http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Malawi , Northern en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:01:44 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:01:44 +0000 Hey GuysIn keeping with tradition I'll provide everyone a funny anecdote about the bus journey that got us to the place I'm currently blogging about. So there's this Canadian couple who are supposed to catch an 11am bus that doesn't show up until 2pm and then they are lucky to get standing room at the back of the bus for the 6hour ride. The bus proceeds to stop every 6km which accumulates to a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-431329.html The WLP describes Nkhata Bay as Caribbeanesque then backpedals and damns it with quite picturesque. It's certainly and thankfully not as hot as the former but I'll give it the latter. It has the potential to be overrun by tourism but with Malawi not on the tourist trail and with the nearest airport to Nkhata Bay 6 hours away by road that won't happen any time soon. However it's certain http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-422632.html The bus ride to Mzuzu is a scenic one in particular the part where we chug up some hills near the lake and see a magnificent panorama spread below us. I feel like I'm back in Ethiopia again when 1.5 hours into the journey and hence with the entire bus on the verge of starvation we stop for a meal break.I arrive in Mzuzu with no map and just two guesthouse names one of which noone has heard o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Mzuzu/blog-420981.html From the Malawi border I take a shared taxi to the first proper town Karonga. I'm squeezed into the back seat with two women a man and two children. They're remarkably cheerful at the addition of this large sweaty foreigner to their vehicle though one woman's opening comment to me in lieu of a greeting is that I should give some money to her child. Later in the journey she tells me I ha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Karonga/blog-420977.html Below the surface of the ocean a diver's senses are more aware. The only sounds you hear are the hissing of your air regulator and the bubbles gurgling out and up eventually to the surface. Occasionaly another diver gently knocks into you and you feel their fins or your own fins graze a piece of rock or coral. Light loses its colors the deeper you descend so it's easy to see that you're diving http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-402248.html By the strange whims of Malawian transport the 1230 Axa bus to Mzuzu the poshest of the countryrsquos bus lines pulls into the Lilongwe depot at halfpast eleven its seats already full its aisles crowded with buckets and bags of produce leaking onto the floor. After a placid morning at Mabuya Camp a cup of coffee and a lazy hour spent sending emails the dayrsquos taken a turn for the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Mzuzu/blog-390168.html What a pleasant change from Mozambique. We left Liwonde at 9 am and arrived into Zomba by 1030 am. We had checked into our resthouse had breakfast and were starting to wander the town all by 11 am. Not only are the distances so much smaller in compact Malawi but the landscape is completely different. The climate is more humid and the environment is much more green. There is also much more http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-345247.html Sorry for the delay but here at last is my final entry. I'm now back in the UK enjoying the wind and rain. Sorry it's a bit of a long one. It was even longer before i edited it down.I left Nkhata Bay after a day of relaxing and wandering around. Butterfly Lodge had a very relaxed familyfeel but the compost toilet was smelly. Travelled north by bus to the lakeside village of Chitimba via Mzuzu. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-339639.html My tummy bug slowly cleared and i took a lift in the back of a truck that a german family had hired to get to chipoka to meet the ferry on friday. The truck was 2 hours late arriving leaving barely enough time to get to the port. It then ran out of petrol in the middle of lilongwe and we had to push it to a petrol station. Arrived at chipoka just before 4 when the boat was supposed to be leavin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-332565.html Mon 15th SeptHi again to everyone wherever you are. Especially hi to Rachael and Dave who are getting married this week Wersquoll toast a beer to you from here in Malawi.Allrsquos still going well. Work is still challenging especially as I now seem to be running the OutPatients Dept with just an interpreter most of the time. Because I am the only Dr within 100kms of here I am also gett http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-323750.html Boy what a day Yesterday was pretty laid back. Tiwonge and I finally broke the ice and in the evening Hugh Tiwonge and I sang praise songs in melody for a few hours. It was fun. Themba stopped by on his way to sleep at Mercy's house Winnie's mother as is the custom here. Relatives sleep at one house the night before the funeral. He loved Amazing Grace and we tried to sing together in mel http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-318717.html Well we arrived in Malawi safe and sound and have been living in our camp by the lake for over a week now which is absolute paradise. The volunteers staff and locals have made us feel very welcome and I can honestly say Malawians are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. You greet everyone you go past with lsquoHello how are you Irsquom fine. Where are you going OK bye.rsquo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-317545.html Nkhata Bay is yet another perfect place to do absolutely nothing and has test backpackers with the best food in Africa so far. To have the best food is not that hard as most places specialize in Chicken and very soggy chips. Nkhata bay is as small bay on Lake Malawi with a small sleepy village. It is hard to believe that this was once the most important town in the area. The one thing that made http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Nkhata-Bay/blog-308137.html Thanks for all the birthday messagesthey really made my day or well I guess I just read them a week late so they made todayI have so much to write about and have just had no time.I found out that one of my Malawian friends who is an inspired musician is thinking about shooting a music video.. He has a video camera that someone on the project donated to him so that is rare. He is really an http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-299090.html So tomorrow is my birthday yayI wish people wanted to hang out last night but everyone was going on a trip somewhere today the white people went to Nyka Park and the Malawians mostly went to Tanzania to shop and had to leave really early in the morning.. so I made myself my own gin and tonic to celebrate last night Today I climbed a big mountain with Phil it was awesome but really hot. At f http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-296112.html Ok I got on the internet long enough to give everyone my NEW PHONE NUMBERYes that's right I am borrowing the phone that Jessi was using for the project since she is leaving the country on Friday.The number is 05261751 So I think that if you call me directly it would be EXTREMELY expensive but in case of emergency you would dial 011 265 05261751 And you might have to drop the zero befor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-293898.html So I made it to Rumphi successfully. So the usual place we stay at here in Rumphi is totally full so we are spread out across the boma center of town area like a trading center. SoI am staying in an orphanage lodge place that is really beautiful and would be nice... if it were actually warm at night there is no hot water and the windows only have screens. During the day it gets extremely ho http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/blog-292745.html Today Monday we went to Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve. It was fantastic we have never seen so many elephants together in their herds it was an amazing sight. We also saw hippos and monkeys. It was very dry and dusty and we were covered in dust from the road we were travelling on. It has been very sunny and hot today. This evening we have been invited to Rev. Levi Neyondo's home to have a meal w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Mzuzu/blog-288146.html We have been enjoying two days of rest. Yesterday Friday we went to the beach it was truly the most beautiful beach we have ever seen we wanted to stay there but the people we are staying with prefer it if we return back to base but that's fine by us. On the journey there we stopped off at a place where there were lots of wood carvings for us to buy as well as pictures and other gifts to tak http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Mzuzu/blog-287263.html Yesterday we went Geisha school to continue working on the school block by painting it with lime protector.We then went back in the afternoon where the girls played netball with local Malawian girls and the boys played football against local malawian boys. Unfortunately both teams got beaten At night we went out for tea to a indian restuarant it was ok service was a tad slow though. Today we we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Northern/Mzuzu/blog-286597.html