Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
docks at Nkhata Bay for seven hours and traders come aboard, selling food, drinks and
newspapers.
Bus & Minibus
Malawi's main bus company is
AXA Coach Services
( 01-876000;
agma@agmaholdings .net)
. AXA operates three different classes. Coaches are the best
and the most expensive. It's a luxury nonstop service with air con, toilet, comfortable
AXA Executive reclining seats, snacks and fresh coffee, good drivers and even an on-
board magazine. Services operate between Blantyre and Lilongwe twice a day from spe-
cial departure points in each city (not the main bus stations).
AXA Luxury Coach and City Trouper services are the next in line. These buses have air
con and reclining seats as well as TVs, but don't have toilets. They ply the route between
Blantyre and Karonga, stopping at all the main towns with limited stops elsewhere.
Lastly, there are the country commuter buses, handy for backpackers as they cover the
lakeshore route.
If you're headed for Mzuzu another alternative is the comfortable Super Sink Bus
between Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
There are also local minibus services which operate on a fill-up-and-go basis.
In rural areas, the frequency of buses and minibuses drops dramatically - sometimes to
nothing. In cases like this, the 'bus' is often a truck or pick-up, with people just piled in
the back. In Malawi this is called a
matola
.
RESERVATIONS
You can buy a ticket in advance for AXA Executive, Luxury Coach and City Trouper ser-
vices, all of which have set departure times. They have offices at the main bus stations and
departure points or you can also buy tickets at branches of Postdotnet (post, internet and
business centres found in Malawi's major towns). A week's notice is sometimes needed
for the Executive coach, particularly for Friday and Sunday services.
Car & Motorcycle
The majority of main routes are mostly quality sealed roads, though off the main routes
roads are rutted and potholed, making driving slow and dangerous. Secondary roads are
usually graded dirt. Some are well maintained and easy to drive on in a normal car; others
are bad, especially after rain, and slow even with a 4WD. Rural routes are not so good,
and after heavy rain are often impassable. Several lodges along the lakeshore have poor
