Malawi

1st – 16th of December 2019

Our Route

Our Video

Days

1125

Kilometers Per Bike

958

USD For 2 People

Liters Of Petrol Per Bike

Dates Visited
1st – 16th of December 2019
Detailed Costs For 2 People And 2 Bikes
- 148$ petrol
- 101$ camping
- 2$ entry for Manchewe Falls
- 42$ supermarket
- 376$ restaurant
- 150$ visa
- 60$ accommodation
- 46$ sim card and data
- 27$ other things (some cable, tablets for Bilharzia, some souvenirs, atm fees)
- 7$ cloth repair (Martin needed some fixing of his shorts and long pants)
Hights
Highest Point: 1358 m a.s.l

Lowest Point: 291 m a.s.l
Currency
Malawi Kwecha
Average Petrol Price
~ 1.4 USD per liter
Sleeping Places
- 9x camping
- 6x accommodation
Average Temperatures
During the day between 25 and 35 degrees and at night between 22 and 28 degrees
Road Conditions
The tarmac roads were surprisingly good and some really nice curvy roads can be found along the lake. If you need some gravel fun, then just leave the main roads and you are on it
Weather
We had pretty good weather despite the rain season which was delayed but it was quite humid and we got some rain during the night.
Health Issues

Xenia: none

Martin: some stomach issues for a couple days but nothing wild

Apps / Websites

Here some apps and webpages we think are usefull for travelling overland to this country

App: iOverlander

Websites: Overlander Africa (Facebook Groupe)
Service / Work on the bikes

XTR: none

XTZ: none
Problems / Breakdowns
XTZ: none

XTR: none

Lost: nothing

Other: Martins Enduristan tankbag strap got stolen….really weird as its not very useful but a bit bad for us. We found a solution with an old rock strap and will get a replacement in Kenya.

Xenia’s laptop screen stopped working. We will get a replacement in Kenya brought in by our friend Josh who flies in from Australia
Paperwork

Visa: As Swiss passport holders we got the visa at the border. After we left the costs for visas went down again but when we were there it was 75 USD per person which is pretty steep.

Carnet de Passage: As we travel with the CdP we used it but you can also get a temporary import permit (TIP) at the border. Apparently we should have payed road tax but no one wanted to see a paper so we did not pay.

Insurance: COMESA insurance which we already got for all the countries in Zambia (cost us 80 USD per bike for one year and 9 countries)
Notable
Malawi is a poor country but the people are sooooo friendly and helpful. We never had any issues and its a wonderful country to travel.
Important information
Here some very country specific information:

Its easy to get a SIM card and data

It is a bit difficult to get money sometimes so bring enough USD in case you need to change. Its not really possible in most places to pay with credit card.

If you go and swim in lake Malawi, it is advisable that you either check with a doctor if you got Bilharziose or just take the tablets (that’s what we did).