, we visited the capital, Lilongwe, situated in the Central region of the country. Due to it’s location, Lilongwe is the 2nd largest city in Malawi and since it became the capital in 1974, the once small village is now the political centre of Malawi with an estimated population of 598,000.
The city is split up into Areas, and as the city grows more Areas are being added. Our hotel , the Korea Garden Lodges, was situated in Area 3, a very lively area in the city.
It has many similarities to what we think as a capital city, such as a lively town centre with traffic, shops and a throng of people. However, I’m sure you wouldn’t meet a witchdoctor in the middle of Edinburgh.
Nhkata Bay
The girls had a day off on Malawi Independence day, so we took this as an opportunity to go to Nhkata Bay, a busy fishing resort in the North of Malawi.
Nkhata Bay is on the shore of Lake Malawi and is the country’s busiest port. The Ilala steamship visits here and exports items such as tobacco, tea and sugar, Malawi’s most important exports.
Also due to the lake, fishing is very important in the area for income.
This day out provided a great chance for us to be tourists and more importantly, start the shopping. The town had a thriving market place with many Malawians lining the road trying to sell their produces to you.
Mzuzu
The last visit we did was to Mzuzu, where the Maimie Martin Fund headquarters are based.
Mzuzu is the capital of the Northern region of Malawi and is in an area which mainly works in agriculture, as its climate makes is ideal for cultivating crops such as coffee and rubber.
On the road to Mzuzu we passed a rubber plantation and were given a talk by the owner.
This particular one was the largest in the area and served not only to Malawi, but other surrounding countries such as Tanzania. The plantation was a large source of income for the area and provided many jobs.
The first part of the day was a visit and lunch at the Maimie Martin Fund, to see what the charity does in Malawi. To hear of all the good work being done and meet the people behind it all was heartwarming. Later on in the day some pupils and teachers then took a visit to the Government buildings in Mzuzu.
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