Playing in Lake Nyasa

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Writing this retrospectively and in excited anticipation of seeing Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) again on the 31st August.

Many people you meet will give their opinion on whether or not it's safe to swim in the lake. Many lodges will tell you that their particular part of the lake is Bilharzia free and ultimately you have to decide how you feel about the consequences of picking it up (which are actually not huge as long as you know the signs and get checked out).

Much of the coast around Nkhata Bay is rocky with plenty of waves and very few calm and reeded areas so I decided to go for it. I swam twice a day for almost 2 weeks from Chickale Beach, I snorkelled, did a scuba dive, jumped from high rocks, fed fish eagles and spent the best day kayaking down the coast to quiet beaches.

Me and my kayak partner were met by enthusiastic crowds of kids as we rode up onto the beach. . . to discover that the highlight of their day was actually to take it in turns to put on the hi-vis life jacket and throw each other in the water !

It's hard to imagine travelling to the Lake and not getting wet.

Sat in London now, it's hard to imagine a lake so full of stars as fishermen all along the coast lure fish to their dug-out boats with oil lamps.

Can't wait to see it all again.

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Photos

Malawi Beach
Some kids we met on the beach after feeding the fish eagles from our kayak just south of Nkhata Bay in Malawi. They loved being able to see their photos on the digital camera but loved playing with the kayak life jackets even more !