Along Lake Malawi

On the way to Lake Malawi, we stopped at Mangochi to visit the Lake Malawi Museum. Beside of artefacts representing the local culture, there were remains and mostly pictures of all the steam ships which served at Lake Malawi. In front of the museum, we could watch a game of Boa, a traditional and very popular game in Africa.

At the Mua Mission, the KuNgoni Centre of Culture & Art, was established in 1976 by the Canadian missionary Fr. Claude Boucher. He dedicated his life to researching, recording and preserving Malawian culture. The Centre provides insights into the history and culture of Malawi, representing the Chewa, Ngoni and Yao cultures, their initiation ceremonies and rites of passage. It also holds a unique display of Gule Wamkulu masks, used by a secret society of the Chewa. As these masks hold the secrets of the Chewa men, we were not allowed to take pictures.

This was the best museum in Africa so far, and our guide was great in explaining the different cultures and their rites. Especially the room with the Gule Wamkulu masks was fascinating.

The Mua mission was founded by the White Fathers in 1902 and is the oldest Roman Catholic mission of Malawi. The outside of the museum building is decorated with the history of Malawi depicting the most important events.

Next we reached Senga Bay, a big fishing community, where each boat leaves together with 3 dugout canoes. What they are exactly used for, we don’t know.

The road north from Salima was very bad with single lane bridges, many potholes and a narrow tar band with the shoulder 20 centimetres lower. Luckily it was Christmas day and there was not much traffic. We stopped at Sunga Moyo Camp, before we continued to Livingstonia. More soon!