Ruarwe… Such a special little gem hidden between local villages by lake Malawi !

After a couple of days at the mushroom farm I decided to join a group of 5 girls going to the lake side town of Ruarwe. Four of the girls were nurses from the U.K. volunteering for three weeks at the community clinic in the little town of Ruarwe and the fifth, Nathalie from South Africa, was volunteering at the one and only lodge in town. I started talking to Nathalie about my route and trying to decide where to go in Malawi and she convinced me that going with them would be an amazing experience that not everybody coming to Malawi gets to experience due to the location of the lodge. Being able to change your plans is part of the beauty of solo traveling! I can change my plans anytime without having to consult anybody... I love it! So, I decided to become the sixth chick (very 13 going on 30 of me!)

In order to get to Ruarwe one can take the ferry or a bus to a nearby town and walk for 6 hours... I picked the ferry!

Sunday is a very slow day on the bumpy road up and down the mushroom farm and transport in the main roads of Malawi so we needed to start our way down early if we wanted a ride. Because of my backpack (and mainly being lazy) I decided to try to get a ride.

 I left the mushroom farm at 12pm in order to have a couple of hours to wait for a ride to come but within 15 mins I had stopped two guys in a pick up truck going down the hill. Thankfully the pick up truck was nice and had two empty seats, one for me and one for Jenny who was feeling sick and decided to also get a ride. Going down was so much more comfortable inside a car with AC and leather seats but the many bends made me (and Jenny) very nauseous.

After an hour we finally got to the intersection and said goodbye to our ride. We sat to wait for the other girls and kids came to us and started being very annoying asking to give them our hats, sunglasses, sweater, anything they saw they wanted! I am really against giving things to kids because then we create a really bad image for tourism, we teach children to expect something from visitors and it just gets worst and worst. I am a believer that by traveling I am already contributing to their country and their community. I try to eat at local restaurants, buy at the local shop, use public transport, the lodges charge us tourism taxes that I suppose go to making the country better for them so there is no need to just give money  directly to the locals for doing absolutely nothing by putting their hands in front of our faces. I think in the end it creates a very bad habit in the locals who are expecting to be given things just because, and also it feeds into the idea that all “whiter” people do have money to spare. I say that if you have spare cash and want to give to a community, find an organization and make a donation!

After an hour or so of being at the intersection all the girls made it down the hill and negotiated with a taxi driver to get us to Chilumba port (where the Ilala ferry leaves from) for 1,500kwacha each.

The mushroom farm intersection!

Taking a break before going with the guy in the yellow shirt!

Taxi selfie!

We were dropped off in Chilumba port with 11 hours to wait for the ferry so we decided to chill by the lake.

This is what happens when you are in Malawi and get to a spot with cellphone network.. everybody is on their phone!

After an hour or so by the lake we decided to go buy our ferry ticket; the process made me feel like I went back to the 1980s! The guy asked us to go to his office and then took carbon paper, put it in between the paper and proceeded to write our tickets! 



Tickets in hand we decided to go into Chilumba town to get something to drink. We ended up visiting a couple of stores and seating at a restaurant where the woman said to us "one day I want to be your friend!"... so cute!

The Mzungus walking into town!

The restaurant was perfect to see the town action and get a couple of shots.

Put a cardboard on a stick and call it a toy!

When it started to get dark we went back to the Chilumba port and into their waiting room. We were such an attraction, at times there were up to 20 people watching us from the window. It got really annoying when some of the guys started throwing little rocks at me while the girls were sleeping; they were calling me muzungu and Japanese, but at the end one local guy started screaming at them and they ran away.

The Ilala was running behind 6 hours from Nhkata Bay but thankfully the schedule for the Ilala had a 8 hour rest period in Chilumbe port so they were able to catch up on some of the lost time. At around 12:30am we were able to board the Ilala and find a seat in the second class cabin. By 3:30am we were on our way to Ruarwe (only an hour late)

The first stop was at a village so I stood up and went to check it out. To my surprise there was no dock, people had to get off the Ilala and into a smaller boat to be rowed to the shore!


 The small boat said "22 persons" but of course it was loaded to twice its capacity and put as much cargo as they could... and a couple of chickens!




Our ferry journey was 7 hours long through the night and it was hard to sleep and very uncomfortable so when we finally arrived in Ruarwe I was glad. 

Lottie and Jess found a way to have fun in the Ilala!

Arrival at Ruarwe was madness! There is also no dock so we had to go down a set of steps on the side of the boat and get into a smaller boat to take us to shore. At the beach it seemed like the whole village had gathered to see who was going or coming to/from the Ilala… We got a lot of stares!

At the beach there was one staff member from Zhulunkuni River Lodge waiting for us. Three of the girls went straight to the clinic since it was their first day of volunteering (and 3 hours late because of the Ilala.) Jenny, Natahalie, and myself walked to the lodge; the girls said it was a small walk along the lake and they were mostly right but they forgot to mention that it was pretty much a hike through a rocky trail and up and down hill from the lake! Nathalie and Jenny took my smaller bags while I carried my big backpack and walked the trail for about 15 minutes. When we finally made it I was so happy and the place is like a little bit of paradise!

Ruarwe is totally rural Malawi, there is no electricity or running water but they are lucky to be right by the lake so they access to fresh water where they can bathe, wash, and fish! Zhulunkhuni pipes water from the river nearby so we have running water toilet and a shower but all the rest is water fetched from the lake.

During my time at zhulunkhuni I relaxed a lot and learned how to play the famous Malawian game Bao!

Even though I don't like swimming I snorkeled and swam in Lake Malawi, it was too pretty not to!

View of Zhulunkhuni from the water.

Levi, the manager, doing his laundry by the lake.

Rachael's tent!

I also went for a couple of walks along the many hills by the lake passing through villages and seeing how people live. The path is uneven and rocky and at times hard for me to move forward without holding on to rocks in order to keep my balance. Malawian women almost run these paths carrying buckets of water, logs two times their size, bags and anything they can balance on their head WHILE carrying a baby on their back AND wearing flip flops! This is what a super woman looks like to me! They are so strong, it just unbelievable for me to see.

View of the Ruarwe beach

As I walked the paths I got to meet many of the locals, especially children who would come running and say “mzungu, mzungu” and ask for a picture.

Everybody I saw on my walks through the villages would greet me saying "matandala" (hello) and then they would add in english: "what's my name?" when they wanted to ask for my name. At the beginning as a joke I said "I don't know your name" but with their limited English they never got my joke so I opted by saying "Andrea" right away. It was impressive how many people, especially children, remembered my name and on the way back they would scream "Andleya" and waved! It was super cute! 


In Ruarwe there is no cell phone network but if you go on a hike and up a couple of hills you can get up to the baobab tree where there is reception. One day I decided to go with Nathalie and in order to support her willingness to kept daily I said I would sketch as well..

Some local kids, the baobab, and Nathalie sketching

Soccer by the baobab

 After an hour or so at the baobab and checking WhatsApp (because the little coverage wouldn't allow you to do anything else) Nathalie went back down running while I walked, greeted the many locals and got to know Ruarwe a little bit better.

Off goes Nathalie!

These kids were all walking in a line carrying one brick each from one location to the other.

The next day I went to THE mango tree at the other side of Ruarwe where there supposedly is network but had no luck. The hike was great with beautiful views of the lake and beautiful villages.

Nathalie showing some locals the picture she just took!

How pretty?!?!

Nathalie trying the tricks from the locals, sitting on the rock by the mango tree for "better network" haha

Second mango tree... this is not for network, just for relaxing!

On my last day in Ruarwe I went for a little excursion to see the girls at the local clinic. The clinic is run by one medical practitioner, Paul, who is the only “doctor” available for Ruarwe and the villages surrounding it, so approximately 2,000 people.

The clinic is tiny! I stood in one spot and I could see all the rooms. On Wednesday the girls turned up in the morning and there was a lady in labor! They actually got to see a baby being born! very cool when you are a nurse; I don’t know if I could handle it as a stranger to medicine! 

Sadly, I got there at the end of their work day and could not witness the girls in action but it was great to see how the clinic looked.

Smiley Jess!

Where the baby was delivered!

View of where you end up if Paul can't fix you!

The girls and Paul!

On my way back I walked slowly and enjoyed more of Ruarwe before I had to leave!

A women making bricks outside her house!

How laundry gets done!

Last sunrise in Ruarwe before my boat...

My four days in Ruarwe went rather quickly but loved all the villages and keeping Nathalie company! Now off to Usisya!