Cape Maclear's impressive sunset
Enjoying a drink
Malawi village shop
Moni!
We have really been enjoying the country often called the friendliest in Africa! As friendly as Malawians have been, I think Zimbabweans and Zambians are also up there.
Our path: Blantyre > Cape Maclear > Liwonde > Mulanje
Tuesday - Boarder hassles: This Tuesday we were crossing into Mozambique and leaving again after a few hours as this is the direct route for our bus to Blantyre, Malawi. I was mostly worried about this as we have had a crazy time with their visa process and often try to extort crazy amounts of money (The Moz embassy in Harare wanted $200 for us just to cross for a few hours), luckily this was smooth and the price was reasonable. The real concern came as we arrived to the Malawi boarder and they didn't like Marina's visa as it didn't have an official stamp from London. They told us we couldn't go in, but after about 30 minutes, yes the bus was waiting) we were allowed in, even without a bribe, which I thought would surely be necessary! That night the Malawi Carslburg beer tasted oh so good!
Wednesday - 25 people in the back of a pickup: Getting to Lake Malawi was a real task, but it was worth it when we saw Cape Maclear and the gorgeous setting. One part of our trip was rather interesting as we hopped in the back of a pickup truck (Ford Ranger size) along with 23 other people including a few children and babies. Not the safest, but certainly interesting to see how the locals travel. Malawians have been so friendly and on occasions like this, they really look after you as a tourist.
Thursday - Scuba diving in Freshwater: We had never been in freshwater for a diver, other than the cave dive in Mystery Island that was 50% freshwater and 50% salt water. I wasn't expecting much, but these low expectations were overly exceeded. We had a good 10 meters (yards) visibility which is great for a lake. We were able to go in a sunken boat at about 28 meters (yards) deep. The second dive was the real treasure; we met a mouth breeder fish. We came upon about 20 minnows and one big fish as long as your arm (no hand) which was guarding the minnows and attacking other predators to scare them away. This happened for a good 5 minutes and then one fish was successful and took an unfortunate minnow. The mother, who could have won an award for her care, took all the remaining minnows in her mouth to protect them and there they stayed until we left. I couldn't believe these finger sized minnows even fit!
Friday - Kayaking Lake Malawi: After sleeping in for the first time in over a week, we had an early lunch and went kayaking on Lake Malawi. Normally in Africa we have been getting up at 6 or 7am so this was a real joy. Lake Malawi is roughly 20% of Malawi's total size, so a pretty big lake. We rowed a few thousand meters (yards) to an uninhabited island to soak up the sun and swim. We also snorkeled seeing more of Malawi's fish varieties. Later we took on the task of rowing around the whole island which was more of a wildlife adventure seeing dozens of fish eagles perched on trees and flying around.
Saturday - Jeep Safari: Yesterday's highlight was Bushman's Baobab hostel and its amenities. Really a safari lodge built for backpakers. We met up with two of our friends Eve and Fin who we traveled to Malawi with. The safari was excellent taking us through Liwonde National Park - the most famous park in Malawi. There we saw many elephants who were quite shy, and such big animals, who would have thought. We spied on numerous groups of gazelles, Sables, Kudu and Waterbucks. Also running around were the eerie looking Warthogs. Baboons had a big presence and were often running around or lounging up to who knows what. That night we had a big party around a campfire enjoying Malawi's local spirits. Carlsburg has a brewery down here and brews several types of excellent beer which I've never seen in Europe.
Sunday - Canoe Safari: This morning we went out in a tiny canoe with our new friend James and paddled (well, we were paddled by a guide) past hippos only 30 feet (10 meters) away. We watched large herds containing dozens of elephants enjoying the water on the river and scratching trees as they like so much. The bird life at 7am on a tributary of the Zambezi river is phenomenal; a true bird spotters paradise. We started our one truck & 3 minibus journey around 10am this morning and have now arrived at Mulanje.
What's next for us; we are going to climb Mt Mulanje, Malawi's tallest peak and then we are off to Mozambique.
All the best,
Dan and Marina
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