Anytime you drive around the countryside, it’s easy to spot stalls and wooden huts selling whatever you may need. I love the fresh fruits and vegetables, displayed artistically and color-coded, all waiting for a good kitchen table. The less appealing to me are the meat vendors, with their carcass hanging from a rope, under a thin leaf roof, no refrigeration and swarms of flies. Not being a keen meat-eater, it doesn’t take much to completely turn off my appetite for meat! Those truly do the trick!
Some of my favorites are the homemade furniture makers, ranging from wooden beds and cupboards to woven reed outdoor patio furniture. For some, those are truly masterpieces, a tribute to the craftsmen of Malawi, who for the most part work with a VERY limited toolbox and no electric powered tools. Oftentimes, you will find the coffin makers in that area as well…
Yes, death is a very lucrative business here, as the mortality rate is high, due to poverty induced malnutrition, malaria and AIDS.
You also have the local souvenir shops, where again, amazing woodwork are on display… chairs, bowls, masks, toys, drums, knick-knacks of all sorts… But it can also be a pain, almost as bad as the Luxor Souk! The vendors are quite aggressive, wanting you to visit their stall and to purchase their goods. Being obviously not from Malawi, the prices are up, way up and sometimes come down, but sometimes not. Those souvenir huts are grouped and it’s almost like a mini-souvenir mall. You can walk from one to the next, the vendors opening their plastic and reed doors so you can go in, although you won’t find cash registers nor prices on any of the goods. I will go again, but with plenty of time and loads of cash in my pockets…
Cool! Can you get another few shots of the coffins and the coffin shop?
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