Geo: -11.607, 34.2794We have spent the last couple of days doing very little, that is what holidays are supposed to be isn't it although this is a bit of a novelty for us as we usually plan our trips such that we do something every day. We have borrowed a two person kayak and practised our Hawaii Five 0 skills (mostly going round in circles) and reading lots of books, I have particularly enjoyed Boris Johnson's book on Churchill with of course lots of Churchillian stories;He was sitting next to a clean-living Methodist bishop at a reception in Canada when a good-looking young waitress came up and offered them both a glass of sherry from a tray. Churchill took one. But the bishop said, ‘Young lady, I would rather commit adultery than take an intoxicating beverage.' ... read more

Geo: -11.607, 34.2794A headline to grab you attention, have we been taken ill, run down by one of the 13 cars on the island? No, we needed to catch the 8am ferry and the lodges boat would take too long so they arranged for the local ambulance to double as a taxi, Gill was in the front, me in the back the only disappointment was the driver did not switch on the blue light and siren.The ferry was a modern one with a landing craft type front which is supposed to enable the customers to walk on and off but because the lake is low it would not reach the beach. Cue for chaos, the fishermen make 10p a passenger carrying them the 10 yards to the boat without getting their feet wet, some people just ... read more

Geo: -12.0559, 34.7616Likoma may be a small island, 5 miles by 2 miles, and only have a population of a few thousand but it has a cathedral. Not just any cathedral but one of the biggest in Africa. The Victorian Anglican missionaries built it (I don't suppose they built it themselves) between 1903 and 1905 on the site one of them witnessed three witches being burnt to death a few years previously. It is the size of Westminster Cathedral, many of the bricks were imported from Mozambique and the choir stalls, font and baptism pool are carved from soap stone. It seems lovingly cared for and one of the gardeners was very pleased to have the opportunity to show us round. It was surprisingly light inside despite having very small windows quite high up above the ... read more

Geo: -12.0559, 34.7616On Friday we were booked on the MV Ilala, a ship which was built in the 1950's and has become something of an icon for Malawi. Once we arrived in the country we mentioned to everyone our intention to board the ferry at Senga Bay and were met with blank faces. No one seems to have done this trip and most people said the ferry did not stop in Senga Bay.I was assured by email and telephone from a very nice lady called MaryZulu in the shipping company that it would pick us up and the captain would be looking out for us so what could possibly go wrong.The timetable said the ship would call in Senga at 13.00, at 15.00 we saw it sail past to it's next port of call! Frantic phone ... read more

Geo: 52.4915, -2.99804After much head scratching, research and a few bottles of wine we have decided to add another Southern African country to our list. We have been to South Africa, Namibia (our favourite), Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania and were planning to add Zimbabwe however there seem to be a few issues since Old Bob stopped paying the police and army wages a few months ago so in the end we have decided on Malawi.We know almost nothing about the country other than it has a big lake and a lot of towns whose names I have difficulty pronouncing so hopefully in the space of five weeks we should learn a little more. This knowledge will enable us to bore you all silly with a badly written blog and lots of out of focus pictures.We fly ... read more