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Published: March 22nd 2011
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Malawi
So after the sun, sand and sunburn of Zanzibar, the WI bus headed back on the ferry to the Tanzanian mainland then over the border into Malawi. The terrain got hillier and we camped the first night in the hills at an old farmhouse. There wasn’t a great deal going on here so we went for a walk and explored the local area. We found a lake and spent ages trying to work out if there were any hippos or crocs residing – we decided against the jump in and see method to find out! Also, the next morning we were given some new tent rules. So far we think the Africa camping rules are as follows…
1) Try to avoid coming in the rainy season (Beaumonts failed rule 1 – it rains like crazy here)
2) If you see a spitting cobra or a puff adder, cover your eyes with your hands and count to 10. Unfortunately we never got told what happens after 10.
3) Always shake your tent before putting away to get rid of scorpions.
4) Erect the tent near the toilets as Danny has the bladder of an 80 year old man (also useful
after reading rules 2 and 3).
5) Erect the tent away from the secret snorer.
6) When available – take the upgrade option, especially when the upgrade is a beach hut and only costs 4 pounds each.
7) Travel light.
8) Drink lots of fluids. Castle lager especially.
So after packing our tents away very carefully, we headed to Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi is a huge fresh water lake in between Malawi (as the name would suggest) and Mozambique. If you ever go, remember that there are parasites that will swim up your bits if you wee in the water – advice is to avoid. We spent 3 nights by the lake – 1 at Chitimba beach and 2 at Kande beach, where we upgraded to beach huts which were sweet. At Kande, we swam to an island 800 meters off shore and back again. It took about 25 mins each way which is a long time to hold on for when you need the loo! Carrie also did a village tour here, I decided to have a lie and watch England v West Indies on TV but apparently it involved going to the school, orphanage, clinic, market, spa and
casino (she told me about it when the Windies were 8 down needing just 22 to win so I may have made up some details).
That night it was St Patrick’s day and as two of our group are Irish, we had a party. Everyone dressed in green, drank lots of punch, sang songs (not ging gang gooly) around the camp fire (Nora, the Irish girl has a guitar) and the night ended up with Carrie and the girls dancing on the bar. Cue major hangovers the next day for our 6am start to Llongwe (possibly the capital?) where we ate pizza and went to bed early! Another 6am start and we trekked across the border into Zambia. More $50 visas (but the Irish get them for free – WTF?) and we have just put our tents up in a storm, but at least this place has satellite TV so it is cricket highlights now then 6 nations this afternoon. Shame England were crap!
Adios…
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Emma Johnson
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Had no idea you were in Malawi just now, could have told you some amazing places to go! It is the rainy season though as you have discovered! Hope you are having a fab time. x