Jul 20, 2010 - Kande Beach, Malawi

Kande Beach is really pretty and our campsite sits right inthe shores of the glistening lake Malawi (although it is really blustery today so not overly appealing for a swim with the choppy waves and strong currents). This is my idea of a perfect swimming beach - only because there are no sharks at all! We went to the little day care centre up the beach which was incredible. An amazingA lady from Geelong started it in 2002 and has now opened 10 day care centres all around the lake. They feed all the little kids once a day on a maize porridge...

Apr 1, 2010 - Lake Malawi

We arrived at Kande beach today on the shores of Lake Malawi (which feels much more like a sea and the waves are stronger here than anywhere else we have seen) and settled in for our three day stay. On the first day we went into Kande village and got a tour around by the chiefs son of his house, the orphanage and day care centre, primary school and hospital. It was really good to see how the people of Malawi live. At the day care centre the kids (between 2 and 5 years old) sang us songs and did role plays of their English and we played with...

Mar 23, 2010 - Malawi Fun...

March 19 I woke up at 6:30am and set out for a run- As soon as I came outside the gate for the campsite I was accompanied by a 13 year old boy named John. He spoke very good English and proved to be a great wealth of knowledge on our short run. John had just finished primary school and was waiting to get the results of his exams to see if he could continue on to secondary school. He wants to continue to University and become a computer programmer- There are no computers in Malawi but he said he has learned a lot from books. He lives with...

Jan 25, 2010 - Lilongwe

Monday Jan. 25; The pig on a spit was delicious. Barry and Julius were exhausted and I don't know how they do it anyway. Barry's not young, about my age, yet he can drink all night, get up in the morning, spend the day roasting a pig and drinking beer and still be pleasant. You never know where he's going to sleep. This morning he's got camp chairs lined up with a mattress on top and then him. Sometimes he puts up a mosquito net and just sleeps on the ground somewhere. A couple of times he's been on top of the truck. Malawi is interesting...

Jun 29, 2009 - Malawi

We had a couple of days drive to get us into Malawi – the border crossing was very straight forward. We had four nights in total on the lake in three different campsites as we traveled north to south through Malawi. The lake is massive and looks more like an ocean than a lake and the water is so clear. The lake has something like 350 different species of fish and some would come to swim with us in the shallows. We spent most of the time relaxing in the sun trying to get some sort of tan and dipping ourselves in the lake occasionally to cool...

Apr 27, 2009 - Malawi

Since leaving Namibia we spent a brief time in Zambia and then travelled onto Malawi. We checked into a rather rough and ready hostel in Lilongwe for a few days (unfortunately Madonna had taken all the good rooms...) and then proceded to the lake. Our first stop was Monkey Bay which took about 12 hours (it should have been 6 but we got on the wrong bus!). After a night here we headed to Cape Maclear squashed into the back of a pickup truck with 20 other passengers, their cargo and 6 leaky cannisters of parrafin. An interesting ride that we...

Oct 16, 2008 - Malawi – Lilongwe

Malawi – Lilongwe 16th October I rather stupidly volunteer for the back seats of the truck after a few people complained about the ride – 80Km of hell and we were back on reasonable roads. We were supposed to stay in Chipata but by driving to Lilongwe meant we would gain an extra day in Malawi. Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi.

May 1, 2008 - My birthday celebrations

01 May 2008 A very sad morning, Chris and his passengers left. Apparently my boss will be collecting me anytime now. Decided to head into town to sort out some random issues, once I arrived, I realized it was a public holiday so everyone was in slow motion, or not even open for sales at all. I found out that ANZ Maestro do not have an ATM is Livingstone and the closest place is a 3 hour journey by local bus then by return the next day. UHU! With only 30 US dollars left I must sort something out. Found out my VISA card is not accepted by...

Apr 11, 2008 - Lilongwe

Apr 11 Leave for Lilongwe on boat from Mayoka Village at 8 am to town…waiting for bus til 9:45. Bus from Mzuzu is crowded, we jam into the aisles standing, our packs piled high. A French couple(Pascal & Silvie) come on as well. The sign just inside the door reads capacity 35 but that is the number just standing in the aisle I think! The driver goes like a bat out of hell, I think he feels that with so many on board if there is a crack up we will all be cushions for each other, like the Styrofoam padding in a box. We are originally planning...

Mar 23, 2008 - Back to Lilongwe

Oi pessoal estamos de volta em Lilongwe…Malawi Tivemos que voltar porque infelizmente a border entre Zambia / Mozambique nao e muito popular entre mochileiros e por isso o transporte e limitado. Voltar para Malawi foi uma novela novamente (enfim tudo que envolvi Malawi acaba sendo uma novela) O onibus que era para sais as 8h30 da matina acabou saindo as 12h… por isso nao conseguimos cruzar a fronteira no mesmo dia como haviamos planejado. Hoje ao chegar na fronteira o oficial nos informou que as leis de imigracao de Malawi haviam mudado...

Mar 15, 2008 - Lilongwe

Heyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Mais um update…. Entre quinta e sabado passados estivemos em Lilongwe.. capital de Malawi… Acabamos ficando mais tempo em Lilongwe (1 dia era o suficiente)…porque eu estava passando mal do esofago….Ficamos sabendo que as pilulas anti-malaria alem aumentar a acidez no estomago podem provocar refluxo.. dessa forma o ideal e tomar pela manha…. Como nao havia nenhuma indicacao na bula nos acabamos tomando a noite... nao precisa dizer que eu acordei uma madrugada queimando por dentro !!!! Ja em Nkhata Bay visitamos um...

Sep 28, 2007 - Malawi

It was a very early start to cross into Malawi. drove along the western side of lake malawi, it is very beautiful and so big, pretty much runs along the whole length of Malawi. The drive was slow as so many people are on the side of the road and do not move for the truck. Made it to camp it was so beautiful, right on the beach. Went for a swim it is nice to be in fresh water but have sand. Went ona village tour the next morning, it was so nice to be amonge the locals. WE went to a high school for girls, very basic but great to see. We then...