Three days drive from Livingstone and we were in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi but much the same as the other cities we passed through in Zambia. In a lesson in haggling I managed to 'talk down' a bloke selling a painting from US$30 to US$5 on the 50m walk from the truck to an ATM just by trying to explain that I only had $1 on me, which was the truth otherwise I might have considered it.
We spent the bulk of our time in Malawi at Kande on the shores of Lake Malawi. Much like any town on the coast, just without the salt.
The first few days were windy and because of the recent heavy rains the water was a dark muddy soup. Because of this you couldn't do much in the lake , including wind surfing funnily enough. There was still plenty to do however with beers costing 50c and a new found interest dragging me into horse riding.
Simon, one of the kids from the curio market showed me around kande including his house, school, Post Office, Hospital and pub (mostly the pub, for his sake not mine). Simon was obvisously one of the smarter kids in town and was looked up to by most in the community. He told me of his aspirations of study overseas and how selling curios was helping him. I couldn't tell if this was true or just a ploy to overcharge me. Either way I picked up a few things for next to nothing.
Some others would tell me I was overcharged and they could have got it for less. I have had numerous arguements with other travellers on how to handle the curio markets. A few times I have been told that by failing to get the lowest price possible by not haggling over the last few dollars that i'm ruining it for other travellers by inflating the prices. This is bull shit, something will always cost what the buyer is willing to pay for it, regardless of what the asking price is. My view is that considering what people make to live of, haggling over a few dollars means nothing to me but could mean a meal to them. I'll always pay more than most because i would rather people make a living by honest means rather than resorting to stealing.
I got an interesting incite into the way some people exploit the situation in Africa. For instance i paid US$35 to go horse riding for the morning. The black workers at the the ranch got paid up to $1 a day, thats two beers. The rest going to support the lifestyle of the owner. In an other example some people will set up a private secondary school, charge the students $100 per semester, then bring in voluntary teachers from Oz or the UK etc and then rely on donations for school supplies. Again keeping the proceeds.
Chitimba beach was the much same as Kande just better looking.
We spent the bulk of our time in Malawi at Kande on the shores of Lake Malawi. Much like any town on the coast, just without the salt.
The first few days were windy and because of the recent heavy rains the water was a dark muddy soup. Because of this you couldn't do much in the lake , including wind surfing funnily enough. There was still plenty to do however with beers costing 50c and a new found interest dragging me into horse riding.
Simon, one of the kids from the curio market showed me around kande including his house, school, Post Office, Hospital and pub (mostly the pub, for his sake not mine). Simon was obvisously one of the smarter kids in town and was looked up to by most in the community. He told me of his aspirations of study overseas and how selling curios was helping him. I couldn't tell if this was true or just a ploy to overcharge me. Either way I picked up a few things for next to nothing.
Some others would tell me I was overcharged and they could have got it for less. I have had numerous arguements with other travellers on how to handle the curio markets. A few times I have been told that by failing to get the lowest price possible by not haggling over the last few dollars that i'm ruining it for other travellers by inflating the prices. This is bull shit, something will always cost what the buyer is willing to pay for it, regardless of what the asking price is. My view is that considering what people make to live of, haggling over a few dollars means nothing to me but could mean a meal to them. I'll always pay more than most because i would rather people make a living by honest means rather than resorting to stealing.
I got an interesting incite into the way some people exploit the situation in Africa. For instance i paid US$35 to go horse riding for the morning. The black workers at the the ranch got paid up to $1 a day, thats two beers. The rest going to support the lifestyle of the owner. In an other example some people will set up a private secondary school, charge the students $100 per semester, then bring in voluntary teachers from Oz or the UK etc and then rely on donations for school supplies. Again keeping the proceeds.
Chitimba beach was the much same as Kande just better looking.
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