Zomba Market

When “and any other duties assigned to you from time to time” has you working in the beautiful small town of Zomba where do you eat?

Zomba market...

I’ve found that it’s hard to go wrong with nsima when you’re eating in an unfamiliar place. With rice you have to deal with stones or in the worst case badly cooked porridge-like rice...with nsima as long as it’s not undercooked or overcooked, you’re good. But that's just my thinking. 

Zomba market is definitely not the fanciest of places, and I certainly can’t say the same thing I said about Blantyre Flea Market when it comes to cleanliness. In fact it was very far from it but I wasn’t feeling fussy and I was in for the experience. I will check out as many local restaurants as I possibly can because I think it's quite fun.

So I found out this is where my colleagues usually buy their lunch. They send someone with an empty food container to buy for them. I’m glad I went to see it for myself and while the food was well cooked and actually tasted good it was not handled well for one, and the ndiwo was cold as it had been sitting there in an open pot for a while. Only the nsima was hot because it was served straight from the pot. Customer service was also not much but hey this kitchen/restaurant serves the vendors who likely don’t care much for “customer service”. They’re friends and they know each other. Visitors like me are the ones who will make a big deal of it and probably get a big frown and even a boot out the door (not literally of course) because sister inuyo bwanji (Sister what's wrong with you?) Lol 

This is not the kind of place to act smart and civilized. Just eat your food.

So this is what the place looks like:

My way to and from the market

The Kitchen

Those pots reminded me of my childhood when my sister and I were assigned to scrub the soot stained pots as one of our chores when we were about 7 and 9. We scrubbed them with sand and got them squeaky clean...or as clean as a 7 year old would manage. Interesting times.

What I ate: Nsima ya Nkhuku ndi Mpiru otendela (Nsima with Chicken and greens with groundnut flour)

The little restaurant and several others are somewhere behind that group of women who are also selling food. Looks like they cook right there in the open- see the pots on mafuwa* on the ground?

*mafuwa: those three stones/bricks which are arranged in such a way that the pot can comfortably sit on them and a fire is made in the centre of them. And that is the traditional way of cooking.

Zomba’s many taxis

So Zomba is a city of taxis. People mostly get around by taxis and not minibuses which in my little experience seems quite expensive. Unless of course the distances justify the fare. 

I had forgotten how useless I can feel when I’m in a place I'm not very familiar with and this day reminded me of it. I’ve been here a few times before but during those times I never needed to find a tailor and have my dress fixed over lunch hour and then have lunch- all while trying to make sure I keep time, and I had never visited that side of the market before so I had to wait for someone to show me the way. She was very kind and I was so grateful. She even made sure I would be able to find my way back before she left me to eat at the restaurant. I would have normally enjoyed the satisfaction of hacking it on my own but with the time frame I was working with I thought it would be wiser to just ask for help. Now kind people like this lady are what make a simple experience richer and more memorable. I'm so grateful.

Will I eat from here again? Maybe, maybe not. It will depend on the situation, and I think that food container arrangement is a great idea but I also like to know where my food is coming from so I can eat it with a settled mind.

P.S I have withheld other photos of the eating area and the serving area because it was quite a put off really.

The motto for one of my high schools was "Explore, Discover, and Know the world!" so we explore on!

Cheers!