Blogs from Nkhata Bay, Northern, Malawi, Africa - page 2

Day 3 We had a chilled morning, quick swim in the lake and then collected our clothes from town. As we were walking down the road we ran into Matt and Tim again. They were heading to Mayoka. The party started early with a free lunch of Nsima (pap), beef stew, beans and veg. We played a round or two of killer pool while chatting and having a few drinks. The party continued well into dinner and after. It was good to see Tim and Matt again - with the hilarious, classic Tim quotes. They also got along really well with Jen, Naomi, Grant, Edward and Matt - so our group is expanding. We all went for a sunset cruise on the lake. It was so beautiful. Naomi and I pushed Tim in and then ... read more

Hello from Mzimba. We left Nhakata Bay yesterday where we have been staying at Butterfly Lodge where they have chalets for the tourists but also support the local community through some good projects including an H.I.V support group, a single women's support group and a youth project. It is a very relaxed and creative place to stay. Weve met so many people including those who met Derek last time he was here. It's hard to remember everybodies names! Much of our time was taken up with meetings in connection with SUPOCHO. They are a charity organisation setting up a computer school for orphaned, vulnerable young people. We have been to the building which Derek has been sponsoring, to have a meeting with around 12 people from the community. There were many speeches.... all translated so everyone ... read more

After checking out of our rooms In morning, we stayed most of the day laying in the sun on the floating platform on the lake. After noon we had to catch a mini bus leaving for Mzuzu, ‘Blackie’ the dog from the previous day followed us all the way to the bus bay. We embarqued on our minibus, this one I named the ‘mini bus that could’. This beat up hunk of junk was a 16 passenger van filled with 21 adults plus a kid in it. The back door had to be tied down in order to be kept shut and the side door fell off when we arrived in Mzuzu. Going up the mountains it had to be put into first gear and it climbed at about a speed of 5km/h. Going up the ... 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

Hey Guys, In 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 total of 60 stops (Tyne counted) over the entire 300km trip which ends up taking 8hrs. While at all these random stops the people on the side of the road selling various food items proceed to stuff them through every window hoping to find a customer. The guy standing beside the Canadian man calls over the butcher at one stop who ... read more