20th August 2025
As we sat in the living room checking emails and writing, Crystal came in and thanked us for coming for a visit. Even though school isn’t in session now, she’s been taking extra classes in the mornings. All packed and ready for the road, Derek, Mabasa, and I had a filling breakfast before packing the vehicle up for one last road trip in Zimbabwe. We said our goodbyes to Chisomo, climbed in, and headed down the road.
The road to Harare is actually very nice overall. And the scenery is as well. We passed green fields of grain, rolling hills mostly covered in trees, fields dotted with boulders, cattle off in the distance. After about an hour and a half we began to experience the somewhat chaotic traffic of the outskirts of the city, drivers carrying passengers trying to pass all the large trucks carrying goods, new drivers taking their time in the wrong lane, small trucks burning oil as they drive always seeming to get in the way.
I got word that some of the brethren who had hoped to meet us at the airport to say goodbye couldn’t come at the last minute. Duty and livelihood are important elements in life especially when caring for a family. Mabasa dropped us off and went to return the rental before making his way back to Kadoma. Derek and I entered the airport and did our best to find where we were supposed to go. The Harare airport is still a mixture of the old and very new. Our check in desk was in the old half while we had to get our documents checked and go through security in the new half. We easily passed through security and passport checks before entering the terminal. The new shops are phenomenal compared to the old ones. There are also new cafes and lounges which might rival any around the world.
After perusing the old/new book shop for some old Zim dollars for Lena’s collection, Derek and I opted for Café Nush (the very same that the VanAusdles and Chichayas had enjoyed in 2024 on the way to South Africa). Lattes for lunch since we’d already eaten a substantial breakfast and had a potentially substantial meal planned for later. We managed to find two very comfortable chairs to settle into and enjoy the delicious coffee while we waited for our flight to begin boarding. I almost bought some of the coffee beans and would have had they been solely Zimbabwean beans, but they were a blend of coffees from various places so it might not have been as special. Still the coffee was delicious.
We headed downstairs and spent our last remaining moments walking up and down the corridor so we could get at least a few steps in since we were going from sitting to sitting to sitting some more before lying down to sleep. Our flight didn’t start boarding the bus to our plane until it was almost scheduled to take off. No worries. Although we had a short layover in Lilongwe, we would be staying on the same plane headed to Blantyre. We climbed aboard the Malawi Airlines Dash 8 with seats in two different parts of the plane. There had been some mixup when I selected seats for us initially. When I finally found my seat there was a lady who had sat in it after trading with another lady who wanted to sit next to her child who then traded with another lady who wanted to sit next to her husband (something like that). Eventually I found a random seat that no one wanted to trade for. I settled in and we were off to Malawi.
In less than an hour we had flown from the capital city of Zimbabwe to the capital city of Malawi. It would be a drive that would take much longer by car and even longer by bus. We landed safely and I asked the man next to me if he would be staying in Lilongwe. He’s in the tobacco business which he said is doing very well right now while the rest of the economy in Malawi is quickly taking a turn for the worse. The plane emptied almost completely, Derek joined me in the rear in our actual assigned seats for the next flight, and the new passengers heading for Blantyre boarded.
In no time we were back on the ground again at what apparently is the former Chileka International Airport. The current president, Lazarus Chakwera, has renamed it Bakili Mulizi International Airport after a former president. This would be my first time (unless I’m mistaken) flying into Blantyre and having to go through immigration. The airport itself hasn’t been upgraded recently but the passport checks are digital now and include a photo and fingerprint scan. Malawi definitely knows we are here and who we are. We grabbed our bags, went through one last luggage scan, and then headed outside to find our hosts. Since our flight was a little early, and since it’s a tiny airport with short lines, we waited a few extra minutes for Gracious and Daniel to find us. It gave us a chance to chat with a few taxi drivers.
The relatively short drive from the airport to the church was long enough to give Derek a glimpse of the mountainous area around Blantyre as the sun was setting. It also gave us a chance to catch up with Gracious and Daniel, and to hear about the state of Malawi. Since 2020 the economy has just never recovered. Forex shortages continue to cause fuel shortages and increased prices in everything including basic necessities. Some of the large grocery store chains from South Africa and other places will be pulling out of Malawi very soon. No doubt this will further affect the supply of goods coming into the country.
We arrived at the church grounds just after sunset and got settled into our rooms before heading out for dinner. With the length of our trip and some of the travel planned in Zimbabwe, Derek and I wouldn’t have much time to spend in Malawi. I felt it was more crucial for us to go directly to Blantyre this time rather than trying to visit the Central Region as well. If we had a longer trip planned we could have made it happen. Instead the two pastors of the Lilongwe and Nkhwazi congregations made the trip south with their wives to see us. They combined their trip with a few visits, stopping to see brethren and family who they might not see too often.
I’d shared a meal in the same guesthouse with some of these same people a few years ago. And in a similar fashion the power went out as the food was being prepared, and the single man cooking and serving took time to bring out our meals (don’t know why). But this gave us a chance to sit and chat with the Chapambas and the Thungulas. The Ringos, our hosts while we are visiting, joined us as well. Really it was a chance to catch up and make sure we could see each other even with the truncated visit, but it also gave us a chance to discuss some needs in their areas and to hear some project updates.
While Derek is far more familiar with Zimbabwe, this was his first time visiting former Nyasaland. I’m hoping to share some very Malawian things with him while we are in the country with the time that we have. Starting off with a meal of chambo and nsima is a good start. This was his first glance at Malawi.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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