Welcome to Mzuzu!

I was already getting claustrophobic in this lifestyle of being picked up and taken to Mzuni campus, so this morning I decided to set off alone and walk to town. I rolled down the hill that, from my lodge in Chimaliro, flows toward the city center, walking on the red-mud path carved by humans walking at the side of the road. All I could see were the infinite rows of maize stems pointing at the sky dotted with tall trees all around. A woman tending to her plot. And a mountain in the distance, of which I am to find the name yet.

Mzuzu is the third larges city of the country, and an important route focus on the way to Tanzania. Sat at an altitude of 1280m above sea level, it seems to have one of very best climates (a bit like Eldoret!): ok, the rains are scary, but the temperature is mild (never too hot, never too cold), the humidity is bearable and the sky is mostly blue. I am still to see a mosquito. Calling it a 'city', though, seems exaggerated - even though it was granted this status in 1991. The Bradt guide says that 'for much of the colonial era, it was little more than the name of a stream running through the rural hillside'. My colleague says that, twenty years ago, it was nothing more than a village that could be crossed in 10 minutes. Then, when Uranium was found in the Northern region of Malawi, the economic promise of extractivism made it bloom (note: read the previous sentence with sarcasm). Since then, banks have came to the area together with decadent shopping malls and associated 'development' - gosh, I hate this word. Now, it's home to about 275,000 people, but it doesn't feel busy at all!

There are a few people walking with me, seldom cars passing. Yet, it doesn't take me long to be greated by strangers. The first one is Sarah, a young girl from Lilongwe, who tells me how much better Mzuzu is because you can wear white clothes without them being covered in dust - looking forward to going to Lilongwe next week! She is studying Law while working in a coffee place to pay for her studies. I stop to take a picture to a lake next to the road. Everything feels so rural. The vegetation around the lake resemble a jungle. She laughs at my excitement, pointing out that, in 5 minutes, I have already said that Mzuzu is very green at least 3 times. We cross a bridge and she points Mzuzu Court out to me: an underwhelming concrete building painted in pink. She then rushes off on a taxi bike to go to campus, with the promise of looking around for me. I keep walking. I pass by a church with a brass band playing on the outside patio. I also pass the hospital, with it's curated gardens and flowers sticking out of the fences. 

I am trying to take pictures of the landscape without attracting too much attention and without unintentionally getting people in my shots. But a guy sees my camera and asks if I can take a picture of him. I do, and show it to him. We have a brief chat, then he continues to go to work. 

I am kinda puzzled by how discrete and respectful people have been with me so far in Malawi. I had anticipated to be constantly (cat) called, whistled at, and being shouted 'mzungu' at like it happened in Kenya. But Malawians seems to mind their businesses. They notice me, smile at me, then carry on. If I smile back, and they get a sense that I am open to conversations (I am always open to conversations!), then they ask a few questions. But they are never insisting, never inappropriate, and never trying to scam me. I feel so safe and implicitly welcome. And I am very grateful I don't have to constantly watch my bag or scour the surrounding for danger. 

I reach Jomo Kenyatta road and smile - I did not expect to find the name of the first Kenyan President (and Anthropologist, and student of Malinowski!) here. 

The vibe gets suddenly busier. I am now on the straight road leading to the actual 'city center' and the muddy paths at the side of the road leave space for actual pavements. An endless flower bed divides the road lanes, and I am marvelled at how curated it is. Flowers seems to have just been planted, and there is no litter around. I pass by two old men who are gardening. They smile and ask how I am. I say how beautiful the flowers are and how nice Mzuzu is. One of them takes his scissors from a bag and snaps a beautiful red flower from one of the bushes and gives it to me. I feel bad. 

My colleague later says that I shouldn't romanticise (why do I romanticise everything!?): the new government, elected last year, is really trying to change things and make cities more liveable. It has not always been like this. I comfort my romanticism with the evidence that Western city centres are often no way as clean.

As I walk, I can see a row of banks on my right. It's like each major bank has a branch in Mzuzu. Always on the right, there are buildings with shops, some restaurants and a promising coffee 'den' which I am intrigued to visit. On the left, instead, there are mostly... Trees. And people sat underneath. Women sell vegetables and fruit, often with kids in their laps. Men, instead, seem to just be sitting and waiting (😂). Some, however, are busy with what seems to be one of the most ways to hustle in Mzuzu: bicycle taxing. Mzuzu is packed with rusty, old bikes. All single speed. Most of them have been adapted to have a sit on the back, and they are used to take people around. The business is so well organised that there are official 'bicycle taxi' stalls around. They are even marked in the Bradt book. I am tempted to have a ride, then remember I didn't include 'experience local risks to gain an insider's perspective of mobility in Malawi urban areas' in my the risk assessment. Coward me. 

I am so immersed and distracted and absorbed in this flourishing lively village vibe that I don't realise I have reached 'Mzuzu Mall', the designated spot for today's pick up - the campus is really far out!. I have indeed walked through all the rather unimpressive features and landmarks of Mzuzu: the three roundabouts of Mzuzu and the clock tower. When my colleague comes, I am kinda sad. I feel his car is taking me away and sheltering me from the real Mzuzu, concealing all the many amazing things I am yet to discover!