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Am at Lilongwe now.. the capital of Malawi.. Internet's ok.. about 400 malawi qwachas / hr (1USD=145malkwacha)
Just spent 4 days a long Lake Malawi.. not too bad.. Lake Malawi is a pretty nice lake.. it's kind of amazing to see such a big body of water.. with crashing waves.. and it does not taste salty!!
Basically did some kayaking... swimming against the waves.. and did my first freshwater altitude (475m above sealevel only) dive! whoo.. something new to add in my dive log.. basically just saw a lot of boulders.. and this species of fish called chiclids or something.. they lay eggs and fertilize them in mouth.. and when fish hatch, they just swim out of mummy's mouth.. too bad didn't get to see this... visibility is bad at only 5-8m.. still enjoy saltwater dives much more.. nonetheless.. it's cool to get a gulp of the water at 15m deep and not taste salt.. haha..
ok.. internet time's running out.. crossing the border into Zambia today.. 2 days on the road.. and i'll reach Lusaka, its capital.. will try to get my Namibia and Botswana visa there.. and hopefully can get it.. if not.. maybe will
head home sooner.. hopefully in time for Mel Mel's departure to Beijing...
UPDATED WITH (a bit) MORE DETAILS We sort of rushed thru Malawi.. and I'd like to have spent more days in Malawi if given time..
We spent a total of 4 nights in Malawi.. the first 2 nights we spent at Chitimba Beach.. Trekked up the road to Livingstonia on the second day.. not really trek lah... basically just follow the gravel road.. and the roads are not as steep as the guidebooks made it out to be.. and nor was it as strenous.. it was a very very very good morning walk.. the views are good enough to warrant the walk.. but not "one of the greatest view Africa has to offer" as written in the guide books... there is a waterfall that you can trek to.. and that waterfall is gorgeous.. just the waterfall is enough to warrant the trek up.. along the way, you get some really nice scenery as you climb further up and look back at Lake Malawi..
we also passed by a school and interacted with the children there... It is still sad to see some children asking
you for money... they will come and "hello! how are you?" and after you responded in kind, they will ask "do you have pen?" or "can you give me money?".. then i said no and they immediately trotted off to the next foreigner.. after encountering a few of these.. i was quite sad and a bit irritated.. the next kid came up to me, and i told him "i don't have pen, i don't have money for you.. do you still want to talk to me?" and he replied by turning around and making a beeline to the next nearest foreigner.. sigh...
Livingstonia is a nice little town at the top of the hill.. very english.. with nice brick houses... they have a hospital there, which we visited as well.. and a university.. we went to the old missionary church.. and the museum (the outside.. cos to go inside you have to pay money) was hoping to find a nice restaurant with a good view and have some tea up there.. but couldn't find any..
Day 3 was another half day's drive to the next campsite.. we passed by Mzuzu... the capital of the northern province.. where i
had to go get my entry stamp.. cos the malawi embassy at dar es salaam ran out of visa stamps and gave me only a letter.. which i though can get me a visa stamp at the border.. but the border has not visa stamp.. and i have to report to the nearest immigration office within 3 days of entering malawi.. so according to my passport, i exited tanzania on 24th May 2007, and entered Malawi on 26th May 2007.. ooh.. where did i go between 24th and 26th? i'm unaccounted for.. i'm borderless.. i'm abducted by aliens...
We camped at Chintheche Inn that night.. about 10km north of Kande Beach.. where i did my scuba diving.. (oh! i forgot to mention for Pyscho that when i dived at Mnemba Atoll in Zanzibar.. my divesuit was really orange!! Weiwen, i'm sure you'll like that suit.. ahha) oh.. and the freshwater dive, we rigged up in the dive center and walked out to the boat in our full dive gear (except dive mask and flippers).. the boat is a rubber boat with motor behind.. we had to push the boat out to the lake against the crashing waves.. and as
we travelled on the lake, you just sit on the side of the boat as it bumps up and down.. and when you reach the dive site, you just flip into the water and descend asap cos the water is so choppy.. wah.. feel like Nehvy Seal sia... haha
Chintehche Inn was a nice campsite.. and i pitched my tent near to 2 trees that i've decided was an excellent spot for my hammock.. hung at an angle towards the lakeshore.. loud crashing waves.. good breeze... laid there for the whole afternoon finishing up "The Life of Pi"... very shiok...
"The Life of Pi" is really a good book.. and you don't realize how good it is until the last chapter.. i remember shijian saying something about not wanting to say anything about the book in fear of spoiling it for me.. and thank you.. very good story telling.. i sort of got the book figured out.. even the part about the merekats and the island.. i have some theory.. maybe can exchange with Shijian some time.. haha =)
Traded the book with somebody for "the alchemist".. starting to read the new book now.. The book's about
This cute little dog led us all the way up the hills..
We have a joke that the local guide did not know the way either.. and he was actually following this dogpursuing your dreams.. just the introduction/prologue to the book was good enough to attract me to the book.. we all have our dreams.. and we face obstacles in realizing them.. what we need to do is to stay focused on our dreams.. our quests.. our mission and purpose in life.. and overcome those obstacles.. i dunno whether i've discovered the mission of my life.. cos maybe i have and i may have dismissed it at a point of my life in the past.. maybe i have not.. maybe i had discovered it all along but has yet to realize that i had.. maybe.. maybe.. whatever..
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Chivalry
Chivalry P
Oops.. Lost some comments
In updating this blog entry.. i forgot to transfer 2 comments that were added in the previous version.. one was from Sara Claire Kicks Ass... haha.. yah.. it's been 2 months already! and yes.. i'm missing home family friends.. hope SC is settling down fine in the new environement and continues to kick ass!! And Mr Psycho.. i think you will be interested in the chiclids.. freshwater aquarium fishes.. very nice.. but freshwater.. so maybe you no like..