Sanga Bay, Malawi to Chipata, Zambia

---

Leaving Lake Malawi we headed west towards the Zambian border. More roadside scenery for us to enjoy. We are amazed at all the footpaths that lead every which way, and all the people on those footpaths going on about their daily routine. The main method of transportation for all but a few is on foot. There are even well-worn footpaths that parallel the highway. We observe that there are also very few obese people. Could there be a correlation here? 

In fact, even though we are traveling by truck, and not walking everywhere, we are both losing weight, and are glad to have brought belts with extra notches. Overlanding is not for the physically unfit. We are lugging all our gear from place to place, putting up a heavy tent, carrying all the camp gear to and from the truck, and helping with all the camp chores. Unfortunately, there are a few in our group who haven't been pitching in, but a little coaxing gets them going.

There are children everywhere, and we read somewhere that 50% of the population in Malawi is under 15. Aids has certainly taken it's toll on the older generation and birth control seems a far way off. The average number of children per family in Malawi is eight. The average life span is age 40. Every few villages we see an orphanage, basic concrete building with small children running to the road to wave as our big orange truck passes.

We stopped at Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, for two hours to shop, catch up on Internet, and any other city chores that needed doing. With our white skin, we definitely stood out as non-locals. We found an Internet cafe with a relatively fast connection, but no wireless service, so Kayla decided to wait for wireless service to post another blog, rather than type it all in again.

Unlike our border crossing into Zambia last year, which was chaotic with people and trucks everywhere, and smugglers from Zimbabwe, crossing at this entry was very orderly and we paid for our visas on the spot. After crossing into Zambia, our tour guide Malinga invited one money changer onto the truck to convert our Malawi kwatchas and more US $ into Zambian kwatchas. It took some advice from Martin our New Zealand accountant to decide on the rate of exchange since the money changer seemed a little confused (or was he playing the game) 

Then once again we were off down the road, heading for Mama Rulas campground, just beyond Chipata. This was another nice grassy campground and we are happy to stop here on the way to South Luangwa National Park.

---