On Misuku Hills Art Challenge
Good people, it is no secret that Lake Malawi is the country’s prime tourist attraction. Its fans–and they are many–usually invite you to a marine treasure marked by sparkling freshwater, nearly 100 fish species, picturesque islands, golden sands and outcropping rocks on its shoreline and beautiful birds.
What all this says is that here is a great place to go.
Stacks of books have been written about the continent’s third-largest freshwater lake and its stunning sights.
But what they do not say with finality is that it is the most beautiful place to go. It may be the topmost tourist destination presently and in terms of forex generated per year, but the race to make tourism the next backbone of our economy–in view of ailing tobacco sales on the world market where there is an anti-smoking lobby–will not be won by gazing on the dazzling lake alone.
Unless we focus on other attractions, too, the allure of the lake will blind us from several other beauties in our midst which we can exploit for maximum pleasure and the desired healing of the ailing economy.
The future of the country’s tourism sector lies not in brainwashing visitors flying in to attend international conferences not to forget to visit “our beautiful lake”, but exposing a diversity of tourist destinations.
The beautiful ones may not be exposed yet.
In the travel affairs, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. You have heard about the beautiful lake and several captivating mountains: Mulanje, Zomba, Dedza, Nyika, Khondowe (Livingstonia) and Chikala.
Now something is happening to shine the light on the untold glitter of Misuku Hills in Chitipa.
Organisers of Misuku Hills Art Challenge (Mihac) have assembled 12 photographers, video makers, sculptors and painters who will travel across the scenic hills off Karonga-Chitipa Road for four days and come back to tell the world why visiting the coffee-growing setting should be on to-do lists of many tourists globally. The immensity of the benefits likely to accrue from the untold stories should spur similar initiatives to expose numerous neglected places of interest nationwide.
Misuku has long been subjected to banter by people who have never been to the spectacular mountainous terrain.
It’s dazzling.
But in their tales, the detached storytellers often highlight the remoteness of the eye-catching locality where a nearly 30km journey from Kapoka Junction to Misuku used to take about four hours, with only one or two vehicles plying only travelling morning and night.
It was worse in the 1980s when the only guaranteed vehicle was a pick-up Bishop John Ryan had bought to ease the travel hurdles of the farming community.
I have been to Misuku many times. The first was in March 2006, long before Karonga-Chitipa Road was a tarmac. Then the short trip on the hills and valleys between Kapoka and the coffee fields of the hills in focus took two days.
It was rainy. The road was muddy. Our off-road vehicle was stuck in mud several times before it could no longer cope with the slippery slopes.
The forsaken road has been paved, graded and tarred here and there.
The upgraded Kapoka-Misuku road may offer the Misuku Hills Challenge team the ease to get to the rural growth centre in just 40 minutes, but it will be a wasted opportunity and a smooth ride if they go there just to marvel at Chitipa’s scenic food basket which is dotted with fields of bananas, coffee, oranges and maize.
It will be pleasing to hear the locals out. They need to share their experiences and insights.
The Misuku storytelling initiative is an amazing opportunity to unpack the tourism aspect of the picturesque area.
