Edition 43: Summer 2008

Taking time out to drive through Africa in your own 4WD may sound an impossible dream but in her regular column on self-drive, Mary Askew describes how to achieve it and the thrills and adventures that await those who do. This edition, Malawi.

“Mice kebab?”

Why was this offer from a man sitting on the floor of a Malawi market actually tempting me? Well, besides the fact that devouring several whole charcoaled mice – fur and all – would make a great story when I got home, I also hadn’t eaten meat in a while.

With no fridge or freezer in our Land Rover, meat was a real luxury. We had long since run out of the tins we bought a few weeks earlier in South Africa, and were dining on local staples of bread, tomatoes, aubergines and onions. We had rather underestimated the difficulty of buying supplies as we weaved through Malawi on minor roads and we had also recently run short of diesel for our 4WD.

When we started out on our year-long journey through Africa we always topped up at every reliable fuel station en route, even if our tank was still three quarters full. And we carried at least one jerry can of diesel on the roof of our Land Rover, just in case. But we had been lulled into complacency by spending a couple of months in Southern Africa, where good diesel and tempting food was plentiful. Now, in rural Malawi, we were paying the price.

Our fuel gauge had run into the red just past the Malawi border with Mozambique and our jerry cans were empty. Bizarrely, in the previous hours we passed two spanking new BP stations, each of them taped off and waiting to be opened. On the third occasion this happened, an enterprising teenager on a bicycle pedalled up beside us. “You want fuel?” he asked. We followed him as he veered off the road and snaked between some mud huts, stopping outside one and going inside. He came out with a demijohn of fuel and our hearts sank. Contaminated fuel is a self-driver’s nightmare.

My husband explained he wanted to test the fuel before we bought it and handed the boy an empty coke bottle for a sample. By now a small crowd had gathered around us and we all waited and watched. If the diesel had been watered down then, given time, the water would float to the top.  Nothing happened so we poured the diesel through a clean piece of cloth into the tank, filtering off any dirt. The fuel proved precious as it got us to the next town, Blantyre, where we filled up the tank and our jerry cans.

While there we also got in contact with a Dutch couple we knew to be working with VSO in the nearby town of Mzuzu. Andre and Petra took us to visit the local infant school where the children were being taught in classes of 70. Afterwards the teacher invited us back to her home where she gave us tea and roasted nuts, and talked of her life, providing us with enlightening insights into her life and Malawian culture.

Having opportunities such as this is one of the real privileges of travelling independently. Before you leave it is worth getting in touch with some projects that are on your route and asking if you can visit. TV presenter Kate Humble has just set up a website www.stuffyourrucksack.com which will give you instant access to communities across Africa – schools that need pencils, orphanages that need clothes, communities that need seed – there are lots of requests for small things that could easily fit into a corner of your vehicle. In Blantyre, a hospital for disabled children is asking for toys – if you pop in with some gifts you will be given a tour and introduced to the patients. Educated, focused giving like this can do a world of good and doesn’t create the many problems associated with random gifts to needy-looking children.

As well as providing us with a window into the life of Malawians, our visit with Andre and Petra had one other fulfilling benefit – we left with the knowledge of where to buy some meat, and it wasn’t of the rodent variety! 
 

On the road: Malawi Highlights

• Livingstonia. The views from the stomach-churning track up to this mission are worth the visit alone. The mission itself is a quirky place with a fascinating (albeit tiny) museum.
• Roadside markets – try the dough balls (eight for 10p).
• Senga Bay, Steps Campsite. This stunning campsite is on the edge of Lake Malawi. You park up and pitch your tent on beautifully clean white sand, right up at the water’s edge. The water looks inviting but you risk catching bilharzia if you go for a swim here.
• The S127. It’s a fantastic minor road between Blantyre and Senga Bay. Villagers at one settlement on the S127 earned such a reputation for carving exquisite 4WD replicas that the British High Commission provided money to plant a sustainable forest to supply the wood. It takes three weeks to have an exact model of your car made.
• The craft shop at Mua is a great place to buy souvenirs direct from the people who make them.
• Doogles in Blantyre. A busy backpackers’ hostel with great food and internet facilities.

Trip tips: Fuel

• Before you set out, calculate how much fuel you’ll need. Seasoned self-drive expert Tom Sheppard recommends a simple formula: take the number of miles you need to travel between fuel stops, add 25 per cent and then add another 100 miles. So if it’s 400 miles between fuel stops, you should calculate the amount of fuel you’ll need for 600 miles. Remember that your consumption will differ with terrain. It is worth spending some time on this calculation. Carry too much fuel and you risk overloading your vehicle. Carry too little and you could run dry – it’s a difficult balancing act.
• Never pass a modern-looking petrol station without filling up if your tank is anything less than half full.
• Always carry at least one jerry can of spare fuel. Jerry cans are often stored on car roofs but this can make your vehicle unstable. If possible, fix them to the side of your car or carry them inside.
• Fit a sedimenter between your fuel tank and fuel filter. If you have the misfortune to purchase bad fuel, this should catch any water before it does damage. It needs emptying regularly.
• Carry a spare fuel filter and know how to fit it.
• There are several things you must do to avoid getting dirt in your engine: wipe away any dust from your fuel cap before filling; filter any fuel from dodgy sources through a cloth or a professional gauze; don’t buy second hand jerry cans that may already be gritty or rusty on the inside; and never drain a jerry can completely.
• The space beneath the handle of a jerry can is designed to allow fuel to safely expand. When filling a jerry can never tip it up to get fuel into this space.
• If you have the money, consider fitting a spare fuel tank.

Further advice
Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide by Tom Sheppard has a comprehensive section on fuel. www.brownchurch.co.uk also has some good tips.