Blogs from Kandi Beach, Lake Malawi, Malawi, Africa

Day 7 saw us arriving at a giant lake that takes up 80% of the country of Malawi. The lake is also called Lake Malawi and it is a fresh water lake with bilharzia in it lol. Apparently that nasty little parasite which is something like a worm that travels to your brain is only in the southern part of the lake where the water isn’t moving. That was according to our driver for our guide said sometimes its there sometimes its not. He seems to say things like that a lot. Either the wifi works or it doesn’t. Thanks for the info….But we were in the middle section of the lake and 4 of us decided to hire a boat that had some fishing gear and snorkel stuff and of course beer to head out ... read more

Saturday Leaving our ‘love boat’ we travelled further down into Malawi, stopping at a place called Zoozoo where we purchased some of the most beautiful wooden carvings I have ever seen (hoping I can get them into Australia – we have bought quite a bit of stuff already so when we get to the UK we are going to get it shipped over.) Arriving at a place called Kande Beach we stayed in a little bamboo shack which steps literally right down onto the beach – perfect location (we have found on this trip that often we are driving through the most random village in the middle of nowhere and then suddenly we come across a beautiful place to camp or sleep.) We met many travellers from around the world also staying at the same place ... read more

Small hands fought to hold my own as I walked through the small town centre. Each corner bought additional children with trusting open smiles dancing across their beautiful faces. Although the private resort Kandi Beach offered an escape from the external world the temptation to walk beyond the security gate was far too great to resist. The small village beyond the perimeter housed a local community in typical poverty struck African thatched mud huts. Poultry and goats freely roamed the village, their owners confident of their return before nightfall. Plantations of Cassava lined the road, a root vegetable that required no water, nor no care to thrive. Re-planting was as simple as slicing a small branch from the exposed plant and crudely driving back into the earth. This staple of the Malawian people was harvested 3 ... read more

We had the opportunity for a sleep in before brunch at 10.30. Chris and I still got up around 8am and spent some time reading – surprisingly Chris has taken quite an interest in books!!! We had brunch then everyone jumped in the truck to head to Kande, another area around Lake Malawi. We drove for two hours before stopping at a town to get some supplies and use the internet, Chris was keen to get on to find out all he could about the new Man United signing. We also bought some supplies in the local shops then jumped back on the truck to head to Kande Beach. We got there in the late afternoon and organised to go horse riding the next day. On the way to the horse riding office I hurt my ... read more

Our big event for today was a visit to the Kande Beach village next to our camp. This included a tour of the village manual water pump, the hospital and school all supported by funds from the Canadian Government. Our guide for this tour showed us into his home where he lives with two younger brothers and a sister - brick walls and thatch roof and cement floor and two windows with glass with three rooms in a total floor space of 20 x 15 feet. He built this home himself. We walked to the main village area and Kayla bought a cold soda from one vendor. Outside on the street, all the day's produce and all manner of other goods were laid out and displayed for sale. Kayla went over to one woman selling maize ... read more