Nkhata Bay

flickr 049, originally uploaded by Benjamin Long.

Nkhata Bay is a relatively big town for the region with many backpackers hostels scattered across the surrounding inlets. I stayed in a hostel called Mayoka Village that is about a five-minute walk from town situated on a cliff above Lake Malawi. The bar/restaurant is the main attraction of the hostel. It is a three-sided building with the open side facing the lake. Mayoka Village is almost too good to be true. The snorkeling gear is free to use, huge buffets every night for a whopping $4, free boat rides to secluded beaches on Weds. and numerous other activities to keep you busy during the day.
I went to Nkhata Bay to find Robert, the local agricultural agent that I met on the bus. I was able to find him after a couple of days roaming through the town asking random people if they knew him. During this process, I made several other friends in town. The Malawian people are very friendly and always willing to invite you over for a meal at their home. After I found Robert, we have a few discussions about the local agriculture but nothing too in depth. He was busy and I don’t think he wanted to drag me around with him everywhere. I liked Nkhata Bay very much, especially Mayoka Village. So, I decided to try make something out of nothing in order to stay longer. I continued to try to make contacts with little success. I stayed in Mayoka village for a total of ten days before I exhausted every option.
The highlight of my stay was definitely the people I met in town and at the hostel. I have come across some very funny names throughout Africa but Nkhata Bay takes the cake. I have met and heard of people being named after famous rappers and movie stars but the residents of Nkhata Bay have taken it to the extreme. The names include King David, Chicken Pizza, and my personal favorite, Happy Coconut (his name was Happy Pineapple before he shaved off his dread locks) I thought they were joking at first but I soon realized they were being dead serious.
A new trend for travelling through Africa is by Overlander bus. There are many different companies offering various routes throughout Africa, most starting in Nairobi and ending in Cape Town. I have mixed feeling about this method of travel because it can turn in to a traveling nightclub moving from one bar to the next without experiencing ‘Real Africa.’ On the other hand, most people would not even consider travelling through Africa and an Overlander bus is the compromise. At least, they are in Africa.
There was an Overlander bus in Nkhata Bay when I arrived and I was able to tag along on many of their tourist activities. They organized to visit a regional jail and I jumped at the opportunity. The deal was that we had to buy the inmates fish, which they only get twice a year, in exchange for our visit. Once inside the prison, we toured the jail while the inmates were all in the central courtyard being guarded. Jails can be in very bad condition in rich countries. So, picture a jail in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. Needless to say, the jail was in very bad condition but the inmates were very excited to see us. We all sat down while one of the inmates stood up and described the daily life of the inmates. Then we were asked to stand, say our names and country of origin. What happened next was baffling but sadly very typical. The first girl stood up and said New Zealand, the next Australia and so on and so forth with little response from the inmates. About the fifth person in line was from the USA. She stood up said her name and country. As soon as she said USA, all the inmates jumped up from the ground yelling and clapping with excitement. They were fascinated that someone from the USA was right in front of them. This did not surprise me because I have received similar responses travelling through Africa, but I thought I would pry a little deeper into the subject. I was the last in line to introduce myself and when I stood up I asked, “what do you know of the USA?” There was a short silence and then an inmate stood up, yelled “Miami”, and proceeded to start dancing like he was in a rap video. Another inmate then yelled “50 Cent”. I then told them I was from the USA and they all cheered once again.
It was another one of those moments where I had to say, “Ok, I am in a Malawian jail right now where people are living in the worst conditions possible and all they can think about is dancing to 50 Cent song in Miami!” This is a perfect example of how the western culture, specifically American, is slowly taking over the world. I still have mixed feeling about this global culturalization taking place in Africa.