Blogs from Malawi, Africa - page 17

Malawi Malawi is a small country that has an enormous lake. We decided to spend some time at Nkhata Bay, a small lakeside town, to break up the trip from Tanzania to Zambia. We camped by the lake at a beautiful spot that allowed us to see both the sunrise and the sunset. We went swimming in the lake and walked through town. We watched the local men fish on the lake and then we ate the delicious fresh fish for dinner. One of the days we took a boat trip where we watched fish eagles soar down from the trees into the water to catch fish. We also went to a beach where we played volleyball and soccer with the local children. Our time in Malawi was short, but also relaxing and peaceful.... read more

The following weekend three of decided to go to Kende Beach, an incredible sandy beach with pretty big waves and nice resort. This time we decided to skip the buses and hire a taxi cab. Luckily this cab driver didn’t know much about the location of Kende B each , so he under charged us for the trip as prices are negotiated before the journey. About half way there, we got pulled over at a police check point. Our driver’ s taxi was not licensed to serve outside of Mzuzu, therefore he was fined by the police 3000k,aprox 20$ (the same as our our taxi fee) . As soon as we arrive we booked a 2hour horseback riding tour. The resort owner drove us to a big horse ranch which was operated by people from England. ... read more

It's continuously tempting to use superlatives when writing a blog, but equally I try to keep them to a minimum to remain fair to the competing subjects. But this one simply has to be full of them. Refreshed from Nkata Bay, we decided to head for a small town at the top of a big hill in Northern Malawi named Livingstonia after the great explorer. Rather aptly, there is no straightforward way of getting there! Thankfully, there is a backpacker's hangout at the bottom of the hill which provides a decent enough stop before the early morning hike - necessary unless you are very lucky and happen to coincide with the weekly bus that goes up there or one of the very few private cars that aren't already totally full. The lodge was extremely pretty and ... read more

While my parents were visiting one of our stops was Nkhata bay. While there I called in quickly to Aqua Africa to ask about scuba diving. It was suggested that at the end of my trip I go up and spend some time learning to dive, at the time I thought I would be quite cool but impractical as Nkhata Bay is so far away so I’d probably never get round to doing it. However since then it’s been swirling around in the back of my mind (much like the panga knife) until I eventually realized that it would be a great way to finish off my trip with a bang (or I guess a splash). That was the plan anyway, Unfortunately life doesn’t like plans (why I haven’t make any this trip, and apart from ... read more

The following morning we walked into town for some breakfast near the market. After fueling up mike and I decided to go for a hiked up a mountain dirt road that continued past the Mayoka lodge. As we gained elevation the gradient steepened and the view below of the bay got better and better. We got escorted to the top by a local who we met as we were passing him on the road. He lead us to a small village at the top where he left us to continue his daily errands. Soon enough we were accompanied by a black dog who the locals called “Blackie”. The dog led us through the trails up and around the hills. After about 1 ½ hr we decided to head back to the lodge for some lunch, ... read more