Mbamba Bay - Sugar Smuggling to Tanzania

Upon returning to Nkhata Bay from Chizulumu Island I was surprised to find a peculiar looking boat painted like the Tanzanian flag sitting in the bay.  I instantly knew what it was and I was overjoyed because maybe my luck would change.  The high-bowed boat with a sunken stern was one of the Tanzanian sugar boats people had been telling me about that occasionally show up to buy sugar and take it back to Tanzania. After leaving the boat I promptly started asking around for information about the boat; it would pack sugar the next morning and leave for Tanzania thereafter.  Perfect.

The following morning I hastily made my way to the port in search of the captain.  Captain Suleman, an intimidating Swahili with yellow eyes and a booming voice told me in broken English that the sugar was on its way and that I was more than welcome to come along.  Sure enough, trailer after trailer of sugar arrived.  Within a few hours, the boat went from riding high to nearly sunken with what I was told was 10 tons of sugar.  With departure near, and no immigration officer in sight, I began combing the town, following leads, looking for the immigration officer to officially stamp me out of Malawi (to avoid problems on the Tanzanian side).  My search was ultimately fruitless but in the meantime some weather moved in and captain Suleman told me that we would depart the next morning instead.  Luckily that gave time for the immigration officer to find me (word apparently spreads quickly in small towns) and officially stamp me out of Malawi.

Early the next morning Captain Suleman calls me, “wake up, we go now.” I rush to the port with all my things, jump onto the sugar and away we go in the early morning light.

The next 5 hours was a surprisingly enjoyable trip to Mbamba Bay. The ride was smooth with only one stop to change plugs and another to transfer fuel. The crew was a lively bunch (perhaps a lot of sugar consumption?) and were very welcoming towards me.

About an hour out from Tanzania, Captain Suleman informs me that we are not going directly to Mbamba Bay but not to worry because he would escort me to the village. Instead, they needed to park the boat in another hidden bay for the day and then in the night pull it around to the main bay to unload the sugar. That’s when it occurred to me that they were smuggling the sugar into Tanzania. Luckily the sugar smuggling business is not a high-risk gig and I safely made it to Mbamba Bay without having to dodge Kalashnikov fire.

Mango eating and Swahili lessons with Captain Suleman.

If things got too quiet on the boat the crew would bust out in impromptu jam sessions complete with jerry can drumming and traditional Swahili singing.

Tanzania!

The boat safe, sound, and hidden.  I wish I had a photo of the boat when it was unloaded; its a totally different boat when there is not 10 tons of sugar in it.