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Date: 05/02/10
Location: Lilongwe Golf Course
Miles travelled: 85 Miles
Weather: 28ºC, muggy
Today we mostly listened to: Canned Heat
We decided to try another campsite in Senga Bay the next morning, mainly because we had been woken up at 1am by a late-arriving guest who decided to play his music very loud! After being soundly berrated by myself, he did finally turn it off, but by then we were all wide awake again! We went on to another site only to find it closed for two months. With it being so wet here many of the camps close for two months during Feb and March. So rather than go back to the wheelhouse marina we decided to motor on to Lilongwe.
Ric and I stopped along the way at a curio store in order to pick up some tacky stuff that will probably just make our flat look like an African curio store when we get home. Nevertheless we decided to part with some of our Malawian Quecha anyway! We also stopped to get some veg on a local market stall and I was intrigued to see some little insects - which looked deep fried - being sold. After enquiring as to the species of insects - which I never found out - the propritor of the market stall offered me a taster. As I picked up one of the smallest ones I could see and moved it towards my lips it felt like everyone from the village had closed in to watch the stupid white girl eat the insect that they usually feed to their chickens. I would love to be able to say 'hummm, taste like chicken,' but actually it would be more appropriate to say 'hummm, tastes like bum'. I won't be trying those again.
With a bitter taste in my mouth we motored on to the capital of Malawi - which is more like a big town by European standards. We found a place to camp at the Lilongwe golf club and Ric even managed to get in nine holes before supper. We had a delicious BBQ, cooked by Pim and Git, with the only bit of meat we found in the supermarket that looked like it wasn't going to give us food poisoning. Luckily we're all still feeling okay. |
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Date: 04/02/10
Location: Wheelhouse Marina, Senga Bay
Miles travelled: 170 Miles
Weather: 30ºC
Today we mostly listened to: Trek, by Paul Stewart
We spent a very relaxing day at Kande Beach sunbathing and reading. Ric also hired out the catamaran and went for a little sail upon the Lake. Most of the day was sunny and extremely hot, but around 4pm the clouds rolled in and the rain arrived. It being rainy season here I guess this isn't unexpected. So we spent the rest of the afternoon playing table football against Pim and Git - England 2, Holland 1! We also played an interesting card game that Pim and Git brought along with them called Pimps and Hoes - the aim of the game is for your pimp to get as many hoes as possible working for him. It was a strangely addictive game and we played it for hours!
After an interupted nights sleep because of the noise of the rain on the tent we set off this morning with the aim of going further down the lake. Yet more of the commercial overland trucks arrived making the ablution block rather crowded, so we came to the conclusion that it was time to move on. The four of us decided to take the road that runs along the lake and were delighted to find out that it was a tarred one - despite what the map said - George, it will be no problem on your bike if you read this in time.
We reached Senga Bay just after lunch and headed for the Wheelhouse Marina. It is really run-down but does definately have a certain charm about it - mainly because Malawians are really friendly and the guys here have made us feel very welcome. The bar consists of a hut on stilts out on the lake that is majorly listing to one side and looks just about ready to topple over completely. We asked the barman whether it was designed that way. His response, rather worryingly because we were in it at the time, was that it partially collapsed two years ago but he anticipated that it would be another two years before it completely fell in to the lake. We cooked curry for supper and made another batch of beer bread on the BBQ, which came out quite nicely. |
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Date: 02/02/10
Location: Kande Beach, Lake Malawi
Miles travelled: 149 Miles
Weather: 30ºC
Today we mostly listened to: Trek, by Paul Stewart
We awoke really early this morning, mainly due to the fact that both of us spent most of the night scratching ourselves because of nasty little bugs in the treehouse. We had a delicious breakfast prepared by the very good chef at Mushroom Farm before heading off in Monty down the terrible road again. It was even worse this time going downhill! We travelled along the Lake for a few more Kilometres before the road turned inland up a steep hill through lots of cute villages.
We managed to find an ATM in Mzuzu and took the turnoff back to the Lake to head for Kande Beach. We stopped along the way to buy some firewood and due to our lack of small notes from the cash machine we had to pay the chap with a British Pound we have had in the car since we left Europe. To my amazement he took it. We reached Kande Beach around mid-afternoon and were reunited with Pim and Git, who have been chilling out here for a few days.
It is a lovely sandy strip on the lake with various watersports and hammocks - just what we need after our hard weeks driving down from Nairobi. It's also rather lively here currently due to the fact that there are four overland buses in town. According to Pim and Git though the current buses aren't as interesting to watch as the previous ones - which were full of Swedish people who liked to get naked at night and dance on the bar. Ric's first question was 'uh, where have they gone now then and do you think we can catch them up'! We cooked the remaining steaks we had purchased from The Old Farmhouse - again with more blue cheese sauce - for supper and after a few beers and a good catch-up we had an early night. |
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