Dedza Township

Dedza Township, or Dedza Dedza as it is colloquially known, is a District Town to the south east of Lilongwe, Malawi's capital. The town sits at 1600m on the central Africa plateau under the shadow of the imaginatively named Mt. Dedza (as yet unconquered by this intrepid traveller, who is yet to determine what was named first). In terms of governance the township is comparable to a county town in England such as Norwich as it is the seat of bureaucratic, political and judicial power for the wider district that, once again, bears the same name.

In reality it is typical of other small rural towns i have encountered in previous trips to lesser-developed regions of the world. There is one asphalt road that runs through the centre of the settlement, from this road numerous mud-come-dust track tracks spring left and right. On many of the corners there a rudimentary shelters, not dissimilar to a small bus stop, underneath these wooden frames covered by natural leaves or corrugated iron you can by a 'jumbo' polythene bag of chips for around 50 Kwatche (MK) or 20-25p (GBP) or some deep fried offal for 25MK. There are also may restaurants open for trade largely serving a menu of fried eggs for breakfast, and fried 'Chambo' (Malawian freshwater fish) or Chicken at other times of the day, all means come with salad and chips (or rice if your brave enough).

In between the corners of the blocks stands a strangely small selection of shops types; A large number of these are dedicated to making and selling coffins, others sell fabrics; some profess to be supermarkets or 'Superettes' - of course few actually compare to even the smallest example baring a similar moniker in the West. There are numerous bars where you can watch the English Premiership football, play pool or darts and sup on a cold bottled drink, hard or soft. There are currently three banks with a fourth under construction; two of these have ATM's that I presume remain useless to the majority of the impoverished population who are reduced to collecting firewood from the protected mountain forest reserve. The fuel is always carried by women or children on their heads in bundles of over two metres in length.

Various lodges across town offer accommodation for passing travellers, I have stayed in two so far, both offering a similar level of *Basic* ensuit accommodation. The first, Panjiera Lodge, was about £20 a night; the second, Rainbow lodge (Sans Sauna), is lot less at £5, hence it is where I remain. The town provides piped treated water to private and public premises, it seems safe enough to drink, but I'm sure i will tell you more if this turns out to incorrect.