Beneath The Great Plateau: Exploring The City Of Zomba
It’s noticeably more chilly here, both after sundown and in the morning. We are now in Zomba, former capital of Malawi, where the town sits at around 1100m above sea level, some 600m higher than Cape Maclear on the shores of Lake Malawi. Days are hot but darkness calls for an extra layer and long trousers and at breakfast time there is a pleasant freshness to the air.
Our paths cross once again with the history of Dr Livingstone, and will continue to do so as, more by coincidence than by design, we trace sections of the great man’s journey through Central and Southern Africa. Here in Zomba his presence is tangible not only through colonial architecture and the names of places and buildings, but also the affection and reverence afforded to Livingstone to this day, credited with bringing Christianity, education and employment to the community as well as playing a significant role in calls for the abolition of slavery.
Zomba is in fact a place filled with both absorbing political and colonial history and an enchanting natural setting, dominated by the soaring mountain of Zomba Plateau whose steep green slopes look down on the slow paced town nearly 1000m below. (In truth Zomba is a city, but such is its green appearance and languid character that it’s hard to be comfortable with that title. It feels like a small town).
Echoes of British presence are everywhere, from the grand colonial houses once occupied by the likes of Sir Harry Johnston, responsible for bringing large tracts of Africa into the British Empire and cohort of Livingstone, Stanley and Rhodes, and now home to heads of the university, to the beautifully crafted botanical gardens and the Anglican and Presbyterian churches. It’s not uncommon to hear praise for the role played by Britain in Malawi’s history, and more than once we have heard the opinion that perhaps independence was won a little too early for the good of Malawi’s future.
Zomba’s recent history has an air of misfortune about it. President Banda, the first post-independence President, en route to dictatorship, stripped Zomba of capital city status in order to make Lilongwe, his home town, the new capital in 1975. Parliament was to make the same move twenty odd years later, the University of Malawi being established in Zomba by way of compensation. Loss of its capital status signalled the end of a proud history, for Zomba had been capital first of British Central Africa, then of the Nyasaland Protectorate, before becoming the original capital of the newly independent Malawi.
Shortly after checking in to our hostel, we are introduced to local guide and quasi celebrity Isaac, initially to enlist his services for a hike to the plateau. It doesn’t take long to realise that he is an absolute doyen, full of knowledge of the history of his town and his nation, eager to share that knowledge, well known locally and with an articulate grasp of English that makes conversation flow easily. We quickly snaffle his expertise and end up spending a large chunk of our two days here in his excellent company.
From our base at Blend Hostel we drive part way up the mountain to the start of the trails at 1800m, hiking next to successive waterfalls where ice cold high quality spring water cascades over the rocks towards the fertile land which surrounds Zomba. From the second of these, known as William’s Falls, the trail takes us further up and out on to the plateau with sweeping views across to sister mountains and towards Mozambique, with the whole of Zomba laid out below.
Here we gaze out first from The Emperor’s View, so named due to Haile Selassie’s period of meditation at this point in 1965, and then from The Queen’s View. The latter name stems from a visit to this spectacular viewpoint by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on a much cherished tour in 1957, a route emulated by her daughter the Queen some 22 years later. We are treading in some serious footsteps here it seems. Incidentally, the Emperor’s visit causes some discussion here as the site is now a destination of pilgrimage for Rastafarians seeking to meditate on the same spot, in a country where recreational use of marijuana is illegal. Now there’s an interesting dilemma.
My groin/hip injury which threatened to blight this trip has caused us some difficult and frustrating days so far but just recently has shown some signs of improvement. This is the first decent length hike we’ve attempted on this trip at just over 10 miles and I’m delighted and relieved to get it completed.
Our second day with Isaac is an extended tour of Zomba itself, around Johnston’s extensive botanical gardens and then through the heart of its British colonial history, rambling through backroads and leafy lanes with panoramic views across the fertile lands. A brief call at a family home in a former colonial hospital building is an opportunity to eat some undeniably authentic local food before we descend to an interesting war memorial. Here, those Malawians who were sent to the front line to fight for the British Army in WW1, known as the King’s African Rifles, are commemorated name by name – accompanied by statistics showing that the overwhelming majority of those who made the ultimate sacrifice died from disease rather than by being killed in action.
From the memorial we gravitate to Zomba’s renowned market, which operates seven days a week and is by reputation Malawi’s best. It is certainly colourful and lively with a huge range of goods and produce, though unfortunately Michaela’s photography is limited by the reluctance of locals to be “in shot”.
A bit more about Isaac the guide. Obviously highly intelligent, he has that very welcome combination of in-depth knowledge and the desire to share it – in fact, if we were to attempt to relate even half of the fascinating stuff we learned from him, this post would drag on for far longer than it has already. Politics, religion, history, cuisine, culture and the natural world all flow easily as we walk, and by the time our two days are complete we feel a substantial increase in our knowledge of his country.
Perhaps most intriguing of all are Isaac’s descriptions of his upbringing and the customs of many of the Malawi people in rural settings like his. Life here, even in 2024, is ruled in many communities by superstition and witchcraft, with time honoured protocols and ancient rituals still forming part of everyday life. According to Isaac, illness is for some Malawians not perceived to be a problem with the body, but rather a spell cast by someone on the one who suffers – the cure is therefore not medicine, but finding who is responsible and casting an evil spell back in their direction. Morning rituals are still performed daily in his village to protect families from spells cast by others.
Sampling the local food
He also relates how, from his community, eight year olds are sent away for a couple of months to spend time under the control of witch doctors. He speaks with anguish of how torturous that time was for him: how young boys and girls were each circumcised with blood stained knives, how he was beaten with a stick every morning, beatings which were doubled if he cried, and how his body was cut by dirty razor blades in dozens of places, an unknown dark liquid then poured into the open wounds to “ward off evil spirits”.
The eight weeks, he says, felt like a lifetime, and his young mind thought it would break him. In the end, he made it, and was ultimately presented with gifts of stylish clothing at the culmination of the period of torture. At no time is he really complimentary, at no time does he say it taught him lessons for life, just that it was simply a period of brutal treatment of young boys and girls which he can never forget.
And then he tells us that such is the pressure from his own community, that he is likely to be sending his sons there when they reach their eighth birthday. For the life of us, we can’t understand, and for a few moments we are speechless. (Note though, he did say that he believes the modern day camps are nowhere near as brutal. We certainly hope that’s the case).
Away from this, there is something alluring about Zomba, nestled in fertile greenery beneath the towering mountains topped by the spectacular plateau which just keeps drawing the eye upwards. Its character is languid and friendly, its atmosphere both relaxed and colourful, yet we now know of the (to us) troubling tribal influences which exist beneath its veneer. Blend Hostel has been a lovely and relaxing place to stay and we have met interesting people travelling for different reasons and with differing aims, from holidaymakers from Mozambique through long term travellers and gap year students, to a Dutch couple working locally on a teaching secondment.
Zomba has been good and being here has proved to be a real education, we continue to be granted proper insights into these so different cultures worlds apart from our own. Time, though, to move on again now, further south towards and beyond Blantyre.
32 Comments
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Such an interesting and enjoyable post, especially reading about Isaac and the cruelties he endured as a child. Amazing also that he is going to send his sons to the (improved) camp.
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Lynette. Well, it is very definitely an education travelling through Africa, in a lot of different ways.
Andrew Petcher
I don’t think that I would be comfortable in such a brutal place.
As regards David Livingstone I think he has been historically reevaluated and exposed as a bit of a fraud who exaggerated some of his expeditions to secure more funding from Government and Church. Scamming has always been a problem for the taxpayer!
Phil & Michaela
Yes indeed – although our experience so far is that, as we said, Livingstone is remembered with huge affection here. When we were taught about the great explorers and pioneers, at school back in the 60s and in the textbooks of the time, we were sort of led to believe that they travelled virtually alone with just a small team. We’ve already learned here that Livingstone had a veritable army of scientists, botanists, workers and above all missionaries, and in each place of interest (or, more likely, potential wealth) left a sizeable team to continue his good work. Each team was large enough to sew the seeds of a township where they settled. Kind of changes my lingering perception of the great explorers!
Travels Through My Lens
Beautiful photos; but the underlying cruelty is hard to shake.
Phil & Michaela
It certainly is. There’s so much to learn here, on so many subjects!
wetanddustyroads
The power of politicians! Stripping a city of its capital status and then making your own city the new capital — really! Oh, not that it’s any different here, of course! The waterfall looks like a place where there is tranquility and beautiful views from the plateau. Witchcraft in rural parts of South Africa also continues to occur … and when young boys die from complications of circumcision, it becomes difficult to understand these traditions.
Phil & Michaela
And they’re still dying too, Corna. Bit then this one reason we all love to travel – to find out about different cultures and different lives.
Heyjude
I think we are all horrified by the cruelty that still exists in Africa through the excuse of traditions. Those same traditions that exist in other parts of the world which results in the poaching of animals to create medicines or so called fertility potions. I often wonder why these things are still happening in the 21st century.
But it seems you are still enjoying your explorations, and good news on the hip problem, just don’t go overdoing it.
Phil & Michaela
I’ll try not to 😀. There is consternation over poaching here in Malawi, right now – but not poaching of animals as much as poaching of trees. The illegal felling and the black market in mahogany, etc, is rife, and the landscape is changing, even to the point that recent cyclones have brought flooding to areas previously protected by hillside forests. Corruption at top level is, we are told, leading to “blind eye syndrome”.
Heyjude
Corruption is rife in Africa. One of the nicest countries I found is Botswana. I hope that is on the list.
Phil & Michaela
It is. We’ll be there in a few weeks…
Toonsarah
Good to hear your hip has improved enough to be able to properly enjoy such walks 🙂 Isaac sounds like an absolute star (we too have sometimes found guides so good that we quickly booked them up for subsequent outings!) It’s hard sometimes to balance a natural curiosity to learn as much as possible about a place, and to respect its people’s beliefs and traditions, with the horror we feel when we hear about such practices. But it’s much better, imho, to learn all of this, than to try to pretend that there’s something idyllic about what we may perceive as a simpler way of life in such communities.
Phil & Michaela
I absolutely couldn’t agree more, Sarah – it’s essential we learn about these things and there is no better way to learn than by first hand experience. And boy this trip is already a learning curve.
Monkey's Tale
It’s always shocking to hear of these cruel customs that many communities still follow to day. Even your knowledgeable guide feels compelled to follow tradition. An interesting experience overall for you guys, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Maggie
Phil & Michaela
It’s not an easy country even to travel through, let alone settle in. The lack of infrastructure is a tester! But it’s an incredible experience to be here and meet people, and learn real detail of their different lives.
Helen Devries
Glad that your hip improved to let you enjoy that hike…and your trips round the town which looked quiet and peaceful. Certainly more attractive than the later capital.
You were lucky with your guide and he obviously felt enough at ease with you to discuss the underbelly of life in Malawi and the disgraceful practices still prevailing. How one is supposed to have any respect for a culture involving such brutality is beyond me.
Phil & Michaela
And you know what, Helen – several things he told us were even worse, so bad that we decided to leave them out of our narrative. Too extreme for an ordinary travelogue. Nevertheless it’s a huge experience to be out here and going through this learning curve, undoubtedly our most challenging trip so far, in many ways.
Helen Devries
Leo’s father was the equivalent of a District commissioner in the Belgian Congo, pre war, so I have a notion of what you might have excluded.
Phil & Michaela
Yes I can imagine. We’ll leave the words unwritten, I think.
Christie
So lucky for you, to be able to get a knowledgeable guide like Isaac, willing to share all the meaningful details of their life there. Hard to believe that certain traditions still happen in this century, but they still do indeed..
Phil & Michaela
I know, it’s so hard to comprehend, yet still an amazing experience to be out here meeting people and learning all this. So much to take in on a journey like this.
Alison
A scenic place but looks so poor still. The brutalities are hard to comprehend, even harder when you hear Isaac will still put his sons through it! The British really did leave their mark everywhere, they were so intrepid.
Phil & Michaela
Intrepid in the pursuit of riches, I suggest! 😂. Malawi is a very poor country still – there’s some examples of wealth but for the most part the people have very little
Alison
The have nots and yet still managing to smile
Phil & Michaela
There’s lots of smiling, yes 😀
WanderingCanadians
The hike to the plateau looks lovely with the falls, flowers and beautiful views. Glad to hear your hip has recovered and you’re able to get some hiking in. I can’t imagine how awful it must be for these eight year olds to endure such cruel treatment. And then feel the pressure to send your own children there!
Phil & Michaela
I know…some things are very hard to understand
grandmisadventures
Walking in the footsteps of Livingstone and Queen Elizabeth is pretty spectacular. I’m glad that you were able to go for a great hike and were rewarded with such beautiful views. Isaac seems like a real gem and a great guide to have for your time. It’s so hard to believe though what they are put through at such a young and tender age, and I guess even harder that they would continue it with their own kids.
Phil & Michaela
I know….I just cannot imagine taking the decision to put my own flesh and blood through a trauma like that. Nor can you, I’m sure.
Annie Berger
As others have already written, Phil. you walked in the footsteps of some high powered people. Weren’t you lucky being able to hang out with Isaac for your time in Zomba and learn so much from him. So incredibly sad that Isaac feels pressured to follow the traditions of his and his forebears and send his sons out at such a young age. Are the youngsters prepared at all, do you know? I hope Isaac’s children fare much better than he did.
Annie
P.S. Great to know you’re feeling better and hope that continues to be the case.
Phil & Michaela
Listening to that story was mind numbing, especially when we reached the punchline about his own sons. In his case, he wasn’t prepared at all for the horrors of it. And Annie there was more….too awful to include in a travelogue. We decided to leave it unwritten.