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Published: August 11th 2008
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After a good night of sleep it was the last time to get up early to catch a bus in Mozambique. Apparently the buses in Malawi leave later. I like Malawi already.
To complete the list of vehicles used in my trip the Mozambican decided to build the border 4km away from the closest Mozambican town (but strangely enough just at the outskirts of a Malawi town). to cross these last few km you have either the choice of using your own transport which we didn’t have, to walk which is no fun or to pick one of the very very persistent guys with a Chinese push bike which has a padded piece of wood attached to the back and some foot rests welded on. Lazy as I am I chose to let someone else sweat and plonked my bum including my 20kg backpack on the back of a single speed bike. Now we are talking about a Chinese made full steel bike with a white guy, backpack and the paddler. Thats somewhere around 200kg to ride around on one gear. Not easy especially if it goes up and down and up and down… He certainly earned his AUD1.50.
Once in Malawi the difference is striking. Malawi is supposed to be one of the poorest countries on earth but compared to Mozambique it doesn’t look like it. They even use bricks to build houses outside of towns which is quite unheard of in Mozambique. In Moz they normally take some sticks, mud and some straw to build huts. A nice surprise are also the roads which do not have as many pot holes. Ok it couldn’t stay that way and that was clear. The first stop in Malawi is cape Mc Clear which is apparently an “ex” backpackers enclave. The road there was like in Mozambique. Dust streets and pot holes. The only difference was that there was a perfectly good road just next to this dust street but for some reason it was blocked off.
Once arrived in Cape Mc Clear you know why it was and still is a popular backpackers place. It is just at the southern end of
Lake Malawi which is with a cool 500km in length the third biggest lake in Africa. There is a proper 2km or more long sand beach and all accommodation is just right at the water. Sounds
Breakfast: Tea and Scones
The queen wouldn't approve of the scones but they were yummy anyway like Thailand? yes and no. the difference is that it’s by far not as developed, there are only around 6 or 7 places to stay and the water is freshwater instead of salt water. The other problem is that the lake is home to a certain species of snail which plays host to a parasite called bilharzia. This little parasite has the unfortunate habit of liking humans, trying to pierce their skin and make itself comfortable within you. Doesn’t sound good and it isn’t. We were warned that the whole beach we stayed at had lot of those little bastards so I didn't go swimming if it looked absolutely inviting (my travel doctor would be proud).
Didn’t do a lot in the 6 days I stayed as I wanted to rest my knee a bit more as I am still having trouble with it.
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