Lake Malawi - Part One

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We were up at 5am for a 700km drive the following day. Driving for so many hours in such heat is exhausting. Part of the drive was through Mikumi National Park where we were not allowed to stop the truck under any circumstances otherwise we would incur a $1000 fine, so we made such that just before we entered the park we stopped to go to the bathroom. We saw some animals as we drove through the park such as Zebras and Giraffe but nothing too exciting. Bush camping in the middle of nowhere we then had another really early start the next morning.

We crossed the border from Tanzania into Malawi which for a change did not cost us anything for a visa. Borders are funny old places, there are so many people buzzing around including guys who will change money for you. Standing in line to have your turn with the immigration official is a long dull process but you occupy yourself with the challenge of who can get the official to smile at them, and who could go so far as getting a laugh out of them. I have succeeded in getting both a smile and a laugh from all of them so far although some have been a tougher crowd than others. I even had the immigration official in Zanzibar propose to me when I told him I didn't want to leave. Ha ha. Entering the immigration office at the border we were amused to see an A5 piece of paper with 'Malawi Health Dept' hastily scribbled on it, propped up in front of an unsmiling women. It looked so funny that if I was allowed to take photos at borders I would have done. They wanted to check our yellow fever certificates although we still have no idea why.

Driving from Tanzania into Malawi you could see many similarities but also some distinct differences already. The scenery is getting greener and generally flatter, houses are now made out of bricks with a straw roof rather than mud with a tin roof. The houses also now seem to have little porches and some sort of garden so it looks like people here tend to have some sort of small holding, a more permanent home, although I could be wrong about that. Finally it is not only the kids, but also the adults who are shouting hello to us as we go past and waving at us from the roadside. Overall I think I will like Malawi.

We arrived at our campsite quite late in the day - Chitemba Beach Camp which is on the shores of Lake Malawi. The camp site is beautiful and the beach and lake are amazing. It is so huge it just looks like the ocean.

The following day some of the group went to do a 32km hike to Livingstonia but I decided that doing that in the current heat would possibly kill me so I stayed at camp to chill out for the day. We sat around for most of the day playing card games. It was also my cook groups turn to cook which takes up quite a lot of your day so that passed the time. Overall we had a lovely relaxing day in the bar on the side of the beach and spent a few hours telling each other our worst jokes. Another long drive day tomorrow to get to Kandi Beach further along the lake where we will be for a few days.

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