Malawi Malawi is known as the ’warm' heart of Africa and is known for its peaceful beaches and its friendly people. As the truck traveled down we pass numerous villages following the shores of Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi is approximately 579 km long and is 75 km wide at its widest point. As its total area is almost 30,000km² it is the 3rd largest fresh water lake in Africa and due to its size it is quite often regarded as a sea. The next few days are spent at a small resort called Kandi beach. Due to its hundreds of species [View Full Entry]

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The title of today's blog means "Hurry, hurry has no blessings". It would be good if one could apply this to this trip but sometimes there is not even a hint of "pole pole" (slowly, slowly). Occasionally we have to cover quite long distances and there is no question of having the one or other photo stop. It's just shooting out of the truck window and everyone knows that those snaps could as well be deleted right away. But this is really the only thing which is regrettable. Did I mention the food yet? We are actually roasting a whole (small) [View Full Entry]

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In some ways its hard to believe Alyssa and I have been in Africa for 3 weeks already. Our days seem long but the weeks fly by. When we first arrived at our lovely home here at Mwaya Beach the volunteers told us the first few weeks would be the hardest, and they were right! It's hard to explain life in Malawi, its so different yet so wonderful. The concept of time does not seem to exist here for the most part and we have almost adapted to using morning or afternoon time as opposed to a specific hour. Trips to [View Full Entry]

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Well it's been a while since the last post. We've been busy and the internet cafes have become hard to come by. After Vic Falls, we crossed into Zambia and paid a hefty $135 visa fee for Americans. Zimbabwe was nice but the situation there is pretty awful. It is illegal for foreigners to use the local money so we got ripped off for everything ($10 for a small dinner). Our first stop in Zambia was Livingstone where we met our tourmates for the second half of the tour. All that was left from the first half was me, Erika from [View Full Entry]

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So Alyssa and I are officially settled in Africa. Sorry for the delay in posting but it has been quite the culture shock and finding a working internet has not been easy. Getting here was not simple and and not the best experience but an experience none the less and something we will always remember. Flying into Lilongwe was interesting. Prince George airport definitely seemed large in comparison but after being in Kenya for a night it was refreshing to arrive in a small town. We were lucky to be the first ones through customs and again first ones to get [View Full Entry]

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Still moving South we passed a latex plantation on the way which was very cool. We also went to a craft market which had really nice stuff. Their is a lot of woodwork, it's hard for me to buy though because I am always unsure about what I will be able to get back into Australia. Also negotiating a price is difficult because I'm not willing to part with my socks! They'll take everything and anything! Rather than money they prefer goods ie your clothes, shoes. It's quite weird when you say how much is this?, the seller replies "I need [View Full Entry]

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Another day on the road to cross the border into Malawi. We stopped in town to spend our last Tanzanian Shillings. I went into the local produce market with Juliana which was so amazing! Animals hanging upside down with the blood still dripping, small fruit sellers, second hand clothes oil, baskets of grain, it was so manic and colourful and dirty but so cool. While Juliana was weaving her way in and out bargaining their socks off I was standing their like a stunned mullet. I spent the rest of my money in a little supermarket...I felt like I bought one [View Full Entry]

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After crossing the border drove long to get to the capital city of Lilongwe, staying at a nice campsite in the city. Found some new scientist magazines circa 1999 and 2000, I took them for future reading!! Next morning went to town for food shopping again and drove to Kande beach, we arrived there late it was already dark and so we pitched tent next to the toilets in between the trees, mark was passed because he claimed it is the path to the loo, but Craig and I did not move coz were too lazy to lift the damn tent. [View Full Entry]

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After an exhausting week of interviews, I was ready to set off for the lake Friday afternoon with my new Canadian colleagues Mike and Lesley, a couple of lefties like me . Mind you, I hadn’t had my car for that long, and granted, it is older than I was when I took my SATs, but I definitely wasn’t prepared for it to die on me at 2pm as I was just about to leave work to pick them up! Why do things like that always happen at the worst possible moment? Anyway, this happened at the RSD Unit, which is [View Full Entry]

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Been out and about the last two weekends and had some rather nice times! Weekend of 10th May I was invited by a work colleague to a picnic on the highest hill overlooking Chipata where the communication masts are. Without knowing where I was going we had a terrifying taxi ride up a single track which got narrower and steeper (the car was not a 4*4 and struggled somewhat) and closer to the very impressive edge. At the top were a group of women and children all involved with an Italian NGO which advises and looks after women and children with [View Full Entry]

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